Chapter 1: Prologue
Chapter Text
Tuesday October 2nd, 1938.
Night has truly fallen a few hours ago, the sky a foreboding haze over Markiplier manor. It’s almost as if the manor itself is causing the change in weather. Within the walls, Mark sits in his study, the fireplace crackling angrily. His cold gaze looks at the letters he’d crafted for some of his friends. While the contents of the letter has the beguiling promise of fun and catching up, only the master of the manor knows of his true intent of why he’s inviting them over. He can feel the entity of the house around him, whispering about what they’ve done to him, how they’ve betrayed him. He sneers at one of the photographs on his desk, showcasing four persons, namely, the Mayor, the Colonel, his ex-wife and himself.
They’ll pay for what they’ve done, he vows silently to himself, glaring at the face of William specifically.
It’s his fault Celine ran away. He took everything from me!
He looks at the other photo next to it, seeing the Detective and himself.
While I don’t care much for the intrepid Detective, he’s useful for my purposes.
Finally, Mark looks over to the last photograph, glare disappearing.
The photo shows a younger version of himself, a senior in high school, his arm wrapped around the younger version of the DA. They were both laughing at some joke he’d made. He smiles slightly, recalling the friendship he’d had with the District Attorney, and how she encouraged him to pursue his dreams of being an actor. She was there for his first movie premiere, she was there for his first award, despite also being busy pursuing her own dreams. Even when things became too busy for the both of them to talk much, she still tried to reach out to him when things with the paparazzi and himself had gotten worse, when the leeches got word about his crumbling relationship with Celine. Damien, despite also being busy as Mayor, had also tried to reach out to him, but he pushed the both of them away.
The entity whispers sweet words to him…how he’d see Y/N again, she’d surely support him as she always did. His smile widens more at the prospect. The entity then warns him about Damien, causing Mark to cease all traces of smiling. His eyes fall to the first photograph, observing the sharply dressed man, holding his cane beside him. Mark is aware that Damien also has history with you, with the both of you attending University whilst Mark was pursuing his acting career. He’s seen the way the Mayor looks at you, it’s too obvious to the actor that Damien’s positively smitten with you. Mark’s expression darkens. He won’t let Damien take you away from him. He’s already lost everything he’s cared about, he’s not losing another thing again.
When all of this is done, I’ll be the one having the last laugh, with that thought in mind, Mark calls for Benjamin, ordering him to deliver the letters to the addressed persons the next day.
He watches the butler leave, the door clicking shut. Being alone once more, a twisted smile slithers over his mouth, anticipating when his plan will truly begin.
Chapter 2: The Invitation
Chapter Text
Wednesday October 3rd, 1938.
Being District Attorney was no cakewalk, but it’s something I’ve been working steadily towards since I’ve decided to become a lawyer all those years ago. I’ve always enjoyed being able to help people so it was the next step up for me. Trying to make a least a small change in the world for the betterment of society. Mind you, I’m not so naïve to not see that there is corruption in all facets of society. As the saying goes, ‘Change happens when a person makes a decision to do better’, I muse silently, glancing around the spacious office.
It’s a lot more comfy than the old firm I used to work for.
I’m about to return my gaze to the leftover documents I have to look over for some court cases, when I hear a knock at the door.
“Enter.” I state, looking up when the door opens, revealing my secretary.
“Miss L/N, a letter has arrived, it's addressed to you.” The secretary informs.
“Very well, bring it here.” I say, seeing her nod and walk over, handing the letter to me.
“Thank you.” I say before glancing at the clock on the wall, noting that it’s getting late.
“You should go home Mary, it’s getting late.” I state.
“Will you be alright on your own?” Mary asks in concern.
I give a cursory glance at the papers on my desk, swiftly estimating how much time I’d take to go through them.
“I’ll be here an hour more before I head home, don’t worry.” I reassure the older woman.
“You have a family waiting for you after all.” I state gently, seeing her smile slightly at the mention of them.
“If you insist.” She agrees hesitantly.
“Have a good night, Miss L/N.”
“You too.”
I wait for her to exit the room before turning my attention to the letter. I set it down, looking over my forgotten documents for the next forty five minutes before setting them into their respective manila folders and filing them away in the filing cabinet. My eyes gravitate to the lone photo frame I have on my desk, fingers reaching towards it and plucking it off of the desk, bringing it closer. I smile slightly at the sight of the younger version of myself and a male with hair well styled, posing for the camera with identical smiles on our faces, dressed in our University’s graduation gowns.
“It’s been a few weeks since we’ve been able to see each other face to face Damien.” I sigh, recalling the election process I had to go through to become DA.
I gently set the photo back to its rightful place before picking up the letter and observing it.
Y/N, District Attorney, the letter’s envelope read.
This is Mark’s handwriting, I realise.
Why would he be sending a letter to me? We haven’t seen each other for years, not since he shut himself away in Markiplier manor after everything that’s happened. Damien and I tried to reach out to him put he pushed us away, refusing to talk about it.
I grimace, remembering the headlines on the Tabloids concerning the disgraced Actor. The paparazzi can be quite the vicious group. Grabbing my letter opener, I carefully open the envelope, pulling out the contents. Setting the invitation to the side I unfold the pristine white paper, my eyes gliding over the words written.
Dear Y/N,
It’s been years since I’ve spoken with you and I’m sure you’re wondering why I’d reach out after all this time. I’m having a poker night at the manor and I’d love if you’d be able to make it. Think of it as an opportunity for friends to catch up.
Hope to see you there,
Mark.
Picking up the invitation, I can see the date and time the event is due to take place. I lean back into my chair, reading the letter over contemplatively.
I suppose it wouldn’t be too bad to catch up. I mean what’s the worst that can happen?
I place the letter back into the envelope, placing it into my purse. I make sure everything is in place before grabbing my coat off the rack and slipping it on. Since it’s currently October, the weather is a lot colder. Slinging my purse over my shoulder, I exit my office, locking the door behind me and walking down the hallway.
“Have a good night Miss L/N.” The security guard, Stephen greets.
“You too Stephen.” I say, before walking towards the door and pulling it open.
Exiting the building, I pull my coat around me tighter, guarding myself against the cold gust of wind. Glancing up at the darkening sky, I begin making my way home.
Now back in my home, I lock the door behind me, shrugging off my coat and hanging it up in the closet. I flick on the lights as I make my way deeper into the house, tossing my purse onto the couch in the living room and taking off my heels. Not a moment too soon, I hear the landline begin to ring. Curiously looking at it, I walk towards it and pick up the handset.
“Hello?” I say.
“Hello Y/N, I hope I didn’t catch you at a bad time.” I grin at the smooth, deep voice on the other side of the line.
“No, you didn’t. I’d say you have impeccable timing.” I joke, picking up the landline before walking to the couch and sitting down, setting the landline beside me.
“It’s good to hear from you, Damien.” I say softly.
“You too, I’ve missed being able to speak with you, little monster.” Damien says just as softly.
My heart flutters slightly at his words. I’ve never told him…but since our University days, I’ve had a crush on him. Over the years, my feelings for him grew from that of a crush. Of course I’ve never acted on my feelings and granted that he’s currently the Mayor and I’m the DA, any relationship would cause the media to go berserk.
That is, if Damien even felt the same way. I ignore the bitter taste that thought brought to my mouth, focusing on the conversation.
“I’ve missed talking with you too.” I state, crossing my legs at the ankles and leaning back into the plush surface behind me.
“Have you heard anything from Mark?” Damien asks, out of the blue.
I glance at the purse that's resting a cushion away.
“I have, a letter arrived today. It’s an invitation to a poker night he’s hosting at his manor.” I explain.
“I’ve also received a letter today.” Damien reveals.
He lets out a small sigh. I furrow my brows in concern.
“What’s wrong?” I gently coax.
“It’s just…Mark had broken off contact with us for years and now he wants to catch up?” I can practically see him run a hand through his hair in frustration.
“I don’t understand.” Damien says, an edge of sadness to his words.
“Maybe you can ask him, that is, if you intend to attend.” I say, silently hoping he’ll be able to.
“I’ll be attending, are you? It’s been weeks since we’ve seen each other, newspapers don’t count.” Damien says, albeit jokingly.
“You’ll be seeing me.” I say with a smirk, chuckling slightly at his words.
The media seems to adore what I’m doing for the city so far as DA, despite only holding office for three weeks now.
The conversation turns away from Mark and towards how the other is doing. It then shifts to reminiscing about the days we’ve spent in University, from late nights studying for tests and midterms, to different club activities, to partying and almost drinking ourselves into a stupor.
“Sometimes, I wish we could go back to those days.” Damien admits quietly.
“Things were a lot simpler back then.” I say, nostalgic.
“Who knows, maybe having a poker night might bring back some aspect of those days.” I muse.
Damien chuckles.
“Mayhaps it will.” I hear him say.
He lets out a sigh.
“It’s getting late…” He seems almost regretful to cut the conversation short.
I glance at the clock, noticing that we’ve been talking for about an hour.
“Yeah, I should probably get started on some dinner.” I reluctantly agree.
“Me too.” Damien murmurs.
“Goodnight, little monster.” Damien says in parting.
“Goodnight, Dames.” I say, hearing him hang up.
I set the phone’s handset back into place, proceeding to place the landline back onto the table. Picking up my purse and heels, I deposit them into my bedroom before whipping up a quick, simple dinner. Eating my dinner, I try to ignore how empty the house can feel without another person there.
Sometime later, I ready myself for bed, slipping under the covers and staring up at the ceiling. I remember during my University days, the instances Damien and I just crashed into the same bed from studying too late into the night for an important exam. He tended to cuddle in his sleep, which I didn’t mind one bit. I sigh, yearning for those times I could just lie there in his arms. Damien truly makes me happy, I enjoy being around him. He always made me feel safe and protected, a rock I could lean on when things got tough. Maybe things would’ve been different if I was brave enough to tell him how I feel about him. But I’m too afraid to ruin the friendship between us. I shift onto my side, closing my eyes and trying to get some sleep.
You have no way of knowing, that some distance away, Damien’s also lying in his bed, wishing he was brave enough to tell you what he truly felt for you.
Chapter 3: Playlist for Fragments
Notes:
Okay, so this isn't a story update per say, but it's the songs I think showcase how some of the Characters feel throughout the story. It will go along well with the rough idea I have in mind for this particular story. I would've liked if I could've placed it before the Prologue but it can't be helped I guess.
Thank you so much for the kudos, the next chapter will also be posted. Hope you enjoy and be sure to tell me what you think about the story so far.Playlist edited: 24/11/22
Chapter Text
Songs for Fragments Along with Characters:
Your love is a lie by Simple Plan (Actor Mark)
Hellfire by Johnathon Young (Actor Mark)
Wolf In Sheep’s Clothing by Set it Off (Actor Mark)
Angels by Within Temptation (Y/N)
Killer In The Mirror by Set if Off (Y/N)
Crawling by Linkin Park (Y/N)
Last One Standing by Simple Plan (Damien and Celine)
Unravel cover by LeeandLie (Amalee) (Damien)
The Little Things Give You Away by Linkin Park (Celine and Actor Mark)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qphxUyYA95s
I’ll Be Gone by Linkin Park (Celine)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eG-ja6wpOa0
Leave Out All The Rest by Linkin Park (Damien/Dark)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D2cWNcSZBh8
What I’ve Done by Linkin Park (Dark)
My Heart Is Broken by Evanescence (Y/N)
Memories by Within Temptation (Y/N)
Bring Me to Life by Evanescence (Y/N)
Unravel cover by Johnathon Young (Dark)
The Drug In Me Is You by Falling In Reverse (Dark)
Enamel cover by LeeandLie (Amalee) feat. PelleK (Dark and Y/N)
Shot in the Dark by Within Temptation (Y/N)
Lying From You by Linkin Park (Y/N and Actor Mark)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kv7wHBslsI4
Dance With The Devil by Breaking Benjamin (Y/N and Actor Mark)
Lost in Paradise by Evanescence (Dark)
A Dangerous Mind by Within Temptations (Y/N and Actor Mark)
Snow White Queen by Evanescence (Actor Mark)
Frequency by Starset (Y/N, The Captain and Head Engineer Mark)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vA8-GGqwSDs
Astronaut by Simple Plan (Y/N, The Captain)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tn1wnj4XbBc
Going Under by Evanescence (Y/N)
Waiting For The End by Linkin Park (Wilford Warfstache)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mh2DqdGSQLs
Epoch by Savlonic, The Living Tombstone (Head Engineer Mark)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lN1vq0k5iWw
Nobody Can Save Me by Linkin Park (Y/N, The Captain and Head Engineer Mark)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dab_B8AkiSU
Points of Authority by Linkin Park (Y/N and Actor Mark)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NO5FovCsNeE
Die for You by Starset (Y/N, The Captain)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aUTzZGR64mI
Break In by Halestorm ft. Amy Lee (Y/N)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OUuVReJSrc4
Ricochet by Starset (Y/N, The Captain)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O3YldyDjgyQ
Sharp Edges by Linkin Park (Y/N, The Captain and Head Engineer Mark)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_8fi0hLrgMA
Invisible by Linkin Park (Head Engineer Mark)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s7D6SQsLw2U
Demons by Imagine Dragons (Y/N, The Captain)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MA0aCUxItYA
Bang! by AJR (Heist Y/N and Heist Actor Mark)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9e2buqBpSBU
Partners in Crime by Set It Off (Heist Y/N and Heist Actor Mark)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q3UPkLdogl0
You’re Gonna Go Far, Kid by The Offspring (Heist Actor Mark)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zEZRKgFIkxc
911 by Ellise (Heist Y/N)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KeXB1dGHvfQ
Girl All The Bad Guys Want by Bowling For Soup (Dark)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qT9S7VpxTR0
Hey Little Songbird by Anaïs Mitchell (Hadestown) (Dark and Heist Y/N)
House of Memories by Panic! At the Disco (Dark)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vopbz-exbfg
Save you by Simple Plan (Dark)
Lies by Evanescence (Dark and Y/N)
Cinderella’s Dead Now by EMELINE (Heist Y/N)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jX-WqCd2hIM
Take my Hand by Simple Plan (Dark and Y/N)
Comatose With Violin Intro by Skillet (Dark and Y/N)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OqmkjSynNvc
Darkside by NEONI (Y/N)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s7-GTShjcqY
Opening by Linkin Park (Y/N and Dark)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3c2jaMdoA8o
Not Strong Enough by Apocalyptica (Dark)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AlZuqUTgcss
Broken by Seether ft. Amy Lee (Dark and Y/N)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XSHgu7mJ2UM
Chapter 4: Poker Night
Chapter Text
Saturday, October 13th 1938.
It’s the day of Mark’s poker party that he’s having. Thankfully, I had managed to knock off everything I had to get done for the entirety of the week. Rifling through my closet, I decide to just wear one of my nicer suits.
It’s not like Mark had specified any sort of dress code. I pull out the clothing rack containing the black suit jacket with gold buttons, the white undervest, along with its knee length pencil skirt.
I grab matching flats and a pair of sheer stockings to wear under the skirt. I decide to wear a white button up shirt underneath the suit jacket and undervest. Quickly showering, I put on my clothing, looking at myself in the mirror. I frown slightly, unbuttoning the jacket and undervest before snatching a royal blue tie and quickly knotting it around my neck. Buttoning up everything again, I grow a lot more satisfied with how the outfit looks.
Walking towards my vanity, I open my jewellery box, taking out the small, pearl drop earrings Damien had gotten me as a birthday gift. Putting them on, I proceeded to put on light neutral makeup since I’m not a fan of wearing too much cosmetics. I style my hair half up, half down before spraying a spritz of my favourite perfume. Slinging my purse over my shoulder, I exit my room, making my way out of my home and locking the door behind me. Glancing at my watch, I see that the cab I called will be here any minute now. Two minutes passed before I see the cab pull over to the curb. I walk over and get in, the cab driving towards Markiplier manor.
The sky is becoming darker as the cab pulls to a stop in front of the manor. I thank the driver, tipping generously for his services. Getting out and closing the door, I watch the cab drive away before looking up at the manor. Taking a deep breath, I begin my trek up the cobblestone path, thankful for my choice in wearing flats instead of my usual heels. Glancing at my watch, I see that it’s currently five minutes to eight. Looking up from my watch, I notice another figure ahead of me, standing close to the front door. The stranger must’ve heard my approach because he turns around, revealing a man wearing some sort of tan, safari outfit, complete with the hat. He has a red ascot peeking out from the top of his coat and badges are pinned to the front of the coat. The man wears a pair of glasses that has three small circular lenses on the right frame. His most distinguishing feature is the large moustache adorning his face.
“Oh, Bully!” The man exclaims in an eccentric tone.
“And here I thought I was gonna be the last guest to arrive. My friends call me the Colonel.” He says with a bow.
“You’re welcome to do the same.” The Colonel says.
“Hello Colonel, I’m Y/N, it’s a pleasure to meet you.” I say with a small smile, holding out my hand.
The Colonel smiles, grabbing my hand in an enthusiastic handshake.
“Y/N huh, pleasure to meet you!” He says, before seeming to look at me more closely.
“I know you! You’re the city’s new District Attorney.” The Colonel remarks.
“Yeah, that’s me.” I say a bit shyly.
“We should head inside before they think we’ve decided to not show up.” I say lightly.
“You’re right, but uh, after you.” The Colonel agrees, gesturing his hands towards the door.
I walk past him, seeing the butler, Benjamin standing on the other side, due to the glass planes set into the door's design. Benjamin notices me and the Colonel standing outside the door and opens it.
“Ah! Bonjour! Welcome to Markiplier Manor. Your invitation, please.” He says.
I pull out the envelope holding the invitation, handing it over to the butler. The Colonel does the same, Benjamin looking at the addressed envelopes.
“Very good, very good. Right this way.” He says, letting us in and closing the door behind us.
“Good luck at the table tonight. I shall fetch you a drink forthwith.” The butler informs us before walking off.
The Colonel and I share a glance before he branches off. I look ahead, noticing that Damien is already here, speaking with another man, who looks like a Detective, judging from his clothing. I walk towards them, the other man noticing my approach. Damien follows the man’s line of vision and I see his expression light up when he catches sight of me.
“Oh! There you are, old friend.” Damien says in greeting, the other man moving away and giving us a moment alone.
“Hi Damien, how are you?” I ask with a smile, coming to a stop a comfortable distance away.
“I’m doing fine.” He says, smiling down at me.
“How are you settling into your new office?” He asks curiously.
“You could say I’m still a little in disbelief that I got the position.” I admit softly.
“Now, I know it’ll take some getting used to, but there’s no one I would rather have alongside me to protect this great city of ours.” He says, patting me warmly on the shoulder.
I feel butterflies well up in my stomach but push it down to the best of my ability.
“I would sure hope so Mr. Mayor, you’re stuck with me for a while.” I tease, causing him to laugh.
“Any sign of our gracious host?” I inquire.
Damien shakes his head, his laughing coming to a stop.
“Not yet, you know how Mark can get when he’s preparing for an appearance.” Damien says with a good natured smile.
“True.” I agree.
“Now I’ll see you at the table soon, but try not to rob me blind again, little monster.” Damien jokes.
“I’ll try not to Dames, but no promises.” I quip with an impish smile.
“Very reassuring Y/N, we’ll catch up.” He says in farewell before walking over to the Colonel and starting up a conversation.
“You’re the District Attorney, Y/N right?” A voice inquiries from behind me.
“That’s correct.” I state, turning around and noticing the man from before.
“And you are?” I ask, seeing him hold out a hand.
“I’m Abe Lincoln, Private Eye.”
“Nice to meet you, Detective.” I say, accepting the handshake.
“Abe is fine.” He says with a smile, eyes crinkling at the edges slightly.
“Alright, then you can just call me Y/N, we’re not in a court room after all.” I say with a matching smile.
“Y/N it is then.” Abe says with a nod, letting my hand go.
“If you don’t mind me asking, how do you know Mark and the Mayor?”
“I’ve known Mark since high school, we attended some of the same classes. As for the Mayor, we attended University together.” I explain.
“Ah—that explains the familiarity.” Abe says, glancing at where Damien and the Colonel are laughing at something the moustached man had said.
“How do you know Mark?” I ask in turn.
Abe turns his gaze back to me.
“He’s hired me for some investigations in the past.” Abe says vaguely.
“I see…” I remark.
Abe and I engage in a few minutes of conversation before he excuses himself. I wander around the place a bit, seeing another room holding the dining table off to the side. There’s a man in the room, obviously the chef, judging from his uniform. The chef is holding a ladle and is in the process of grabbing an empty tray off of the table. He looks up at me when I’m some distance away.
“If you’re looking for hors d'oeuvres, I’ll get them when I’m good and ready!” The chef says in a threatening tone as he turns around and heads towards a small doorway to the side of the room.
“And stay out of my kitchen!” He snaps, turning around and brandishing his ladle in my face.
I stare the ladle down, feeling quite intimidated. Before I can say anything, Benjamin interjects from behind me.
“Now, now. Let’s not be rude to our guest.” Benjamin chastises.
I turn around, seeing the butler approach, holding a tray that has glasses of champagne.
“So sorry about that, here’s your champagne.” Benjamin says, handing me a glass.
“Enjoy your evening.” With that, the butler walks away, handing glasses to the other guests.
I head back into the main area, away from the ladle-happy chef. At this point, everyone has gathered close by, waiting for our host to arrive. I come to a stop beside Damien, seeing him incline his head down towards me.
“Done exploring, Y/N?”
“You could say that.” I say.
“Welcome, welcome, one and all!” We all hear Mark say, seeing him come down the spiral staircase, stopping halfway.
Mark has his hair slicked back as usual, and is wearing a red silk robe with a white ascot tucked into it.
“My name is Markiplier. Thank you for joining me on this auspicious evening. So good to be surrounded by such close and trusted friends.” Mark says warmly as he looks at everyone assembled.
“Now, this evening, it’s not all about the poker, it’s not all about me. It’s about you. So drink up and be merry! Life is for the living!” Marks says.
“And who knows, I could be dead tomorrow.” He says, before laughing.
Everyone raises their glass towards him in a toast before drinking from it. Mark walks around, spending time talking to the others assembled. While he’s doing this, Damien and I engage in conversation, talking about different state affairs and how different issues could be solved by both of our offices. At this point into our conversation, we have each emptied two glasses of its contents. I’m feeling a slight buzz in my system, making me feel relaxed but not to the point of my intellect and sense of judgement being impaired. I want to keep my wits about me when I wipe the floor with everyone when we get around to playing some poker.
“Look at the both of you, not being able to stray away from work for too long.” Mark greets in a teasing tone as he approaches the both of us.
Damien and I smile at him, a bit sheepish at being caught.
“Mark.” Damien says, his smile losing its sheepish nature as the actor comes to a stop in front of him.
“Damien…good to see you again, old friend.” Mark says as he and Damien hug each other, patting the other on the back before pulling away.
Mark turns his attention to me, a grin on his face.
“Mark it’s good to see you again after all this time.” I say with a smile.
“You too Y/N, it’s been years.” He says as he embraces me in a tight hug.
I hug him back, wrapping my arms around his neck. We pull away from the other, Mark’s hands resting on my shoulders.
“I see you’ve hadn’t lost your touch on giving hugs.” I tease him lightly.
He laughs, letting my shoulders go.
“I can say the same for you.” He teases right back, a glint in his eyes.
“But we’re not here to just talk about boring everyday things, we’re here to have some fun.” Mark says, wrapping an arm around Damien and I’s shoulders and leading us to the game room, the others following behind us.
Everyone sits at the table, Benjamin starting up a round of poker for everyone. As the game goes on, everyone is really starting to feel the effects of the alcohol the butler keeps handing everyone.
“Another round goes to the District Attorney.” Benjamin announces as everyone, minus Damien and Mark lets out a groan.
The Colonel looks at me with grudging admiration.
“It’s not every day I see a lady have such skill in poker.” The Colonel remarks.
“Damn Y/N, you’re going to bleed us dry.” Abe says with a groan before knocking back the rest of his champagne.
“Why’d you think Damien and I folded earlier? She’s a master at this game.” Mark says with a smirk.
“Who taught you to play like that?” Benjamin questions, the others who don’t know, looking at me curiously.
I smirk, turning my sly gaze to the man beside me.
“Our dear Mayor taught me.” I say, seeing the flush on Damien’s cheeks when everyone turns their incredulous gaze on him.
I decide to have mercy on Damien.
“I’ll have mercy on you guys. I’ll sit the next rounds out, I need to stretch my legs.” I say, standing up and returning everyone’s gaze to me once more.
“I need to stretch my legs too, I’ll be sitting the next rounds out.” Damien also says, standing up.
“Have fun with your game boys, you’re going to need it.” I say with a smirk.
“Why’d you say that?” The Colonel inquires.
My gaze meets Mark, seeing him looking at me. I know better than to give the others a heads up.
“You’ll find out.” I giggle, turning my back on the table.
I exit the game room with Damien, the both of us walking around and ending up in the music room that has a grand piano at the edge of the room, along with a gramophone and some shelves holding vinyl records.
“Thanks a lot for outing me in front of everyone, little monster.” Damien says in a mock angry tone.
“Oh come on Dames, I know you’re not angry with me.” I say with a giggle, reaching out and straightening his bowtie that had somehow gotten crooked.
Damien smirks down at me, causing my stomach to twist. The alcohol’s really doing its job, because his more playful side is coming out.
“You’re right, I’m not angry with you. In fact, I don’t think I have it in me to even get angry at you.” He says, fondness in his tone.
I feel a flush rise up on my cheeks at the tender look he’s shooting my way.
“You know there’s an effective way of stretching one’s legs.” He begins conversationally, thankfully turning his gaze elsewhere as he ventures deeper into the room.
“And that is?” I question, watching him place his cane to the side and walk to the shelves, picking a vinyl.
He pulls it out of its sleeve before placing it onto the gramophone and setting the needle on top of it. He walks over to me as the first notes of Clair de Lune, a favourite of ours, plays.
“May I have this dance?” Damien asks softly, holding out his hand.
I smile, gently placing my hand in his and moving into position. Damien clasps my hand in his and wraps his other hand around me, lower than he usually does when we dance. I don’t comment on it and slide my free hand to his shoulder. Damien leads us into an easy waltz.
“It’s been some time since we’ve been able to dance like this.” I murmur softly, not wanting to disturb the music too much.
“Yes…” Damien replies just as quietly, regarding me with something I can’t quite pinpoint.
“Quite frankly…I’ve missed you, Y/N.” Damien admits, causing my breathing to hitch slightly.
“I’ve missed you too.” I couldn’t quite keep the longing out of my voice.
I sincerely hope he didn’t catch that but something in his expression changes as he tugs me a lot closer to his body, adding more complicated dance moves into the mix. Despite having a few drinks in me, I’m able to keep up. I keep my gaze on his shoulder, worrying my lip slightly.
Should I tell him how I feel?
The song’s about to end, Damien twirling me away before pulling me back as the last note ends. It’s quiet between us as we just stand there a moment. I work up the courage to glance up, seeing his eyes on me. He makes no move on releasing me.
“Damien?” I inquire softly when he lets go of my clasped hand and gently cups the side of my face.
“Y/N, I have something I must tell you, I can’t keep it hidden anymore.” Damien says in a solemn tone.
I keep quiet, silently letting him know he can continue by pressing my cheek against his palm.
“For the longest time, since our University days, I’ve cared about you.” Damien begins to say, making my heart beat a little bit quicker.
Does he feel the same way? I’ll let him talk, wouldn’t want to jump to conclusions.
“Over time, those feeling have only gotten stronger…What I’m try to say is…” Damien says, trailing off, unsure.
I silently reach up and place my hand over the one holding my cheek. He gives me a small smile, taking a deep breath and exhaling. I let my hand return to my side, feeling his fingers caress my cheek tenderly.
“I love you Y/N. I love you with all my soul.” Damien whispers, causing me to stare up at him.
He feels the same way…He feels the same way!
I feel tears well up in my eyes, alarming the man holding me.
“Are you alright?” He questions, looking concerned.
“I’m alright…” I reassure him with a soft smile.
“Damien, I’m happy that you’ve shared how you feel for me.” I say softly.
“The truth is…” My words cause him to look nervous.
“I love you too Damien, I’ve loved you for years but I’ve been too much of a coward to tell you.” I admit, thankful for the liquid courage the alcohol provides.
Damien lets out a joyful laugh at my admission, pulling me into a hug.
“You’ve really scared me there, my little monster. I thought you wouldn’t feel the same and you’re not a coward, I should’ve told you all those years ago.” He says into my hair.
“I do feel the same way and I guess we both should’ve taken the plunge all those years ago.” I say, tilting my head upwards and feeling him press his forehead to mine.
We look the other in the eye, just taking in this moment.
“I don’t care what the media says about us, it won’t change the love I have for you.” Damien murmurs, before kissing me.
I smile into the kiss, kissing him back and wrapping my arms around his neck. We stay like this as long as we can before the need for oxygen becomes too great. We pull away slightly and Damien smirks at the likely dazed expression I have.
“You have no idea how long I’ve wanted to kiss you, to hold you like this.” Damien says in a slightly husky tone.
My face flushes at the tone. He chuckles slightly, pulling me into a shorter kiss. We break apart once more, Damien letting go of me.
“We should head back before the others get too suspicious of our absence.” Damien reasons.
I sigh, slightly disappointed.
“You’re right.” I say, pouting slightly.
“Don’t look so disappointed my love, I intend to court you properly.” Damien says with a tender smile.
“I’d certainly hope so.” I say, face turning red once more at the new endearment.
“This Monday…how about dinner, at my place?” He asks.
“Sounds great.” I say, watching him place everything back the way it was before grabbing his cane once more.
He makes his way back to me and we exit the room, seeing Mark up ahead, looking around. He catches sight of us.
“Ah, there the both of you are, I was worried I’d have to send a search party out for our missing Mayor and DA.” Mark says with a smile that seems colder than usual.
“Sorry about that Mark, what about the poker you guys were playing?” I say, seeing him grin, making me question if I had just imagined his reaction.
“Well, the others found out that you weren’t joking about needing luck, I’ve won all the rounds we’ve played so far.” Mark says in an easy-going tone.
“I’ve come to get you guys because we’re going to play a different game.” Mark explains.
“Sounds interesting.” Damien remarks as we follow Mark back into the game room.
Turns out the new game was beer ping pong. Some time passes by and Damien’s doing a keg stand when the Colonel challenged him to. Mark and I shout encouragement as Damien chugs as much beer as he could. The boys then started playfully throwing punches at the other, the Colonel putting Abe into a headlock. I choose to stay out of that and I ended up having to flip the bird at a few people, namely Mark and Benjamin. Hours fly by and at this point I’m absolutely wasted. Abe puts on some music and everyone’s drunkenly dancing throughout the game room.
“I’ll be right back, Y/N.” Mark says, causing me to nod at him.
“Okay.” I say, voice slurred.
He gives me a smile before leaving the room. Damien and I are dancing once more, but unlike earlier, we’re mostly just holding onto the other and swaying since we’re both quite drunk.
“I think I had a little too much to drink.” I giggle, leaning more heavily on him when the room starts spinning a lot more.
“I think you did, maybe you should retire for the night.” Damien says.
“Yeah.” I say, pulling away from him and attempting to walk.
I stumble, Damien managing to wrap an arm around me, steadying me.
“I’ll escort you to your room.” He murmurs.
“Sounds good.” I say as he slowly leads me out of the game room and up the stairs.
He ends up picking me up bridal style when I keep stumbling. I giggle, wrapping my arms around his neck and letting him carry me. Damien juggles me slightly to open the door to one of the rooms, making his way into the room and closing the door with his foot. I normally stayed in this room when Mark used to invite us over. He guides me over to the bed and sits me down. I flop back onto the mattress with a drunken giggle, hearing him laugh slightly.
“My love, you can’t go to sleep with all that clothing on, especially with you still wearing your shoes.” I hear him say as he sits on the edge of the bed, beside me.
I let out a huff at his words, sitting up and plopping my head onto his shoulder.
“But I don’t want to.” I say lazily, but toe off my flats.
“You still have to take off your jacket and tie, darling.” Damien says, helping me when I struggle to shrug off the jacket.
“Thanks.” I murmur, working on loosening the tie enough to slip it over my head.
Damien grabs my clothing and shoes and sets the clothing over the back of a chair and the flats on the floor next to the chair.
“Maybe the undervest too.” He states, causing me to grin at him.
“If I didn’t know any better, I’d think you’re trying to get me naked, Dames.” I say, causing him to blush.
“I’m not, I’d never take advantage of you.” Damien protests.
“I know.” I say, unbuttoning the undervest and pulling it off.
“Catch.” I say as I toss the article, seeing him barely snag it from the air.
He gives me a mock glare but also sets the vest over the back of chair before making his way back to me and sitting down.
“Comfortable now?” He asks.
I let out a lazy hum, leaning against him. We stay like this for a while.
“I love you.” I say, pulling back slightly and pecking him on the cheek.
“I love you too, darling.” Damien returns, kissing my forehead gently.
“Now get some sleep, I’ll see you in the morning.” Damien says quietly.
“I wish you could just stay here.” I say sulkily.
Damien smiles at that.
“I wish I could but it wouldn’t be appropriate, my little monster.”
“Yeah.” I sigh, laying on the bed properly.
I glance at the clock noticing that it’s 1:30 AM.
“Goodnight Damien.” I whisper drowsily.
“Goodnight, Y/N.” Damien says before walking out of the room and closing the door with a soft click.
I blink a few times, each blink harder to do before I’m out like a light.
Chapter 5: An Unpleasant Surprise
Notes:
Hey everyone! Here's the next update as promised. Thank you so much for the kudos and comments.
Chapter Text
Sunday, October 14th 1938.
The sunlight is too bright to me, despite not opening my eyes yet. I let out a groan, shifting onto my side. I can feel a migraine wanting to show up, so I reluctantly open my eyes, squinting at the time.
Eight thirty in the morning. I sit up, blinking a few times, before standing up and making my way into the bathroom to freshen up.
I then pop two Anvil and drink some tap water before getting redressed. I place my hair into a low bun, checking myself in the mirror and ensuring I look presentable. Opening the door, I see Benjamin standing outside.
“Oh Benjamin, good morning.” I greet.
“Ah, good morning Miss DA. Hope you had a good night’s rest. I’ve prepared you a Seltzer with cocaine. Best thing for the morning after, if you ask me.” Benjamin says with a wink as he hands me the drink, before walking off.
I glance down at the drink, setting it onto a side table. I look up, seeing Damien standing by the banister, looking out. I make my way towards him, wrapping my arms around him from behind. He jumps slightly, making me giggle. He turns around in my arms and gives me a fond smile. I can see that he has a fresh, white carnation flower pinned to his suit’s lapel, his circular Mayor ribbon in its usual spot.
“Ah, there’s my little monster! You really knocked em’ dead last night. I haven’t seen you go wild like that since our days at University. Good to let the beast out every once in a while, darling.” Damien says as I let him go.
“I could say the same for you, I’m not the man who did a keg stand last night.” I say, causing him to chuckle slightly.
“Then again, I’m still not exactly sure as to what we’re supposed to be celebrating here.” Damien says, confused.
“I mean, it’s good to have the gang back together, but out of the blue like this seems… Anyway, now is not the time to become conspiratorial. Life is ours to choose as I always say.” I smile slightly at his words.
“That you do.” I say, recalling all the times he’d say that specific phrase.
“I have some work to finish, but I’ll meet you at breakfast.” Damien kisses the side of my head before walking off.
I let out a happy sigh before I make my way down the stairs, looking around at the decorations. Stepping off the last stair, I look to my right, seeing the suit of armour. I shake my head slightly at Mark’s choice of décor before turning my body to the left to head to the dining room. I see a flash of red on the ground and look down, the image taking a second to register in my mind. The shriek tears itself out of my throat as I stumble away in horror. I can hear footsteps rushing towards my direction.
“Y/N? What’s wrong?!” I hear Abe yell as I hear the footsteps get closer.
I feel the tears well up in my eyes as my gaze stays locked onto my friend’s dead body on the floor. Any happiness I felt was long gone at this point. As much as I sincerely hoped Mark was just playing a mean prank on me, I know that’s not the case. I can’t see him breathing and his one eye I can see is foggy and unclear, very much like a fish that’s been dead a while. The cold, harsh truth slams into me, breaking my composure.
Mark is dead. My dear friend is dead.
Abe enters the room causing me to look at him blearily.
“Mark—he’s…” I try to say but can’t finish my sentence.
Abe looks over my shoulder, seeing Mark’s body on the floor.
“OH MY GOD! There’s been a murder!” Abe says in shock, thunder sounding off, followed by lightning.
He notices the horror and grief on my face.
“Shit, are you alright?” He asks, holding onto my shoulders and not letting me look at the body.
I take in a shaky breath, feeling as if the room’s closing in on me.
“No, I’m not…I came down the stairs after speaking with Damien and I found him there!” I say, the tears spilling onto my cheeks.
“Oh God.” I sob, the shock starting to creep in as I feel my knees buckle, Abe managing to hold me upright.
I cling onto the Detective.
“I heard screaming is everything—OH MY GOD, MURDER!” Benjamin exclaims as another thunderclap does off.
“Did you—MURDER!” The chef yells, the same thing happening.
“Sir, the body is cold. He’s been dead a while.” Benjamin informs us as I manage to cease crying for the time being.
I avoid looking at where Mark body lies, else I’d end up crying once more.
“A likely story. That I happen to believe completely. Alright Y/N, you’re off the hook as prime suspect,” Abe says, causing me to look at him blankly.
“Gee, thanks.” I mutter as I let go of him and shakily step away.
“But I’m a Detective.” Abe says.
“Oh yeah? Prove you’re a real dick!” The chef says, getting in Abe’s face.
Benjamin offers me a tissue and I take it, wiping at my face, taking deep breaths as I try grounding myself.
“Here’s my badge, asshole.” Abe snaps, showing his badge before a reel of photos falls out of it.
He starts folding the reel back up.
“Those are my old partners. Don’t ask me about them.” He says to everyone.
“Fine! I’ll tell you. Each one of them died. Each death more tragic than the last. A few of them even died in ironically hilarious ways.” Abe explains, causing everyone to look at him, uncertain.
“Which made it all the more tragic.” The Detective says.
“Y/N? I heard screaming—” I hear Damien start to say as he rushes into the room, stopping abruptly at the sight in front of him.
“Oh! Mr. Mayor. I’m so sorry. There’s been a murder.” Benjamin informs him grimly as another thunderclap sounds.
“Mark’s dead…” Abe begins to explain.
“The District Attorney found him.” The Detective finishes saying, tone as grim as the butler.
Damien stares down at my blotchy face. I avoid looking him in the eye, feeling like I’m going to break down again.
“Maybe you should take Y/N to get some fresh air, she can slip into shock if we aren’t careful.” Abe says to Damien.
Damien nods, Abe guiding me over to him. Damien wraps an arm around me.
“Why? Who would do this?” Damien asks, tightening his arm around me.
“I don’t know but I’m going to find out.” Abe reassures.
“Um, excuse me. I feel like we should call the authorities for them to handle this matter.” Benjamin interjects.
“Look, buddy. As far as you’re concerned, I am the authorities.” Abe says, pulling out his badge once more.
“The fact of the matter is, I believe the killer is right here amongst us in this very house. With that freaky lightning storm outside, none of us would get very far anyway. So, in the meantime, we’re stuck here. But I’m gonna get to the bottom of this. The rest of you, get back to your rooms, hunker down, and pray to God you’re not next to be murdered.” Abe says before another thunderclap hits.
“I’ll… I’ll check on the other guests.” Benjamin says before taking his leave.
“I’ll get back to cooking. All this death made me hungry.” The chef says before leaving.
Damien quietly leads me outside, onto the patio. He sets his cane to the side and silently pulls me into an embrace. I hug him back, trembling slightly.
“I can’t believe he’s gone Damien. One moment he’s there and the next—” I don’t bother finishing my sentence.
I move my head back and look up at him, cupping his cheek.
“Are you alright?” I ask in concern.
Damien sighs, pressing his cheek more into my palm.
“I don’t know…I don’t know how to feel about all of this.” He says, voice cracking slightly.
Damien tucks my head back into the crook of his neck and I tighten my grip around him, stroking his back softly, trying to comfort him as well. We stay like this for a long time, trying to accept that Mark is dead. While like this, I manage to push my grief to the side.
“I wonder if anyone has told the Colonel what had happened.” I say softly.
“Maybe the butler informed him.” Damien says, just as softly.
“You should go talk to him, Mark was also a friend of his right?” I inquire.
“Yes he was.” Damien mutters into my hair.
I pull away from the hug, Damien letting me go but holding onto my hands.
“Are you going to be okay?” Damien asks in concern, holding my gaze with his warm mahogany orbs.
“I’ll be fine for the most part…I’m going to speak with Abe, maybe he’s found something.” I say, squeezing his hands comfortingly, feeling him squeeze back.
“Alright.” He nods slightly, letting my hands go and grabbing his cane once more.
“We’ll figure this out Damien.” I say before he leaves.
“We will.” With that, Damien leaves, heading elsewhere.
I steel my nerves, spinning around and heading back inside. Entering the room where Mark’s body is, I can see Abe finish securing yellow tape around the area the body is. Mark’s body is covered by a white sheet, making me feel slightly relieved. I didn’t want to catch another glimpse of him like that.
“Abe.” I say in way of greeting.
“Ahh, Y/N, just the person I wanted to see.” Abe says, turning around to face me.
“I see that you’re doing a lot better.”
I smile grimly, no humour in my gaze nor smile.
“I’m managing but you said you wanted to see me?”
“That’s right, I’ve decided you’re my new partner.” Abe says confidently.
I shake my head no.
“I’m not.” I try protesting, causing him to chuckle.
“That’s what all my old partners used to say… Right before they died.” He says, causing me to look at him, spooked at the revelation.
“Alright. Hand me that fingerprinting kit behind you, partner.” He says with a wink.
I frown at him but turn around and grab the kit, giving it to him.
“All right, partner. It’s time to get to work. Judging by the temperature I measured rectally, which is obviously the most accurate way to get the inner body temperature of a corpse-that’s a fact, totally procedure. Don’t tell anyone I did it. I am sure Mark was killed around 1:30 AM last night.” He says before shooting up to his feet.
“So what were you doing at 1:30 AM last night?” Abe says, pointing a finger at me accusingly.
“I was in my room, Damien helped me get there since I drank a little too much. If you want to hear his testimonial you’re welcome to.” I state as I calmly return to my feet.
His accusation made me a bit irritated but I keep my cool. I’ve dealt with more irritating matters in a courtroom after all.
“It checks out.” Abe mutters before continuing.
“So, we need to figure out where everyone was and what they were doing around that time or, at the very least, who saw Mark last. You need to get out there. See if you can piece together the story of what happened last night. I’ll stick around with the body and run more… tests.” Abe says before kneeling down beside the body once more.
I duck out from under the tape and head down the hallway. I can hear raised voices coming from a room with its door cracked open slightly. Walking closer, I’m able to make out that one voice belongs to Damien.
“Oh, how can you be so flippant?” Damien asks in frustration.
“Flippant?! I’m taking this matter very seriously!” The Colonel says back to him, obviously annoyed.
I reach the door way, looking through the crack in the door, seeing Damien standing there, looking towards the Colonel. I hesitate about going further because I’d end up walking right into their argument.
“Oh, don’t give me that horseshit!” Damien snaps, surprising me slightly, because he normally doesn’t curse.
Mark’s death must be affecting him more than he previously let on.
“I know you hated him, but, god damn it, he reached out to you!” Damien exclaims.
“Oh, what do you want from me then?” Is the Colonel’s exasperated answer.
“Wh—I want you to care!” Damien shouts, making my heart bleed for him.
“Just because I’m not weeping like a child doesn’t mean that I don’t care.” Is the Colonel’s steady answer.
“I can’t believe you.” Damien tone is quiet, grip tightening on his cane.
“You come and find me when you pull your head out of your ass!” Damien says with a slight growl, before turning around and making his way to the doorway.
He stops abruptly when he sees me through the crack in the doorway. I don’t say anything as he opens the door, moving to the side to let him pass.
“Excuse me.” He whispers in a restrained tone, before stalking down the hallway.
I stare at his retreating back in concern before remembering what I came here for. Facing the open doorway, I step into the room and close the door with a soft click. Glancing around, I can see that it’s a small cinema. The Colonel is sitting at the back of the room, looking to the side. I walk towards him.
“Damien, I don’t—!” The Colonel says as he turns his head, stopping his words.
“Oh.” He says softly when he realizes that it’s me.
“Ah, good to see you again Y/N!” He says as he stands up.
“Colonel.” I say in greeting, seeing him smile slightly.
“You were quite the rapscallion at last night’s festivities. But you’re probably here to help the Detective with his “investigation of murder”. He says, making air quotes as thunder sounds outside.
We both look to the blinds, confused. He turns his gaze towards me once more.
“Anyway, I’ll help you, I’ll tell you what happened to our dear friend Mark.” He says.
“Oh! Look at me! My name is Markiplier, now! Forget all my friends or the people who helped me along the way! Just look at my money! Oh, I need to pay people to be my friends! Ha-ha-ha! You like me? Too bad. Oh, glug-glug! Oopsie poopsie. I can’t hold my booze. Gotta go off to the little boys’ room. Who wants to join me? I’m gonna go there upon my stairs. My house has more than one staircase. Oh, look at me and how great I am! Oh no, I’m falling. Aah, I’m dead.” The Colonel says mockingly.
I keep my temper in check, refusing to snap at him. Sure in recent years, Mark used to be downright full of himself but I didn’t let that get in the way of our friendship.
Everyone has different ways of dealing with loss, I firmly remind myself.
“And that’s what happened.” The Colonel says, snapping me out of my thoughts.
“Probably, anyway. So, if you need to corroborate this story with anybody else just be on your way and investigate the entire house. Go now, I’ll be here when you’re done.” He says dismissively.
I nod slightly, before turning around and exiting the room. I stop abruptly when I see Benjamin standing there.
“Come with me, I need to show you something.” He says, gesturing for me to follow him.
“Now, if you’re looking for answers, there’s really no mystery at all. There’s not a single detail of this house that I’m not privy to, and not a single guest that I have not personally vetted.” Benjamin explains as he leads me somewhere.
“Now I warn you,” He turns around forcing me to stop, least I crash into him.
“What you are about to see is not for the faint of heart. A domain of evil this is. But in we must go. You first.” He says as he opens the small wooden gate, gesturing towards the stairs leading down into the cellar, if I recall correctly.
I glance at him before gingerly making my way down the stairs. Now in the cellar, I look around, gaze finding a broken bottle of wine on the floor.
Judging from the lack of alcohol on the ground, it’s been emptied, possibly drunk by someone. Before I can ponder more on the bottle, I’m interrupted by the butler behind me.
“Avert your eyes!” He cries as he rushes towards the broken bottle with a broom and scoop.
“I’m so sorry you had to see this! Master would be so displeased! If only he were still alive!” The butler sobs as he cleans up the mess.
I stare at him, aghast. I fidget slightly, unsure of how to proceed before deciding its best I leave him to work out his grief. I silently back away towards the stairs, wincing as his sobs grow louder. I move up the stairs, the crying fading the further I move away. The next place I head towards is the kitchen, faltering slightly at the sight of the chef chopping up some meat, quite aggressively.
“I thought I told you to stay out of my kitchen!” He says, holding his knife and ladle in his hands.
“I know chef, but I’m helping the Detective.” I explain quickly, seeing the threatening expression on his face disappear.
“Oh. You’re helping that dick with his little investigation, huh?” He says tensely as he moves slowly towards me.
I back away uneasily.
“Well, I might look like a sweet and innocent man, but some people with short lifespans might think otherwise. I can’t imagine why, can you?” He says, jerking forward slightly.
I shake my head, a bit frantic.
“Last night, after I got rid of all of the evidence… Of that delicious meal I prepared, and wiped down all the fingerprints… From those filthy dishes, and sopped up all that blood,” He says pointing the knife at me.
“I retired to my room at 1:00 AM,” He says.
Thankfully he stops pointing the knife in my direction and begins backing away. I take notice of the statue that looks just like him on the marble counter to the left.
“And left my little buddy in charge like I always do.” The chef explains before kissing the statue on the cheek.
I keep my face neutral at that, not wanting to set him off.
Where the hell did Mark get this guy? He seems a bit unstable.
“He sees everything… Why don’t you ask HIM what happened last night?” The chef says before stepping back.
I move slowly forward, staring into the eyes of the statue and suddenly seeing a security feed of some kind. It shows different parts of the manor, each dated a different day. In one of the feeds, I can see the Detective standing in a room, waiting for someone.
“Abe!” I hear Mark exclaim as he walked into view.
“Mark! Good to see ya.” Abe said as he shook Mark’s hand.
“Great to see ya. Look, I’ll cut right to the chase. Chef? Butler? Good?” Mark inquired.
“Chef’s an asshole, but he’s clean. Uh…butler, he’s a new guy. Also an asshole, but he’s also clean.” Abe explained.
“I wouldn’t have it any other way.” Mark said before the feed cuts off.
I rip my gaze off of the statue, noticing that the chef is nowhere to be seen. I didn’t know what to make of what I saw.
Mark was running background checks on his staff? Why?
Something doesn’t add up. I can feel it in my gut, that something is wrong with all of this.
Why, a few days before the poker night, would Mark decide to run a background check on the butler and chef? Especially since he’d probably done one before he hired them? Did Mark somehow know that he’d be murdered?
I sincerely wish I hadn’t drank as much as I did last night, because any memories towards the end of the night are hazy. I know Mark had said he’d be right back but I can’t remember the other occupants that were in the room. I only recall Damien and myself.
I frown slightly, feeling a bit uncomfortable for some reason. I glance around the kitchen, feeling as if I’m being watched, quite intently, might I add. I shake off the paranoia, deciding its best I get some fresh air, heading back onto the patio. Looking up, I freeze in my tracks, seeing Damien also outside. He’s pacing around, hands wringing around his cane. The last I’ve seen of him was his argument with the Colonel.
“Damien?” I say softly as to not spook him.
He spins around, eyes settling on me before he lets out a sigh. He makes his way towards me, coming to a stop a few inches away.
“Look, I’m sorry you saw that argument with the Colonel.” Damien begins to say, looking a bit regretful.
“I lost my temper, and it wasn’t right and… He must be in shock. The Colonel’s an eccentric; it’s his best quality and his worst. But he’s my friend, and… So was Mark.” I keep quiet, letting him vent.
“I know I’m supposed to be a leader in this scenario, but I can’t help but feel lost. I’ve known Mark for years, since we were kids… And he’s just gone?” Damien says in anguish.
Damien’s known Mark a lot longer than I have, I’ve only known him since we started high school.
“I don’t have any answers right now. I just need to be alone… To process all of this. We’ll talk soon, but I need to think.” Damien says softly.
“Take all the time you need Damien, I know it’s a lot to process.” I say gently.
“Thank you Y/N.” He says, lips twitching slightly before he sighs and walks away.
I watch him go, a storm of thoughts in my mind.
“Partner! Get over here, now!” I turn around, startled, seeing Abe peeking around a bush, looking at me.
Was he spying on Damien and myself?
“Hurry up!” Abe says urgently.
“What’s wrong?” I question, making my way towards him as he turns around and rushes back into the manor.
I rush after him, trying to keep up.
“You’re not gonna believe this, I can barely believe this.” Abe says in a rushed tone as I follow after him.
“The body. It’s gone. It’s just fucking disappeared.” Abe reveals, shocking me.
“What?!” I exclaim in disbelief.
“Look.” Abe says as we enter the room the body is located.
I look down, only seeing the outline of where Mark’s body was.
“What the hell?” I breathe as I duck under the yellow tape.
Chapter 6: A Potential Zombie Problem?
Notes:
Hey guys and gals and all configurations of being, I got a bit of a treat for your guys. I tried my hand at drawing our favorite Mayor, granted digital art isn't exactly my forte.
Chapter Text
“WHO DID THIS?!” Abe exclaims, pacing around the room.
I barely pay him any mind, more focused on the fact that my friend’s body is missing.
“It certainly wasn’t me. No, no. Somebody, NOT ME, must have moved it between the time I was the last person alone with the body in the room and then stepped out for a few minutes to take care of some personal business—” I look up at him sharply, eyes narrowed.
“—That you don’t need to know about. Could have been anybody… Except me.” Abe says.
“Your further tests, did you find out anything more? Like how he died, if there are any finger prints of the murderer—” My questioning is cut off by a clap of thunder.
I glance outside, suspicious of why that keeps happening whenever the word ‘murder’ is mentioned. Before Abe can open his mouth to say anything, we’re interrupted.
“What the hell happened here?” Benjamin questions as he enters the room.
“The body’s been moved.” Abe explains, alarming the butler.
“On its own?” Benjamin asks, eyes shifting around as if Mark’s body is going to pop up out of nowhere.
“No, of course not.” Abe scoffs before looking thoughtful.
“Unless it did, in which case we’ve got way bigger problems than a simple murder.” His words are punctuated by a clap of thunder.
“What the hell happened here?” The chef says, stepping into the room.
“The body’s moved.” Benjamin blurts out.
“On its own?” The chef asks, looking uneasy.
“We haven’t quite ruled that out just yet, but let’s not forget we’ve got a murderer.” Abe says, thunder sounding off once more.
“Bully!” The Colonel exclaims from behind me, making me yelp slightly, hand flying up to my chest.
I spin around, seeing his face a few inches from mine. He looks at me, slightly amused at my reaction. I frown slightly in turn, facing the others once more.
“Quite a storm out there, eh chaps? What are you doing huddled here in fear?” He asks as he ducks under the yellow tape and nudges me slightly.
“We have a zombie problem.” The chef says, causing the Colonel to turn his attention to him as he walks towards him.
“Ah! Homonecrosis.” The Colonel says making the butler flinch away when he says the last word.
“Zombies?” I question, causing the Colonel to look towards me with a grin.
“The most dangerous game. Well, if someone needs to put the old lad down again, I’m well up for the privilege.” The Colonel says, causing everyone to look at him.
Abe narrows his eyes at his words and I keep my expression neutral, not sure how to react to that.
“What do you mean by again, and what do you mean by privilege? Abe interrogates.
“I’m just saying, I’ve got plenty of… experience.” The Colonel says defensively.
“So do I.” The chef says, causing me to stare at him.
“Yeah, that just raises more questions.” Abe says as I silently agree with him.
“Well, I’m off to the grounds to see if I can catch a whiff of the old bag of bones, eh?” The Colonel says, walking off.
“Weren’t you and Mark the same age?” Benjamin says, confused as the Colonel laughs as he walks away, before the laughter breaks into coughing.
“Alright, I don’t trust him.” Abe says, before looking at everyone left.
“Then again, I don’t trust anyone.” Abe says, the chef and butler raising their hands and looking sheepish.
I don’t trust these people either. The only person I trust is Damien. I’m not sure about the Colonel yet. He’s said some concerning things in the past, as if he knows more than he lets on.
“Alright, lock this place down. Secure the front gate.” The Detective orders.
“Locks won’t keep people from getting out, Sir.” Benjamin reasons.
“Locks won’t, but chef will.” The chef says, tugging on his culinary jacket before walking away.
“Look, you’re a real smart son of a bitch. Handsome too, beautiful even, but we don’t have time for this.” Abe says to the butler.
“I think we forgot the most important question of all during our arousing game of whodunnit. Why? Why? Come walk with me.” The Detective says, gesturing me to walk with him.
We leave the butler alone as we walk through the halls.
“Why did he invited us all here? Why tonight? He said we were celebrating something, but he never specified what. It’s almost as if this whole shindig of a hootenanny was just a ruse.” The Detective says, solidifying my suspicions.
“Mark was my friend—had been for years, then he went quiet. I knew something was wrong, I just never figured out what. Now I guess I never will. Look, I’m gonna be level with you. You’re my new partner. I’ve been working with him for years. Now I’ve been doing this for a long time, and I know something is wrong. There is a murderer—” Abe says before he’s interrupted by thunder and lightning.
We both look up at the ceiling, confused.
“—Here amongst us—” Abe continues to say as he walks up the stairs.
I follow after him.
“—And we need to find it, and you look like a trustworthy woman. I know we just met, but I am an excellent judge of character. Excellent like a fox.” Abe says with a wink, making me blink at him.
Throughout my career as a lawyer, I’ve grown sharp to seeing subtle body language cues. I know that the Detective is lying to me, but I don’t let him know that. I’m concerned that since he’s also close to Mark, he won’t see things from a professional point of view.
“You don’t look like you have any reason to kill him, and if you do…” The Detective says, causing me to stare him down evenly as he laughs.
“Best to keep your enemies close, eh? Wink wink.” He says.
“If we are going to continue this investigation any further Detective, we need to make something clear.” I say evenly.
“Mark was my friend since high school. As I said earlier, my alibi is solid since Damien and I were together at that time. If anything, I should be more concerned about you.” I say, voice turning frigid.
“Especially since you seem to play a bigger part in this, as I’ve seen in my investigation so far.” I say, causing the Detective to look at me in shock.
I’m not about to let him bully me, I’ve been playing this game for some years now. His so called mind games don’t faze me.
“But as you said, keep your enemies close.” I state with a smirk, tone flat as I walk past his stunned visage, continuing down the stairs.
It’s only my footsteps for a few moments before he rushes after me. At this point I’ve changed the perceived power dynamic between us.
“What do you mean, I play a bigger part in this?” Abe demands as we step off the stairs.
“A few days before the party, you’ve met with Mark concerning background checks on the butler and chef.” I state, turning around and looking him in the eye.
At this point Y/N, a close friend of Mark, is gone and the District Attorney is standing in her place.
“T-That’s correct.” Abe stammers.
“Did Mark give you a reason why he’d want a background check on his staff?” I question firmly, seeing the Detective sweating bullets.
“No, he didn’t, Ma’am.” Abe says, looking a bit shocked at my change in demure.
I refrain from smirking in amusement.
“Very well, as I’ve asked you earlier, have you found out anything new from your tests?” I inquire.
“I-I have.” He says, clearing his throat slightly.
“Well.” I implore pointedly, crossing my arms and tapping my foot purposely.
“Now, in my thorough analysis of the corpse’s anal cavity, I discovered that in addition to being stabbed 37 times, he was also poisoned, beaten, strangled, drowned, and shot. In that order. Now if you ask me, that’s a lot of trouble to go through to knock off one guy and it sure as shit is no accident. No. No, my friend. There’s gonna be no simple candlestick in the library solution to this whole puzzle.” Abe blurts out.
I take in what he said as I stop tapping my foot.
“Have you been able to figure out how old his injuries were?” I inquire, brows furrowed thoughtfully.
“No.” Abe sighs.
“The body disappeared before I could.”
I let out a slight hum at that. It’s silent between the both of us for some time.
“You know, you’d actually make a good Detective.” Abe says out of the blue.
I raise an eyebrow at that.
“I’ll keep that in mind if I decide I want to change professions.” Is my dry answer.
“Lead the way, Detective.” I say gesturing for him to take the lead once more.
“Right.” He nods, walking ahead.
“So the real question we should be asking is: who stood to gain the most from Mark’s death?” Abe says as he leads me towards a set of double doors which led to Mark’s room.
“We’re gonna have to do the Detectively thing and go through the victim’s most private and personal possessions.” He says, opening the door.
“Well, after you.” He says.
I refrain from rolling my eyes.
Such a gentleman.
I enter the room, Abe right behind me. I take in the absolute mess the room is in. It looks like a tornado ran through the place.
“Oh. It looks rough, but I don’t think he was killed here.” Abe mutters.
“Take a look around and see if you find anything, but BE CAREFUL. I’ve lost three partners before to bedroom booby traps.” Abe explains causing me to look slightly concerned from his last statement.
Who booby traps their bedroom?
“Make sure you don’t tamper with any evidence. Let me know if you find anything.” Abe says, branching off into the room carefully.
I do the same, eyes scanning around slowly. Walking towards a table, I spot a few photos, eyes falling on the one that had Mark, Damien, and the Colonel. They were all smiling in the picture. I then look at the next photo, seeing one with Damien and Mark. I turn to the other photo, seeing Mark, Damien and The Colonel in it. The new addition is a woman I recognize as Damien’s twin sister. We’ve hadn’t interacted much in the past since I’ve always been busy with cases and our schedules are so different. That, and after Mark and her had gotten married, the actor kept to himself and pushed Damien and I away, which did strain the friendship we had with him.
Things had been quiet in terms of communication between us and then I ended up finding out via Tabloid that Mark and Celine’s relationship had deteriorated. Damien had also found out the same way as me and we both tried to reach out to Mark but he pushed us away once more. We both give up on trying to reach him, figuring that if he wanted to talk with us he’d reach out. He never did, so life went on for Damien and myself, Damien and myself becoming even closer. Damien then got re-elected as Mayor and I had campaigned to become DA, getting the position after a close vote.
I scan the photo, seeing Mark and Celine are facing each other, smiles on their faces. Damien is facing the photographer. The Colonel is watching Mark and Celine, an unreadable expression on his face. My gaze lands on another photo, seeing a younger version of Mark and myself. I blink away the sting of tears, tearing my gaze away and seeing one of the photographs facing downwards. I lift the frame, turning it around, seeing the Colonel standing alone in the photo. The glass of the picture frame is broken, unlike the pristine condition of the other frames.
“You find a clue?” Abe questions from the other side of the room when I lift the photo for him to see.
I turn it around to look at it once more, lowering it and stepping back, startled, when I see the Colonel standing there. I meet Abe’s eyes, seeing him looking as stunned as I felt.
How did he get in here without either of us hearing the door open?
“You’re quite on the case, aren’t you?” The Colonel says to me, a hand on his hip.
“Say, Detective, may I borrow your friend here?” The Colonel asks, not taking his gaze off of me.
I begin to feel uneasy with his laser pointed focus.
“Yeah, sure. Don’t worry partner, I’ll handle it from here.” Abe says, causing me to look at him.
I set the photo back onto the table before stepping forward.
“Bully.” The Colonel says before turning around.
“Take a walk with me.” He says as I hesitantly follow behind him.
“I thought it was about time that we got to KNOW each other. Someplace far, far away from the prying eyes of… anyone else.” He says spinning around to face me as he says the last bit.
He turns around once more.
“Come with me.” He says lowly, opening the glass door leading outside and stepping out.
I follow after him.
“Now correct me if I’m wrong, but you and the Mayor know each other, right? He’s a good man, that one.” The Colonel says as we come to a stop.
He turns around to face me once more.
“That’s correct Colonel, we’ve known each other since our University days.”
The Colonel nods, accepting what I’ve said.
“William.” The Colonel says, confusing me.
“Pardon?”
“My name is William, I’ve just realized I haven’t told you that when we introduced ourselves.” William explains.
“You can call me by my name or rank, whichever one you’re comfortable with.” He says.
I look at him thoughtfully.
William or Colonel, both sound so formal. If Damien’s been friends with him as long as I suspect, then he’s alright in my books. Even if he’s a bit eccentric.
“How about Will?” I ask, shortening his name.
“Ah, we’ve reached the nickname part of our friendship…” William says, pleased.
“I know! I’ll call you N/n.” William says, giving me a nickname.
We begin walking once more.
“Damien and I…we’ve been fast friends for as long as I can remember. Now, there came a time when I could have said the same thing about Mark, but…” William says, smile fading somewhat.
“Well, best not to speak ill of the dead. Oh! The pool hasn’t aged a day.” He exclaims, causing me to look at the body of water in question.
Looking towards William, I see him wearing swim wear and a hat. My mouth drops open slightly in shock.
How did he change clothing so quickly?
“GERONIMO!” William exclaims as he jumps into the pool.
I hastily back away, least I become soaked. I don’t have a change of clothing after all. I hear footsteps coming my way and turn around, seeing Damien.
“My little monster, have you seen the Colonel?” Damien asks.
“I’ve seen him, he’s right—” I say, turning to point him out and not seeing him there.
I grow more confused.
“I thought I heard him. I need to speak with him.” I hear Damien say as I turn back around.
“I may have been a little short at our last encounter.” Damien mutters.
“Well, if you see him, let me know.” Damien says before kissing the side of my head.
Damien walks away and I let out a sigh.
“Bully!” William says, rising above the surface of the water, causing my breath to hitch.
I look around for Damien frantically, trying to see if I can call out to him.
“Oh, life needs a bit of madness, eh, chap?” I spin around when I hear William behind me.
He’s dressed in his previous attire.
None of this is normal! The logical side of me rants, I shove it away to the best of my ability.
Logic seems to have flown out the window since this whole investigation started.
“Speaking of which…what’s occurring between you and our dear Damien.” William says slyly.
“W-What?” I ask, stuttering slightly at the smirk on the Colonel’s face.
“I saw that little bout of affection he gave you.” He elaborates, causing my face to flush slightly.
“I don’t really know…” I say, sighing slightly.
What do we even label our relationship? We haven’t spoken about it, since there’s more important things to worry about.
“You care about him, don’t you?” William asks with a serious look on his face.
The change in demure is a bit jarring but I manage to keep my wits about me.
“I love him.” I state simply.
“And does he feel the same way?” William says with an unreadable expression on his face.
I look at him, nodding. “He does.”
“To be in love…” William says, a wistful smile on his face before it grows small.
He seems to be thinking about something.
“Will?” I question gently.
He snaps out of his train of thought.
“Now, what were we talking about? Oh, yes, the grisly business inside. Well, I’m sure I’m not the first to say that our host had a great deal of enemies as of late.” He starts walking once more.
I follow after him.
“My prying eye might suspect that the people who worked for him might have reason to stab him in the back. God knows he’s a tough son of a bitch to work for.” William states, before looking at something over the banister.
“Oh! The old golf course! I-I’ll fetch my clubs!” He sprints away before I can say something.
“Will! Maybe you should—” I cut myself off, knowing that it’s pointless.
“Colonel?” Damien says from behind me.
“Damn,” Damien says with a frustrated growl in his voice.
“I thought I heard him… no matter.” He says as I turn around to face him.
“My love, would you like to accompany me? There’s something that I would very much like to discuss with you.” Damien says, holding the crook of his arm out to me.
“Of course, beloved.” I say, wrapping my hand around his forearm.
Damien smiles at the endearment before guiding me into a leisurely walk.
“Now, I know you’ve been assisting our…” Damien pauses slightly, trying to find the appropriate word.
“—Intrepid Detective with his investigation, but… I have to bring some concerns of mine to the forefront. If we look at this situation logically, we can only assume that the killer who struck down our dear friend Mark was with us last night.” Damien explains.
“And while I would stake my life on the innocence of the Colonel or yourself, can we really say the same of our beloved Detective? Or worse yet, mayhaps our counting skills aren’t as good as we assume to be. And mayhaps… In the shadows of this manor, unseen to any of us, lay hidden… a murderer.” Damien says as a boom of thunder is heard.
Before I can tell him anything concerning my suspicions, we both hear a gunshot. I drop my hand from Damien’s forearm, looking up at him in alarm. He meets my eyes before we both run towards the source of the noise, hearing muffled yelling as we get closer to the glass door. Damien pulls it open and rushes inside, myself at his heels.
I’m so glad I’m not wearing heels.
I nearly crash into Damien’s back when he stops abruptly.
“Damien what—?” I try to ask but he keeps me behind him.
I peek around his side, eyes widening at the sight of Abe and William holding guns pointed towards the other.
“I don’t know what you’re playing at but you better lower your weapon, you murderer!” Abe yells as thunder goes off.
“I bloody well won’t, you’re the one that assaulted me! For all I know, you could be the murderer!” William yells, his statement also punctuated by thunder.
“What the fu—OH!” The chef says, entering the room and immediately backing up when William points his gun at him.
The Colonel points his gun back at the Detective. I watch the scene, feeling powerless to stop it. My hands grip the back of Damien’s suit jacket.
“Last chance, drop your weapon!” Abe says in warning.
“Master’s prized vase!” Benjamin exclaims, somewhere nearby, but I don’t avert my eyes from the two men in front of me.
“Everyone, please! I know we’re all on edge, but can’t we resolve this amicably?” Damien says, trying to diffuse the situation.
“On edge?! This PSYCHO tried to shoot me!” Abe says incredulously.
“That’s a bold-faced lie. I was merely doing some light target practice.” William says in retort.
“Inside?!” Benjamin says incredulously as he waves his broom in the face of the Colonel, his other hand holding a tray containing the remains of an expensive looking vase.
“Well, yes, I couldn’t go on the grounds now with that bloody chef in my way, could I?” William says rhetorically.
“Damn right you should remember that, Private!” The chef says, getting into the Colonel’s face and hitting his helmet covered head with the ladle.
“Besides, you’re not my boss anymore.” The chef snaps.
I move from behind Damien, Damien’s hand shooting out and grabbing my hand, refusing to let me get any closer. I stay beside him, for his sake.
“It’s “Colonel” now.” William says with a growl.
“Enough of this horseshit! You knew I was onto you and you were trying to whack me off before I could finger you…” Abe says, causing everyone to look at him, stunned.
He seems to realise the insinuation.
“As the murderer!” Abe snaps.
“I will not be called a murderer in my own home!” William exclaims.
“Stop!” A familiar voice says over the sound of the thunder.
Chapter 7: Celine
Notes:
Things are really heating up as we get closer to the end of the storyline for Wkm.
Chapter Text
Everyone turns to look at the now open front door, taking in the woman. I stare at her, shocked to see her here.
“What are you doing?!” Celine demands as she closes the door.
“Who the hell are you?” Abe demands.
“Celine? What are you doing here?” William, myself and Damien ask in unison.
The Detective looks at all of us in shock.
“Celine? How the hell do you know her?” Abe questions all of us but we don’t pay him any mind.
“Madame, I’m afraid you’ve come at a very inopportune time. Something dreadful has happened here.” Benjamin informs her.
“I can see that, and I’m glad I got here before it got any worse.” Celine says.
“This is only the tip of the iceberg! And it’s a big iceberg. How can I put this delicately…” The chef says, pausing momentarily.
“MARK’S FUCKING DEAD!” The chef says, which isn’t putting it delicately.
“What?” Celine asks in horror, causing me to feel sorry for her.
While Mark and Celine are no longer married, surely news of his death would still affect her.
“Dead like my hopes and dreams. And he’s a flesh eating zombie, too!” The chef tacks on.
“Homo necrosis—” Celine says before she’s cut off by William.
“Exactly. Hence the guns!” William says triumphantly as he waves his gun around.
“That is NOT “hence the guns”!” Abe snaps, also waving his gun.
“Stop waving those bloody guns around!” Benjamin exclaims, only to have two guns and a ladle waved in his face.
“Hol—Hold on! Tell me what happened! How did Mark… die?” Celine says.
“It was murder.” Damien says from beside me as thunder goes off.
“And worse yet, the body is missing.” I pipe up from my spot, before realising that Damien’s still holding my hand, not that I particularly mind him doing that.
“What—?” Celine says, turning towards me and cutting her words off when she catches sight of me.
Damien lets my hand go, causing me to glance at him momentarily before looking at his twin sister once more.
“Y/N?” She questions, surprised to see me here.
“Hi Celine, it’s nice to see you again. If only the circumstances were better.” I say with a grim tilt of my lips.
“Show me where the body is.” Celine says to me before looking at Damien.
“And don’t say that word.” She says in warning.
“What word? Murder?” The chef questions as thunder sounds.
“Yes! That word!” Celine says as I lead her to where the body was.
We all stand around, staring at the tape outline showing where Mark’s body laid.
“Well, I mean murder—” Benjamin’s words are cut off by, you guessed it, thunder.
“—is a rather accurate description of what occur—” Benjamin is cut off by Celine.
“Do you not see that lightning?” Celine questions everyone, getting in the butler’s face.
“You sayin’ it was lightning that murdered—” Abe is cut off by thunder.
“—Mark?” Abe finishes saying.
“Don’t be ridiculous Detective, if Mark had perished by lightning he would’ve been burnt to a crisp.” I state, being considerate of Celine’s wish to avoid the word ‘murder’.
She gives me a thankful smile.
“Well, Mother Nature doesn’t really strike me as having murderous—” The Colonel’s words are cut off.
“—Intent… Unless you count that time I was pulled into the board game Jumanji and I—!” William continues on despite the thunder.
“Stop, stop! Look, whatever’s happening here is tapping into forces far beyond our control.” Celine tries explaining.
“Meaning?” I question, staring at her confused.
She doesn’t elaborate, hesitating. I elect to look around at everyone, the chef meeting my eyes.
“Murder.” The chef says quietly, another thunder clap occurring.
“Mur…doch?” William says cautiously.
“Malarkey.” Abe says, looking up slightly, as if expecting something to happen.
“Marco—!” Benjamin says before the loudest thunder clap out of all of them sounds off.
I’ve had enough of everything.
“Cut it out!” I snarl at them with my famous death stare, frightening them into silence.
Damien and Celine smirk at the looks on their faces. The twins both know how downright terrifying I can get, if irritated to the point of anger.
“Enough! Look, Mark’s death is a terrible thing, indeed.” Celine says as we sit at a table.
“But I fear that there are forces much darker than anything we’ve seen here today. I’m well versed in the arcane arts, but if you, untrained and uninitiated, can summon lightning with a mere word, we’re all in far graver danger than anything we could ever hope to face alone. We’re gonna have to work together if we’re gonna survive this.”
“Celine, what are you proposing?” Damien asks from his seat beside me.
“We need to speak with Mark.” Celine says, tone serious.
“I knew it! He’s a flesh-eating zombie!” The chef says, banging on the table top.
“No—” Celine tries to reject, but is cut off.
“Well, maybe one of those smart zombies—homeo sapio zombifus!” William interjects.
“No, no! I need to commune with the dead.” Celine says, causing Damien and I to look at each other.
While Damien wears an open expression of unsurety, I elect to keep mine hidden to most of the others, a slight frown on my face.
Only Damien would be able to read how I’m really feeling since he knows most of my reactions like the back of his hand.
“That... doesn’t sound like a good idea.” Abe tries to caution.
“Well, it’s a good thing I don’t need your permission.” Celine says snarkily as Benjamin refrains from laughing at the Detective’s expression.
“But YOU! You’ve been awfully quiet through this whole thing.” Celine says to me, causing everyone to look at me.
“With those beady little eyes.” The chef says to me.
I can tell that Damien didn’t like what he said, because the hand resting on my knee, flexes in irritation.
“And wearing THOSE rags, pff.” Benjamin says, making me feel slightly offended.
This is an expensive suit!
“Maybe I shouldn’t have trusted someone so goddamn gorgeous.” Abe says, looking at me.
Well, it’s a compliment at least, I reason to myself.
I glance at the Colonel, expecting him to jump on the bandwagon.
“Oh, I’ll pass.” William says, making me smile slightly at him.
“Thanks Will.” I say to him quietly.
“But I feel like I can trust you. I sense that you have a far greater part to play in all of this. Will you help me find an answer?” Celine says.
“Sure, but you didn’t have to let me go through character assassination.” I state, tone neutral.
She shoots me a slightly apologetic look.
“Come with me.” Celine says, about to get up.
“Alright, that’s enough. I’m not gonna just sit around and let you drag my partner off to her very likely death. I won’t stand for it!” Abe says, his words being contradicted when he stands up in his anger.
“Well—I trust Celine with all my heart! I see no reason why an-any-anyone should doubt her!” William says, also standing up.
“Well, I have to agree with our intrepid Detective, here. It just doesn’t seem natural.” Benjamin protests.
“I never liked this uptight asshole. He walks around with a stick up his ass. But I think he’s right. Something’s weird.” The chef says in agreement.
“If it makes you guys feel any better, you can stand watch outside the door, but my work cannot be interrupted.” Celine says.
“Oh, believe you me. I’ll be keeping a close eye on every single one of you. Even myself. Especially myself.” Abe says, before smiling at me slightly.
Celine stands up and begins walking away. I stand up, Damien’s hand slipping from my knee. That seems to snap him out of whatever reverie he was in. He also stands up.
“Wh—Celine? Celine, wait. Wait!” He says rushing after her and placing his hand on the stair’s railway, effectively stopping her.
“Yes, Damien?” Celine asks softly.
“I... Are you alright? I know this news can’t be settling well with you.” Damien says quietly.
“I’m fine for now.” Celine says, walking forward and forcing Damien to drop his hand, letting her start up the stairs.
“I… er…” Damien stammers, his eyes meeting mine briefly before he starts up the stairs after her.
I follow after him.
“But all this talk of the occult! And—and Mark is dead, wait!” Damien says, catching up to her at the top of the stairs and grabbing her elbow.
I come to a stop, two stairs below him.
“Wait. I just didn’t think you were the type to become mixed up in all this.” Damien says, voice quiet.
“There is more to this world than you could ever hope to imagine. I just have my eyes open to a small portion of it.” Celine says firmly before stalking down the hallway.
“I…” Damien sighs.
“Just be careful!” He calls down the hallway.
I walk past him, intending to follow Celine. I pause when he grabs my hand.
“Damien?” I ask, turning around, only for him to kiss me.
I’m a bit surprised but kiss him back. We pull away from each other, Damien giving me a serious look.
“Be careful my love, I don’t know what she intends to do.” Damien whispers.
“I’ll be careful beloved.” I say to him in reassurance, kissing him once more before heading down the hallway.
I can see Celine standing at the end of the hallway.
“So you and my little brother huh?” She asks as we enter a room with a small, rectangular table.
“That’s correct.” I say.
She glances at me with a smirk.
“It’s about time.” She quips.
“Wha—?” I say before she interjects.
“Since he’s met you, Damien’s been going on and on about how wonderful you are.” She says, pulling open her bag and sitting in one of the chairs.
“He has?” I say in surprise.
“Yep, I was wondering when he’d man up and ask you out.” She explains as she gestures for me to sit in the other seat.
She starts setting up everything. I zone out slightly, looking up from my lap sometime later when she clears her throat. I notice that she had removed her headpiece.
“Now, I’m sure this must be unsettling for you, being thrust into this series of unfortunate events. But I promise, with your help, I am going to get to the bottom of this. Now, I’m not sure who would want to kill Mark, but something tells me this seemingly significant event is actually a footnote in a much larger mystery unfolding in our midst.” Celine explains before glancing around the room.
“I’ve never been very comfortable in this house. But something tells me… Now that my eyes are open, there are dark forces surrounding this manor.” She says to me as everything starts fading away into black.
“Keep your enemies close, eh?” I hear the Detective’s distorted voice as my vision goes black and I slump against the back of the chair.
Slowly, different scenes start appearing to me.
“I will not be called a murderer in my own home!” William exclaimed as he pointed his gun.
“Stop!” Celine commanded as she slammed open the door and entered the manor.
“I thought it was time that we get to know each other, far away from the prying eyes of… anyone else.” William said as he spun around to face me as he said the last bit.
“You’re not gonna believe this. I can’t believe this.” Abe said in a rushed tone as I followed after him.
A piercing screech sounds off in my ears before I’m standing in front of Damien once more.
“...not exactly sure what we’re supposed to be celebrating, I mean it’s good to have the gang back together…” Damien said to me.
He’s replaced by a different scene. The Detective and chef are there, but there’s another person… a mature man with blonde hair, wearing a wide brimmed hat, overalls and holding a shovel in both of his hands. At his feet is a freshly dug hole.
“Employees come and go. Some die, some don’t.” The mystery man says.
Thunder claps loudly and I suddenly find myself back in my seat, Celine sitting in front of me.
I gasp in a breath, feeling absolutely disoriented.
“What happened, Y/N? Why did you stop? Did you see something? Someone?” Celine questions, rapid fire.
Normally, I’d be able to retort but my head is still spinning from whatever the hell that was.
“Draw it.” She says, handing me a sheet of paper.
I manage to focus enough to draw a crappy rendition of what I saw. I hand it to her, trying to get my vocal cords to work.
“What is this?” She looks confused before growing frustrated.
“This doesn’t answer anything!” Celine exclaims as she gives me back the paper.
“You need to go back! Go back, now!” Celine demands as the door bursts open.
“What the shit it this?!” Abe demands as he walks into the room, Damien right behind him.
“Get out! We are not done here!” Celine barks at them, standing from her seat.
I put a hand to my head, feeling a headache developing. Damien looks at the setup before looking at me, eyes full of concern when he sees how much this is affecting me.
“Celine, I think this is quite enough—” Damien tries to protest.
“It’s enough when I say it’s enough!” Celine snaps, slamming a hand on the table.
“C’mon partner, let’s go. Come on! Hurry it up!” Abe says, pulling me out of my chair.
Damien shoots me a concerned look as I pass by him, before turning his attention to his sister.
“What did she do to you?” Abe asks as he leads me into the hallway.
“Some kind of vision, I don’t know. I drew this.” I say as I hand him the paper.
“What is this?” He says looking at the paper I gave him.
“Butler! Butler!” Abe yells, continuing to walk forward and look at the paper.
“What, what is it?” Benjamin asks as he comes around the corner, the chef in tow.
“This mean anything to you?” Abe inquires as he holds out the paper to the butler.
“Well, maybe… No, sorry.” Benjamin stammers.
“Spit it out if you got something!” Abe snaps.
“Well… It could be our groundskeeper, George, but he only works on weekdays.” Benjamin explains as the chef looks around, looking suspicious.
“Looks like your friend here may disagree with that notion!” Abe says accusingly.
“Me?” The chef questions quietly, a lot different from his usual abrasive self.
“Yeah, you.” Abe says.
“I don’t know shit. I plead the fifth, man.” The chef says.
“Chef, if you know something, for God’s sake, spit it out!” Benjamin says, fed up.
“Okay, alright, you’re twisting my arm. Alright. George has been living on the grounds for years.” The chef reveals reluctantly.
“WHAT?!” Benjamin yells, stupefied.
“And you just now thought to share that information with us? For all we know, he could be the murderer!” Abe says in anger as a clap of thunder occurs.
“For the last time, stop saying that word!” Celine scolds from somewhere behind us.
I look to the side, seeing her and Damien come up to us. I frown slightly at Damien’s expression.
He looks so lost and confused about everything. Not that I’m fairing any better as it is.
“Look, George… just tends to the grounds, man. He’s a fuckin’ hermit!” The chef says, defending the groundskeeper.
“I don’t care what the fuck he is!” Abe snarls.
“Look, all this arguing is getting us nowhere! Just go outside and talk to this George and be done with it!” Damien says, annoyed.
“Hold on a sec. You’re not coming with us?” Abe questions.
“I-I need to stay here with Celine.” Damien says, avoiding looking any of us in the eye.
“I don’t need help. Especially from you!” Celine snaps at Damien, making me feel immensely irritated.
He’s just trying to help the sister he hasn’t seen in years, why can’t she see that?
“OUR FRIEND IS DEAD!” Damien exclaims, causing everyone to look at him.
“...I’m sorry. I just need answers to all of this. I already lost one friend today. I don’t want to lose another.” Damien says, voice lowering in octave.
“Fine, but I need to stay here.” Celine says, relenting.
“Fine with me.” Damien says quietly.
“Fine, good, yeah, whatever, who cares.” Abe mutters.
“Alright, you’re coming with me. Partner, you too.” Abe demands, causing me to meet Damien’s gaze once more.
“Be careful beloved.” I mouth to him, seeing him nod slightly before he follows after his twin.
“Hold on a sec. We’re missing somebody. Who had eyes on the Colonel?” Abe says, looking at the chef and butler.
“Well, he appeared tired, and… went back to his room.” The butler informs us.
“I’m sure he did. And with any luck, he’ll stay there. Alright, let’s roll out. Come on. Move it.” Abe says, walking away with the chef and butler.
I look back, watching as Celine closes the door to the room we were in.
“Come on, partner, come on!” Abe says, causing me to turn around and move towards the others.
“Lead the way, Cookie.” Abe says to the chef.
“Cookie? I’m not your Cookie! I spent three weeks at culinary school! I earned the right to be called a Chef!” The chef yells, Abe looking unimpressed.
“I am very impressed. Just tell us where we’re going!” Abe exclaims.
“Come on! Let’s go!” The Detective says, spinning the chef around by the shoulder.
The chef walks through the glass door, heading outside. Abe follows after him. I glance back into the house, having a bad feeling about all of this.
“Be careful Damien, Celine.” I whisper, before following after the Detective.
“I think I see him.” Abe whispers to me as we make our way down some stairs, the chef leading the way, lantern in hand.
“Hey! Buddy! Hands where I can see ‘em!” Abe says as he draws out his gun and points it at the same man I saw in that weird vision thing.
“Hey, my hands are where they’re supposed to be. Unless, of course, you’d like to dig this hole for yourself.” The groundskeeper, George, says as he moves his shovel and steps onto solid concrete.
“What the hell are you doing here?” Abe asks, causing me to look at him, feeling exasperated.
That’s a poor way of wording your question, Detective.
“I’m the groundskeeper. I keep the ground, alright?” George says, as if the Detective is an idiot.
“I’d say look around. The ground is pretty well kept in this place, right?” George says rhetorically.
“I’m sorry, man, this dick made me bring him out here.” The chef says.
“You shut up. How do you not know about the murders—” Abe is cut off by thunder.
“—Going on in this house? How do you not hear that lightning?” Abe questions.
“Lightning’s the sky’s business! Look at the ground! When the ground starts shooting up lightning, I’ll let you know!” George says, causing me to bite the inside of my cheek to refrain from laughing.
I don’t think the Detective would appreciate that.
“Alright then, smartass, why exactly are you digging that hole? And why shouldn’t we suspect you for taking part in the death of your employer?” Abe says.
“Employers come and go! Some die, some don’t, some are murdered, some are not. It’s not my business! I’m digging this hole for a burst water pipe, if that’s alright with your gracefulness!” George says.
“See, I told you. George didn’t do nothin’, man!” The chef says.
“See?” George says as he moves his shovel up a step and also walks up a step.
“I just did nothing.” George says, looking at Abe.
“Forgive me for not taking you at face value. But we’re all gonna come inside, we’re gonna sit down, and have a nice lovely chat.” Abe says, before his face twists in anger.
“And get to the bottom of this before I lose my mind, and start dabbling in murder myself!” Abe yells angrily, thunder sounding once more.
“Now, you listen to me, sonny. It’s been fifteen years since I’ve been in that house. And I am not about to break that winning streak now. I don’t care how many murders there’ve been. I ain’t going near that house!” George says before looking at me.
“However, there is one reason. One incident. One manifestation… That will get me into that mad house.” He says to me seriously.
I share a glance with Abe and the chef before turning my attention back to the groundskeeper.
“You had better pray to God that reason never comes to pass.” George says solemnly before a loud crack of thunder shakes the house.
I spin around, seeing the manor lit up ominously.
“That there’s the reason!” George yells as he sprints up the stairs.
I rush after him, a sinking feeling occurring within me. I can hear the others behind me as I follow the groundskeeper. I look at my surroundings in horror as flickering lights and all sorts of ominous sounds seem to bleed out of the house. I falter slightly, Abe overtaking me and going up the stairs back into the hallway where we left Celine and Damien. I scramble after him.
“Go, go, go!” Abe urges me, letting me pass him.
I rush down the hallway, ignoring William who stepped out of his room.
“Damien! Celine! Are the both of you alright?!” I yell as I run down the hallway, hoping for an answer.
Please, please, I don’t know who exactly I’m pleading too.
Damien, you have to be alright. Please be alright!
I see George up ahead. I stop abruptly in my tracks, seeing Celine in the doorway, bathed in light, flickers of red and blue light occurring behind her occasionally. She meets my eyes and I feel my stomach drop into the ground.
That’s not Celine, I realise in horror.
Damien! Where is he?! I try seeing if I can see him behind her.
As if whatever is possessing Celine can hear my thoughts, it gives me a twisted smile, as if amused at my reactions.
“Somebody help me!” George yells, causing me to break eye contact with ‘Celine’ and notice that he’s struggling to close the door to the room ‘Celine’ is in.
Choking down a cry of grief, I rush over to help George shut the door. We manage to close it shut, the house abruptly going quiet, all traces of light and thunder disappearing. George pulls out a set of keys and locks the door.
Chapter 8: Tragedy
Notes:
We've reached the end of Who Killed Markiplier and I'm shaking and crying rn. The poor DA...poor everyone, except Actor Mark, he's still a jerk.
Anyway, a personal headcannon of mine is that when Celine is in control of the Darkiplier persona, the aura around Dark tends to show as Cyan blue with a hint of Crimson, to signify that Damien isn't in control. When Damien is in control of the Darkiplier persona, the aura tends to be Crimson with a hint of Cyan Blue.
Chapter Text
“George, what was that.” I demand to the groundskeeper.
“That was one of the entities of the house.” George reveals grimly.
“One of the entities—there are more?!” I question, feeling sick to my stomach at the insinuation that we’re dealing with something that isn’t human.
“Yes—” George is cut off by William.
“What the hell is going on? Where is Celine?” William asks, walking up to us.
“She’s gone—and so is everyone else.” George says, looking at me momentarily.
I feel myself pale, shaking my head in denial.
No….no, Damien can’t be gone, he can’t be!
“Wait a minute! Where the hell do you think you’re going?!” I faintly hear the Detective bark.
“Away from here. This place is cursed! If you had half a brain, you’d all do the same.” George says, voice just as faint.
No, I can’t slip into shock now, I have to find Damien. I have to find Damien!
“Don’t walk away from me. Where’s Celine? Where’s Damien?” William asks as I manage to keep my wits about me, barely.
“I’ve spent 25 years cooking for these uppity fucks. I’m not about to die for ‘em. I QUIT! BITCH!” Chef says, spitting the last word at William.
“I know things seem far beyond your control right now,” Benjamin says, placing a hand on the Colonel’s shoulder.
“But such that it is for all of us here. I shall take my leave, and I implore you to do the same.” Benjamin says.
“I won’t let my friends die in this god forsaken house!” William says in a caustic tone.
“And if you all are too much of a coward to do the same, you would best leave before I kill you myself.” William says before shoving past the butler.
“Now you hold on a second. I’ve got more questions—” Abe says, rushing forward and grabbing the Colonel’s shoulder.
“Get your hands off me!” William snaps, causing Abe to falter at the pure rage in his voice.
That gives the Colonel enough time to walk away, turning around the corner and leaving our line of sight.
“What the hell’s going on here?” Abe growls as he looks at Benjamin and myself.
He then follows after the Colonel, trying to catch up to him.
“I know he’s in pain. And I know you might be too Miss DA… But we need to leave this place. There’s only death here now.” Benjamin says to me before walking away.
I watch him go, feeling my walls of resolve come crumbling down. I grip the banister for purchase, taking a shuddering breath. Feeling my knees shake and turn weak, I sink to the floor as despair swallows me whole.
“Damien.” I whisper brokenly, faintly registering the tears rolling down my cheeks.
“Please beloved, you can’t be gone. Where are you?” I whisper.
I don’t know how much time passes by, too stuck in my misery to notice.
“Hey.” I startle when I hear a voice that sounds like Celine.
“Help.” The voice whispers and I shakily get to my feet.
Looking around, the place looks off, everything looks gloomy and dark. There’s an unnatural chill in the air causing me to shudder, feeling goosebumps rise on my arms, despite wearing a long sleeve shirt and a suit jacket. I wipe the cold tears off of my face, wrapping my arms around myself and looking around cautiously.
“Celine? Damien?” I call out, breath condensing in front of me.
I begin walking forward carefully.
“Celine?” I call again, as I begin hearing noise.
“Damien?” I ask, unsure of what’s going on.
It’s almost as if the house has a mind of its own, this realisation brings no comfort, just more fear.
“Oh, you wanna talk about madness? Madness is stealing your best friend’s wife.” Abe’s voice is distorted.
“Be careful!” Comes Damien’s distorted voice.
“Damien!” I yell, voice desperate as I walk down the stairs.
“Now this evening, it’s not all about the poker. It’s not all about me. It’s about you.” I still momentarily, Mark’s distorted voice wrapping around me.
I rush down the stairs.
“Can’t we resolve this amicably?” Damien asks, making my eyes dart around.
Several voices begin talking at once, making me place my hands over my ears.
“Stop it! Leave me alone! Please!” I beg whatever is tormenting me, breathing hyperventilating.
“I thought I told you to stay out of my kitchen.” Comes the chef’s distorted voice.
“A domain of evil this is… But in we must go. You first.” Benjamin says as my breathing reaches its peak.
I squeeze my eyes shut, trembling. Abruptly, the chill disappears, along with the noise. I hesitantly pop one eye open, realizing that I’m in a room I’ve never seen before. I look around, seeing papers covering every surface.
“Is this evidence for the investigation?” I whisper to myself, looking through what I can see.
I read the newspaper clipping on the table.
“CITY’S MAYOR IS SECRETLY A DEMON IN DISGUISE?” Those words fill me with disgust.
Damien would never do anything wrong.
My eyes fall further down the page.
‘SAFARI HUNT GONE WRONG.’ The headline reads, a picture of William next to it.
Another newspaper page on the table catches my eye.
‘DISTRICT ATTORNEY, AN ANGEL IS DISGUISE?’ I frown at the title, seeing a photo of myself next to it.
It’s a photo of me at the children’s home, interacting with the children.
How did they even get that photo? I didn’t inform anyone of where I was going, since I didn’t want the population to know that I’ve been volunteering at the home since I was in high school.
I glance at the wall, seeing papers about Celine and William.
The Detective is investigating all of us?
I look at the typewriter, reading the words written on the page in it. All that’s on it is the phrase, ‘the colonel did it’. It’s written over and over and over again.
“There you are N/n!” William exclaims, startling me.
“I’ve been meaning to ask you some questions—What is this?” My eyes land on him, seeing him look around the room in shock, a newspaper clipping in his hand.
“The detective’s been keeping tabs on us? ...The detective’s been keeping tabs on me. And Celine!” William says, realization crossing his face as he ventures deeper into the room.
“He’s the one who orchestrated all of this! He did this!” William says to me urgently.
“Detective!” William spins around, grabbing his gun from his coat.
“DETECTIVE!” He roars, causing me to sprint after him.
“Will, stop!” I plead with him but he ignores me as he continues to search around.
“Where is he? He took them from me… He took my friends from ME. He took… Celine. He took Damien. WHERE is he? WHERE IS HE?!” I grimly stare at him, hearing the fury in his voice.
“DETECTIVE! Are you hiding him from me?!” William rounds on me, getting in my face.
“I’m not Will! I know you’re angry but you have to think about this rationally. You’re not the only one who’s lost someone they care about!” I snap at him, making him go quiet, a guilty expression on his features.
I scrub any welling tears from my eyes. William sighs, making me think I got through to him.
“He can’t hide forever.” William says, trying to walk past me.
“GET OUT OF MY WAY Y/N.” He yells when I try to stop him.
“William—Colonel—for God’s sake!” I plead from behind him
“DETECTIVE!” William yells, catching sight of him.
Abe spins around, aiming his gun at William. William points the barrel of his gun towards the Detective. I look on helplessly, a little distance away from the Colonel.
“You’d better choose your next words carefully, Colonel.” Abe says in warning.
“Only my friends get to call me by that name, and you, sir, are NO friend of mine!” William snarls.
“Ha, you’re one to talk about friends, you MURDERER!” Abe accuses, a thunder clap going off.
I look up, feeling uneasy once more.
“I didn’t kill anybody! This is MADNESS!” William shouts.
“Oh, you wanna talk about madness? Madness is stealing your best friend’s wife.” Abe says as I try to stop William from advancing towards the Detective.
William shoves me away once more.
“Madness is squeezing him for cash to fund your own sick sexual exploits with that very woman—!” Abe accuses, causing me to look at him in shock.
“SHUT UP!” William growls.
“Madness is plotting the death of your childhood friend because you can’t handle the tru—” Abe’s words are cut off by thunder and a gunshot going off.
Abe’s gaze goes slack in shock as he stumbles to the ground. I gasp, rushing towards William and trying to wrestle the gun out of his grasp. We struggle against the other before the gun goes off once more and I feel intense pain blooming in my abdomen. I jerk away from him, hand instinctively cradling the injury. William seems to realize what he’d done, regret twisting his features. I shakily exhale, everything turning blurry and pulling my hands away to see scarlet staining it. My lower back hits the banister and I feel myself tip over the edge.
“It was an accident Y/N!” Comes William’s distorted voice.
I blearily see William trying to reach out and grab me but he’s too late. I numbly watch him get further and further away.
“I swear…” Is the last words I hear as I hit the ground, neck bending at an unnatural angle with a loud crack!
I blink my eyes open, looking around at blackness. I can hear my heartbeat in my ears as a faint light seems to show up, letting me see somewhat. I glance down at my hands, seeing a lavender light around me. I flinch back when Mark’s body falls to the ground in front of me, his eyes looking at me before they turn pitch black.
“It’s not fair, is it, Y/N?” Mark says in a distorted voice before his body disappears.
“Y/N.” A familiar voice says, causing me to look up, seeing Celine and Damien standing in front of me.
Celine has a crimson light around her while Damien has a cyan blue light around him.
“Damien, Celine.” I say, relieved to see them.
“He took everything from us. He trapped us in here with this broken shell and no way out.” Damien says, his voice echoing around us.
I put two and two together.
“Mark did this?” I question is surprise, voice echoing slightly.
“It’s true. This whole time I thought it was the house, but… I never thought he’d fall this far.” Celine says grimly, her voice also echoing.
“And we played right into his hands. He’d been planning this for years, and now that son of a bitch is out there walking around in MY body.” Damien says angrily.
I stare at him, aghast, struggling to come to terms with everything.
“Damien, we can’t do this right now. Look, I know you have questions, and I can’t answer everything right now. Just know that Mark took everything from us in his twisted quest of vengeance. But death does not mean the same thing here.” Celine states.
“What do you mean?” I question.
“What Celine means by that is… This doesn’t have to be the end. You’re still trapped in here the same as us, but your body is still out there. Broken as it may be, it’s still out there.” Damien says, earnestly.
“Mark’s not the only one who can use this place to his benefit. The same way I brought you here is the same way that I can send you back.” Celine says.
I look at her, wondering how much good that would do.
“But you can’t survive on your own, my love. You’re dead, after all. The Colonel saw to that.” Damien says as he takes my hands in his.
“You can’t blame him. Honestly, he’s a good man. But he’s dangerous now.” Celine says, causing me to look at her.
“I know this all sounds crazy. Honestly, I don’t know what the fuck is going on.” Damien says with an edge of frustration in his tone.
“But I know that I trust Celine. And if you trust us… Just let me in.” Damien says, cupping my cheek.
“We can fix this. Together.” He says as he flickers slightly.
I don’t question the flicker too much.
“I won’t force this upon you. You have a choice here. Just know this is the only way that you can escape.” Celine says as Damien lets me go, stepping back to stand beside his sister.
I look at the both of them, weighing my options. I didn’t have much choice, it’s either I agree to this or we’re all going to be stuck here.
“Alright.” I agree, nodding at them.
Celine sighs in relief, Damien smiling softly at me.
“Just relax.” Celine says, raising her hands, palms facing me and closing her eyes in concentration.
“This’ll work. I promise, my love.” Damien reassures me as they begin fading away.
I hear a thunder clap, my eyes shooting open, seeing everything outlined in crimson and cyan before the outlines fade away. I turn my head, grimacing as a bone in my neck cracks back into place. I stand up, a bit stiff and unsteady, a strange feeling within me. It feels as if something is twisting inside of me, something wrong and unnatural. Looking down, I can see that the blood on my suit has dried and cracked off in some places.
How long was I dead for?
Turning around, I startle slightly, seeing William sitting, Damien’s cane in his lap.
“Oh! No, no! It’s okay, Y/N.” William stands up in a hurry, trying to reassure me.
“I-I thought you were dead. I-I-I mean, of course you’re not dead! How could you be dead? I-I-I wouldn’t have killed you. I-I didn’t kill you. I mean, of course… I-I… Of course.” He stutters, walking over to the wooden table that has a mirror over it and setting the cane onto it.
“I didn’t kill anybody. I didn’t—” William whispers to himself before laughing.
“It was all a joke! Of course, it’s all a joke! Were you in on this N/n?” He asks, stepping closer to me, causing me to step back.
“Did Damien put you up to this? Of course he did! Damien, where are you, you rapscallion?” William says, hopping off the platform and heading deeper into the manor.
“Where are you? Celine? Ah, it’s time to come out now!” He says, disappearing from view.
I struggle to contain the twisting happening within me as I turn to face the cane. Looking down at my hand, I can see my skin shifting between my normal skin tone and a greyed out complexion, a lavender aura with a hint of white outlining my form. I shake from the strain of containing the dark, twisting feeling inside of me.
“It was good, it was good! You almost had me! Ha! Ha-ha!” William says faintly as I grab the cane, cyan and crimson appearing.
“Celine?” I manage to hear William say in a confused tone before I feel something lurch violently within me.
I watch the appearance of my hand change from its slender form to one more masculine, the lavendery white aura diminishing and being overtaken by crimson and cyan. A high pitch ringing is in my ears as the world seems to twist for me momentarily. I look up, seeing a man that looks like a messy version of Damien, holding up the cane. He cracks his neck to the side, his complexion greying and the surface in front of me spider webs. The surroundings have a cyan and crimson outline once more. The outline around the man turns more cyan as he tugs on his suit jacket, his gaze finding mine and I freeze, seeing the coldness in that gaze.
Does he not recognize me? He’s never looked at me in such a way.
“Damien?” I say in concern, seeing the aura turn more crimson and his gaze shift into a soft look for a split second, before hardening again, the aura around him turning more cyan once more.
His face twists slightly in anger as he walks off to the left. I come to the horrifying realisation that I’m stuck in the mirror. I bang on the surface desperately.
“Come back! Damien, come back! Beloved, please don’t leave me in here!” I scream, hoping that he can hear me.
I hear the front door open, then close with a finality to it.
“Celine! Damien!” I scream, the blade of betrayal stabbing deeply into my heart.
I spend a long time hitting the surface of the mirror, trying to get free but it’s no use.
“Please!” I screech hoarsely, falling to my knees and resting my head on the broken surface.
“Someone.” I plead, tears falling.
“Don’t leave me in here.” I say softly.
I look up through the mirror, seeing Abe stumbling by, coughing.
“Abe!” I yell, hopeful as I shoot to my feet and pound on the mirror once more, trying to get his attention.
“Abe, can you hear me?!” I ask, watching him clutch at his chest, his shirt stained red.
“Colonel… If you can hear this… You better run.” Abe says with a wince, before walking out of view.
“Abe! Detective!” I yell in frustration as I hear the door open and close.
“Damn it! Why? Why?!” I snarl angrily, kicking at the mirror’s surface and wincing at the pain in my leg for my trouble.
“How can they do this to me? I trusted them! And they just throw me away after everything!” I say, angrily pacing the length of the mirror.
Some time passes and during this time I’ve come to know a bit about the void I’m stuck in. I can manipulate it somewhat. At this point I was no longer angry at everything that had happened, I just mostly felt bored, followed by self-loathing every once in a blue moon. Despite Celine and Damien leaving me stuck in here, that didn’t change the fact that I still love Damien.
If only I can see him again, one last time, so that I can get some answers as to why I was left trapped in this mirror.
More time passes, how much more…I don’t know, since time runs differently in here. I see investigators come in and search the house. I try in vain to get their attention but it’s for naught. Then I see some reporters stop by in the dead of night, they look like twins. They pull out an Ouija board and I jump to my feet, almost toppling the chair I had managed to form.
If I can concentrate enough, I might be able to communicate with them.
“Are there any spirits in the house? My name is Jim and this is my brother Jim.” The one in front of the board says, as the other Jim holds a camera up, recording everything.
I ignore the fact that they have the same name and look alike, concentrating on moving the planchette to ‘yes’.
This spooks the Jim in front of the board somewhat.
I focus on moving the planchette, spelling out a message.
“H-E-L-P M-E.” Jim spells out loud before sharing a look with his brother.
“Help me.” The Jim holding the camera says, looking a bit scared.
I panic slightly, lavender aura flaring to match my mood, not wanting them to leave.
“P-L-E-A-S-E D-O-N-T G-O.” I spell out.
“I M-E-A-N Y-O-U N-O H-A-R-M.” I try reassuring him.
“What’s your name?” Jim asks.
I spell it out for him.
“Y/N.” He says.
“Where are you?” Jim inquires.
I hesitate, wondering if I should tell them the truth.
“M-I-R-R-O-R.” I spell, feeling drained from having to do this.
I can see the glow around me dim slightly from the effort. They both look at the mirror in horror, and I feel desperation rise when they decide that they’ve had enough.
“Demons it’s Demons Jim!” The Jim in front of the board says frantically as he shoves the planchette to ‘goodbye’.
“No!” I snap, feeling my connection to the outside world shatter when they do that.
“I’m not a demon! I’m just a trapped soul.” I say, despite knowing that they can’t hear me.
“You heard that voice?” Jim questions the Jim holding the camera.
“I did, let’s get out of here!” The other Jim exclaims as they grab their stuff and run outside.
I only stare at where they were in disbelief. I scoff to myself, sitting down once more in my high backed chair and looking out of the mirror’s surface thoughtfully.
I guess the interaction wasn’t a total loss, they were able to hear me despite my connection to the outside world being cut off.
I look to the side, grimacing at the stifling darkness around me. Using the last of my strength, I conjure a side table with a lamp on it, reaching over with my hand and pulling the string to turn the lamp on. It casts a comforting glow around me, chasing away the shadows.
Pulling my hand back, I stare down at the appendage. Minus the purple aura with a hint of white, that seems to outline me, I more or less look the same as I did when I was alive. The other difference was that I’m a lot paler that I use to be, but that’s probably because I’m dead.
Dead…never thought I’d be saying this, not this soon at least.
I comb over the last conversation I had with Celine and Damien. They said Mark was the one responsible for everything that had happened. I go through the memories of that day, the party and the others around me, how Mark seemed to interact with them as if he had something up his sleeve, how he didn’t seem to be happy when he found Damien and myself after we had confessed our feelings for each other. I then look back on the interactions I had with Celine and the accusations Abe had said towards William, the pieces coming together somewhat.
Mark found out that Celine and William were having a relationship behind his back, possibly while Celine was still married to him. The paparazzi caught news of the divorce, Celine then runs off, probably beginning her dabbling in the occult. Mark pushes Damien and myself away when we try to reach out to him, which left him vulnerable to whatever entities were in the house.
The party was a scheme to take revenge, I frown.
While I was outside with the Detective and chef, meeting with the groundskeeper, Mark and one of the entities must’ve attacked Damien and Celine, since Damien had said Mark took his body, which meant one of the entities must’ve taken control of Celine’s body and trapped her soul.
But what was that figure of Mark I had seen when I ended up in that place? The pure black eyes that had stared at me before the body had disappeared…was it another entity? Did that mean Celine, Damien and myself were tricked somehow?
At this point I have more questions than answers, so I decide to get some sleep, feeling exhausted. Trying to get comfortable, I lean my head against the plush surface behind me and close my eyes, crossing my arms and legs.
Because what more can I do while stuck in here?
Chapter 9: Interlude: Damien
Notes:
Hey everyone! This chapter is a bit different, since it's in the point of view of two of our favorite characters. I won't spoil it for you guys, you'll just have to read and find out.
But don't worry, we'll be seeing more of the DA soon enough. I also did another digital art piece for this story and boy did it take some time to finish, a little over thirteen hours, but I'm happy with how it turned out.
Thank you for the kudos and comments! I really enjoy hearing what you guys have to say about the story.
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Damien’s POV
I stand outside in the frigid snow, axe in hands as I work to chop down a tree to use for firewood. With one last chop, the tree falls to the ground with a crash, ice crystals dispersing off of it. I pant slightly from exertion, breathe condensing in front of me as I reach up and wipe the bead of sweat off of my brow.
It’s been a long winter so far, I note to myself as I bring the axe down on the trunk of the tree, chopping the trunk into pieces, so that it’s easier to transport.
I load everything onto the sled and grab the rope tied to it, beginning my journey back towards the cabin.
I wonder if Celine is still in the cabin or if she’d already gone ahead to hunt something for us to eat.
I glance around at the snow blanketing everything, before frowning up at the sky covered in dark clouds. After some time walking, I see the cabin up ahead. It’s not much, but at least it keeps us sheltered from the snow. I sigh slightly, seeing Celine through the window, sitting in one of the two chairs at the table. I grab some wooden logs and toss them onto the ground, near the tree stump I use to chop firewood. I pull the sled to the shed behind the cabin and shove it inside, before grabbing my axe once more. Closing the shed’s door, I head back to the tree stump and start chopping the logs into fire wood. Figuring I have enough to last us into daybreak, I gather the firewood under one arm, holding my axe in the same hand. I head towards the door and shove it open, the door hitting the wall. I wait for Celine to start scolding me about slamming the door.
“Don't slam the door, Damien.” There she goes.
I shake the snow out of my shoulder length hair with a sigh, knocking the snow off of my boots before walking inside and closing the door. I glance at her as I walk towards the fireplace.
“If I want to slam the damn door I'll slam the door.” I mutter under my breath, before I kneel down and replenish the firewood in the fireplace.
Using the head of my axe, I poke the wood into the fire, coaxing it back to full force. Smiling slightly at the warmth casting over my cold body, I set the axe down beside me and hold my hands out to the fire, soaking in the heat.
“I saw a flower today. Shouldn't be long now before spring.” I mention to her, staring at the fire.
“Or, there's still a few more weeks of winter left and that flower will die, cold and alone.” Is Celine’s cold answer from behind me.
“Or...that.” I say, looking over my shoulder to regard her.
“Either way, winter can't last forever, Celine. With any luck we'll be able to get out of this cabin soon.”
“Luck doesn't keep the fire going.” Celine says as she stands up and walks over to the fireplace.
I look up at her, seeing her reach for the shotgun.
“Luck won't change the weather,” She says, grabbing the gun and pulling it towards herself.
“And luck definitely won't put food on the table.” She punctuates her words by cocking the gun.
“Well, I mean, if you think about it, you probably do need SOME luck in finding something to eat in the middle of winter out in the snow...” I try to reason, trailing off when she cocks the gun again and stares down at me.
“Ahem, good luck!” I say with a smile.
“Whatever.” She says, rolling her eyes.
“Try not to burn the cabin down while I'm out.” She states, turning around and walking towards the door.
“Aye Aye, captain.” I say, amused as I watch her open the door.
She pauses slightly.
“Did you really see a flower?” She inquires curiously.
“Yes, a little pink one.” I say, before turning my head to look at the fire once more.
“Silly thing. Probably dead by now.” I murmur quietly.
“Get some sleep. You look tired.” I hear her say from behind me, before the door closes shut and I hear it lock.
You're starting to sound like mom. I'm not that tired.
I poke at the fire some more, before yawning.
Okay, maybe I am tired.
I yawn again, setting the axe down and standing up, shrugging off my coat. I stretch slightly before getting into the single bed in the cabin and covering myself with the blanket. I shift onto my side, closing my eyes.
Looking around, I realize that I’m sitting at a grand piano. I glance to the side, seeing a cane leaning to the right of the bench. I’m wearing a black suit with a blue bow tie. Hearing footsteps coming towards me, I look to the side, breath hitching slightly as the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen, walks in, an apologetic smile on her face.
“Sorry about that Dames, this case has been a tough one for me.” The mystery woman says as she walks towards me and occupies the space on the bench beside me.
I smile at her.
“It’s alright, I know how stressed it has made you.” I hear myself say.
She gives me a tired smile, resting her head on my shoulder.
“Can you play something for me, I’ve always enjoyed hearing you play.” She says.
“Of course, any requests?” I ask, feeling my heart beat up a storm at her proximity.
I can smell her perfume with how close she is. The light, warm scent surrounds me, any tension in my muscles, disappearing.
“How about Clair de Lune.” She murmurs, glancing up at me.
“Sure.” I say, looking towards the piano keys and feeling her remove her head from my shoulder, allowing me space to move my hands.
I begin playing the opening notes of the piece, glancing to the left and seeing a soft smile on her face as she listens to me play. I look back at the keys, not wanting to press an accidental note. It’s quiet between us as I play the entirety of the song, ending the piece by pressing the last key needed. Looking to the left again, I see her with her eyes closed, all the earlier stress in her body seeming to have disappeared for the moment.
“You’re going to have to teach me how to play piano sometime.” The woman says, opening her eyes and smiling at me.
I smirk slightly, “Only if you teach me how to play the violin.”
My words get her to laugh, the musical sound sinking into me and filling me with joy.
“Deal.” She says, smirking right back at me.
I’m woken up by a ray of sunlight hitting me in the eyes. I grimace, annoyed that my dream is interrupted and feeling something heavy in my chest. Sighing, I sit up, seeing Celine is already back.
“Had a good night’s sleep?” She asks me from her spot at the table.
“Yeah, I did.” I state, rubbing the sleep out of my eyes, knowing it’s futile to try going back to sleep.
“Huh. Well, you don't die easily, do you?” I say, looking down at the pink flower, surprised to see it alive.
Staring at the flower thoughtfully, I recall the strange dream I had with the mystery woman. I furrow my brows, confused as to why I’d feel so strongly for a woman I’ve never met in real life.
But she felt so real, the inner voice in my head, whispers.
“Well, why’d the music stop?” A man’s voice says in the distance, startling me.
“Hello?” I ask, looking towards the direction I thought the voice came from.
“You killed people!” Another man’s voice yells, voice echoing.
“What?” I whisper, head swivelling and looking off to the darkened woods.
“So many people!” The same man’s voice, exclaims.
“Who's there?” I ask, grip tightening on the axe’s handle.
“Hello?” I wait for a response, not getting anything.
“Huh. Alright.” I murmur, raising my axe and swinging it towards the trunk of a tree, beginning to chop it down.
“Come back! Damien, come back! Beloved, please don’t leave me in here!” The woman’s voice from my dream, pleads.
The axe tumbles out of my hands in shock, as I feel something akin to grief and regret slam into me.
“Hello?” I ask shakily, eyes darting around for the woman.
Why did she sound so hurt? Why did she call me beloved? Why did she call for me to not leave her in here? I haven’t left anyone behind? Right?
Uncertainty twists inside of me as I train my ears, trying to hear more of her voice. The only thing I can hear is the sound of the howling wind. I glance around before reaching down into the snow and retrieving my axe. I hold the handle in my hand, seeing my hand tremble. I take a few deep breaths, feeling the icy wind sting my lungs. Luckily, the trembling in my hand stops, so I continue to chop down the tree, yet the feeling of grief and regret won’t leave me.
Doing as I did yesterday, I make my way back to the cabin and chop the logs into firewood, gathering them under my arm once more. Heading towards the door, I open it, the door slamming on the wall as I make my way inside, before closing it shut.
“Don't slam the door, Damien.” Celine chides, once more.
“Uh-huh. Yeah, yeah, sure, m-hm.” I say, not really paying attention to her scolding.
I sit in front of the fireplace, replenishing the fire.
“I saw a flower today.” I inform her.
“Shouldn't be long now before...” I say before trailing off, feeling a sense of déjà vu.
“...spring.” I finish saying, voice unsure.
“Or there's still a few more weeks of winter left…” Celine says as I mutter the same words under my breath.
“And that flower will die cold and al—” She says, before stopping.
“Alone.” I finish under my breath.
“What are you muttering about?” She asks in a suspicious tone.
“I heard... a voice, today.” I hesitantly inform her, intending to not tell her about the dream with the mystery woman or about the words said mystery woman had spoken while I was outside.
For some reason, I feel as if I want to protect that dream. Protect the woman in it and find out why she said I left her behind.
“What?” Celine asks, as if she can’t believe what I’ve said.
“I heard a voice. As clear as I'm hearing you.” I tell her, looking at her over my shoulder as I hold my hand out to the fire, warming the frozen digits.
“There's no one else in these woods, Damien.” Celine says.
“But it sounded far away.” I say, turning my head to look into the flames once more.
“I should have followed the voice, but it trailed off. And, I had to get back with firewood.” I say, before my eyes find the heaping stack of fire wood to the side.
“But, we have plenty of firewo—”
“Damien, there is no one else in these woods!” Celine says as she pushes her chair back.
I continue to stare into the fire as I hear her approach me.
“If there were...” She pauses slightly to cock the shotgun.
“I'm sure I would've run into them by now.” Celine reasons.
“I'm sure you would've run into them by now...” I whisper, not sure what to think.
I know I heard those voices, I know it with firm certainty. Why won’t she believe me?
“You're not getting enough sleep,” She says, resting a hand on my shoulder.
“You need to sleep. Are you staying up while I'm out?” She questions.
“What, no!” I exclaim as I turn my head to look at her.
“I'm fine, I'm not even tired. What about you, are you tired..? You're always awake by the time I get back.”
“I'm not a growing boy like you, little brother.” Is her reply, annoying me slightly.
“Oh please, you're older by ten minutes.” I say lowly.
“Which is just long enough for me to be in charge, so shut up and go to bed.” She commands, annoying me further.
“That doesn't make you in charge, how does that make you the boss of me?” I protest as she makes her way to the door and opens it.
“J-just, just be careful!” I say, feeling that sense of déjà vu once more.
“I don't know. Maybe I'm crazy, but...Whatever I heard out in those woods, it didn't sound too friendly.” I say, before lowering my voice.
“So just...Just be careful.” I say softly.
She looks at me, standing in the doorway.
“I can take care of myself.” She says in a frigid tone, before leaving and slamming the door shut.
“Don't slam the door...” I say, knowing it’s pointless.
I stare at the fire once more, letting out an irritated sigh.
“You always need to be right. Sometimes I'm right...Sometimes I know things.” I grumble to myself.
“Whatever…” I mutter, folding my arms and thinking back to the dream I had earlier, along with the voices.
The sound of cracking and creaking, catches my attention. Looking up and to my right, I see the window beside the bed, gaining tiny spidery cracks in the glass.
Well, that's weird.
“Damien!” A distorted voice says from my left.
I jerk my head towards the direction of the voice.
What the hell?! My eyes catch sight of an unassuming mirror on the wall.
“That... wasn't there before.” I murmur to myself as I stand up.
How did I not notice this?
I make my way to the mirror, staring into it and seeing nothing reflecting back.
Why can't I see myself?
I faintly see a shadowy figure in the mirror.
What the hell is that?
“You aren't quite feeling like yourself, are you?” The same distorted voice that called my name, asks.
My breathing stops for a moment when a corpse like version of myself is reflected back at me, its skin’s dark blue in hue. Flesh and skin are missing on the lower part of its face and its eyes that are entirely red, are staring directly at me.
My breathing starts back, rapidly reaching hyperventilating levels as the thing continues to stare back at me and the sound of creaking and cracking increases. I shut my eyes, refusing to look at the creature any longer.
“It's time to wake up, Damien.” The voice chastises as I feel an icy chill around me, causing my eyes to shoot open in alarm.
“This doesn't make sense...” I murmur, looking out at the dark, icy, forest landscape in front of me.
I notice the axe in my hand.
Am I dreaming?
“Damien.” I hear my sister’s voice call out.
“Celine, is that you?!” I shout, hoping that she can hear me.
“Damien!” She yells back in reply.
I don’t question the whispery undertone to her voice, rushing forward.
Celine needs my help!
“Celine!” I exclaim, pushing past the wind blowing against me, flurries battering my body.
“Celine!”
“Damien!” Her voice is louder.
“Celine, Where are you?!”
“Where are you?!” I increase the pace I’m sprinting.
“Damien, hurry!” She cries out, sounding frantic.
“Can you hear me? Hey!” I call out, feeling fear course through me.
I abruptly stop running, seeing a frozen lake a few meters in front of me. I stare at it, panting as I try sucking in lungfuls of air.
“Celine..?” I inquire, voice echoing slightly.
“Celine?” I narrow my eyes, trying to see past the frosty haze.
I've never seen this lake before.
“I—” My gaze falls to the ground beside me, seeing footprints leading down onto the icy surface of the lake.
I can hear ice creaking, my gaze following the footprints and spider web pattern further down the lake’s surface and seeing a hole in the ice, where the footprints stop.
“Celine...” I breathe in horror, realising what had happened.
“Celine!” I shout, running onto the ice.
“Celine! Hold on!”
“I'm almost there.” I try reassuring her as my heart hammers in my ears.
“Hold on, just a little bit longer! Just a little bit longer, Celine! Can you hear me?!”
“Celine! Celine?” I call as I get closer and closer to the hole, hoping I’m not too late.
“Just hold on. I'm almost there!”
“Hold on! Hold on!” I say, dropping to my knees and discarding my axe, shoving my arm into the frigid water and reaching out, feeling her limp hand.
I pull her out of the water, my other hand moving to hold onto her shoulder, seeing my sister seeming to be almost unresponsive. Her head abruptly moves to look at me and my eyes widen in horror, seeing the face of the creature from earlier, staring at me.
“It's not fair—” The distorted voice says.
What the hell? My hands hold onto the creature, terrified and frozen, despite me wanting to let it sink back into the water.
“Is it?” It asks as it grabs onto my hand, trying to drag me under the water.
My fight response kicks in as I struggle against it, the ice cracking around us as I grow more frantic in my struggles. Demonic looking faces appear around me as the surroundings turn dark. I scream, feeling it tug on my arm harshly, managing to get me into the water head first. I kick, desperately trying to right myself and make it back to the surface, but feeling myself sink deeper into the lake. I start hearing voices as I sink.
“It's been years!” I hear a man’s voice say.
“Mark's not the only one that can use this place to his benefit.” I hear my sister say.
“I love you too Damien, I’ve loved you for years but I’ve been too much of a coward to tell you.” The woman’s voice from before, admits, causing me to struggle once more as warmth appears in my chest from the confession.
I suddenly find myself upright, darkness and fog around me. I look around in confusion.
“Don't let anyone, ever, leave.” A distorted voice says as the words reverberate around me.
“Damien, you are a hard man to find.” A man’s voice says from behind.
A blue light also originates from behind me. I turn around, noticing the silhouette of a man against the blue, cracked background.
“What? Who are you? Where's Celine?” I question.
The unknown man chuckles, as if amused with my questions.
“Now there's a hard woman to avoid.” The man purrs.
I narrow my gaze at the man. “If you did anything to her I'm going-”
“Easy there, cowboy. I've done nothing to her.” The man says in reassurance.
“I don't even think I could. That woman would carve my heart out and feed it to me if she even saw me.” The man says as he approaches me, standing a few metres away.
I can make out his feature slightly better, noticing that he’s wearing a red suit with a black bowtie, a cane is clutched in his right hand, the end of it resting on the ground. His raven hair is slicked back.
“What...? Then why am I here?! What do you want from me?!” I ask, growing frustrated.
“Oh, Damien. Oh my poor, sweet, Damien.” The man says.
“I've come to apologize.” He states in a softer tone.
“Do—...do I know you?” I question, unsure, as I squint at the man.
“Of course you know me. Dare I say you probably know me as well as you know yourself.” He says, humour in his tone, the insinuation flying over my head.
He chuckles slightly.
“Sorry, bad joke. Couldn't help myself.” He says as recognition slowly dawns on me.
“I know you.” I say quietly.
“Oh, come on, Damien.” The man says, slightly exasperated.
“Celine really did a number on you, didn't she?” The man says as my memories start surfacing.
“Mark..?” I ask hesitantly.
“And circle takes the square!” Mark exclaims as he points the end of the cane towards me.
Now that I think about it…that looks eerily similar to my own cane.
“Took you a while friend, but you made it.” Mark says.
“But this doesn't make any sense. We were just at your party and then we... were...and then you...and then Celine…and Y/N—” I say, voice getting quiet as I regain the memories of the woman I love with all my soul.
“Whoa there, easy boy!” Mark cuts in.
“I'm gonna stop you right there because I just don't have time for the whole catching up thing.” Mark states, angering me greatly.
“No, you need to answer me. How did I get here? Where even am I?!” I snap.
“Whoa, hold on, okay, alright, I'll just summarize.” He says, stepping closer.
“And it's best summarized by saying that...” Images of what happened that night appears in the cracked background.
“Mistakes were made! Plans weren't... exactly properly executed. The right people started pointing fingers at the wrong people aaand uh...” His words are interrupted by a gunshot.
“A good night with some good friends MAY have taken a wrong turn at some point.” He explains as a thunder clap sounds.
“And okay, I MAY have made a deal to POSSIBLY make sure that a certain lady couldn't go around breaking anyone else's heart, ever again.” Mark says from behind me as a picture of Celine appears in the cracked surface.
Mark walks in front of me once more.
“BUT THAT WAS DOING EVERYONE A FAVOR...” Mark snarls in a distorted voice.
“But that's all in the past.” He says, voice calming slightly.
“What matters now is moving forward, and oh how beautiful the future is gonna be with you.” He says gleefully.
My fingers tug on my locks, struggling to accept everything.
“You... you murderer...” I whisper.
“Oh, please, you sound like that idiot detective. Come on, you're better than that.” Mark says, staring at me as the background returns to blue.
“I don't need to hold your hand through all of this.”
“Through all of what? Just leave me alone.” I say coldly.
“You don't realize this place is a dream, a never ending starring role as the hero. But what is a hero without... a villain?”
“What..?” I breathe, incredulous.
“A villain! Every good story needs a villain!” Mark says with a wolfish grin.
“You honestly think that you're the hero in all of this?” I ask, staring at him, incredulous.
He lets out a small, giddy laugh. “Well, of course I am! Who else could I possibly be?”
“My humble upbringing, my tragic backstory...There's no other role for me to play.” He says as I stare at him, disgusted.
“You're out of your mind.” I say, staring at the shadow of the man I once knew.
“Oh, you.” He says, pointing at me.
“You are going to make the perfect villain in my story.”
“Uh huh, yeah, sure, that makes sense.” I mutter under my breath.
“Well, you can tell your story all you want to the OTHER prisoners.” I snap, glaring at him.
“Oh come on, Damien, let it go!” Mark exclaims, annoyed.
“Always the righteous crusader! Pure as the driven snow! Acting like you're the only one without blood on your hands!” Mark snaps.
“You stole everything from me!” I exclaim, furious.
“Well, you wouldn't even HAVE ANYTHING IN THE FIRST PLACE IF IT WASN'T FOR ME!” Mark yells in a distorted tone as the background turns red, demonic faces appearing once more.
I ignore the change, eyes focused on the monster in front of me.
“You took our lives! You betrayed me! You betrayed William and Y/N! You even betrayed Celine!” I accuse, pointing a finger at him.
“Well, maybe if Celine hadn't run off, then we wouldn't be here right now!” He says, tone just as angry.
“You were never good enough for Celine.” I say, incensed.
“I GAVE UP EVERYTHING FOR HER!” He screams, his voice multiplying.
“But that's all in...” Mark says in a distorted tone once more.
“The past.” He states, voice normal, as the background changes back to blue.
He sighs slightly.
“And now, I'm here to show you the future. Then, I’ll be showing the future to another, one who’ll play the maiden to my hero, because every hero needs a love interest.” He says, face twisting into a sinister smile with his last sentence.
“I don't want anything to do with your future. Just go drop dead and let me live my life in peace.” I say to him dismissively.
Mark laughs at my words before taking a deep breath.
“ ‘Live your life in peace...’ oh, my friend, you’re not even interested in knowing who’ll take the role of maiden?” He says, mockingly, as a picture appears in the background once more, showing a smiling face that I hold dear to my heart.
Y/N, I look at the image in shock before my face twists into anger at the insinuation.
“I think we both know who this is.” He smiles wickedly.
“Stay away from her, you won’t touch a hair on her head!” I snarl, wanting to reach out and throttle him.
How dare he think I’m just going to let him do whatever he wants to her?!
“You were always so protective of her. But then again…you always did run behind her like an overeager puppy.” He muses, not fazed.
“I wonder, what has your sister kept from you?” He asks as a flash of the creature I encountered earlier, stands in his place.
“No matter what tricks Celine tries to pull,” He says as his image keeps flashing to that of the creature.
“What's happening?” I question, glancing around as I hear creaking once more, realising that we’re in the cabin.
Mark’s standing some distance away, in front of the blue cracked barrier.
“There's no ending for the likes of us. Not anymore.” Mark says with both hands on the cane.
I shiver, the fire place no longer lit as I lean against the mantle, feeling weak. “What... what have you done?”
“What did you do?” I repeat quietly to myself, eyes wide.
“Oh, friend...Like I said, I've done nothing.”
“But in this place...I'm gonna make something beautiful.” He says as I stop repeating my words, breathing heavily, yet inconsistently.
“I... I can't...” I mutter over and over, feeling something dark twist inside of me.
“Damien?”
“I can't...” I whisper, the feeling twisting angrily, urging me to do something, to not let him touch Y/N.
“It's time to wake up.” Marks says in a twisted tone.
Something slams into the barrier behind Mark, causing him to glance behind him, turning around to fully face the barrier when another slam sounds off. More cracks show up with each consecutive slam that hits the barrier.
“Ah...” I faintly hear him say as I try fighting down the sensation.
Another slam sounds before the barrier gives way, revealing my sister. Celine holds the axe in her hand.
“Ah, Celine! So good to see—” Mark tries to greet, but she throws the axe into the air harshly, the head of the axe sinking into Mark’s chest.
He chokes and sputters, laughing maniacally as his form distorts, before disappearing completely. I blankly look forward, brain struggling to comprehend everything.
“I...I have no idea what just happened.” I say with my arms wrapped around me.
“Are you alright?” Celine asks as she approaches me.
“No, I'm not alright! I've never been less alright!” I exclaim.
“You need to explain to me what the hell is going on!” I demand angrily.
“There's no time to explain!” Celine yells.
“Why does everyone keep telling me that?” I say, irritated.
“I spent God knows how long chopping down trees with nothing but time on my side and suddenly, now there's no time!” I spit angrily as she lowers her head, not looking me in the eyes.
“I'm so sick of being a pawn in other people's games. Just give me a straight answer...for once.” I plead with her, seeing an aggrieved expression appear on her face.
Memories start coming back, causing me to stare at her “Celine... am I...? Am I dea—”
“No!” She cries out in denial as the sound of ice cracking begins once more.
We both look towards the breaking barrier.
“No...” She repeats softly, back turned to me.
“Celine...” I say in concern.
“I'm so tired.” She begins to say, voice shaking.
“Everything I've done, I've done to protect you. But I was too late. Too sloppy. He's undone everything now.” She says as water starts falling through the cracks.
“But he hasn't won yet.” Celine says, her hands clenched into fists at her sides.
“Celine, you can't keep this up.” I state quietly, turning my head away from the flowing water to look at her.
“Shut up!” She snaps, spinning around to face me.
“You have no idea what I'm capable of.”
“Let me help you!” I yell as all of my memories return to me.
“I remember now. I remember what he did.” I say quietly.
“What we did.” I say, closing my eyes as I feel regret well up in me once more.
“Damien, you have no idea what's really going on here.” Celine says, staring at me with a frown.
“You're right.” I say, agreeing with her words.
“I... haven't got a clue. But I know that even you can't protect me forever.” As I say this, the ice barrier cracks more, letting more water rush in.
“It's... It's not just about protecting you.” Celine states.
“Everything's different now. The mistakes I've made, the-the people I've used, the things I've had to do to keep you alive!” She exclaims, voice filled with regret as I walk towards her, my boots splashing in the water that’s covering the ground.
“Celine.” I murmur, placing my hand on her shoulder.
“Some things just can't be fixed. And I'm okay with that.” I say, before smiling slightly.
“But if you let me help you, then maybe, together, we can start to set things right.” I say, causing her to sigh.
I can see the tears welling up in her eyes.
“You look tired. I think you need to get some sleep.” I whisper softly.
She chuckles slightly.
“I...can't remember the last time I slept.” She admits, closing her eyes.
“Don't worry...I'll protect you.” I say confidently.
The ice starts falling away in large chunks.
“You can't come back from this. It'll change you. Forever.” Celine warns me.
“Well,” I say, looking up at the ice.
“He did say he wanted me to be the villain. Maybe he should be more careful with his wishes.” I say in a dark tone.
“Just promise me one thing. Make sure that bastard STAYS DEAD.” Celine says as the ice barrier gives in and the cabin begins to flood.
“Also, keep Y/N safe, don’t let him find her!” Celine warns as we’re separated, the water pushing us away from each other.
“I will, I’m not going to let him get anywhere near her.” I say firmly, before we’re both pulled under the water.
Floating under the water, everything that had occurred when we were stuck in the Upside-Down, comes back to me. Understanding courses through me when I remember that it wasn’t just Celine, myself and Y/N in her body, but that there was another entity too, one who seems to be in charge of the Upside-Down, the one who had trapped her in the mirror as a means to keep her soul safe. I feel myself drift away, no longer fighting the dark feeling within me, but accepting it, knowing that it wants the same thing as me, to keep Y/N safe and to stop Mark and his games. The water bursts out of the house, leaving me lying on the cabin’s flooring. I lay there for a moment before standing up and looking around at the dark, gloomy cabin, now destroyed from the water.
I can feel Celine faintly, but she’s dormant, sleeping. My lips twitch slightly, before growing still to match my neutral features. Static and ringing, along with the sound of wood creaking fills the air as I begin walking, feeling the water drip off of me. I grab at the corner of the doorway, stepping out onto the grass outside, the grass sizzling under my boot. I glance down at my hand, taking in the grey hue, the crimson aura with a hint of cyan blue, before I close my eyes and open them once more, now in control of my body and merged with the entity.
Dark’s POV
Static fills the air loudly as I feel my shell crack, cyan and crimson arching off of my form before I gain control of it. I snarl slightly, cracking my neck as I stand up from my chair, taking in the black suit I’m wearing. I coldly glance around, taking in my office in the void. At this point, Damien is dead and all that’s left is Dark, an amalgamation containing the knowledge and experience of two souls and an eldritch being.
I hear footsteps get closer to my office door, before the footsteps stop and door opens slightly, a head poking through the crack. I stare at the pink moustached man, wearing a pink afro, blankly.
“Oh, there you are Damien, I’ve been looking everywhere for you.” The changed William says to me as he enters the office and stands near my desk.
I feel my shell crack once more, form glitching at the sight of my friend, irrevocably changed because of Mark. I bite down on my anger, barely holding it back.
“Oh, hi Wil and it’s Dark now.” I say in a low echoing tone, fixing my tie as I step around my desk, coming to a stop near the unstable man.
“Right…” Wilford says.
“Y-You haven’t seen Celine around anywhere, have you? I-If I can avoid her I rather do it.” He says, nervously looking around as if she’d pop up any moment.
“She’s sleeping.” I state gruffly.
“Oh good—great—alright well anyway, I’m glad I’ve found you I’ve got a great new idea—we’re gonna make a TV show!” He exclaims with a grin, looking at me.
I lean back against my desk, hands gripping the sides, eyes narrowed as ringing, along with wood creaking can be heard.
“Okay.” I agree, wondering what exactly he has in mind.
His grin widens before it fades away.
“Ah—speaking about people I rather avoid—you haven’t seen N/n around, have you?” He asks nervously.
“N/n?” I question, frowning slightly at him.
“Oh, it’s the nickname I have for Y/N.” He explains.
The mention of her causes the room to turn frigid in temperature as I struggle to keep my emotions down, the ringing increasing slightly.
“She isn’t here.” I say in a restrained tone.
“Oh—that’s a relief.” Wilford says, not seeming to notice the change in atmosphere.
“If you’ll excuse me Wil, I have some business to attend to.” I state casually, seeing him wave a hand dismissively.
“That’s fine, I have to plan out what we’re gonna do!” With that said, he sprints out of the office.
Eyes narrowing, I crack my neck once more before exiting the void, appearing in front of an abandoned manor I haven’t seen in years. I open the front door, the doors protesting from years of disuse. Stepping through the doorway, I close the door behind me. Despite it being mostly dark in the manor, I can see perfectly fine as I carefully make my way through the decrepit, dusty room, towards the intact mirror on the wall. Looking into the mirror, I focus on looking past the reflective surface. Instead of seeing my reflection, my gaze takes in the woman sleeping on a high backed chair, a side table with a lamp next to the chair. The light of the lamp casts a warm glow onto her pale features, the purple and white aura around her, subdued in her slumber. Her longer hair hangs around her face, covering her features somewhat. I’m not too surprised that her features have changed slightly, granted that she’s not exactly a human being anymore.
It doesn’t change the way I feel about her.
From the plethora of memories I have, it appears that the entity I’ve merged with had an interest in her since she stepped foot into the manor for the first time. It was attracted to the light she always seemed to emanate…that and her intellect and humour.
Not that I could blame it, my little monster has always been amazing.
I smile slightly, watching her sleep for a moment. Entering the mirror and making sure to quiet the perpetual ringing and creaking that follows me, I look around at my surroundings with a frown.
This won’t do, she deserves to be in a more comfortable environment.
With an easy wave of my hand, the darkness disappears, a living room with a fireplace appearing, part of the comfy home I’ve crafted. Stepping out of the home, I conjure the surroundings to consist of a nice meadow containing flowers, along with a stream.
Y/N has always loved flowers, especially white roses.
I conjure some rose bushes on either side of the cobblestone pathway leading to the house. Smirking in satisfaction, I make my way back inside, closing the door behind me. Looking at her sleeping face once more, I become a bit nervous since I have no idea how she’d react to seeing me again. She has every right to be angry with me but hopefully, she’d at the very least, let me explain everything. Letting out a quiet, echoing sigh, I make my way towards her and gingerly pick her up, making my way up the stairs. As I traverse the stairs, I freeze in place when she shifts in my arms, burying her face into my chest with a small sigh. I look down at her, slightly surprised at her unconscious reaction but continue up the stairs and into the hallway. With a silent command, the bedroom door opens and I walk into the room, settling her into the bed, removing her shoes and covering her up with the blanket. I gently brush some stray hairs away from her face.
“Sleep well, my love.” I whisper softly before I silently exit the bedroom, closing the door behind me.
I make my way back to the living room, reaching my awareness outwards and proceeding to place sigils around the environment. They’ll inform me if anything or anyone, besides Y/N and myself, disturbs the environment I’ve crafted. Sitting in the single seat sofa, I cross my legs and idly summon a book to read, along with a glass of red wine, as I wait for her to awaken from her slumber.
Notes:
It's official! Dark and Wilford have finally made their appearance in the story.
Chapter 10: Answers
Notes:
Since it's Mark's birthday today, I thought I'd release this chapter a day earlier as a gift to you guys. I also did another art piece, this time, it's a Darkiplier one.
Admittedly, I'm a bit iffy about this chapter since I'm not sure if I did a good job with the interaction between the DA and Dark.
Chapter Text
I let out a small sigh, shifting onto my side and burrowing deeper into the blanket around me. It takes a moment for my sleep addled mind to realise that something is different, that I’m no longer on the chair I fell asleep in. Eyes shooting open in alarm, I bolt upwards, glancing at my surroundings and seeing that I’m in a bedroom dappled in moonlight.
How did I get here? Where am I?
I get off of the bed, noticing that I’m still wearing the same suit I’ve always had on, except for my shoes that are neatly set to the side of the bed. I elect to leave them off, running my fingers through my loose, hip length hair and wincing slightly when my fingers get stuck in some snags. Heading towards the door, I cautiously open it, being as silent as possible since I don’t know if anyone else is in the vicinity. Stepping out the doorway, a carpeted hallway greets me. I walk down the hallway, seeing a set of stairs leading down. I hesitate slightly, seeing the glow of a fireplace down the stairs. Steeling my nerves, I begin walking down the stairs. Looking up, I still on the last two steps, staring at the occupant in the living room in shock, feeling a plethora of emotions well up but I push it down to the best of my ability. I open my mouth a few times, trying to say something…anything.
“Damien?” I manage to quietly get past my lips.
He looks up at me, regarding me with a closed off expression.
“Not Damien, not for a while at least.” The man says with a sigh, an echo to his layered voice as he softly closes the book he’s reading.
I stare at him, taking in the grey skin, the black suit and grey tie, with no white carnation flower and mayor ribbon badge in sight, the hair slightly covering his left eye, even the crimson and cyan blue outlining him. This man is the very antithesis of Damien…where Damien always exuded light and kindness, this man exudes darkness and power.
He’s right…this isn’t my Damien, not anymore, and the realisation causes grief to slug me in the chest.
I swallow with some difficulty, blinking away the tears that threaten to well up. It wouldn’t be helpful if I break down when I’m so close to getting some answers about everything.
“Are you going to just stand there the whole night, Y/N?” The man questions, staring at me with a slight frown as a red variation of him seems to stand behind his seated form, head tilted to the side as he watches me, before the variation glitches out.
I bite the inside of my cheek, making my way down the last two steps and cautiously approach him, coming to a stop a few feet away. I stare down at him, the man easily returning my gaze. Pushing down any wayward emotions of anguish, I pick a question to start off this conversation.
“Who are you then, if you’re not Damien?” I ask in an even tone, taking a seat on the black, love seat sofa.
“You can call me Dark.” Dark says as the book in his hand disappears.
The sight of the disappearing book doesn’t faze me in the slightest. It’s not the strangest thing I’ve seen after all.
“Dark?” I murmur thoughtfully as I watch him grab the wine glass containing dark liquid, located on the side table next to him.
It suits him, I decide as I observe him.
He holds out his other hand and another wine glass appears. He holds it out towards me.
“Wine?” He questions, his obsidian orbs, lined in black, staring at me and not showcasing a single emotion in them.
His body language is also not revealing anything he might be feeling.
However, the familiarity of that face and gaze, makes me relax somewhat, but I still have a healthy amount of wariness towards him. I reach out and accept the glass, our fingers brushing. I push down the urge to grab his hand, knowing it’s just a reaction from not touching another person in so long.
He’s cold to the touch, I note absentmindedly as I bring the glass towards myself, staring at the light coloured liquid, before looking up at him once more.
“If you don’t mind me asking…what exactly are you?” I ask hesitantly, afraid that I’d offend him.
He blinks, taking a slow drink from his glass, I can only assume its wine, as he regards me.
I can see him silently weigh how to answer my question before he leans back into his seat, moving his glass way from his lips.
“I’m a…amalgamation of sorts.” Dark divulges.
“Meaning?” I ask, taking a small sip of the wine in my glass and glancing down at it in barely concealed surprise, looking at him once more.
Moscato, my favourite type of wine. Damien was the only other person who knew that this was my preference in wine. That means the man I love is still in there somewhere.
“I’m three beings merged in a body.” Dark says, causing me to furrow my brows slightly in confusion.
“Damien and Celine are a part of me yes, but there is also another being that was a part of my creation.” Dark explains, realisation dawning on me as to who the third being was.
“One of the entities that was in the manor.” I say, seeing him raise an eyebrow, a sly smirk appearing on his lips.
“I can see why Damien loves you.” Dark says, gaze softening slightly as he takes another drink of his wine.
I feel my face flush slightly, gaze dropping to my glass once more.
Why does he have to look and sound so similar to Damien? It’s causing my emotions to go haywire. This isn’t Damien, so he probably doesn’t feel anything for me.
“The entity that took part in my creation was the one in charge of the Upside-Down, the place your soul, along with Damien and Celine’s, were trapped. You could say that it’s the ruler of that place.”
I take a long drink of my wine, taking in his words.
I suppose that makes sense but there’s still the uncertainty about the other house entity.
“What happened to the other entity? The one that possessed Celine’s body?” I question, seeing the softness in his gaze disappear with the question, eyes turning flinty.
“It has been dealt with and won’t be bothering anyone, ever again.” Dark says in a tone that suggests that I’m better off not asking for details.
I immediately opt to steer the conversation away from that particular topic, choosing to finally ask the question I want answers to the most.
“Why did you trap me in the mirror, am I still in it despite my surroundings looking different?” I ask quietly, seeing his expression shift into an unknown emotion for a brief second before returning to his stoic one.
“To keep your soul safe…unlike Damien and Celine whose souls have been affected by the darkness of the Upside-Down, yours was somewhat resistant to its effects. If I had kept your soul, it would’ve gotten destroyed in the long run from fighting against the darkness.” Dark states in a neutral tone, watching my reaction closely.
Destroyed, I tighten my grip on the stem of the wine glass, uneasy at the thought because then I’d probably cease to exist if I was still in my body.
It also explains the strain I felt when we all occupied my body. It then hits me that I’m currently talking to an eldritch entity that’s made up of the souls of the love of my life and his sister, and said entity is in my dead body.
This situation is so messed up on so many levels. Everything is so wrong that I don’t even know how to react to most of this information. But he mentioned keeping my soul safe, if he didn’t care at all, he wouldn’t have gone through all this trouble, right?
“As for the other part of your question…yes, you’re still stuck in the mirror. I’ve merely changed your surroundings for the sake of your comfort.” Dark says, breaking me out of my thoughts and causing me to look at him in surprise.
That’s awfully thoughtful of him, my stomach flutters at the sentiment.
“Thank you…for changing the scenery, it’s a lot more pleasant than being stuck in perpetual darkness.” I say with a small smile.
“You’re welcome, darling.” He says in a purr, causing my cheeks to turn red and aura to brighten slightly.
He seems pleased at my reaction, causing my blush and aura to turn more vibrant. Dark chuckles slightly as I take another sip of wine, avoiding his gaze.
God, despite being different…yet not, at the same time, I still have feelings for this man. Is it wrong that I still feel so strongly for him? His presence just seems to draw me in somehow, like two polarities of a magnet attracting the other.
I won’t get anywhere with speculation, I need to know where exactly we stand in all of whatever this is.
“Why did you want to keep my soul safe?” I ask him, looking into my glass since I can’t quite muster the courage to look at him and see his reaction.
“Despite not being the man you love, I still have his memories and feelings for you since he’s a part of me.” Dark says in a serious tone, causing me to look up, surprised yet hopeful at his admission.
My gaze meets his once more and my breathing hitches at the half lidded look, coupled with a smirk, that he’s sending my way. Despite not being alive, I feel my body flush at the look, biting my lower lip in reaction. Dark’s eyes trail to my lips, letting out a growl at the gesture, both of our wine glasses disappearing from our hands. I blink, letting out a gasp when I find him a few inches away from me, hands on either side of my thighs, effectively trapping me between the sofa and his body. It’s a position that I don’t mind in the slightest. He’s so close I can smell his cologne, my head spinning from the heady combination of sandalwood and something that’s just distinctly him. My head presses against the sofa behind me as I look him in the eyes, seeing a storm of emotions in them.
My eyes drop to his slightly parted lips before returning to his eyes. I swallow dryly, pushing down the overwhelming urge to kiss him and trying desperately to keep a level head about this.
“Dark?” His name is meant to be posed as a question but ends up coming out like a plea instead, causing me to inwardly curse at myself.
His obsidian orbs seem to flare to life, becoming even darker at the way I said his name. I can even see flecks of red light in his eyes, matching one of the auras around him.
“My little monster…” He purrs, causing my eyes to flutter slightly at the familiar endearment.
The way he said it, causes my aura to flutter in reaction. I see him glance at the aura with a slight smirk before he returns his attention to me. I’m very aware of how close he is, the mere inches between our faces, the feeling of his hands flexing slightly on the couch on either side of my thighs and how utterly cornered I feel, very much like staring down a panther who caught sight of potential prey.
We stare at each other and I resist the urge to squirm in nervousness, because I have no idea what’s going through his mind.
“May I kiss you?” He says after a moment more of looking at me, causing my stomach to erupt into butterflies.
“Yes.” I whisper, seeing him smile as he closes the distance between us, capturing my lips in an intense kiss, filled with so much emotion.
I kiss him back with equal emotion, hands running up his muscular arms to loop around his neck, not minding the coolness of his skin. I feel one of his hands move, snaking behind my head, fingers lacing into the hair at the base of my neck and tugging, causing my head to tilt upwards, deepening the kiss even further and causing me to let out a slight whine at the gesture. His chest rumbles slightly in reaction, kissing me a few moments more, before he pulls away.
He tasted like red wine and sin itself, I dazedly note to myself as I open my eyes, staring up at him.
Damien’s kisses were soft yet passionate, the few times we kissed. However, Dark’s kiss was fiery, passionate and full of depth. It’s another indication that he isn’t exactly Damien anymore and while it hurts that I’d never get the chance to be with him as Damien, I can try to be with him as Dark, if he’d let me, of course.
“Absolutely beautiful.” Dark whispers with a devious smile, thumb brushing my swollen bottom lip.
I smile slightly, a flush on my cheeks. I keep one hand gripping the back of his neck, moving the other to cup his cheek, smile widening at the feel of the prickly hairs of his beard.
At least that hasn’t changed, I don’t know how I’d feel if he decided to ditch the beard.
“Dark, despite you being different from the Damien I knew, I still feel the same way for you. Damien is still a part of you as much as you are a part of him.” I whisper in the distance between our faces.
“You still love me, despite not fully being the man you once knew?” Dark questions, seeming to be surprised.
“Yes, I still love you, even though I probably shouldn’t. Who you are now, doesn’t change that fact.” I say, seeing him turn his head to kiss the palm that rests on his cheek.
“And I love you, despite not being the same man.” He says softly as I move forward, wrapping my arms around him in a hug, relieved that he feels the same for me, despite everything that had happened.
“I’ve missed you so much.” I murmur.
“And I you.” Dark returns, wrapping his arms around me and pulling me closer.
“You’re being surprisingly receptive to all of this, darling.” Dark murmurs, his head resting on top of mine.
I pull away slightly to look him in the eyes.
“I can’t go back to the way things used to be, so I just have to keep moving forward the best I can. Admittedly, at first I was angry that you left me behind but I’ve had plenty time to think and mull things over.” I softly tell him.
“It isn’t your fault these events happened, its Mark’s. He’s destroyed the lives of everyone who trusted him, all for the sake of revenge. While he’s justified in being angry for whatever happened between him, Celine and William, that didn’t mean he could react in such a heinous way and cross all the lines he did.” I say, a troubled frown on my face as I think back on everything he’d done.
Dark’s expression turns cold at the mention of Mark.
“Yes, it is his fault and he’ll pay dearly for all the wrongs he’s done.” Dark says, sinister tone full of promise.
“Damien had the displeasure of speaking with him.” Dark mentions, causing me to stare at him in shock.
“He did, what happened?” I can’t hide my concern.
“Mark has basically lost it, sprouting nonsense about himself being the hero of this story.” I can hear the disgust in Dark’s tone.
“He wanted Damien to be the villain of the story and mentioned that you’d be the maiden to his hero.” Dark snarls, his grip tightening on me as I see multiple versions of him in various states of rage, behind him.
The information both angers and disgusts me greatly.
“Damien was never the villain to begin with. It’ll be a cold day in Hell before I’d agree to such a thing, he’s delusional to think otherwise.” I say, aura flaring in my anger.
“Which is why I’m here little monster, to ensure that you’re safe.” Dark says with a sigh, the other versions of him glitching out once more.
He seems to be calming down slightly.
“Along with changing the surroundings, I’ve also ensured that there’s a system in place that’ll alert me of any changes in the environment that didn’t occur because of you or myself.” Dark says with a serious expression on his face.
“It’ll alert me if that snake manages to somehow find you.” Dark mentions as I frown slightly.
“Can’t you take the mirror with you or somehow get me out of it?” I inquire, seeing him furrow his brows slightly.
“Unfortunately not, the mirror is tied to the manor, if I were to remove it, I don’t know what it’ll do to you. As for getting you out of it, I’ll need to do some research, it’s quite possible I’d be able to return you to a physical form, especially since you aren’t human anymore.” Dark explains after a moment of silence.
The thought of being able to get out of this mirror fills me with joy. However, the fact that I’m not a human anymore did sting a little but not as much as I thought it would.
“Then I shall wait until you can do so.” I say with a nod.
“I’ll be sure to find a way as quick as possible darling, wouldn’t want my girlfriend to be in such a predicament.” Dark gives me a slight smile, pulling out of my grasp and sitting beside me on the sofa, our knees brushing.
“Girlfriend?” I ask with a smirk.
“If that’s alright with you, I know we haven’t exactly put a label on our relationship but I’d like to be able to call you mine.” Dark says, looking a bit nervous.
With how confident and sure he’d been acting up to this point, seeing him look nervous at the thought that I’d reject his claim is endearing for some reason.
“I’d like that, being able to be called yours as long as you’re mine, because I don’t like sharing.” I say with a smirk.
That causes him to laugh, any traces of anger completely disappearing.
He still has Damien’s laughter, I note, smiling to myself.
“That’s wonderful, because I don’t like sharing either.” Dark says, smirking back at me before he turns to look at the fire, wrapping an arm around me.
I lean against him with a content sigh, staring into the flames. With answers concerning my predicament out of the way, I glance to the man beside me with a troubled look.
“What happened to the others, is William okay? The Detective?” I ask, seeing Dark’s lips press together into a thin line.
“Wil is no longer the same man the both of us knew, seeing your dead body sit up when all of us occupied it, had caused him to lose grip on his sanity, transforming him into a man called Wilford Warfstache. He believes that death is meaningless and that when a person dies they’ll just come back to life after a certain point in time.” Dark’s explanation causes me to look at him in horror, feeling my heart break at the thought of what happened to him.
“As for the Detective, he’s coping as well as one can from being shot in the heart and still somehow be alive.” Dark states in a neutral tone as he stares at the fireplace.
“Poor Wil, he didn’t deserve any of this happening to him.” I whisper sadly, a tear falling.
I feel a thumb brush the tear away, looking up and seeing Dark with his head turned towards me.
“Despite being changed, he does remember you.” Dark assures.
“When I get out of here, I want to talk to him.” I tell him quietly.
I don’t blame him for shooting me, it truly was an accident on his part. I also was the idiot who thought it was a good idea to wrestle a loaded gun out of someone’s hands.
“I’m sure he’d like to speak with you…when he’s ready to, of course.” Dark says, fingers drumming slightly on my side.
“What do you mean by that?”
“He’s avoiding you but he’s also avoiding Celine.” Dark mutters.
“He doesn’t know that Celine’s also a part of you?”
“No, he still thinks I’m Damien.” Dark states gruffly.
I let my eyes fall to my lap, looking at my clasped hands.
“Are Damien and Celine conscious in you?” I ask softly.
Dark turns his head to look at me.
“Damien is awake but Celine is currently sleeping, she’d been in control for some time.” Dark explains, confusing me greatly.
“It’s best you don’t think too hard on it, it’s confusing at times…even for me, my love.” Dark says in a soothing tone as his thumb smoothens the furrow in my brow.
“No kidding, why did everything have to get so complicated?” I sigh, resting my head on his shoulder, feeling exhausted.
“Tired?” Dark asks quietly.
“Yeah.” I murmur.
“You should get some more sleep, you look exhausted.” Dark says in concern.
“Are you going to leave?” I ask, pulling back slightly to look at him, feeling afraid that he’d leave so soon.
“I will have to leave at some point if I’m to find a way to give you a physical form, Y/N.” Dark says, gaze softening slightly at the look on my face.
“But I suppose I can stay with you a bit longer, until you fall asleep.” Dark relents, a sigh of relief leaving my lips.
“Thank you, beloved.” I murmur, a smile appearing on his face from the familiar endearment.
“You are welcome.” With that said, he pulls me onto his lap, letting me rest against him comfortably.
“Now get some sleep.” He orders softly, resting his head on top of mine and leaning back into the sofa.
I wrap my arms around his sides, getting comfortable and closing my eyes, feeling safe and secure in his arms.
“Love you.” I say drowsily as I feel myself sink closer and closer to sleep.
“And I love you, my little monster.” Dark whispers, tightening his grip on me and pressing a kiss to the top of my head.
We stay like this, with him running his fingers through my hair softly, the gesture being the final nail in the coffin as I fall back asleep.
Chapter 11: A Disturbance
Notes:
Here's the next chapter everyone! I do hope you're able to read the different font I had added for some of the text in the chapter, it's the first time I've ever messed with the HTML, so it's a learn as I go sort of thing.
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Awakening from my slumber, I find myself back in the bedroom. Light streams into the room from the window, its curtains not fully closed.
Dark must’ve carried me to bed after I had fallen asleep.
Sitting up, I look around the room, smiling at the décor; simple yet comforting, with its gentle shades of purple and beige. Shifting myself to sit at the side of the bed with my legs dangling off the edge, I spy a folded up piece of paper on the bedside table. Looking at it curiously, I reach out, picking it up and unfolding the paper, revealing a small note. My eyes scan the words written in handwriting I know like the back of my hand.
My Little Monster,
It pains me to leave you to your own devices once more, but it is a necessary evil if I’m to restore you to a physical form. As I mentioned to you, there is a security system in place to warn if anything interferes with the environment you’re in. If you see thirteen magpies and they begin screeching, then you’ll know something is wrong. If this is to occur, I want you to defend yourself against any threat, until I can get to you. Hopefully it never gets to that point and I can get you out of the mirror soon.
Ever Yours,
Dark.
My fingers gently trace the signature, re-reading the letter once more, before I refold it. I then place the letter in the draw of the bedside table, standing up and stretching with a satisfied sigh.
The mention of thirteen magpies reminds me of that poem my mother read to me as a child.
I softly recite the poem to myself.
“One for sorrow,
Two for joy,
Three for a girl,
Four for a boy,
Five for silver,
Six for gold,
Seven for a secret,
Never to be told.
Eight for a wish,
Nine for a kiss,
Ten a surprise you should be careful not to miss,
Eleven for health,
Twelve for wealth,
Thirteen beware it’s the devil himself.”
The poem brings a sense of sadness, since I’ll probably never see my parents again.
I wonder if they had tried looking for me. How much time has passed in the outside world? Are my parents even still alive?
I shake myself out of the depressing thoughts. Looking around the room, I decide to explore a little, finding a bathroom and a walk in closet. Smiling to myself, I proceed to take a relaxing bath before changing into a white, summer dress, wanting a change in clothing since I’ve been wearing a suit for God knows how long. Brushing out my hair, I opt to just leave it down, wearing a headband to keep my hair out of my face. The pearl earrings were still in my earlobes so I keep them on. Slipping on my flats, I exit the room, proceeding to explore the small home. The upstairs holds two bedrooms, a room filled with books and a desk with a chair, a music room containing a few musical instruments, along with a gramophone and vinyls.
I smile at the piano in the room, recalling all the times Damien and I sat at the grand piano in his home, him attempting to teach me how to play different songs. While he was a wonderful teacher, I preferred to hear him play. I loved seeing the concentration on his features and the way his fingers effortlessly glided along the keys. In turn, I taught him how to play the violin, he seemed to enjoy the lessons we had together. We never got to play anything together though, things became so busy for the both of us and then…Mark’s party changed everything forever.
I clench my fists, the anger resurfacing, along with pain and regret.
If I ever see that monster again, it’ll be a moment too soon.
How could he betray everyone like that! Damien and I trusted him and he took Damien’s body. He took Damien away from me, I’ll never be able to see him smile or laugh again, not as he used to be. He took our future away from us. He betrayed William, Celine and Abe. It’s his fault that Celine and Damien are gone, William’s lost his sanity and Abe must be struggling with the fact that he’s not dead, despite getting shot in the heart.
I tear my gaze away from the piano, exiting the room. I might venture in there another time, but all its reminding me of…is the fact that nothing will ever be the same again. Moving my exploration to downstairs…along with the living room containing the mirror, there’s a kitchen, a pantry, a coat closet and a laundry room. Exploring the laundry room, I stare at the sleek piece of machinery with a curious tilt to my head.
Despite never seeing it before, I instantly know what it is and how to use it, which confuses me greatly but I recall Dark’s words on not thinking too much on things.
“Well, I’m not going to be using you washing machine, but maybe further down into the future. Perhaps when I get out of this mirror, Dark wouldn’t be too opposed to helping me figure out the developments that obviously took place in the world while stuck here.” I mutter to myself, spinning around and heading back to the living room.
Opening the front door, I step outside, eyes falling on the rose bushes lining the walkway. I let out a happy little laugh, rushing towards the closest bush and leaning down to smell the blooms.
He remembers, I grin, fingers caressing the petals of one of the roses.
Returning to an upright position, I walk down the cobblestone pathway, opening the wooden gate and stepping onto grass. Up ahead, I can see a stream, followed by a meadow full of flowers and trees.
“Dark’s really outdone himself.” I say softly as I approach the stream and walk over the bridge, getting to the meadow and observing the different flowers, along with the small critters such as squirrels, different types of birds, butterflies and rabbits.
Some time passes by, but I hardly notice since I now have ways of entertaining myself. I could read, play violin or piano, I could play in the stream or walk in the meadow. Admittedly, I’ve frequented going outside instead of staying cooped up inside the house. It’s nice to be able to see the sun and feel the breeze again, despite it not being real. Thankfully, while I have seen some of the magpies Dark mentioned, there were never thirteen gathered together and they’ve all been quiet, choosing to just watch me. While their gaze makes me a bit unsettled, I choose to ignore it to the best of my ability.
Walking into the house after spending some time outside, I spot Dark standing in the living room.
“Dark!” I exclaim, giddy to see him again.
“Hello Y/N, did you miss me?” He says with a teasing smirk on his lips.
“Obviously.” I say, walking up to him and throwing my arms around him, causing him to laugh.
“I’ve missed you too, little monster.” He says, wrapping his arms around me and giving me a kiss.
I happily return the kiss, looping my arms around his neck.
“I didn’t come here just to pay you a visit, I have some good news…” Dark says as he pulls back slightly to look me in the eyes, hands resting on my waist.
“I’ve found a spell that’ll give you a physical form, I just have to gather everything needed and you’ll soon be out of this mirror.” He explains.
A happy smile appears on my lips.
“Really, I’m going to be free?” I ask, not believing my ears.
“You’re going to be free, my love.” Dark says with a soft smile on his face.
I laugh at that, getting onto the tip of my toes and kissing his cheek.
“I’m glad, beloved.” I whisper gratefully.
“When you return to a physical form, you’ll feel a bit weak for the first few days, since you have to become accustomed to having a body again. I’ll bring you to a safe place where you can rest…a mansion that I, along with a few others, live in.” Dark says.
“Others?” I ask curiously.
“Wilford also lives there, but you’ll meet the others soon enough. One is a doctor, so he’ll be able to monitor how you’re settling back into your body.”
“I see.”
Dark spends a few hours with me, answering all of my questions about the developments of the outside world, before he regretfully had to leave, mentioning that if he stayed away from the mansion for too long, the fools will somehow end up burning it to the ground. That tidbit of information, made me curious to know just who exactly he’s referring to, but I figure that I’ll meet them soon enough.
To pass some of the time, I’ve decided that I want to pick some of the flowers in the meadow to put in the vases in the house, so I grab the wicker basket in the coat closet and head outside. A gust of wind blows my hair back but I don’t pay it much attention as I pick the white roses I want to use for the vases. I then cross the bridge, looking around and mentally imagining how I want the flowers to look like once in the vases.
“Definitely want some baby’s breath in the vases.” I murmur to myself as I walk deeper into the meadow and spot the white flowers in a cluster.
Picking the amount I want, I place it into the basket, choosing some pink and red tulips, along with some ferns to add to the vases. Satisfied with everything I’ve picked, I hold onto the handle of the basket, turning around and leisurely making my way across the meadow, listening to the birdsong and humming a cheery tune to myself. The house is some distance away but I don’t mind the walk too much. Sometime later, I pause in my walking, now at the foot of the bridge. Raising my hand to block the sun from my eyes, I squint up at the roof of the house, faintly making out some birds sitting on the guttering. I frown slightly, traversing the bridge and making my way to the wooden gate, settling the handle of the basket into the crook of my arm, since it’s a bit heavy. I unlatch the gate’s lock, stepping onto the cobblestone pathway and turning around to close the gate. Facing the house once more, I look up at the roof of the house, now able to properly make out the type of bird sitting on the roof. A feeling of dread settles into the pit of my stomach, seeing the magpies gathered together.
Slowly, I silently count the amount of gathered birds, each number closer to thirteen, increasing the amount of lead in my stomach. As I feared, there are thirteen of them but they aren’t screeching, not yet at least. Which can only mean one thing, Mark’s close by but he hasn’t discovered my exact location.
Maybe if I stay quiet and remain where I am he won’t discover that I’m in the mirror.
I look around cautiously, not seeing any changes to the environment around me. I let out a silent sigh of relief, setting the basket down and looking up at the magpies once more, only to find them gone.
Huh? Maybe he isn’t nearby anymore, is my hopeful thought.
Picking up my basket once more, I begin walking up the pathway, towards the house, only for the magpies to appear once more, flying in formation and landing on the ground in front of me, staring at me.
“Found you.” I manage to hear those words before the magpies begin screeching at me.
Their screeching abruptly cuts short when they disintegrate before my eyes.
“What?” I whisper, the surroundings around me beginning to turn to ash.
Looking over my shoulder, I can see the darkness returning. Letting out a small gasp, I drop my basket in alarm and sprint towards the house, because I can feel that the void I’m in is getting smaller and smaller. Before I can make it to the house, the house disappears, along with the rest of the environment. I can see the mirror in the distance, glowing an ominous red.
“What’s happening?” I whisper, afraid, as I hear chanting all around me.
I let out a cry of surprise when I’m levitated off of my feet and begin getting pulled towards the mirror.
No! Dark said to fight back, I desperately form a bar anchored into the ground.
Passing by it, I barely manage to grab onto it with both hands, holding on for dear life.
I need to hold on until Dark can get here, but I don’t know how much longer I can keep this up. Something is trying to rip the bar out of the ground!
“While I admire your tenacity Y/N, I’m afraid that I don’t have time to play, especially when I had to go through all this trouble to find you, without a certain someone noticing my whereabouts.” Mark says over the sound of the chanting.
“Just leave me alone Mark! Let me live my existence in peace!” I snap, tightening my grip on the bar, knuckles turning white.
“Live your existence in peace? I think not old friend, especially when I have such grand plans in store for you.” Mark says in a sinister tone as the bar gives way, disappearing from my grasp.
I feel the stifling sensation of malice around me, preventing me from being able to concentrate on forming something else to grab on. All concentration is on trying to fight back against the feeling as I scream, getting closer and closer to the mirror and seeing Mark’s grinning face as he stands in view of it. I pass through the spider-webbed surface of the mirror, suddenly feeling a lot more solid than I used to be. I land on the dusty floor in an undignified heap, my dress getting covered in dust. I can hear the mirror break behind me as I try to move my heavy limbs, trying to get away from Mark’s approaching form. I take in a sharp inhale, reminding myself that I have lungs that need to be filled with air.
“Stay away from me, you monster!” I cry, voice raspy, managing to slowly scoot away as Mark continues to move towards me.
He stops walking, placing one hand over his heart, the other gripping the decorative top of the cane in his grasp.
“You wound me, Y/N. I thought we were best friends.” He says with a mocking smile on his face as our surroundings shift and twist, causing me to close my eyes, least I become fully disoriented.
Feeling everything settle once more, I open my eyes, noticing that we aren’t in the manor anymore, but in an office of some kind. I stare at him coldly.
“We were once friends in the past but not anymore. Where have you taken me?” I say angrily.
“Now now, no need to be angry, I’ve merely transported us somewhere where we won’t be disturbed by any unsavoury characters.” Mark says conversationally.
I scowl at him.
“I think you’ve missed one of those so called ‘unsavoury characters’ because I’m currently looking at one right now!” I say in a caustic tone, getting angrier by the second.
Mark looks offended by my words but I don’t care if I hurt his feelings or not.
“Don’t you dare tell me whether I can be angry or not! How could you! I trusted you and your scheme of revenge took everything from me! Because of you I’ll never see Damien ever again!” I’m full on yelling at him at this point, the anger boiling over.
“You don’t need Damien anymore, not with me around.” Mark says snidely, causing me to stare at him in disbelieve and disgust.
“You’ll never be a replacement for him.” I hiss vehemently.
“All Damien and I have ever done was support you, we trusted you and you steal his body and left him trapped in that void! You betrayed Celine, you even betrayed William and Abe!” I say in a furious tone.
Mark glares at me.
“It’s Celine’s fault all of this happened! If she hadn’t run off, I wouldn’t have to react the way I did!” Mark snaps in a distorted voice.
While his voice scares me somewhat, I’m much too angry to let it bother me.
“Whether she ran off or not didn’t give you the right to do what you did! You’ve gone too far, crossed too many lines that shouldn’t be crossed!” I exclaim, shakily managing to get to my feet, hands gripping onto the edge of the nearby bookshelf.
“Give it a break, Y/N! Always the one with the high moral compass and sense of justice! You should be grateful that I even got you out of that mirror to begin with! It’s not like anyone even bothered to save you from that prison, they all left you alone for over eighty four years!” Mark snarls, voice multiplying.
He doesn’t know about Dark and myself, let’s keep it that way. I’ve been stuck in the mirror for that long? I narrow my eyes at him.
“I want nothing to do with you!” I snarl back at him.
Mark chuckles as if I said something funny, all traces of anger disappearing.
“Oh, but I want everything to do with you. In this world, I’m the hero of this story. I already have a villain, but what’s a hero…without a maiden by his side.” Mark says gleefully.
“What?” I whisper in shock, seeing just how truly deranged he really is.
I can’t recognize the man I once called my best friend. In its place is a monster, baring his face.
“A maiden, every good story needs a maiden for the hero to rescue and have at his side. And in turn, the maiden will be ever so grateful and fall in love with the hero.” Mark says, twirling the cane in his hand.
I stare at him, sick to my stomach at the thought of being anywhere near him.
“You’re out of your mind. You honestly think you’re the hero in all of this?” I breathe.
Mark ignores my words, not looking fazed.
“You are going to be the perfect maiden to take along on my adventures. But there are a few pesky issues that must be dealt with.” He says, pacing the length of the office.
“W-What do you mean?” I say, feeling very afraid at the look in his eyes.
Even when I stared down the most hardened of criminals in a courtroom, none of them had a gaze so evil and devoid of life. Those eyes show a man that will do anything to achieve his desires, no matter however low he has to sink. Even if he has to make a deal with the devil himself to achieve them, he will do it.
Good God…the realisation causes me to become more uneasy.
I can’t fight him off, I’m still too weak and I’m still adjusting to having a physical form.
“Your memories for one, especially the ones you have with Damien.” Mark says, causing me to stare at him in horror.
“What I have in mind for you, you won’t be needing much of your memories anymore.” He says with a wolfish grin, coming towards me.
That causes my freeze, flight or fight reaction to kick in, flight winning by a landslide.
“Stay away!” I back away from him, unsteadily, feeling very much like a new born deer learning to walk.
“Still feeling the effects of adjusting to a physical body, Y/N.” He says with a smirk, rapidly closing the distance between us.
I can’t make a run for it, so I try to punch him in the face but he easily catches my wrist, tugging me towards him and causing me to crash into his chest. I struggle against him, feeling his arm wrap around my waist and pull me flush against his body, which ends up trapping my hands between us. I begin panicking more at the situation, feeling the blood rushing through my veins, which makes me uncomfortable since it's a sensation I haven’t felt in a long time.
Mark lets out a chiding tsk. “While it’s cute seeing you helpless like this, you’ll only end up hurting yourself and we can’t have that.”
If I’m going down, it’s not going to be without a fight.
“Let me go, you bastard!” I stomp on his foot as hard as I can, causing him to curse, grip loosening on me in his surprise.
I rip myself away from him, collapsing against the edge of desk and seeing him glare at me.
“You shouldn’t have done that Y/N, I was trying to be a gentleman about this but I see that you leave me with no other choice.” He says in a sinister tone as he lunges towards me.
I’m not quick enough to avoid him and we both tumble onto the surface of the desk, Mark pinning both of my hands above my head in one of his own.
“Let me go!” I snap, trying to head-butt him but he manages to move his head away in time, putting all his weight onto my hips so that I can’t knee him.
I struggle, struggles turning more frantic when I see him reach into his suit jacket’s pocket and pull out a syringe filled with some clear liquid. I quickly put two and two together, squirming in his grip and shaking my head emphatically.
“No!” I cry in protest, seeing him grin down at me menacingly.
“I think it’s time you get some sleep Y/N, you look exhausted.” With that said, he sticks the needle into the side of my neck and injects its contents into my bloodstream.
Whatever was in that needle is quite potent because it instantly makes me drowsy.
“No…” I slur, struggles weakening with every second that passes by.
Dark, I’m so sorry. I couldn’t stop him, I cry silently to myself, feeling Mark brush my tears away.
“No need to cry Y/N, I’ll make everything better, it’ll just be you and me…for all eternity.” I hear him say faintly as I try in vain to keep my eyes open.
All my strength leaves me as I go limp, eyes rolling into the back of my head as oblivion sweeps me away.
Mark smiles down at the unconscious woman underneath him, getting off of the desk and back onto the floor. He places the empty syringe back into his suit jacket’s pocket, adjusting his clothing back to its proper place as he stares down at the woman with a thoughtful look, noting how much paler her skin is compared to the past. He also notes that her hair is longer and that there’s a purple and white aura outlining her form, but the aura isn’t noticeable to normal mortals. These changes doesn’t faze him since he’d always viewed you as beautiful. Perhaps if his younger self were wiser, he’d have pursued you instead of Celine.
We could’ve made quite the power couple, the best Actor in the country and the District Attorney of one of the most influential states in the country, Mark muses to himself, gaze dropping to the floor.
Would’ve worked out better if he did, since despite everything that happened, he can see that you still love Damien and that you continue to remain loyal to the former Mayor…unlike Celine, who left at the first instance their relationship hit rocky ground, right into the waiting arms of…
Mark snarls, refusing to think about his failed marriage anymore.
Not for much longer she’ll remember poor, sweet Damien, she has me now and I’m obviously the better man between the both of us. I’ve known her a lot longer than Damien ever did, he had no right trying to get close to what is mine. Mark grows angrier at the memory of walking in on Damien kissing you in the music room of his home, the both of you too wrapped up in the other to notice him.
His anger subsides slightly at the next thought to pop into his head.
Besides, she doesn’t know what became of Damien now, does she? Of how much of a monster he’d become.
The former actor had to be quite careful in getting to you since he didn’t want his adversary to find out what he’d been planning. Or worse, bump into him, because make no mistake…Mark is fully aware that the entity Damien had become, is very powerful and knowledgeable and would use those assets to make him suffer if he ever manages to get his hands on him.
Shaking his head slightly to clear the dark turn his thoughts took him, Mark looks at you once more.
I’ll let her rest for now before I send her on her way. Admittedly, I’m curious to know how she’d react to any situation I’ll put her in…so this will be the trial run so to speak. To see if she’s worthy enough to be a co-star in my stories. I know, I’ll send her to the universe where the alternate version of myself is Head Engineer of a space ship. I’ve already put some things in place that had sent the alternate version of myself into an endless loop with no escape. I’ll see how Y/N fares being Captain of the ship alternate me is on.
Anger disappearing completely for the moment, Mark ignores the cane he dropped onto the floor when he lunged at the former District Attorney, opting to pick up the unconscious woman and bring her to a bedroom where she can rest more comfortably. Now back in his office once more, he picks up his cane before making his way to his desk and sitting down, already planning what story he and yourself can do once you complete his little test.
Notes:
All I can say for this chapter is...oof. Dark isn't going to be too happy about this.
We're officially in transit to start the storyline for In Space with Markiplier.
I hope you're ready, Captain.
Chapter 12: Changes and New Beginnings
Notes:
Here's the next chapter of the story everyone. Thank you so much for the kudos and be sure to comment your thoughts on the chapter if you wish.
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Dark’s in his office, in the middle of speaking with Wilford, when he hears within his mind…the magpies screeching in alarm before abruptly disappearing. He senses their demise as he stands from his swivel chair, ignoring that the force of his movement causes the chair to roll and slam into the wall behind him.
“Dark, what’s wrong?” Wilford asks in concern, seeing the alarm on the other man’s normally stoic face.
“Y/N’s in trouble.” Dark says, his auras flaring from the sheer panic he feels.
“What?! Let’s go get her then!” Wilford says, tone serious for once.
Dark nods, transporting them in front of the manor.
Wilford grabs his gun as both men rush into the manor’s foyer and Dark can instantly feel the heavy oppressive energy in the air, a telltale sign that dark magic had been used. Both men see the symbols painted around the now irrevocably broken mirror, pieces of glass laying on the table and floor. Dark’s eyes go wide, rushing towards the remains of the mirror’s frame and touching it, not feeling your presence.
That can only mean one thing to the eldritch entity, that Mark had taken you before the both of them had managed to arrive. The bastard must’ve known that he only had a small window of time before Dark would arrive and unleash hell upon him.
“Damn it!” Dark snarls, shell cracking as the ringing and creaking of wood gets quite loud.
Wilford looks around, spotting footsteps that aren’t theirs in the thick dust covering the floor. Letting out a puff of air that condenses from the frigid air caused by Dark’s anger, he notices another disturbance in the dust.
Eyes narrowing, Wilford pieces together the different clues presented to him, his experience in the military coming back to use.
“He took her Wil, that snake took her from me!” Dark growls, form glitching uncontrollably as he punches the wall in his rage, cracking the concrete and causing small chunks to come raining down.
Wilford frowns at the state of his friend as he re-holsters his gun, angry at what Mark had done. Dark had explained everything that had happened to you and how he was going to free you from the mirror.
“We’ll find her old friend, he’s not going to take another person we care about.” Wilford says.
Dark brushes plaster and dust off of his hand, cracking his neck.
“We will, and when I get my hands on that snake, he’s going to regret the day he even thought to bring her into this.” Dark says lowly, reeling in his anger somewhat, but still glitching slightly.
Thankfully the ringing and creaking also lowers in intensity, making Wilford sigh silently in relief. He didn’t know how much longer his ears would be able to handle that level of pitch.
“Dark, she tried to get away from him but it’s obvious that she wasn’t strong enough at the moment to fight him off.” Wilford says, the Colonel surfacing in the serious tone he had adopted to tell the entity this.
Wilford proceeds to explain what had occurred, where Mark was standing, how you landed when you got out of that mirror and how you tried to drag yourself away from Mark.
Dark listens silently to his friend’s words, anger steadily growing more as time goes by, but he manages to keep it at bay for the moment. Looking around, he taps into the residual energy in the room, letting Wilford and himself see what exactly had happened.
They both watch as Mark appears, heading deeper into the manor as if searching for something. They see him come back and stand in view of the mirror, a book appearing in his waiting hand. They see him read something from the book to himself before he walks to the mirror and peers into it. He smiles before he grabs a bowl and a brush from the bag he’s carrying. He also grabs a vial of something, pouring the red liquid into the bowl and using the brush to paint the same blackened symbols they’d seen around the mirror, checking the book occasionally to make sure the symbols are correct.
“Is that—?” Wilford asks the entity beside him, having a feeling he knows what it is.
“Blood, human blood.” Dark confirms grimly as he watches the scene.
Dark knows exactly what spell the actor had used, it being the direct opposite of the spell he had intended to use to free you. He wasn’t about to use any black magic to bring you back, he knows all too well from the entity that’s a part of him, that black magic has a negative effect on both the caster and the receiver if they aren’t careful. He knows that you were forced to resist the effects of the spell Mark had used.
They watch as Mark steps back, book in hand before they both hear him say the spell from the ancient book in his grasp.
Dark listens to the Latin, easily understanding the words being read and growing increasingly annoyed because he has to wonder where Mark even managed to get a hold of such an obscure spell-book.
After the spell is fully said, they spot the symbols around the mirror start glowing an ominous red.
“Found you.” They hear Mark say to the mirror as the reflective surface changes to show you looking around in horror as your surroundings turn to ash.
“N/n.” Wilford whispers to himself, seeing for the first time how different you look.
He can see that like Dark, you also have two auras around you, glowing purple and white. He notices how much paler you look, mind you…your skin tone hasn’t reached the point of looking grey like Dark’s. Wilford feels guilt well up, knowing that it’s his fault you’re like this.
Dark grits his teeth, seeing you drop your basket of flowers in alarm as you’re forced to run towards the mirror as the void you’re in starts getting smaller and smaller.
They can both hear the chanting start up as you look around, lips moving quietly in a whisper. They hear you let out a cry of surprise as you’re levitated off of your feet and begin getting pulled towards the mirror, you forming a bar anchored into the ground and barely managing to grab onto it, holding on for dear life. They notice Mark scowl in displeasure at your attempt to resist his attempts.
What did you expect…that she’d run to you with open arms, you snake! Dark sneers silently at the actor.
“While I admire your tenacity Y/N, I’m afraid that I don’t have time to play, especially when I had to go through all this trouble to find you, without a certain someone noticing my whereabouts.” Mark says, angering both men as they continue to watch.
Wilford wishes that they had gotten there in time, because he’d just love to pop another bullet into the actor…and this time it wouldn’t be an accident, because this time he’ll know that there are definitely bullets within the gun.
“Just leave me alone Mark! Let me live my existence in peace!” They hear you snap at the actor.
“Live your existence in peace? I think not old friend, especially when I have such grand plans in store for you.” Mark says in a sinister tone as the bar gives way, disappearing from your grasp.
They hear the bloodcurdling scream you let out as you seem to struggle against something, getting closer and closer to the mirror.
The ringing and wood creaking starts getting loud once more, frost forming around the room as Dark’s control on his anger slips at the sight of Mark’s grinning face as he watches you struggle.
“I’m going to cause him so much pain that he’ll be begging me to kill him before I’m even through with him!” Dark snarls in a demonic tone as he watches the actor smile at the pain he’s causing you.
Wilford shivers both from the cold and from the cold dark promise in the entity’s tone as he and Dark see you pass through the spider-webbed surface of the mirror, your form solidifying into a body of flesh and blood.
You land on the dusty floor in a heap, pristine white dress getting covered in dust as you right yourself. They watch the mirror’s surface shatter as the symbols stop glowing, turning black in hue.
They watch Mark approach you, seeing you sluggishly trying to get away from the actor.
Dark sees you take a sharp inhale, feeling helpless as he sees you struggling to simultaneously flee and adjust to having a body once again.
“Stay away from me, you monster!” They hear you cry to the actor in a raspy voice as you scoot away from him.
Mark stops walking, placing one hand over his heart, the other gripping the decorative top of the cane in his grasp.
“You wound me, Y/N. I thought we were best friends.” They hear him say, a mocking smile on his face.
They watch as the air around the both of you seems to shift and twist before they see Mark and yourself disappear, the actor teleporting the both of you elsewhere.
It’s quiet between both men, the only sounds to be heard is the painful ringing and creaking of wood.
Wilford cautiously eyes the ticking time bomb next to him, quite nervous since he knows that the man beside him is absolutely livid.
Dark seethes silently for some time, shell glitching as a red version of himself appears, screaming in rage before sputtering out. Dark lets out a rough exhale, forcing himself to calm down a bit since he doesn’t want Wilford’s ears to start bleeding from the noise, nor for him to freeze from the temperature drop. The noise following the entity lessens significantly, the frost disappearing as the temperature warms slightly, though Wilford can still see his breath condensing.
Dark scowls, cracking his neck before transporting them back to their home; Erebos mansion. They appear in the foyer, startling the others.
“If you’ll excuse me Wil, I have some things to prepare for.” Dark says in a menacing tone, already plotting how he can make that poor excuse of a barely human being, suffer.
“Right—of course, go right ahead old friend.” Wilford says, not wanting to be around the eldritch entity when he’s in a mood like this.
Dark nods stiffly, stalking towards the stair case and scaling it to get to his office.
The others, being Google, Bim Trimmer, the Host and Dr Iplier, watch the entity go.
The Host keeps his mouth shut, not narrating as he usually does since he can tell that Dark is in quite the volatile mood…a mood he does not want to be on the receiving end of.
“The b-boss doesn’t seem too happy.” Google states after Dark vanishes from sight, his monotone glitching slightly.
“Doesn’t seem so, granted that Wilford, Bim, Host and myself still have our breaths condensing, despite him already leaving the foyer.” Dr Iplier states.
“Don’t you lot have things to do?” Wilford questions, shooing them away before he heads for his own office, deciding to let Dark cool off before he even attempts to speak with him.
Wilford still has to plan how he’d go about his way in interviewing the obscure Slenderman, a good journalist looks for the most interesting story after all. But before he does that…he decides to call the good old detective and check up on him, maybe he can get him to keep an eye out for any sightings of Mark, since Abe had been brought up to speed about what had happened.
Wilford smirks slightly, recalling how unsettled the detective had looked, both from the news and at the sight of Dark. Wilford’s lips tilt downwards into a frown, knowing that he’d never see Damien and the love of his life, Celine…ever again. He has a feeling that you feel the same way as he does, knowing that you loved Damien dearly. However, he knows you have a chance with Dark since the entity loves you, due to parts of Damien occasionally showing through his personality. In all the years of knowing the eldritch entity, he hadn’t seen any sign of his beloved Celine.
“She’s sleeping.” His gaze drops to the floor as he recalls Dark’s words when he had asked about his little pink flower.
Reaching up, he brushes the stray tear away, entering his office and closing the door behind him.
“Time for you to play your role, Y/N.” Mark whispers, watching his security feed of a woman with a strange white and purple outline around her body.
The woman looks around with a confused expression on her face. She wears a captain’s outfit consisting of a black body suit with gold strips around the circumference of the forearms of the suit. There is a silver safety gauntlet on her right forearm. Underneath the suit she has on a white sleeveless turtleneck. Her long hair is braided down her back and she also has on a pair of black leather gloves and black boots. Most importantly, she has on a black and gold captain’s peaked cap that somewhat covers her penetrating gaze from view.
Mark recalls how she’d always had an intensity to her gaze, as if she can look right into a person’s soul. He supposed that trait came in handy when she was a lawyer, since every case she ever took on was a smashing success.
He’d already made her forget most of her memories, replacing them with false ones that she’d need for her journey in space. He also changed all the memories she’d have of her friendship with Damien, placing himself in Damien’s place. That also meant that instead of having feelings for Damien, she’d have feelings for him instead.
After he sends her to the beginning of the journey, she’d forget that she was even here. With an easy wave of his hand, he transports her onto the shuttle that’s to be used to travel to the Invincible II.
I stand close to the glass, looking at the large space ship we’re currently approaching. My superiors decided that it’s best I become captain of the Invincible II, to lead the mission of transporting the 100,000 colonists to a new habitable planet. It’s the first mission of its kind and I don’t intend to let anything bad happen to any person on the ship. They’re now my responsibility. Before boarding the shuttle, I made sure to read the reports on the different crew aboard the Invincible II.
Admittedly, while I’m glad to lead this mission…I’m happier at the chance to see my good friend Mark, once again. He actually engineered the Invincible II, which took a good few years to complete. Due to our different schedules, we haven’t been able to hang out, not as much as our high school and University days, that is. I fondly recall all the memories of University; instances of studying all night for exams, the times we attended parties and gotten drunk, even the times where we studied too much and ended up crashing in the closest bed, since the other was too lazy to get to their own room in our shared apartment. Of course I never told him I had the biggest crush on him since our high school days, I didn’t want to chance ruining our friendship.
“You might want to take a step back there, Captain.” A man’s voice shakes me out of my thoughts.
I step back from the glass, turning my attention to the pilot of the shuttle, only to see him staring at me. He turns his attention back to the controls only to shift his gaze back to me.
“I’m sorry. I know I’m staring a lot. Huge fan. Huge fan.” The pilot says.
“Been following your career for quite a while now.” He says as he turns back to the controls.
I step back a few more steps from the control panel, giving the pilot some space at the controls.
“Visual tower, this is Shuttle Marmota approaching docking bay four.” He says as he reaches for a switch located underneath the main controls.
“Closing the blast shields.” The pilot states.
I wonder why he did that.
“Shuttle Mormota you’re clear to dock.” A voice on the radio says.
“Yeah. Copy you.” The pilot says, chuckling slightly as he turns around to face me.
“Truth be told we couldn’t afford to show that anyway.” He says, confusing me greatly.
What does he even mean by that? I keep my expression its regular neutral mask.
“But yeah—don’t get me wrong. I know exactly where we’re headed.” He says as he leans a hand against the control panel.
“Check it out. We’re gonna land in five—” He removes his hand from the control panel, intending to count down but we end up slamming into something.
The pilot slams into the control panel and I also lose my balance, hands landing on his chest so I don’t completely fall over. I quickly right myself, removing my hands from his chest and returning them to my sides. There is the concerning sound of hissing and clanging.
“Captain, we’re here early. I gotta say, it’s an honor. I was thinking maybe we could hang out or something?” He says as he salutes.
I blink at his words, silently saluting him back. I turn around, heading for the door.
“Go get a coffee. But, you know, beer’s cool.” The pilot says from behind me but I ignore his words.
He isn’t exactly my type anyway.
I grimace slightly, feeling a slight pain in my head, along with the fuzzy monochrome image of a man in a black suit, but it quickly passes. I ignore the image for now as the door opens with a hiss. I smile slightly at the sight of Mark, dressed in a beige body suit with a white turtleneck showing at the top. On his head is a red barrette hat and he wears black gloves that are fingerless for three of his fingers, that being his thumb, index and middle finger. On his right forearm is a silver safety gauntlet and his left has a mini tablet attached to it. Mark smiles when he catches sight of me.
“Welcome aboard the Invincible II, Captain.” He says as he holds out a hand for a handshake.
I grab his hand, accepting the handshake he gives me.
“Glad to have you here. Took you long enough.” Mark says, the last of his words coming out teasingly as he lets my hand go and turns around, beginning to walk.
“But let me give you the grand tour before we embark.” He says as I follow behind him.
“This is my pride and joy.” Mark says as I glance to the side, noticing the limp man on the ground, a woman beside him.
“No!” The woman exclaims over the noise, causing me to feel slightly concerned.
“My baby.” Mark says before he turns to me slightly.
“Well, your baby, I guess now.” Mark says as he points at me.
He enters another room and I follow after him.
“But I made her, and a baby will always remember her father.” Mark states as he presses a few buttons on the touchscreen to the side.
The door to the side of me closes.
“Bio-scan.” A male, computerized voice says as a white light scans the both of us.
“Welcome aboard, Captain and Head Engineer.” The voice states.
“Prepare for sterilization.” I barely brace myself for the flash of blinding light.
Mark blinks, inhaling deeply, a bit disoriented from the light. He shakes his head slightly, looking at me once more.
“First stop the warp core, the heart and soul of this ship.” He explains as the door in front of us opens.
“Still not a 100% sure how it works, but you don’t need to know how something works in order to use it.” He states as I look at the device in question.
Maybe if it were something else that wouldn’t be a problem but what if it malfunctions, does Mark even know how to fix it? I push the thought away, trying to have more faith in him.
He wouldn’t be using it if he didn’t know how to repair it if it malfunctions, at least I hope he won’t.
I crane my head upwards, taking in the bright beam of light shooting upwards from the warp core.
“And when we found it again, it passed every safety test with flying colours.” Mark says, hand knocking into a man standing in front of the control panel.
I feel quite concerned when the panel starts sparking. The man hurries to deal with it as I turn to face Mark.
What does he mean by ‘we found it again’? Before I can even ask, Mark begins to speak once more.
“It’s not gonna be like last time. Oh, no.” Mark says as he leads the way once more, facing me as he walks backwards towards another door.
I follow after him, a bit confused as to what he means by that, but I’ll ask him after he finishes giving me a tour of the ship.
“Ahh! My eyes!” I glance at the man that rushes past me, his hands covering his eyes.
“This time the Invincible is finally gonna live up to her name.” Mark says, before turning to face the door that opens for him.
“But just in case, I built in a special precaution.” He reveals as he begins walking backwards once more.
“If anything goes wrong, we can detonate these explosives and separate the warp core from the rest of the ship.” Mark says, before imitating the sound of an explosion going off.
I look at the devices containing red lights that line the entirety of the hallway.
So this is how he’s going to solve a malfunction, he hasn’t changed a bit, my lips twitch slightly at the thought.
“I’ve yet to meet a problem that can’t be solved with explosives.” Mark states.
“And speaking of explosives…” Mark backs into another room, bathed in bright yellow light.
“The main reactor!” He exclaims, flourishing his hands towards the right.
“It turns out you pretty much need the power of a star to tear open a wormhole so a star I built. Built like a tank too.” He bangs on the control panel with his fist, causing it to malfunction slightly.
I walk closer to the glass, getting a better look at the reactor. I manage to get a few seconds to look at the reactor before the blast shield falls down, hiding it from view. I look to the side, seeing a hand on the control for the blast shield. I look up at the person attached to that hand, taking in the man taller that Mark. Which makes him way taller than me since I only come up to the top of Mark’s collarbone.
The man has a moustache on his face and also has on a blue barrette hat on his head. He wears red overalls decorated with a plethora of engineering items that I don’t know the names of.
“Captain.” The man says, pointing his wrench at me before pointing it towards himself.
“Burt.” He says.
I silently salute Burt.
“Yep.” Burt says, before walking away.
“That’s Burt. He makes sure that the ship don’t go boom.” Mark says, before walking towards another door.
“Next stop is Cryo.” The door opens, revealing an injured crew member, holding a crutch under his left arm.
“Oh, hey.” Mark says, stepping to the side.
“Hey Mark.” The injured man greets, before noticing me and giving me a small wave.
I nod in greeting, Mark patting him on the shoulder. The injured crew member then passes by the both of us.
“The colonists are prepped, stable and ready for transit.” Mark reports as he walks backwards into the room.
He checks the mini tablet on his left forearm.
“Systems are working at 110%, too, which is a little weird, but overkill never hurts. Trust me.”
“Hello!” A woman’s voice says, causing the both of us to look to the Cryo pods on the other side of the glass.
“You do not want to be awake when the warp core hits the gas.” Mark cautions.
“I think I’m supposed to be asleep but I don’t think I am.” The same woman’s voice, says before another blast shield falls down, covering the other side of the glass.
I look to the side, seeing Mark with his arms crossed, staring down another woman, who stares back at him. I make note of the perceived animosity between the both of them, filing that information away for later.
“C.C” Mark says with a smile, albeit condescendingly, towards the woman.
“Asshat.” The woman shoots back, causing Mark’s mouth to drop open in shock before he looks at her with an offended look on his face.
C.C ignores him, turning towards me and removing the hood of her winter coat off of her head.
“Captain, all colonists are prepped and stable. 100,000 souls ready for a new life. Let’s get them there safe.” C.C says, causing me to nod to her with a small smile, her face seeming familiar to me.
“Oh don’t worry, before they know it, they’re gonna wake up to the sight of a brand new planet, with a fresh cup of coffee in their hands.” Mark says as he flits his head over C.C’s shoulders.
The silver haired woman looks annoyed, rolling her eyes at his words and actions.
“Why don’t you give them more windows to look through?” Is her mocking question.
“Well maybe I will!” Mark snaps.
“Maybe then someone might appreciate the aesthetics.” Mark says as another door opens, leading out to Cryo.
I’m thankful we’re moving on, because it’s freezing in this room and I don’t have the appropriate apparel to wear if I were to spend an extended amount of time here.
“Besides, what could go wrong with a crew like this?” Mark asks as he turns around, back facing me.
I follow him into the hallway, the door to Cryo closing behind me.
“ADS is good to go.” A man’s voice says before the man in question steps out of the room to the left of me.
A feeling of familiarity slams into me at the sight of the man, despite never seeing him in person before.
“Don’t worry, Captain. No asteroids getting by me.” The man, Gunther, if I recall correctly from reading the reports, says to me as he removes his sunglasses, revealing a strangely familiar face.
“You can count on that.” He says as I shoot him a finger gun.
“They didn’t tell me she would be so beautiful.” I hear one of the crew say to another as I glance at them.
I look away, looking forward in time to see Gunther smack Mark on the behind. I refrain from sniggering in amusement. Burt passes by, nodding in greeting.
“Hey watch it!” A man’s voice says before a crew member bumps into me, her eyes on a tablet.
“Oh my God, I’m so—” The woman says in a rushed tone, before she looks up, meeting my eyes.
Her eyes widen in surprise.
“Oh wow…” She breathes, staring at me with a star-struck expression.
I gently nudge her to the side, intending to continue down the hallway.
“Oh, no. Captain, I’m falling! Catch me!” Another crew member says as he practically throws himself to the side.
The gesture surprises me so much that I don’t react quickly, only barely managing to snag the back of his body suit before I pull him upright.
“Be careful.” I say in a low tone, before walking off.
I can hear squealing from behind me.
“Did you see that, the Captain caught me!”
“I’m so jealous.” Another voice says, followed by other voices agreeing.
“Navigation is online Captain.” An older man informs me, causing me to shoot another finger gun towards him.
“Engines are looking good, Captain.” The crew member next to the man, informs me as he salutes.
I salute him back.
“Life support is online, unless it’s not,” Mark says, looking up from his tablet.
“And then we wouldn’t know until we passed out.” Mark says, stopping momentarily.
“Seems fine. Everything is accounted for. We’re ready to see our new home.” Mark says with a smile.
“All that’s left now…” He says, stepping to the side and allowing me to head through the doorway in front of me, stepping into the bridge of the ship.
“Is for you to say the word.” Mark says, causing me to turn towards him, seeing him holding two flutes of champagne.
I accept the glass he hands me.
“Try not to get them too excited, Captain. I know how your speeches can get people riled up.” Mark says as we both turn to face the gathered crew.
I clear my throat softly, ready to give the speech I’ve written for the occasion. Unfortunately, I’m interrupted.
“Warp core engaged.” The Computer informs everyone as a red light switches on, an alarm sounding in the background.
Everyone looks disappointed that I didn’t get to say my speech. They pass by me, rushing to drink their champagne before they enter their Cryo pods.
I let out a small disappointed sigh.
“Ah, it’s alright, Captain.” Mark says as I go to drink my champagne.
“Ohh.” He says, grabbing the glass from me.
“I’m sure you’ll make a great speech once we get there.” Mark says as he removes his barrette and downs the contents of my glass.
I stare at him, miffed that he did that.
I really wanted to drink that.
He points at something behind me, mumbling his words through a full mouth of champagne. I turn around, seeing the Cryo pod, heading towards it and opening the door.
“Oh, and I forgot to mention, it’s not a problem, of course,” He says as we both step into our pods, the door slowly closing.
“But just before you go to sleep, be absolutely sure, do not—” The rest of his words are cut off by both of our doors closing.
I stare at the frosted glass of the pod, wondering what he was trying to warn me about.
“Wormhole opening in ten, nine, eight—” The AI says as my vision starts going dark.
“Seven, six—error.” The AI informs as the gas from the Cryo pod stops, causing me to spring back to full awareness.
I tap on the error icon, wanting to know what exactly the error was.
“Error.” The AI says.
I tap on the error icon, growing more frantic as the only message I receive is, “Error, error, error, error, error, error, error.”
“Damn it.” I hiss, getting frustrated.
“Wormhole opening in three, two—” I bang on the Cryo pod, trying to get a sign that Mark is still awake or if the gas had already done its job.
“A software update is available. Would you like to restart to apply this update?” A female automated voice informs.
“No!” I cry out as the countdown reaches zero, the warp core activating.
I lean back against the wall of the Cryo pod, hearing overlapping voices.
“Don’t give up.” A woman’s voice says before the touchscreen in front of me starts up.
I stare at it, disoriented from the effects of warping. No wonder Mark said you don’t want to be awake when that happened.
“Software update complete.” The female automated voice notifies as I brace my hands against the walls of the pod, hyperventilating slightly.
“Good morning, Captain.” The Computer greets.
“We are currently ERROR years into our journey. Coffee is en route.”
I can only stare in shock, noticing an arc of blue electricity passing through the fingers of my left hand.
“Current ship status is absolutely catastrophic.” The Computer informs as red light and alarms blare outside.
I bang on the walls, trying to get out.
“Initializing emergency Wakey-Wakey Protocol.” The Computer states.
“Wha—” My questioning is cut off when I’m rudely ejected from my pod, barely preventing myself from face-planting with the flooring.
I return to my feet quickly as an explosion sounds off, shaking the ship slightly.
“Reviving Head Engineer.”
I turn to the side, seeing Mark get ejected from his pod a lot more harshly than myself. He hits the glass in front, landing with a loud thud. He lets out a grunt as he returns to his feet.
“Captain, what the hell is—” He tries to say as I hear the sound of glass cracking.
Before the both of us can react, the glass wall behind Mark gives way.
“Ahh!” Mark screams as he’s sucked into the vacuum of space.
“Mark!!” I scream as I hit the control panel, holding on for dear life.
I can only stare at where he was in disbelief as the wind whistles in my ears harshly.
“Hull breech detected. Sealing bulkhead.” The Computer states as the blast shield slides shut, allowing me to stand upright, stumbling away from the controls, feeling grief well up from the loss of my best friend.
“Fire on the bridge.” The Computer says as the controls catches aflame, causing me to jump back in alarm.
“Error. Life support systems failing.” The Computer says as the alarm blares once more, red light flashing.
“Computer, can you put out the fire?” I ask the AI.
“Error. Automatic Fire Suppression System offline.” The AI informs me, causing me to curse under my breath.
“Error. Fail-Safes offline.” The Computer states, causing me to frown.
I push my grief to the side, making my decision on what to deal with first.
My crew needs me, I can grieve later, when everyone’s safe.
Notes:
Well, Dark's plotting to torture Actor Mark and the Captain has officially made her appearance!
Chapter 13: A Captain’s Duty
Notes:
Here's the next chapter for the story where we'll be seeing how the Captain goes about fixing the issues on her ship.
I've also tried my hand at drawing the Captain...I'm quite happy with how the design came out. I also have a version of the Captain with her auras appearing but you'll have to wait a bit before you're able to see it.
As always, thank you for your kudos and comments, I always enjoy hearing what are your thoughts are concerning the story.
Chapter Text
“Right, fix the oxygen. The fire can be dealt with after, if it’s still going.” I mutter to myself, rushing out of the room and heading to Life Support.
“Warning no atmosphere detected in Life Support.” The AI says.
If all the oxygen is depleted, it should put out the fire but I need to get the backup systems online.
Slamming my gloved hand over the scanner, the door to Life Support opens and I stride towards the control panel, swiftly reading the instructions.
“Warning. Oxygen levels dropping to unsafe levels.”
I don’t bother saying anything to that, since it’ll waste the measly oxygen circulating. Looking up, I see the valves I need to turn, moving towards them and turning the first one, then the second one. I use both hands to turn the last one, hearing it click into place. The lights turn back on, signalling that the backup system is working.
“Oxygen levels rising.” The Computer says, causing me to let out a sigh of relief, momentarily eyeing the plants situated in the room.
It would’ve been a room I frequented if things had gone according to plan, I ignore the grief in my chest, needing to focus.
“Good news, Captain. The momentary lapse in oxygen extinguished the fire on the bridge.” I’m not surprised by the news.
“Warning. Brace for impact.” The Computer says, causing me to frown before an explosion sounds off, the rocking of the ship nearly sending me to the ground.
The alarms begin blaring once more.
“Alert. Hull breach detected. Asteroid Defence System is offline.” The Computer says, voice slurring.
“Oh for the love of—” I say, cutting myself off as I make my way out of Life Support.
I run down the hallway, heading towards ADS.
“Disregard previous statement, Captain.” The Computer says in a menacing tone.
“The Asteroid Defence System is working at 100% efficiency. Any vibrations you are feeling are simply the guns working to keep you safe.”
I ignore the words, placing my hand on the scanner for the door leading into ADS. The door opens, revealing two drones facing me, their lasers also pointing in my direction. I raise both of my hands in front of me, trying to appear as non-threatening as possible.
“I said the Asteroid Defense System is…fine.” The Computer says as the drones open fire, causing me to dive to the side, landing on the ground and forward rolling until I’m in a crouch.
Looking over my shoulder, I see the door to ADS close, preventing the drones from continuing to fire.
“Captain, please make your way to the nearest bunker and have a nap.” The Computer says before powering down.
I scoff at the suggestion it had offered.
“Damn it all.” I growl, standing to my full height and reaching into a pocket of my body suit, pulling out a small sleek tablet.
Pressing the on button, I scroll through the list of crew members, needing to wake up Gunther so he can deal with the issue. I tap the tab containing his name and ship role; Gunther B. Gunnerson: ADS.
“Initiating Wakey-Wakey Protocol for Gunther B. Gunnerson, head of Asteroid Defence System.” The Computer informs me before I hear banging, along with screaming.
I tilt my head slightly, trying to pinpoint where the noise is originating from. I hear a thud to the right of me and turn my head, seeing the hole in the ceiling where Gunther had appeared from.
What? I blink, staring at the hole before electing to focus on the more important issue at hand, the asteroids bombarding the ship.
“The B stands for bullet,” Gunther says, removing his cigar from his mouth as he makes his way towards me.
“And I heard you had a little problem on your hands, Captain.” Gunther states, stopping in front of me.
“There’s a problem with ADS, along with the drones stationed there.” I state calmly, hiding how irritated I am with the systems failing.
Gunther grabs his gun from his thigh holster located on his right leg.
“I’ve been through hundreds of battles, fought through hundreds of traps. A few rogue drones ain’t gonna get the best of me.” Gunther says, placing his cigar back between his lips before shooting the hand scanner, which somehow opens the door.
He gives me a self-assured smirk as he backs into the room, the door closing, blocking me from seeing much of anything, the only glass being a small square near the top of the sliding door. I look through the glass, hearing the sounds of a battle taking place, along with grunting and struggling. I hear the sound of a detonator beeping, stepping away from the door hastily. The resounding explosion still makes me a bit unbalanced but I quickly right myself.
“Asteroid Defence System online.” The Computer notifies as the door opens, revealing Gunther holding onto one of the destroyed drones.
“Problem solved, Cap.” Gunther states as he re-holsters his gun.
“I can see that.” I mutter to myself.
“Next time, give me a challenge.” He says, taking his cigar out of his mouth once more and leaning against the doorway.
“I’ll keep that in mind, Gunther.” I say to him, causing him to smirk, sunglasses falling down the bridge of his nose so he can regard me.
“I look forward to it, Cap.” He winks at me before frowning slightly.
“You feel that?” He questions, causing me to furrow my brow, feeling cold all of a sudden.
“It’s getting kind of cold in here.” He says, shivering slightly.
“Alert. Coolant leak in Cryo.” The AI informs us.
I look to the side, seeing cold mist flowing through the cracks in the door leading to Cryo.
“Uh, that is no good, Captain. I got to go check on ADS. Good luck with that.” Gunther says in a rushed tone, backing into ADS and closing the door before I can say anything.
“Why are all the systems failing?” I murmur under my breath, making my way towards the door to Cryo and opening it.
I hastily close it back, blocking the blizzard occurring inside the room.
“Warning. Colonist core temperature rising. Irreparable harm will occur if the colonists’ stasis temperatures continue to rise. Manuel intervention is required, Captain.” The Computer cautions.
I wipe the frost from my face before scrolling through my list of crew and finding C.C’s name, tapping on the tab.
“Initiating Wakey-Wakey Protocol for Celci F. Kelvina, head of Cryogenics.” The Computer says as clanging, along with a woman screaming can be heard.
I don’t question the noise too much, since nothing made sense since getting out of my Cryo pod.
There’s some grunting, along with the sound of brakes squealing and glass breaking.
Seriously, what sort of wake up protocol uses whatever all of that is?
“Did Mark’s stupid ship design cause a problem again, Captain?” Celci questions from behind me, causing me to turn around and see her march her way over to me, amidst the cool fog covering the hallway.
Again? I question to myself.
“Where is that idiot anyway?” She questions, causing grief to slug me in the chest.
Celci lets out a small sigh.
“Let me guess. He found out the hard way that glass windows and space don’t exactly mix.” Celci states, causing me to nod slightly.
“I tried to warn him but you know how Mark is.” Celci says as she walks past me to get to Cryo.
I turn around to face her once more.
“Honestly, it’s probably better this way.” She says as she slaps her hand over the scanner.
I don’t agree with her sentiments but don’t show much of a reaction to her words.
I don’t want anyone to pry into what I’m currently feeling.
“Someone has to put the lives of the colonists first and it looks like it’s gonna be me as usual. I got this.” Celci assures me as she backs into the room, the door closing behind her.
“Alert. Colonist core—” The Computer tries to inform me, but is cut off by the door opening once more.
“Captain, come quick.” Celci says urgently.
“What is it?” I question, rushing into Cryo as she moves to the right of the room.
“Warning. Reactor core—” The Computer’s words are cut off by Celci.
“The colonists are safe, but we got bigger problems.” Celci interjects.
Don’t tell me there’s a problem with the reactor, I plead silently, hand reaching for the scanner to open the door.
A blast of hot air blasts the both of us, Celci taking cover on one side of the door and myself doing the same, slapping my hand over the scanner to close the door.
“The reactor’s critical! It’s going to blow!” Celci exclaims.
“If you would let me finish,” The Computer says, sounding exasperated.
“I was saying, reactor core overload—” The Computer says.
“Computer, I need you to wake up Burt and get him down here, right now.” Celci demands to the AI.
“I’m sorry, but the Wakey-Wakey Protocol can only be authorized by the Captain and Head Engineer.” The AI states.
“Well, I mean, Mark’s dead. Doesn’t that give me a promotion?” Celci says, confused.
“I’m sorry but the previous Head Engineer has assigned you the lifetime role of…” The Computer says, voice trailing off, another voice replacing the Computer’s.
“Asshat!” Mark’s voice says.
I let out a silent sigh, not surprised that Mark would do something like that.
“Which does not allow for direct promotion or any upward mobility.” The Computer says.
“That moron.” Celci snarls.
“Captain I need you to wake up Burt, get him down here to fix that reactor right now.” Celci demands, causing me to arch an eyebrow at her, feeling a sense of déjà vu at her tone of voice.
“Crew with the role off ‘Asshat’ are not allowed to make demands of the Captain.” The Computer says in a smart-alec tone.
I pull out my tablet once more, scanning the list for Burt’s name. I look at the name on top of Burt’s name with interest, granted it isn’t even a crew member, but one of the colonists. I make a mental note to investigate that once everything is fixed.
“We have to fix this now or we’re all going to die.” Celci says as I press the tab.
“Relax, Dr Kelvina. It will be dealt with.” I state firmly to the other woman.
“Initiating Wakey-Wakey Protocol for Burt.” The Computer says as we both hear clanking.
We both hear Burt scream, the sound of clanking ensuing as he continues to scream. We both hear the sound of bowling pins before an explosion goes off, causing Celci to crash into me. I manage to keep the both of us upright, letting her go once she regains her footing.
“Thanks Captain.” She says, causing me to nod.
“Alert. Reactor output stabilizing to safe levels.” The Computer notifies.
“What?” Celci questions in confusion as the door opens, revealing Burt, who steps into Cryo and stands in front of the both of us.
“Burt did you just…” Celci tries to say.
“Job’s done.” Burt says, looking at me, his wrench resting on his left shoulder.
“Oh, well, I’m sure the colonists are happy for your assistance.” Celci says, tone unsure.
“Yep.” Burt says, staring down at her before he turns around and heads back into the reactor room.
“Where did he find these people?” Celci asks me quietly, no doubt referring to Mark.
“Well, Captain, it seems like the situation here is stabilized, but we don’t know exactly what went wrong. Something must’ve went sideways in the wormhole.” Celci states.
“Too bad Mark’s not here because he could figure it out.” She says in a tone that suggests that she’s still miffed about not being able to get promoted.
“Well as it stands, the rest of the team in the core should be able to help you figure things out.” Celci says, moving to the side so that I can head into the reactor room.
“Computer, wake the rest of the crew and run diagnostics on the ship. I want to know what exactly is wrong so the issues can be dealt with.” I state in my best Captain voice.
“Waking crew and running diagnostics, Captain.” The AI informs me as I walk into the reactor room.
“Oh, and Captain,” Celci says, causing me to look over my shoulder at her, stopping momentarily.
“Thank you, for saving us.” Celci says in a soft tone.
“Just doing my job, Dr Kelvina.” I state in an even tone.
“Celci or C.C, you can call me by either one if you want.” Celci says, avoiding looking me in the eyes.
My lips twitch slightly.
“Alright Celci, if that’s what you want.” I say, causing her to smile.
“We’ll also see if you can get promoted, I outrank Mark in ship hierarchy anyway, so I’ll be able to override his decision if the rest of the crew votes to have you as Head Engineer.” I state in a thoughtful tone, seeing the surprise on her face.
“Now if you’ll excuse me, I have to check the rest of the ship.” I say, tone slightly apologetic.
“Not a problem Captain, we can talk more when everything is fixed.” Celci says, beaming at me.
I nod to that, turning around and moving further into the reactor room, intending to check on the warp core.
“Whether it be next tomorrow, whether it be next year, my vision is not false.” Burt says, causing me to look at him, a bit confused.
“This much I know is true.” Burt says, staring me down.
“Right…keep me posted on the state of the reactor, Burt.” I say, seeing him nod and turn back to the controls.
Turning to face the door that opens into the hallway leading to the warp core, I silently wonder why the higher ups approved some of the crew to even be on this mission.
Opening the door, I step into the hallway, walking down the length of it.
“Computer, what’s the situation on the warp core?” I ask.
“Warp core cannot be reached, Captain.” The Computer replies.
Can’t be reached?
I make it to the end of the hallway, pressing my hand against the scanner, eyes going wide at the sight of the blue, swirling vortex. I quickly close the door, trying to think of a solution. Turning around, my gaze catches on one of the explosives lit up with red light, recalling Mark’s earlier words.
“If anything goes wrong, we can detonate these explosives and separate the warp core from the rest of the ship. I’ve yet to meet a problem that can’t be solved with explosives.” Mark’s voice says in my head, as a mental image of him wearing a yellow hat and banjo ambience sounds off.
I shake the mental image out of my head, stalking down the hallway with a determined look on my face, a plan being formulated.
I need to head back to the bridge and inform the crew of the situation, I need to look through the controls and detonate the explosives, since Mark isn’t here to fix the issue. Then again, he did say he didn’t know 100% how the thing works.
“Computer, what did Mark name the protocol to detonate the bombs in the hallway leading to the warp core?” I demand urgently.
“He named it the Event Horizon Protocol, Captain.” The Computer tells me as I run through the reactor room and then Cryo.
“Isaac, no! Stay with me!” I hear a voice cry as I rush into the hallway leading to the bridge, nearly crashing into the injured man I saw earlier.
“Excuse me.” I state in a rushed tone, barely paying him much mind.
I ignore the three crew to the side, even as I hear a smack, signalling one of them slapped the other. I rush past two of the crew doing maintenance, noticing that one of them was the woman who had ran into me when I first gotten on the ship. Opening the door to the bridge, I see crew rushing about. Celci catches sight of me.
“Captain, you’re gonna wanna see this.” Celci says urgently as I move towards the main console, taking in the live feed of the ship being stuck in the wormhole.
“My God.” Gunther says from beside me, causing me to glance at him in time to see him remove his cigar from between his lips, along with his sunglasses.
“We’re stuck in a goddamn wormhole.” He says, an expression on his face as if he can’t believe it.
“Hull stress is redlining across all decks. It’s holding for now, but who knows how long that’s gonna last.” Burt informs me, causing my lips to form a thin line, making my decision.
“Out of the way.” I sternly order the crew in front of the controls, causing him to rush to do as I say.
“Captain, what are you planning?” Celci asks.
“I’m activating the Event Horizon Protocol, it’ll detonate the bombs located in the hallway between the warp core and the reactor room.” I inform the crew in a decisive tone.
“Computer, inform all crew to stand clear of the hallway leading to the warp core and for them to ensure that the door leading to that hallway is closed and locked.” I order.
“Informing crew now.” The Computer says before a loud PA message is heard throughout the ship, relaying what I had said.
“Crew has been notified and all orders have been followed, Captain.” The Computer says after a few tense minutes.
“Good.” I state, pressing the tab for the Protocol, the lights shutting off momentarily as I hear an explosion sound off in the distance.
“Event Horizon Protocol activation successful. Ship is free from the effects of the wormhole.” The Computer says over the noise as the lights turn back on.
Looking to the live feed, I see the ship is dislodged from the wormhole, the wormhole getting further from the rest of the ship. The crew present in the bridge crowd around the feed, seeing that the ship is free with their own eyes.
“You did it Cap, you’ve freed us from the wormhole.” Gunther says with a giddy laugh, throwing an arm around me, causing me to chuckle slightly.
“Alright, alright.” I say as I’m brought into a group hug, tolerating it for a few moments before I get them off of me.
“There will certainly be things that have to go through maintenance, you lot know what to do.” I say to them, giving them a smile.
“Aye Aye, Captain!” They exclaim, saluting.
I salute them back, watching as they empty the bridge, leaving me alone for the most part, except for the presence of an elderly woman in a blue dress.
“I don’t recall seeing you before, Mrs…” I say, assuming that she’s married.
“It’s Miss Whitacare dearie, I’m not married anymore.” The woman informs me.
“Alright, Miss Whitacare, care to inform me why your name is listed amongst the crew?” I ask in a respectful tone as I make my way towards her and show her my tablet.
She presses her white framed glasses up the bridge of her nose, peering down at her name.
“I’m quite unsure why that is.” She informs me, looking at me closely.
“You’ve had to make quite a few tough decisions, dearie.” The woman says, causing me to freeze, in the middle of placing my tablet back into my pocket.
“You could say that.” I say quietly as I pocket the device.
“Loss isn’t something that is easy to bear, especially when it’s still quite new.” Ms Whitacare says wisely.
“You’re right, I’ve lost a dear friend recently but I suppose in time the pain of loss will ease.” I whisper, recalling the moment Mark was sucked out into space.
It’s quiet between us for some time.
“As an old…friend used to say, life is ours to choose.” She says, seeming to almost say something else at the beginning of her words but I don’t pay much mind to it, it’s her last words that gets a reaction out of me.
I inhale sharply, feeling a pain in my head, along with a strong pang in my heart. I screw my eyes shut, seeing a flash of an image…a man wearing a suit with a white bowtie, a white carnation pinned to one suit jacket lapel and a mayor ribbon badge pinned to the other. The man also holds a cane in his hand and he’s looking at me with a soft, loving smile on his face. The name of the man is on the forefront of my mind but it’s as if a wall is separating the name from the rest of my mind. I bring my hand to my temples, feeling them throb angrily when I try pushing against the wall. I stop mentally pushing against the wall when the pain becomes too much to bare.
“Captain? You seem to be in pain, maybe you should take off your peaked cap for the moment, it might be cutting off circulation and you did just go through a stressful moment, dealing with the malfunctioning ship systems.” Ms Whitacare says.
“Maybe you’re right.” I say, opening my eyes and reaching up, plucking the Captain’s hat off of my head and holding it to my side.
The tightness in my temples begins dissipating slowly.
“Oh my…” The elderly woman breathes, causing me to look at her in confusion.
“Is something wrong, Ms Whitacare?” I ask, concerned because it looked like she just saw a ghost.
“It’s nothing Captain, it’s just that you look eerily similar to how my brother’s wife used to look when she was younger.” Those words fill me with interest.
“Really? That’s quite strange.” I murmur.
“What’s your name, Captain?” She questions, staring at me with an emotion I can’t exactly pinpoint.
“Oh, it’s Y/N L/N.” I say, stating my full name.
Something seems to change in her expression for a split second before the usual smile she wore since I’ve first began to speak with her, is on her face. I wonder if I imagined her reaction.
“Ah, you both even share the same first name, what a coincidence.” She says with a chuckle, but I begin to feel a bit uneasy, as if something is watching us but the feeling goes away after a few minutes.
“I should check on the crew, make sure they don’t burn the ship down, it was nice speaking with you, Ms Whitacare.” I say.
“Of course dearie, you have a ship to run after all, especially without that Head Engineer of yours.” Ms Whitacare states, causing me to give her a tight smile at the mention of Mark.
“Yeah.” I say as I put on my peaked cap once more, making my way out of the bridge to check up on everyone.
Some time passes, the ship travelling through space via conventional means. The ship’s sensors had picked up on a suitable planet that we could use as a colony. It was even more suitable than the one Mark had initially picked out, the atmospheric conditions being just like Earth’s so we didn’t need to worry about needing oxygen supplies to breathe. During the time needed to reach a close distance to the planet, I had conducted a meeting with the entire crew, getting the appointing of a new Head Engineer out of the way. As it turned out, everyone was in support of Celci becoming the new Head Engineer.
I stood in front of Celci as the crew looked on. Turning to one of the crew holding a tray, I grabbed the circular pin like the one Mark wore and pinned it to Celci’s body suit. I then placed a white barrette on her head, signalling that she’s now Head Engineer of the ship.
“Everyone, your new Head Engineer…Dr Celcionna F Kelvina.” I stated as the crew clapped and cheered.
Celci smiled as she looked at the crew before she looked at me, a determined look on her face.
“I won’t let you down, Captain.” She said, saluting.
I smiled at her as I saluted her back.
Within a few days’ time, we were quite close to the planet, the heads of the different departments and myself, planning logistics on how we’re going to go about building the new colony. Enlisting the help of some of the colonists who were experienced in construction, plans to inhabit the planet were in full effect.
It then came the time where I, along with a few of the crew stepped onto the new planet, staking out the environment and finding a suitable spot to begin building the colony. I had one of the crew members stick a flag into the ground, signalling the beginning of our new life. Months passed by, filled with collaboration from all ends by the ship crew and all the colonists, everyone working hard to build our new home.
We all stand in front of the newly built colony, looking at the big, red ribbon tied between the gates leading into the community. I look at the ribbon from my spot on the podium, located to the side of the ribbon. I then look to the crowd gathered, ready to give my speech I had prepared.
“From the moment we’ve agreed to this journey, from the moment we each stepped onto the Invincible II, we have begun a new page in human history. We have journeyed the uncertainty of space, have braved the challenges thrown our way, we have worked together through all of this and this is what we can proudly show for it!” I say, before gesturing at the buildings behind me, the crowd cheering at my words.
I wait for them to quiet down somewhat.
“Together, we have paved a new path for humanity, showing that it is possible to reach for the stars, to live somewhere other than Earth and to broaden our horizons.” I say with a smile.
“We have sacrificed much to come to this point, I’m sure each of you had to make a choice about giving up things you cherish, for the sake of human development.” I say in a sombre tone, seeing heads bobbing in agreement to my words.
“But as someone once told me…” I say, finding Ms Whitacare in the crowd.
She smiles at me, seeming to know the words I’m about to say.
“Life is ours to choose.” As I say those words, I can hear a warm, male voice in my head repeating those words, filling me with yearning.
“Let our accomplishments be an inspiration for future generations…for a brighter tomorrow!” I exclaim, ignoring the feeling in my chest and head as the crowd’s cheering turns deafening.
Burt steps forward, handing me the large golden scissors to cut the ribbon.
“Go ahead Cap, cut the ribbon and we can get this party started in earnest.” Gunther says with a joking smile on his face as he pats the fireworks that’s still in their boxes.
“Don’t go too overboard, Gunther.” I hear Celci say to him in warning as I walk to the ribbon and cut it, letting the crowd see the ends of the ribbon fluttering to the ground, signalling that the colony can now be lived in.
Life in the colony goes by smoothly, the months turning into years. During this time, I’ve gotten quite close with my crew, especially Celci, Gunther and Burt. With the differing careers the colonists had whilst on Earth, we were able to even form a council to deal with any issues the colonists had. The agriculture is even exceeding our expectations, producing abundantly more products, compared to growing the plants on Earth. We even have a few expecting couples, which surprised me slightly, but I suppose it’s a good sign that the colonists feel secure enough to think about having children.
“All in all, things are good.” I say quietly to myself, sitting at my desk in my bedroom and holding a cup of tea in my hands.
My eyes find the photo of Mark and myself in our University graduation gowns, posing for the camera.
“I miss you, you big goof.” I whisper, sadly eying the photo.
Standing from my chair, I walk onto my balcony, cradling my teacup as I look out at the colony lit up from the different lights strung around. I can see people walking the streets, despite it being some time since night had fallen.
Well, there aren’t exactly any criminals for anyone to worry about, I muse, taking a sip of my tea.
Despite accomplishing my mission, why do I feel so empty, like a part of me is missing?
I close my eyes, searching for the mental wall in my mind and gently nudging it. During the past few years, I had tested the strength of it, trying to find a weakness in the structure. For a long time, it was too strong…but over time, it seems to have weakened in some spots. With a little more time and mental effort, it might even come crumbling down if I continue to poke at it. I wonder what exactly I would find at the other side of that mental wall, because since it had begun to weaken, I’ve experienced flashes in my dreams of different faces but the most constant is of the man wearing the mayor ribbon and of a man that looks like a darker, more menacing version of him. Both men made me feel safe, despite the powerful presence around the second man…I feel as if he’d never hurt me on purpose.
There were also the occasional nightmares concerning Mark, but something seemed off about him…the aura around him was evil, I’m just thankful I don’t have much nightmares to begin with. I shiver, recalling the most recent nightmare of Mark holding me down and telling me that I won’t ever be escaping his grasp, laughing gleefully as he says that. I recall my screams for help, screaming a name I can’t remember as I try fighting him off but he was too strong. Luckily, before the nightmare could get any worse, I had woken up.
Reopening my eyes with a troubled look on my face, I drink the rest of my tea before making my way inside and locking the balcony door. Making my way into the kitchen, I set the cup into the sink, deciding to turn in for the night. Now back in my bedroom, I ensure that the curtain is properly covering the balcony’s glass sliding doors, before heading to my bed and getting under the covers. Letting out a tired sigh, I snuggle into my sheets and close my eyes, drifting off into an easy sleep.
Opening my eyes, I find myself drifting in darkness, a light in the distance. Glancing down at myself, I see that I’m wearing my Captain’s uniform. I didn’t have to wear this uniform since the colony was fully built and the opening ceremony had taken place, but that was years ago.
Why am I wearing it? Where even am I? Am I dreaming?
Looking up, I see that I’m a lot closer to the light.
“Time to try again, Captain. It pleases me that you were able to lead your crew to victory, but that’s not all I want from you…no, you’re going to have to suffer quite a bit before we properly meet again.” A menacing voice that sounds eerily like the Mark from my nightmares, says.
Again?
“No. Whoever you are, just leave me alone and let me live my life in peace.” I snap, struggling to stop myself from drifting forward as the voice chuckles, as if I’m the most amusing sight it’s ever seen.
“Oh Captain…” The voice says, tone patronizing.
“Be a good girl and try not to die. I’ll be checking in on you at times but I am a busy man with a lot of plans just ready to put into action.” The voice says before I’m barrelled towards the light, forcing me to close my eyes from the luminosity threatening to melt my eyeballs out of its sockets.
I let out a groan, feeling cool glass against my cheek. Opening my eyes, I take in my surroundings, feeling a bolt of horror strike me. I look down at my hands, seeing the gloves, along with my Captain’s uniform. I realise that I’m in a Cryo pod.
No, no, no, no. This can’t be happening! I fixed the ship and established the colony. This has to be another nightmare, right?
“Software update complete.” A female automated voice says and I barely refrain from screaming at the insinuation that I’m back at the beginning of everything.
Chapter 14: Never Ending Loop of Despair
Notes:
The poor Captain, she has no idea what's going on.
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
“Good morning, Captain.” The Computer greets as I angrily bang my right fist on the side of the pod.
“We are currently ERROR years into our journey. Coffee is en route.”
Damn it, why? Why?!
I try getting out of the pod, throwing my body against the door.
“Current ship status is absolutely catastrophic.” The Computer informs as red light and alarms blare outside.
“Initializing emergency Wakey-Wakey Protocol.” The AI informs, causing me to curse under my breath as I brace myself to get ejected from the pod.
I manage to not land on my face when I’m ejected.
“Mark?” I ask as I rush towards his pod and rip the door open, staring into the empty Cryo pod.
He isn’t here. Is this just another nightmare?
I look around wildly as the alarms continue to blare.
There’s only one way to wake myself up, I realise as I rush towards the fire extinguisher and pick it up.
Turning towards the glass windows in the bridge, I recall the earlier voice.
“Be a good girl and try not to die.” The voice said in a patronizing tone.
My lips twist into a defiant scowl as I toss the fire extinguisher at the glass and close my eyes as I’m sucked into space, suffocating after all the air in my lungs have disappeared. I claw at my throat as my vision starts going dark from the lack of oxygen.
I just need to wake up, I manage to think to myself as I lose consciousness.
I feel myself rush through something as I open my eyes once more, seeing that I’m in the Cryo pod once more.
“Software update complete.” A female automated voice, says as I get my bearings once more.
“Good morning, Captain. We are currently ERROR years into our journey. Coffee is en route.” The Computer informs as I stare at the arch of blue electricity passing between the fingers of my left hand.
“Current ship status is absolutely catastrophic.” The Computer states as red light and alarms blare outside.
“I-I-Initializing emergency Wakey-Wakey Protocol.” The Computer says before I’m ejected from my pod once more.
An explosion rocks the ship slightly.
“Reviving Head Engineer.” The Computer states.
Mark?
I see him get ejected out of his pod in the same way as before.
“Captain, what the hell is going on?” Mark questions with wide eyes as he gets up, leaning momentarily on the controls.
I glance at the glass behind him, moving forward and snatching his hand in mine, holding on tightly and bracing myself as the glass breaks, the vacuum of space trying to suck us out of the ship.
“Hull breach detected. Sealing bulkhead.” The Computer informs before the blast shield slides down.
I let his hand go.
“Thank you. Um, what’s happening?” Mark questions, before the control panel between us bursts into flames.
“Fire on the bridge.” The Computer says as Mark and I meet the other’s gaze.
“Error. Automatic Fire Suppression System offline.” The Computer says as I grab the fire extinguisher.
“Error. Life Support System failing.”
“I’ll get Life Support.” Mark states.
I begin spraying the fire with the fire extinguisher as Mark rushes out of the bridge.
“Error. Backup systems offline. Fail-safes offline.” The Computer says in the background.
“Alert. Fire extinguished.”
“Captain?” I hear Mark question in a soft, unsure tone, causing me to spin around.
My eyes widen at the darkened hallway, seeing the various notes stuck to the walls, along with the lit candles on either side of the door leading out of the bridge.
“Mark?” I call out, feeling unsure about what’s currently happening.
I don’t receive an answer from him.
“Mark, where are you?” I call out again, only to receive silence.
Frowning, I look around before observing the multitude of notes stuck to the walls.
“Don’t open the door?” I read one of the notes in confusion, looking at the other note.
‘Shh…Don’t WAKE the Captain.’ Another note reads, followed by a piece of paper with a large arrow drawn on it.
I look at the notes after the arrow, seeing what looks like tally marks. Looking further towards the side, I see another notes that reads, ‘Stop breathing my air.’
That note sends a sense of foreboding through me.
Looking at my Cryo pod, I can faintly make out the words on the different papers lining the side and front of the pod.
The Captain needs her sleep.
Sleepy Head.
Let the Captain rest.
Shh…Don’t disturb the Captain.
What? What does any of this even mean?!
Staring into the glass at the side of the Cryo pod, I see a hand slam into the side of the pod from the inside, causing a small scream to escape my lips. I then see two purple, glowing orbs stare at me through the pod. My breathing hitches, shaking in anxiety as the thing continues to stare at me. As I look at whatever I’m currently having a staring contest with, I begin to hear a rustling sound, like wind passing through grass. There’s also creaking wood mixed into the sound of the rustling. The unsettling sound…along with the glowing orbs, causes my breathing to reach hyperventilating levels as the noise seems to get louder with each passing second.
“Alert. Oxygen levels rising.” The AI says as my surroundings return to normal.
Was it just a hallucination?
I try to stop my shaking, figuring that the lack of oxygen is just messing with me.
“Ah, Captain.” Mark says from behind me, causing me to whirl around to face him, feeling quite startled by him.
“There you are. I got Life Support back online, and I still don’t know what the hell is happening, but we seem to have this situation under control.” Mark says with a smile, giving me a thumbs up as I try to steady my breathing.
I give him a thumbs up, still feeling a bit shaky from the hallucination.
Something knocks into the ship, causing the both of us to grab onto the nearest surface to keep our balance as the alarms sound off with glaring red lights.
“Impact detected.” The Computer says, which wasn’t needed in the slightest.
“Computer, activate the Asteroid Defence System!” Mark orders urgently.
“Analyzing. No.” The Computer says, causing the both of us to stare at the ceiling, incredulous.
“What do you mean, no?!” Mark questions.
“Computer, what’s wrong with the ADS?” Mark inquires again.
“ADS offline.” The Computer says.
“Why?!” Mark yells.
“Offline.” The Computer replies.
“Computer, what is wrong with—” Mark says, beginning to get annoyed.
“Offline.” The Computer says pointedly, causing Mark to grit his teeth as he glares up at the ceiling.
“Computer, what’s wrong with the ADS?” Mark asks in an angry tone.
“ADS is offline.” The Computer says as another impact hits the ship.
“This doesn’t make any sense.” Mark says to me as he turns around and rushes down the hallway.
I follow after him, silently agreeing with his statement.
“We got asteroids hitting the ship and our guns aren’t shooting them down.” Mark says as another impact rocks the ship, nearly sending Mark to the floor but he catches his footing, continuing forward.
“Thankfully they’re still guns, so you know we should just be able to point and—” Mark says as he opens the door to ADS and looks inside.
“Shoot them...” His words trail off as I suddenly remember the drones.
“The Asteroid Defence system is offline.” The Computer says as the drones open fire.
Before any of the beams can hit Mark, I tackle him to the ground, the both of us landing in a heap to the side of the door as the door slowly closes shut once more.
“You alright, Mark?” I ask, pushing myself up somewhat and staring down at him, our face inches from the other.
I try not to think about our position too much, else I’d start blushing like a fool.
“Yeah, I’m alright, Captain.” Mark says from his spot underneath me, staring up at me with an emotion in his eyes I can’t quite pinpoint.
I push myself up into a seated position.
“We have to get rid of the drones.” I say to him absentmindedly as I look around for something we can use.
“Okay, those fire extinguishers can work, if we spray them with the foam it should mess with their sensors long enough so that we can destroy them.” I say as I look at the items thoughtfully, before looking down at him once more.
“Uh huh.” Mark says with a slightly dazed look on his flushed face.
I stare down at him in concern.
“Are you sure you’re okay?” I ask him as I tap his left cheek slightly.
That seems to snap him out of it.
“Yeah, I’m A-Okay, Captain.” He says, voice cracking slightly.
I then realise just exactly what sort of position we're in, feeling my face turn red since I’m basically straddling him. I quickly get off of him and back onto my feet, willing the flush consuming my face to go away.
Don’t think about it. Don’t think about it. I silently repeat as I turn to grab the extinguishers, hearing Mark scramble back to his feet from behind me.
Turning around, I hand him one of the extinguishers, not looking him in the eye since I’m still a bit flustered about what occurred earlier. Clearing my throat, I gesture for him to take cover on one side of the door.
He nods, moving into position and I do the same, taking cover on the other side.
“On three…one, two…” I say, seeing Mark ready his extinguisher as I do the same.
“Three!” I say, slamming my hand on the door’s scanner, opening the door and spraying foam onto the drone directly in front of me.
I can hear Mark do the same thing, before we charge in and smash the extinguishers into the drones repeatedly, destroying them.
“Just like old times, eh Captain.” Mark says with a chuckle as we look down at the destroyed drones.
I laugh slightly at his words as we move forward and use the guns to destroy the asteroids bombarding the ship.
With the asteroids destroyed, Mark activates the backup system and we step out of ADS.
Mark and I then work together to fix the coolant leak in Cryo, but we didn’t get to the reactor in time.
“Y/N!” Mark yells, forgoing my title as the reactor blows up, lunging towards me and wrapping his arms around me tightly.
“Mark!” I exclaim in fear, wrapping my arms around him as we’re engulfed by the flames of the reactor.
I wake up in the Cryo pod once more, shaking from the residual pain I feel from being incinerated.
“Software update complete.” The female voice says once more as I get the shaking under control.
“Good morning, Captain. Coffee is en route.” The Computer says as I look up, noticing the emergency release button and reaching for it.
“Current ship status is nominal.” The AI says, causing me to pause, bringing my hand back to my side.
Nominal, nothing’s wrong with the ship?
The door to my Cryo pod opens and I step out, noticing that there’s no alarms, no glaring red lights. Everything looks normal as I walk closer to the control panel. Looking towards the other Cryo pod, I notice Mark step out with a yawn, cradling a cup of coffee in his hands.
“Morning, Captain. How’d you sleep?” Mark questions as he walks closer to me.
I blankly stare at him.
He doesn’t remember everything that happened? How could he forget that we got incinerated by a nuclear reactor?!
“Good? Oh man.” Mark says, stopping in front of the control panel as I do the same.
“Are we early?” Mark questions, checking his mini tablet.
“I didn’t expect—” His words are cut off when I grab his hand, grabbing onto the control panel as I brace for the glass to give way.
Huh? I stare at the glass, not seeing it break as I expected.
Looking back at him, I see him stare at me, slowly bringing his mug to his lips before pausing its ascent.
“I’m flattered, but could you let go of my hand?” He says.
I numbly let his hand go.
“Thank you.” He says as I turn around and go to grab the fire extinguisher.
Mark moves away when I stand in front of the controls, waiting for it to burst into flames. When it doesn’t, I drop the extinguisher, glancing to the side to see Mark staring at me once more, as if I just grew a second head. He brings his mug to his lips but pauses yet again, bringing the mug back down.
“Captain, are you feeling okay?” Mark asks in concern.
“I’m fine.” I say to him in a low tone, before I turn around and exit the bridge, spotting the injured man waving at me.
I half-heartedly wave back at him as another crew member steps out of ADS.
“Oh, morning, Captain.” The crew member greets.
“Did you sleep well?” The man asks with a smile.
“Yeah, great.” I say, feeling so confused about everything.
“Morning, Captain.” I hear Gunther greet, causing me to look away from the man, seeing Gunther in front of me.
He has his sunglasses resting on his forehead and plucks the cigar from his lips.
“Not a single asteroid tried to hit us this whole journey,” He says as he walks backwards, myself walking after him.
“Which is some pretty good luck. If you’re a boring pansy but don’t worry, Captain.” He says as he comes to a stop near the door to ADS.
“I’ll find something to shoot.” Gunther says, staring at me before glancing at the side, staring down the other crew mate, who holds a tablet in her hands.
She turns away from Gunther, uncomfortable from his attention.
I continue walking, heading into Cryo, seeing Celci and another crew member in Cryo.
Celci turns around, catching sight of me with a smile on her face.
“Captain, all colonists are healthy and accounted for.” Celci says, before I hear a woman scream followed by a gunshot.
I look over my shoulder momentarily before turning to look at Celci once more.
“I might even owe Mark an apology. Maybe.” She says with a smile on her face, unnerving me slightly.
Luckily, she turns away and I make my way towards the reactor room, remembering all too starkly how Mark and I met our demise in that room. Placing my hand on the scanner, a wall blocks me from entering the room. Looking up, I spot Burt looking down at me, holding his wrench aloft.
“The fisherman know that the sea is dangerous and the storm terrible, but they’ve never found these dangers sufficient reason to remain ashore.” Burt says as I stare at him, unsure how to react to those words.
I try to pass by him to get into the reactor room but he’s still in the way. Moving back slightly, I give him a pointed look before trying to pass once more. I push him to the side slightly and squeeze into the room, spotting the injured man waving at me, along with another crew member. I feel the edges of my sanity begin to frazzle.
“Captain.” Mark says from behind me, causing me to turn around to face him.
“You seem a little stressed.” He states as he comes to a stop in front of me.
I look up at him.
“I know Cryo sleep can affect everyone differently, but coffee always helps.” He says in a soothing tone as he hands me a mug of coffee.
I quietly accept it, continuing to look up at him.
“Relax. You did it.” He says, patting my shoulder.
“You got us here safely. Take a moment to enjoy it.” He says with a smile as he taps my mug with his.
Maybe he’s right and the sleep was just messing with me, I try reasoning, however, that reasoning swiftly flies out the window when I spot the crew member to the side of Mark, frozen in place and still giving a thumbs up. I then spot Burt still in front of the door, also frozen in place.
Mark sips his coffee as I tighten my grip on the handle of my mug, barely refraining from screaming as I turn my gaze away from the man, intending on drinking the coffee in my mug.
A loud bang occurs, rocking the ship.
“Alert. Warp core cannot be reached.” The Computer says, causing my stomach to drop into the ground, weighted by the lead within it.
“What, what, what?” Mark questions as he walks past me, heading towards the door that opens into hallway leading to the warp core.
I place my mug down on a nearby surface.
“Computer what’s wrong with the warp core?” Mark inquires as he steps through the doorway, myself following after him.
I know I’m supposed to be a leader in this scenario, but I can’t help but feel lost.
I momentarily falter from my own thoughts.
Why are these words so familiar, as if another person had also expressed such words in the past?
“Warp core cannot be reached.” The Computer says.
“I know you can’t reach it, but what’s wrong with it?” Mark says in annoyance.
“I don’t know what’s happening Captain, but it can’t be good.” Mark says to me as he leads the way.
He stops in front of the doorway leading to the warp core and places his hand on the scanner, revealing a swirling blue vortex. He screams at the sight of the vortex.
“Oh, that’s not good!” Mark exclaims.
“Close the door!” I say from behind him.
“Oh that’s bad!” Mark says as he slams his hand over the scanner once more, the door closing with a hiss.
I grab his shoulder, spinning him around.
“Well, that’s, um, new.” He unhelpfully states, causing me to let out a rough exhale before I catch sight of the explosives.
“The explosives.” I say, pointing at the closest one behind him.
“Oh, yeah. Good idea.” Mark says in a rushed tone.
He walks up the hallway and I follow after him.
“Captain, I don’t know what that is, but I know bad news when I see it,” Mark says, walking backwards as he talks to me.
“And that is bad news!” His elbow hits the edge of the door and he spins around, trying not to spill his coffee but some droplets still spill from his mug.
I glance at the still frozen crew mates, running after Mark.
“We gotta get back to the bridge right now!” Mark exclaims.
“I wonder if this is what happened to the first Invincible. But they didn’t have plans!” Mark says as we enter and exit Cryo.
We rush down the hallway leading to the bridge.
“Oh. Morning, Captain. Did you sleep well?” The same crew member says as I spot the woman Gunther was staring down, on the floor, her eyes closed.
I stare in horror as I run past.
What the hell did Gunther do?!
“Oh my goodness! Oh my goodness!” Mark says, trying to keep his coffee from spilling.
What the hell is going on?! None of this is normal!
Mark comes to a stop in front of the scanner and bangs his head on it, which somehow opens the door.
The door opens, revealing the crew. I stare at the same woman I saw unconscious in the hallway.
What the hell?
“Captain, Mark got our asses stuck in a wormhole.” Celci says.
I walk forward, looking at the screen and seeing the wormhole.
“No I did no—oh, maybe I did.” Mark says when he catches sight of the wormhole.
“My God.” Gunther says from beside me.
Glancing to the side, I see him spit his cigar into his mug, pulling off his sunglasses.
“Mark got us stuck in a goddamn wormhole.”
“Hull stress is redlining across all decks. How did Mark even cause this much damage?” Burt says, looking at the Head Engineer.
Looking at Mark, I see his mouth drop open in shock, before he meets my eyes.
“Well, just activate the protocol!” Mark says in an offended tone, pointing at the control panel as I shoulder nudge the crew member out of the way…a bit harsher than I intended, because they go flying, landing in a heap on the ground.
“Damn it, Mark!” The crew member says from their spot as I activate the protocol.
It goes dark momentarily as an explosion goes off. The lights turn back on.
“Event Horizon Protocol activation successful.” The Computer informs.
I turn to the side seeing the crew, along with Mark, smiling at me with their coffee mugs in hand.
“Ship is free from the effects of the wormhole that was caused by Mark.” The Computer says.
Everyone raises their mug and I realise that I also have a mug of coffee in my left hand. I also raise my mug, wondering when I even grabbed it but eventually decide it doesn’t matter since the problem is solved. Everyone drinks from their mug and I do the same, savouring the rich brew of the coffee.
Just like before, we drifted among the stars before finding a suitable planet to build the colony. This time, I had Mark beside me and we worked together to design the colony and get it built with the help of the colonists and the other crew members. During this time, I formed a closer bond with Gunther, Celci and Burt, though Celci and Mark still had their bickering as usual. However, Mark, Burt and Gunther had become closer. With the colony being fully built, Mark and I had decided to share a home, just like our old times in University when we shared an apartment. A few years pass by and everyone’s living their lives in the colony. Throughout this time, Mark and I had gotten even closer and I had finally mustered up the courage to tell him how I felt about him. Luckily, he felt the same way and we began dating a few months ago, deciding to take our relationship slowly.
As of right now…we’re both sitting in front of the TV, just watching a movie together. I feel myself get sleepy as I continue to watch the movie.
“You look tired, Y/N.” Mark states, causing me to glance at him.
“Maybe a little.” I say, trying to stifle a yawn.
Mark smiles down at me.
“Come here.” He says, invitingly holding out his arms.
I raise an eyebrow at him but move closer, letting him pull me close and rest against his side. I rest my head on his shoulder with a content smile, feeling him curl a strong arm around me.
“Comfortable?” He questions softly.
“Very.” I say, feeling my eyes get heavier and heavier.
“You can sleep Y/N, I got you.” Mark says in assurance as I give a sleepy hum, closing my eyes and drifting off to sleep.
Before fully sinking into sleep, I faintly feel Mark turn his head and kiss the top of my head.
I open my eyes, expecting to find myself still with Mark, but instead, I find myself in a Cryo pod once more. I can feel tears of frustration well up in my eyes but I rapidly blink them away.
Oh God, please no. What did I do to deserve this?! Is this hell?!
“Are we stuck in some sort of time loop?” I whisper in frustration as I bang harshly on the side of the Cryo pod, getting the door open and walking outside.
“Reviving Head Engineer.” The Computer informs, causing me to jerk my head to the side, seeing Mark’s Cryo Pod open.
Like before, he is ejected, crashing harshly into the glass before landing on the ground.
“Captain, what the hell is going on?” Mark questions with wide eyes as he gets up, leaning momentarily on the controls.
I glance at the glass behind him, moving forward and snatching his hand in mine, holding on tightly and bracing myself. He goes to say something but the glass gives way, causing him to scream instead, gripping my hand and the control panel for dear life.
“Hull breach detected. Sealing bulkhead.” The Computer informs before the blast shield slides down.
I let his hand go.
“Thank you, Captain.” Mark says, looking at the blast shield with a gulp.
He steps around the controls, looking at me with an unsure look.
“Captain, does this feel—” I watch as different versions of himself seem to glitch into view, before disappearing.
“Familiar to you?” He asks as I stare at him with wide eyes.
We’re definitely stuck in a loop of some kind, I spin around.
“Captain, where are you going?” Mark asks as I run out of the bridge.
“To the Warp Core.” I state over my shoulder.
“Fire on the bridge.” The Computer informs as Mark screams.
I run down the hallway.
“Fire extinguished. Life Support systems failing.” The Computer says.
“Life Support? Aah! Captain!” Mark screams, causing me to falter next to ADS as an explosion sounds off.
I lost him in the past, do I really want to risk losing him again? After everything we’ve been through?
“Oxygen levels rising.” The Computer says.
“Damn it, fine.” I whisper to myself, spotting two fire extinguishers and grabbing them.
“Okay, I got it!” Mark says from his spot in Life Support.
“Asteroid Defence System is offline.” The AI states as I open the door to ADS.
“Why is it offline?!” Mark questions from down the hallway.
I glare at the two drones, tossing both extinguishers as hard as I can, crumpling the drones like aluminium. I stare at the destruction in surprise, not expecting myself to be that strong.
No time to focus on that!
I rush into ADS, activating the backup systems.
“Asteroid Defence system is online.” The Computer says as Mark appears in the doorway.
“Captain?” He questions, looking at the destroyed drones.
“Didn’t have much choice.” I state, walking towards him.
Mark lets me pass by him, looking at the destroyed drones once more, before following me.
“Warning, coolant leak in Cryo.” The Computer says as we both look at each other, Mark’s expression that of alarm, whereas mine’s more exasperated.
“We have to fix that before it gets worse.” I say to him firmly, seeing him nod.
We both rush down the hallway and I spot two coats on a rack to the side, snagging them.
“Mark!” I call to him, seeing him turn slightly.
“Catch!” I toss him the larger coat, tugging my own on.
“Thanks, Captain.” Mark says in a grateful tone, pulling the coat on as we get closer to Cryo.
Opening the door, we both rush in and quickly get the things needed to fix the leak.
“I’m just about done containing the leak Captain, why don’t you check on the warp core.” Mark states.
“Right.” I nod at him, shrugging off the coat since it’s no longer needed.
I run through the reactor room, into the hallway leading to the warp core. Slowing to a stop in front of the door leading to the warp core, I place my hand onto the scanner, opening the door. I stare at the swirling blue vortex with a grimace.
“Colonists core temperature stabilizing.” The Computer informs as I hear footsteps rush towards me.
“Captain.” Mark says as he comes to a stop behind me.
“What the hell is that?” Mark questions in shock when he catches sight of the swirling vortex.
“What the hell is happening?” He asks me urgently when I turn to face him.
I notice that he had also ditched the coat.
“I don’t have the faintest clue, Mark. Something seems to be wrong with the warp core.” I say, glancing at the vortex once more before looking at him imploringly.
“Do you have any clue on how to fix it?” I ask him urgently.
He stares at me, brows furrowed in thought.
“No more!” A voice says to the left of me, causing Mark and myself to turn to see who it is.
Well this is different.
“No more.” The woman says, bathed in a bright, bluish-white light, a gun pointed towards us.
Why is she injured and pointing a gun towards us? Is my concerned thought.
“It ends here. I’m not going to let you do it.” She says in a firm tone as the swirling light disappears.
Mark inches his way in front of me, stance as non-threatening as possible as he slowly inches his way towards the blonde haired woman.
I follow after him, copying his stance.
“I’m not going to let you do it. You’re gonna tell me what you did.” The woman says.
“You’re gonna tell me, and then you are going to undo all of the damage that you have done.” The woman says in an angry tone as I stare at her in confusion.
“Huh. Okay, look, um, Lady, first of all welcome to our ship.” Mark says.
“And I know it looks bad, but usually it’s a lot better-” Mark tries to explain.
“Not you!” The lady says, pointing the gun at Mark.
“You!” She exclaims, pointing her gun at me and staring at me with her eye that’s uncovered by the gauze wrapping her head injury.
I see the hatred in that gaze as I meet her uncovered eye.
I raise my hands in a pacifying gesture, hoping to calm her down somewhat.
“Everything that you’ve destroyed, everyone that you’ve killed, you are going to undo everything right here, right now.” The woman says, causing me to stare at her in shock.
I can feel Mark’s gaze on me but I keep my eyes on the woman.
But I haven’t killed anyone, I’ve always tried to keep my crew safe!
Before I can say anything, the Computer states. “Reactor overload in five.”
I see the woman touch the glowing device on her hand, before the blast from the reactor heads towards Mark and myself.
Mark blindly snatches my hand in his as we both get knocked back from the intense blast, falling into the swirling vortex behind us.
I try to keep my grip on his hand but we’re both ripped away from each other, Mark ending up some distance in front of me.
“Mark!” I call out to him in fear, hearing him groaning in pain.
“Hello, Captain. I don’t feel so-” He tries to say before screaming, his body shifting into different animals before reverting to his usual self.
“What the hell.” I whisper, horrified.
“Ow.” Mark says, before looking over his shoulder.
“Hey. Hey, it’s the warp core.” Mark says, looking at me momentarily, before looking at the door once more.
“So it is down here!” Mark states happily.
“Hey, maybe we’re not all gonna die after all.” His words trail off as the warp core doorway multiplies.
“Aww. Okay well, it’s gotta be one of these. So I’ll try that one over there. You get the big one.” Mark says, causing me to nod in agreement.
“Right.” I say before giving him a look.
“Be careful, Mark.” I tell him, seeing him smile at me.
“You too, Captain.” With that said, he makes his way towards the doorway he had spotted.
I make my way towards the largest door, ending up in a pitch black room. I blindly hold out my hands, making my way forward.
“Paradox detected.” A voice says, causing me to turn to the side, seeing the warp core.
“Requesting suitable host.”
I make my way closer to the warp core.
“Paradox detected. Requesting suit-scanning.” The voice says as I notice a glowing blue crystal at the center of the warp core.
There’s the sound of whirling machinery before it stops.
“Suitable host located.” The voice states as the crystal disengages from the center of the warp core, floating into the air.
I step back, feeling a bit uneasy. The crystal seems to jerk towards me, causing me to raise my hands in alarm as I back away more. It glows brightly before shooting towards my left hand and attaching itself to my glove.
“Huh?” I question, turning my palm over and tracing the now dim crystal.
“Please resolve paradox. Please resolve….paradox.” The machine says as blue light flickers wildly, before darkness surrounds me, followed by a faint flash of blue.
Notes:
Oof, the Captain sure went through it this chapter.
If you guys are interested in my tumblr here's the link: https://silver-halloween.tumblr.com/
I post all of my art I do for my stories there, amongst other things. Right now, I'm working on drawing a meme involving our dear DA and Dark since the idea won't leave me alone.
Chapter 15: Jumping in
Notes:
Hey everyone! Thank you so much for the kudos and comments.
Here's the next part of the story, picture of the Captain with her auras included.
All I can say about this chapter...is that some of those story tags are there for a reason.
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Feeling the whirl of the wormhole around me, I open my eyes and find myself in my Cryo pod. I look at my left hand, seeing the crystal attached to my glove.
“Emergency Wakey-Wakey Protocol override acknowledged.” The Computer says.
“Opening Cyro pod.” The AI informs before the door to my Cryo pod swings open.
I step out of my pod, seeing Mark to the same.
“Am I—are you—” Mark says, pointing at me.
I continue to walk towards him, copying his pointing, unsure if he remembers anything.
“Did I—did you—did we—” He says with a slight laugh.
“We’re immortal!” He exclaims with a laugh as he swings one of his hands and I do the same, our hands smacking against the other as we clasp the other’s hand.
“Or something like that.” He states as we let our hands drop.
“Not sure about us being immortal, I think we’re stuck in some sort of loop.” I say to him in a serious tone.
“Why do you say that, Captain?” Mark asks, confused.
“You don’t remember the previous times then.” I say, tone dismayed and disappointed.
“Captain?”
It’s foolish of me to think that he’d remember. Right, keep things on a professional level. I press my lips together, letting out a disgruntled sigh as I ignore the pang in my heart.
“I guess it can’t be helped, what do you remember before you woke up in your Cryo pod?” I ask.
“I distinctly remember falling through that door and then ending up in the center of a star…and then slowly feeling the flesh melt from my bones.” Mark explains, causing me to stare at him in horror and concern.
“But I’m alive and you’re alive! And I remember and you remember, right?” He says, causing me to nod.
“All too well.” I mutter, looking at his shoulder since I can’t quite look him in the eye at the moment.
“This is incredible.” Mark says as he turns to the control panel.
“Computer, activate the Emergency Repair Protocol.” Mark says.
“Oopsie-Boopsie Protocol engaged.” The Computer says as Mark looks at his mini tablet.
I stare at Mark, albeit amused, at what he decided to name the repair protocol.
“Full system reset in force.” The Computer says, voice slurring as the reset kicks in and the lights turn off.
I hear a beep from Mark’s tablet before the lights turn back on.
“System rebooted. Reviving crew. Backup systems engaged.” The Computer informs us.
“Okay.” Mark says as the crew enters the bridge.
“Computer, can you shut down the warp core?” Mark asks as he looks up at the ceiling.
“Negative. Warp core cannot be reached.” The Computer replies.
“Damn.” Mark whispers.
“Okay, so the wormhole is still a problem and my Emergency Repair Protocol can’t shut it down from here. We need to get in the warp core somehow, but that shouldn’t be a problem for two immortal gods like us.” Mark says with a slight smile.
“The way I see it, all we need to do is keep jumping in, and eventually we’ll find the right door, we’ll get to the warp core, shut it down, save the colonists, and then you and me can enjoy our newfound powers until they slowly drive us mad and turn us away from everything we know and love.” Mark says, causing a crew member to glance at him before she looks back to what she was previously doing.
“So what do you say? Come on, let’s jump in again. What’s the worst that can happen?” Mark says, causing me to give him a pointed look.
“We could die again, I guess. That wasn’t—that wasn’t so bad.” He says, looking at his hands.
“That wasn’t so bad.” He says once more, looking at me.
I stare at him, trying to work out the pros and cons of doing this.
I honestly don’t know what’s going on anymore, but maybe jumping in might give us some answers. I mean, I did see the warp core and the voice did say that there’s some paradox occurring.
“Alright.” I sigh.
“Hell yeah!” Mark says, clasping my hand once more.
“We’ll be at that warp core before you know it.” Mark says, letting my hand go.
“I think we were pretty close last time too.” He states as we make our way to the warp core hallway.
We both stare into the swirling vortex before Mark jumps in, myself jumping in after a moment’s hesitation.
“So this time I’ll dash right, you dash—” He tries to say, before one of the doors open and he’s getting sucked into a black hole.
“Mark!” I yell, grabbing his hand and the edge of the door, trying to keep us from getting sucked in.
He screams as he’s getting sucked in and I tighten my grip on his hand and on the door, trying to hold on. I end up losing grip on the door when the pull of the black hole got too great and we’re both sucked in.
I end up in my pod once more, pressing the emergency release switch. Before stepping out, I see that on the touch screen display in my pod, the ship’s name is labelled as the Invincible I.
What? Am I on the first Invincible? Did the first Invincible also have a wormhole problem?
Since absolutely nothing seems to make sense, I try to roll with it the best I can…since I have a feeling that thinking about this deeply would drive anyone to the point of insanity.
I step out of my pod, seeing Mark also step out from his pod, holding his neck in pain.
“Okay.” He says with a small groan.
“Not quite what I expected, but now we know what not to do.” He reasons, still holding his neck.
“So what do you say? Let’s jump in again. We almost had it last time. We’ll definitely get it this time. Probably. Definitely. Probably.” He says with a grin, trying to persuade me.
I grimace.
Death by black hole is something I was not expecting to die by.
“Alright.” I say, feeling regret for even agreeing to this.
“Hell yeah!” He says with a happy grin.
“Shouldn’t be long now before we’re resting on the shores of our new home planet. We’ll be heroes. First they’ll give you a medal. Then they’ll give me a medal. Then they’ll give you a medal. Then they’ll give me a medal. Then they’ll give you a medal.” He says as he points at me then himself, a few times.
“They might give her a medal.” He states, jabbing his thumb over his shoulder at the crew mate behind him.
Let’s just say this attempt of jumping in, leads to our demise once more.
I look up at the wave of heat barrelling towards us as Mark takes off running, screaming as he goes. I glare at the heat wave, feeling my patience wearing thin with all of this. Before the heat wave hits me, I see purple and white auras of some kind, flare around me.
Waking up in my pod once more, I stare at the auras outlining me.
Letting out a sigh, I don’t question it too much, exiting my pod once more.
“Okay, not gonna lie…” Mark says as he cracks his spine back into place.
“That was my bad.” Mark says as he makes his way towards me.
Glancing at the crew and Mark, I note how they don’t seem to notice the auras around me. Which is a good thing I guess, because I have no clue how to even go about explaining that.
“I kinda get distracted by all the pretty colours.” His explanation just causes me to let out a sigh.
Typical Mark, I do hope he has his ADHD pills with him for that.
“But they do say that failure is the best teacher, so shall we go again?” His inquiry causes me to frown at him.
“Come on, buddy. Friend, pal, amigo. Captain. Captain” He says, giving me a salute at the end.
“Captain?” He asks with a smile.
Ugh, he has no idea how much he and his smile affects my decision making…
“We’ll do this two more times and that’s it.” I say to him firmly.
“We either find the warp core or we don’t, should we fail we’re going to try a different tactic.” I say in a low tone, so that the others don’t hear us.
“Hell yeah!” He clasps my hand once more with a happy grin, causing me to refrain from smiling back at him.
“I think we almost had it last time. It was pretty close there. I mean, you kinda screwed up, but I was doing great. So I’m going to fix what I did wrong. You just do something completely different so that it’s better.” He says, causing me to raise an eyebrow at him.
I make a come here gesture, seeing him move closer, bending slightly so he can lend me an ear.
Putting my lips close to his ear, I say, “Keep telling yourself that Mark, I distinctly recall you running away whilst screaming bloody murder.”
Pulling away from him, I take in the flush on his face.
He lets out a slight cough, clearing his throat in his embarrassment of being called out for his actions. We both make our way back to the wormhole, jumping in again.
“We’ll get there in no time and save all our people before they can say—” Mark says, before his words are cut off when we enter a door that deposits us on a planet on the brink of being wiped out by meteorites.
Mark screams, running and crashing into me momentarily. I ignore him, feeling a small part of the mental wall in my mind, fall away. The wash of memories is enough for me to ignore the pain I feel when I’m incinerated once more.
Waking up yet again in my pod, I reach a hand up, rubbing my forehead.
Damien…that’s the name of the man with the mayor ribbon and cane. We were close, I cared for him deeply, and I might’ve even loved him. But, how can that be if I’m in love with Mark?
I push down the tears, needing to focus. When I get a moment alone, I’ll rifle through my memories and try to make sense of what I remember and what I don’t, including the contradictions I have in said memories. I step out of my pod as before.
“Uh, Captain?” Mark says as he steps out of his pod.
For some strange reason, the sight of his face fills me with a feeling of hatred.
But why would I hate Mark? He’s never done anything to warrant my hate towards him.
“I’m not the type to assign blame, but I couldn’t help but feel you could’ve tried a little harder.” His words cause my auras to flare in irritation.
“Like—” He pauses momentarily to fix his dislocated shoulder.
“I get that I’m the one to pull the most weight around here, but we could help each other out, you know?” He says.
“We’re jumping in one last time.” I merely say before walking away, hearing him scramble to follow me.
Now in front of the wormhole, I glance at him.
“This time…why don’t you go first, then I’ll follow, that way we each find a door that’s safe.” I say to him.
“Sounds like a plan, Captain.” He says, glancing at me, before jumping in.
I watch him disappear into a door, jumping into the wormhole myself. I try to go for the biggest door but at the last second, another door appears and I end up falling into that door instead. I land in a living room with a roaring fireplace. I look around in confusion before realizing that my clothing is different. I take in the blue and white dress with black heels.
Why am I wearing 1930’s era clothing?
In my bid of looking around, I don’t notice the approaching footsteps. I let out a gasp of surprise when an arm snakes around my waist and I’m pulled against another’s body. The man lets out a chuckle at my reaction. I glance down at the suit clad arm, turning around in his grasp and looking up at the culprit. My eyes go slightly wide at the sight of a familiar face.
“Damien.” I say, feeling shocked to see him.
“My little monster, I do hope I didn’t scare you too much, but I couldn’t resist.” He says with a smirk on his lips, not looking sorry in the slightest.
Trying to make sense of the plethora of feelings washing over me, I lightly smack his shoulder with my left hand, eyes spotting the diamond ring on my ring finger.
He follows my line of sight, looking at the ring, a true smile appearing on his face.
“Despite being married to you for years, it still feels like the day I first saw you walking down the aisle.” He says softly as I numbly stare at the ring, feeling grief unlike anything I had felt in the past.
I stare up at Damien, him meeting my gaze with one filled with so much love and adoration that I feel my breathing hitch at the look and my knees tremble. I rest my hands on his shoulders to keep upright, before I feel him wrap his other arm around my waist, inadvertently pulling me closer.
He brings his face closer to mine and I don’t stop him, struggling with myself as I feel another piece of the mental wall come crashing down. His lips meet mine and I close my eyes, remembering a little bit more about my past…the poker night, Damien and myself confessing our love to each other, discovering that Mark is dead, Damien and Celine disappearing, Abe getting shot by William. Lastly, I remember getting shot by William and falling over the banister, William reaching for me with a look of regret on his face.
I tighten my grip on Damien, a feeling welling up within me, telling me to not let this moment go to waste and to savour it…so I kiss him back, wrapping my arms around his neck.
The kiss quickly goes from soft and gentle, to passionate, threatening to drown me, along with all the emotions I currently feel…all of the anguish, guilt, regret and love, combining into a tidal wave I’m desperately trying to surf and not get wiped-out by. I pour everything I feel into the kiss, kissing him as if this will be our last.
A giggle comes from the doorway, causing the both of us to pull away. I catch my breath, feeling my whole face turn red from the half lidded look he shoots me.
“Did you really miss me that much, Y/N?” He whispers in a sultry tone, which makes my face turn even redder and my heart race even more.
“Maybe.” I say, swallowing dryly around the lump in my throat and trying not to cry, because I did miss him.
I missed him so much.
“I’d very much like to continue this, but…” He lets me go and walks to the doorway, grabbing at someone who stands to the side of the doorway, hiding out of view.
“Daddy!” I hear a little girl squeal as he picks her up and walks back into the living room, standing a few inches away from me.
I stare at the little girl, around five years of age…a perfect mix of Damien and myself, feeling like someone just slapped me with a sledgehammer.
“Now, my dear, it’s past your bedtime, what are you doing up?” Damien asks the child with a concerned look.
“Couldn’t sleep, Daddy.” The little girl says with a small pout.
“How about this, I’ll tuck you in and read you a bedtime story.” Damien says, causing the girl to smile, expression brightening.
I can’t help smiling at the sight, a bittersweet feeling at seeing Damien interact with her.
“Really!” The girl says with an excited smile.
“Really.” Damien says with a soft smile.
“Do say goodnight to your mother and we’ll head upstairs.” Damien orders softly, the child nodding.
“Goodnight, Mommy.” The girl says, reaching over and giving me a peck on my cheek.
“Goodnight.” I say gently, a brittle smile on my face, trying to put on a brave face for their sake.
Before Damien leaves, he leans down and whispers in my ear. “When the little one’s asleep, we’ll continue where we left off.”
I watch him go, feeling the guilt, grief and regret increase. Hearing his footsteps fade away, I finally let the tears fall, collapsing to my knees with a broken sob as my outfit changes back to my Captain’s uniform. I feel the powerful pull of the wormhole behind me, blearily staring at the doorway he walked out of. I let the wormhole pull me back into it.
“Goodbye, Damien. I love you.” I whisper in a heartbroken tone, knowing that this isn’t my timeline and that I can’t stay, no matter how much I may want to.
Even as I travel through the wormhole, I continue to cry, knowing within my heart that my Damien is long gone, that I’ll never see him again. I’ll never be able to hear his voice or his laughter. I’ll never see how animated he gets when he’s passionate about something or the way he runs his fingers through his hair when frustrated, messing up the perfectly combed locks.
I won’t hear him call me his little monster ever again. Anguish rips through me at the thought.
I also know that the people I’ve called my friends are gone…Mark’s dead, Celine’s gone, even Abe, despite the short interactions we’ve had, I also considered him to be a friend.
They’re all gone, I let out an agonized scream at the thought.
And William…
Recalling the memory of William shooting me by accident, my hand drifts to the spot the bullet hit me, over my diaphragm more towards the right of my chest, feeling a phantom pang of pain that becomes more tangible as time passes by. The pain increases more when I starkly remember the sensation of breaking my neck when I landed on the ground below the banister. I start hyperventilating, auras flaring in panic when my breathing cuts off momentarily, before all the pain I’m feeling, slowly disappears. I suck in lungfuls of air, tears still blurring my eyesight.
I shouldn’t have tried to wrestle the gun out of his hands like that.
“It was an accident Y/N!” I hear William’s voice in my mind, words filled with fear and regret.
“I know it was, Will.” I whisper to myself, trying to come to terms with everything I remember.
I should be dead, but I’m not. No human being can still be alive after experiencing all of that! How did I even end up on a space ship? How do I even know how to use all of the different technology, despite it not being a thing when I was still alive?
I feel so lost and alone. I don’t know what’s wrong with my memories, they don’t make any sense! Who even am I?! Am I a District Attorney or a Captain? My memories tell me that I’ve always loved Mark, but I know I’ve loved Damien with all my heart. It’s as if someone planted false memories into my head, I can’t even trust my memories anymore! Can I even trust myself at this point?!
I close my eyes, trying to pull myself together and not fall into hysterics.
I need to regain the rest of my memories, I need to know the truth. For the sake of my sanity.
Feeling the rush of the wormhole disappear, I open my eyes, seeing through bleary eyes that I’m back in my Cryo pod. I want nothing more than to stay in this pod and continue to cry but there’s still the problem with the warp core. Like it or not, I still have my crew, the colonists and the ship to save, they come first, even at my detriment. Standing up, I wipe the tears from my eyes and face with a handkerchief, sniffling slightly as my auras dim from grief.
“Captain? Are you back yet?” Mark asks tentatively from outside my Cryo pod, causing me to flinch, recalling when the others had mentioned that Mark might’ve turned into a zombie.
This isn’t my version of Mark, he’s dead after all, I remind myself firmly as I place the handkerchief back into my pocket.
I take a few deep breaths, steeling my features back to its neutral mask, pushing my emotions to the backburner for now.
“Yes, I’m back.” I reply in a surprisingly even tone, reaching up and pressing the release switch, stepping out of the Cryo Pod.
Looking at Mark, I frown, seeing how pale he looks and how blown wide his pupils are.
“Are you okay, Mark?” I ask in concern, seeing him shaking in fear.
“Captain, I choose a door like you suggested and I ended up in an office of some kind.” He whispers, staring at me.
“I didn’t die from being in the office but I think I met the devil himself.” Mark says, causing me to stare at him, grabbing at his upper arms and rubbing them in comfort.
“What happened, who exactly did you see?” I gently coax him.
“I saw a man in a white suit…he uh—he didn’t look right—didn’t look human, his skin was grey and there was this weird red and blue outline around him. His face almost exactly looked like mine!” Mark says in a shaky tone.
I swallow dryly, recalling the dreams I had about a man whose description was eerily close to the one Mark described, the exception being that the version Mark met was wearing a white suit and not a black one like my dreams.
“At first he didn’t notice me but when he saw me, his face had twisted in anger and his form began to glitch violently. One moment he’s sitting at his desk, the next moment, I’m dangling in the air with his cold hand around my throat.” Mark’s words cause my features to twist into regret, mentally kicking myself for letting him go into a door by himself.
What the hell was I thinking letting him go by himself!?
“He kept saying that I took you from him and that I was going to be begging for a modicum of mercy from him before he’s even through with me. I told him the best I could, that I have no idea what he was talking about and how does he know you. He seemed to stare at me a lot more closely before he let me drop to the floor.” I pull Mark into a hug, rubbing his back soothingly as I feel him hug me back tightly.
I draw some comfort from the gesture, letting it ground me back into the situation at hand. I can figure out the problems with my memories after we fix the wormhole issue.
“I’m so sorry Mark, if I would’ve known that would happen to you, I wouldn’t have let you go through that door by yourself.” I say in a contrite tone.
“It’s not your fault, Captain, you didn’t know.” Mark says quietly, calming down the longer I have my arms wrapped around him.
“What happened when he let you go?” I ask hesitantly.
“He seemed disgruntled about something before he looked at me once more, mentioning that I wasn’t supposed to be here. He told me that walking through the doorway behind me will lead me back to where I’m supposed to be. Of course, I didn’t want to be in the same room as him so I got out of there pretty quickly. When I stepped through the door, I ended up in my Cryo pod.” Mark explains, before he pulls away slightly to look me in the eyes.
“Captain, do you know who that man was?” Mark questions, causing me to shake my head.
“I don’t.” Which isn’t exactly a lie since I don’t have any memories of him.
It’s frustrating to say the least. It’s like trying to solve a jigsaw puzzle, but someone stole some of the pieces from you and locked them away where you can’t reach them…and then decided to give you puzzle pieces from an entirely different puzzle to the one you’re trying to solve, replacing the puzzle pieces they took. So what you have now, is a completed puzzle with an image that doesn’t make sense.
“Did you find the warp core, Captain?” Mark asks, his arms still wrapped around me.
“No, I didn’t.” I say, reluctantly stepping away from him, him letting me go.
“We’re going to have to try something else.” I state, seeing him nod in agreement.
After what had happened to both of us, I wasn’t going to chance anything else by continuing to jump in.
“Tell you what, we’ll have an emergency meeting with the others, maybe they might have some suggestions on how to deal with this mess.” I say.
“Yeah, you’re probably right. They deserve to know what’s happening, and they might have some ideas on how to solve this.” Mark says in agreement.
I turn towards the main console, locating the emergency button.
“Probably not good ones though.” Mark says from behind me as I flip the cover of the switch before pressing the red button.
One by one, Burt, Celci and Gunther file in. I firmly remind myself that Gunther and Abe are completely different people, pushing down the guilt I feel for not being able to stop William from shooting the Detective. I also remind myself that Celine and Celci are two different people, despite the similar temperament between them.
Mark stands with them as I proceed to explain the situation.
Celci steps forward.
“Captain, thank you for such an upfront and thorough explanation of the situation.” Celci states.
Gunther takes his cigar from between his lips as he stops leaning on the lockers to the side of the doorway, stepping forward.
“The mark of a great leader, always being open and honest with the crew, never holding anything back.” Gunther says, making the guilt come back since I haven’t exactly told them that I might not even be the person who’s supposed to be their Captain.
“The sweetest things turn sourest by their deeds. A lily that festers smells far worse than weeds.” Burt says, causing everyone to stare at him.
“What?” Celci questions as I silently agree with her confusion, auras rippling slightly as I try to figure out why he’s quoting Shakespeare’s Sonnet 94.
“Bottom line is we need to get to the warp core and shut it down.” Mark explains as he looks at everyone.
“It’s having effects that I never could have predicted. The Captain and I, we’ve tried some things, but we need fresh ideas.”
“Yeah.” Celci says.
Gunther moves towards the left of the bridge, coming to a stop in front of me.
“Have you tried blowing it up?” Gunther questions, taking his cigar from between his lips once more and raising his eyebrows suggestively.
I see Mark light up at the idea but I keep my neutral expression, knowing that it’s not going to work.
Gunther walks away, heading to the walls at the left of the bridge.
“Obviously they’ve tried blowing it up. Look who you’re working with.” Celci says, gesturing to Mark.
“Uh, no, we haven’t!” Mark exclaims.
Yep, he definitely doesn’t remember. Come to think of it, Mark only remembers after we fell through the wormhole.
“But that is a good idea.” Mark says, looking towards Gunther and moving to walk towards him.
“No, it’s not.” Celci rejects, placing a hand on Mark’s arm and pulling him to a stop.
“You know nothing about wormholes. You could actually cause a falls vacuum collapse.” Celci states.
“Oh no, we wouldn’t. And also that’s impossible, I think.” Mark says, spittle flying onto Celci’s face.
I grimace, also seeing her face twist into disgust as Mark looks down thoughtfully.
She wipes at her face, still looking disgusted.
“What if we back the ship up into the wormhole?” Burt says, causing me to look at him.
“What if we pop her in reverse and just undo all the wormhole stuff?” Burt says as I just stare at him, stupefied, because that is the worst idea I’ve ever heard in my life.
I can see Mark has the same reaction, seeing him staring at Burt in disbelieve.
“Okay, Mark, I owe you an apology because obviously you’re not the stupidest person on this ship." Celci says.
“Thank you.” Mark says, before realizing what exactly she was insinuating.
“Hey!” Mark says, affronted.
“Captain—” Celci says.
“We never do my stuff.” Burt says as he walks past me, heading to the right side of the bridge.
“Clearly, we need to send out a distress signal because someone sabotaged this ship.” Celci says.
Makes sense, all of the systems were failing.
“You know, now that she mentions it, some of the damage on the ship did seem intentional.” Gunther says, pulling his cigar from his mouth as he makes his way towards us, stopping between Mark and Celci.
“I think someone needs to go over every inch of this ship and do some rat hunting.” Gunther says, pulling out his gun, causing me to stare at him with wide eyes.
Christ, he’s a lot more trigger happy than Abe, that’s for sure.
Mark and Celci’s eyes also widen.
“No, no, no.” Mark, Celci and I say as Mark and Celci grab onto the arm holding the gun and push it down.
“No one sabotaged the ship because the only two people that can change anything on the ship are me and the Captain.” Mark says heatedly.
“And the only person that I trust more than myself is the Captain.” Mark says before fist bumping me.
“And two, how can anybody find us if we don’t know where we are?” Mark asks, voice rising slightly.
“That’s my point exactly.” Celci snaps.
“We don’t know where we are, we don’t know how we got here, and we have the lives of the colonists at stake.” Celci says.
“Or,” Burt says, causing me to look at him.
“Hear me out…” Burt says before mimicking backing up.
“Beep, beep, beep.”
“No, no, no, no, no.” Celci says in a soft, tired tone, trying to stop him.
“No, no.” Mark says as he walks past me.
“It’s not up to you.” He says, pointing at Burt.
“It’s not up to you.” He points at Celci before turning around to face Gunther.
“And I’m sorry, it’s not up to you.” He says to Gunther as the others stand in front of me once more.
“It’s up to the Captain.” Mark says, pointing at me before dropping his hand to his side.
“She hasn’t let us down yet.”
“That’s true.” Celci states, nodding slightly.
“So I’ll defer to your wisdom.” Mark says as they all look at me.
“What do you say, Cap? What’s the plan? How we getting out of this?” Mark asks.
I look down thoughtfully, weighing all of the ideas presented to me.
Separating the warp core from the rest of the ship won’t work, we’ve tried that already. Popping her in reverse won’t undo anything…the best idea so far is the one Celci suggested.
Concerning what Mark had said about the both of us being the only ones to make changes to the ship…I know I didn’t sabotage the ship and Mark didn’t sabotage the ship, the big question is, who did? There’s still so many missing pieces and we can’t solve this problem on our own.
Our best bet is to get some help from an outside source, preferably one that has a vast knowledge on wormholes.
With that in mind, I make my decision.
Notes:
The poor Captain.
On the bright side...at least she got to see Damien one last time.
As for Mark, the poor guy had a run in with a very angry Darkiplier.
Chapter 16: Wug
Notes:
We've officially reached 100 kudos on this story, that's awesome! Thank you so much for the continued support everyone.
Chapter Text
I point towards Celci, plainly showing my choice in the solutions that were presented. I watch the reactions of my crew, seeing Gunther and Burt seeming to be a bit disappointed and that Mark seems to be in disbelief of my choice, looking at the silver haired woman beside him.
Celci raises her eyebrows in surprise before she gives me a pleased smile.
“Thank you, Captain. This is the right move.” She says as Mark looks up at the ceiling in annoyance, rolling his eyes.
“Come on, guys. Let’s get this ship secured.” Celci says to the others before turning around to leave.
I catch her sticking her tongue out at Mark, Mark glaring at her and muttering something I don’t catch.
“Understood, Cap, but if you need some….” Gunther says, before imitating an explosion sounding off.
“Just let me know.” He says, placing his cigar between his lips as he leaves through the doorway.
“This is why I don’t talk.” Burt says, pointing at me accusingly, before he also leaves the bridge.
I look at my Head Engineer, seeing him standing sideways and looking out of the open doorway, his arms crossed. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to know that he isn’t happy about these turn of events.
“‘Definitely the right move, Captain’. Pfft.” Mark says as I make my way closer to him.
When he notices me approaching him, he gives a startled start, dropping his arms to his side.
“Not that it isn’t the right move. It’s a great move. Best move actually.” He says with a smile that doesn’t quite reach his eyes.
I blankly stare at him, biting back any regret I feel about making him upset.
This is for the good of everyone abroad the ship. I can’t play favourites amongst my crew, what kind of message would that be sending to the rest of them.
“Why don’t you send the distress signal and see how good a move it is.” Mark says, causing me to merely nod as I turn away from him, looking at the main console.
“Not that it’s gonna help.” I hear him say but I ignore his words to the best of my ability, feeling a bit sad that he doesn’t appear to have much faith in my decision.
Pressing my lips into a thin line, I press the tab for the distress signal.
“Broadcasting signal.” The Computer states.
I turn my head to the left when I hear Mark walk up to me.
“All right that should do it.” Mark says.
“I guess I should look into some of the problems we’ve been having though.” He says, before looking down momentarily.
He looks up at me, shuffling closer.
“I hate to admit it, but Celci might be onto something.” Mark says in a lower tone, not wanting the two crew members behind him to hear.
“Nobody should’ve been able to reprogram those drones.” Mark says, looking to the side with a troubled expression before he looks at me.
“Unless…” He says, narrowing his eyes at me as he stares me down.
I don’t like the way he’s staring at me, starkly understanding that it’s very likely that he may very well think that I had something to do with it.
I have a good defence, I reason to myself, my knowledge of being a lawyer and District Attorney coming back to me.
I’m obviously not someone with any knowledge of programming…so he can’t accuse me of anything. As it stands, if he tries to accuse me of such a thing, I’d just point out that out of the both of us, he’s the one who went to engineering school and I didn’t, which will end up garnering suspicion towards him.
Feeling significantly better with my reasoning, I stare back at him evenly, knowing that he’s looking for even the briefest moment of guilt to cross my features.
“Alert.” The Computer says, breaking the staring contest between us, making me feel a bit relieved.
Despite him not being the Mark from my timeline, he does act the way my timeline’s Mark used to be in high school. He even has that innocent sort of glint to his eyes.
“Unknown vessel approaching.” The Computer states, forcing me to stop reminiscing about the past.
“What? Is it human?” Mark questions with a hopeful smile.
“No.” The Computer replies, causing the smile to slip off of Mark’s face.
“Well, what is it?” Mark questions urgently.
“Warning. Unknown vessel is locking onto the ship. Energy readings spiking.” The Computer says, alarming the both of us.
“Computer, evasive manoeuvres!” Mark says, panic tingeing his words.
“Unable to comply. We are still stuck in the wormhole.” The Computer says before I can even mention that yes, we’re still stuck in this damn wormhole.
“Oh. Right.” Mark says, voice getting quiet.
“Unknown vessel is activating some kind—” The Computer says as a flash of white, blinding light appears around Mark and myself.
Blinking the spots out of my vision, I look around me, taking in the small area within a ship of some kind. Red lighting bathes everything in its hue, giving off an unsettling feeling. Looking at Mark, I see him also looking around.
He meets my gaze.
“Uh, Captain, what just happened? Did we die again?” Mark questions with a nervous smile.
I try to keep any nervousness to the minimum.
“It appears that our distress signal has been answered.” I manage to say before a guttural, gurgling sound comes from my left, causing the both of us to look towards the sound.
“Oh!” Mark yelps as I take in the sight of the armoured alien creature, wearing a helmet showcasing two blue electronic eyes, that’s standing in the doorway leading to the cockpit.
Oh God, it’s an alien! My brain helpfully supplies as I barely refrain from freaking out.
“Hi. Um, hello.” Mark says to the alien in a very nervous tone.
“Yes...uh, hello.” I say, sticking close to Mark.
“Oh, hi. Um, okay.” Mark says, fumbling with his words.
“Alien, uh, hello. I am Mark and as a representative of humanity, I would love to welcome…” Mark tries to say, words trailing off when the alien steps closer to the both of us.
The alien says something to us in the same distorted tone as before, turning to grab something on the table.
“…us.” Mark says nervously.
“We come in peace.” I say, just as nervous as Mark.
The alien picks up a helmet.
“And we are here to share our mutual respect,” Mark tacks onto my words.
The alien approaches Mark, ignoring me. I stare at the scene with wide eyes, not being to do anything to stop the alien since they tower over me by a lot.
Mark backs away with each step the alien takes.
“Admiration, o-our culture!” Mark says in fear as the alien places the helmet on his head.
“Mark!” I gasp in horror, auras rippling in fear as I hear him scream in pain.
“Stop it, you’re hurting him!” I say, causing the alien to look towards me momentarily, before they press some buttons on the forearm of their armoured suit.
“Human!” I hear a voice exclaim.
“Human.” The alien says in a gravelly male voice.
“You near die!” The alien says to me.
I stare up at him as he presses a few more buttons on his left forearm. I realise that he’s using a translating device of some kind. My auras calm slightly as I wait for him to say something else.
“You much danger!” He says, before typing again.
“You strange beautiful aura around!” He states, causing me to stare at him in surprise.
He can see it? Blinking, I then realise he described my auras as beautiful.
I glance down at them before looking at the alien once more.
I guess they’re pretty.
“I,” He says, pointing at himself.
“You, eat!” He says, pointing at me.
“Nom, nom, nom, nom, nom!” He says, causing me to furrow my brows slightly.
He wants me to eat?
Before I can even say anything, he walks back into the cockpit of the ship. With him moving away from me, feeling returns back to my limbs and I rush over to Mark, who had managed to remove the helmet from his head. I grab at his upper arms.
“Are you alright, Mark?” I ask, voice full of concern.
“I’m okay, I’m okay.” He whispers, eyes wide.
He walks past me, forcing me to let him go. Turning around to watch him, I can hear that his breathing is a bit ragged as he sets the helmet down on the table to the right of us, grabbing something from the table. He turns to face me, holding a strangely shaped wrench of some kind. He makes his way towards the cockpit and I realize that he intends to attack the alien while his guard is down. Before he can move closer, the alien starts piloting the ship, the ship accelerating from its hovering state and almost causing Mark and myself to lose our footing.
“Damn bumpy space roads!” The alien says, words coming out more coherently than before.
Mark looks at me, gesturing towards the alien in silent permission to attack.
“Ten and two!” The alien says as I look between him and the alien, quickly deciding that attacking the alien would end poorly for the both of us.
I shake my head, mouthing the word ‘no’, at him.
“Alright.” Mark nods, dropping the wrench to the ground.
I shoot him a pointed look when it hits the ground with a loud clang!
Luckily, the alien ignores the sound.
I then get the distinct feeling of being watched once more, but I try to ignore the sensation to the best of my ability. I retreat deeper into the room we were beamed in, gesturing for Mark to come closer. Mark moves closer to me.
“He doesn’t seem to be hostile, perhaps he’ll be able to help us with the wormhole.” I say to him quietly.
“Maybe, or he’ll try to attack us like he did earlier!” Mark whisper shouts at me.
“I don’t think he did that as an attack, he couldn’t speak English before he slapped that helmet onto your head.” I reason to him, seeing him look thoughtful at my words.
“Eh, you’re right, Captain.” He says.
I lean back against the table, crossing my arms. “Let’s just see where he’s taking us and proceed from there.”
Mark copies my movements, letting out a sigh.
“Right.” He murmurs.
I glance at him. “Are you sure you’re okay?”
“How are you fairing with all of this?” I inquire, making a vague hand gesture.
Mark looks down at me, causing me to stare up at him.
He lets out another sigh.
“I’m fine, Captain.” He says quietly.
“I just don’t know how to feel about any of this, if I had known that the warp core would cause us so much trouble, I wouldn’t have used it.” He says, a tinge of frustration to his words.
I gently bump my shoulder against his arm, mindful that I seem to be a lot stronger than I previously thought.
“You can’t fault yourself for that…you can’t see the future, Mark. You had no way of knowing that this would happen.” I say in a soothing tone, hesitating slightly before I reach up and gently run my fingers through his hair.
Mark seems to melt into the gesture, causing me to smile. While my feelings for him are still muddled and I know for certain he isn’t my version of Mark, I do care about his wellbeing and don’t want him to beat himself up for his past decision.
Unlike my timeline’s Mark…this version isn’t full of himself and doesn’t have an over inflated sense of ego and self-importance, which is a relief.
“We’ll figure this out, together.” I say in a comforting tone as I continue to run my fingers through his hair.
“You choose now!” The alien says, causing me to stop running my fingers through Mark’s hair as he becomes alarmed at having the alien’s attention on us once more.
“Oh, oh, well, uh…” Mark says, looking a bit scared.
“I got this.” I murmur to him as I stop leaning against the table and step towards the alien.
I stop in my tracks when I feel Mark latch onto the back of my body suit. Glancing over my shoulder at him momentarily to give him a reassuring look, I turn my attention back to the alien.
“One,” The alien says, holding up a finger.
“Two, Three!” The alien continues to say, holding two more fingers up.
“No, that isn’t necessary.” I say.
“No?” The alien questions, tapping a few buttons on his left forearm.
“No, thank you?” I say, unsure if he understands.
“No thank you?” He repeats, tapping a few more buttons.
“No!” He exclaims, nodding before he taps a few more buttons.
“Okay!” He says, giving me a thumbs up.
I let out a small sigh of relief that he understands, giving him back a thumbs up.
“Captain, what was that about?” Mark whispers as he lets my body suit go and stands beside me.
I look at him.
“I think he’s ordering some food and wanted to know if we wanted any.” I say, causing Mark to stare at me, incredulous.
“I thought he was gonna kill us and was listing out what option we wanted to die by!” Mark whisper shouts.
I pat his shoulder in comfort. “Don’t worry Mark, I’ll protect you if it comes down to that.”
Mark looks down at me, a bit amused.
“I seriously doubt that, Captain. I can’t see you taking down an alien of that size much less a human of the same height.” Mark says teasingly, causing me to let out a huff.
“You jerk, this is the last time I’m saying anything like that to comfort you.” I say sulkily, causing him to chuckle.
“Don’t be angry Captain, I trust your skills for the most part when it comes to humans.” Mark says, hoping to pacify me.
“I took down those drones though.” I mention grouchily.
Mark grins at me. “That you did, Captain.”
“You’re lucky I tolerate you.” I say with no bite to my words as I punch his arm lightly.
I sense the presence watching us disappear, making me feel significantly relieved because I still have no idea what exactly I’m dealing with when it comes to that voice that sounds like the one from my nightmares. The voice was layered and sounded downright evil…it’s something I don’t want to have to hear, ever again.
Biting the inside of my cheek, I turn my attention back to the alien in the cockpit, seeing the alien punch a button on his ship’s console.
“What?” We hear another voice that sounds just like the alien in front of us, ask.
“Five!” The alien piloting the ship, exclaims.
“Big?” The other voice asks.
“Biggest!”
“More?”
“No!”
“Face me!” The voice says.
“Gladly!” The alien says, powering down the ship, which causes Mark and myself to hold onto the other as we try to keep our balance from the ship’s rocking.
Our pilot turns to the left, a window opening up and a cold chill seeps into the ship, causing me to shiver slightly.
Mark pulls me closer to his side, also shivering from the chill as he tries to keep us both warm by sharing body heat.
“You will pay!” The other voice says.
“Take this!” Our pilot says.
“Gladly!”
“In peace!” The alien says in parting as he receives a package.
“In peace!” The other alien says as our pilot closes the window.
We both let out simultaneous sighs of relief when he closes the window before we both hear him crunch down on something, obviously eating what he had gotten.
After he finishes his meal, he powers up his ship again, Mark and myself managing to keep our balance since we’re still holding onto the other.
The alien stands up and turns around, revealing a strange looking, cone like meal in his hand.
“If change mind…” He says, walking out of the cockpit towards us, Mark letting me go as we both back away slightly.
“Wug have extra!” He says, brandishing the strange meal in Mark’s face.
Mark stares at the meal before looking at me momentarily.
“Oh, no thank you.” Mark says, looking a bit green at the gills as he looks at the meal.
“No thank you!” Wug says, moving towards the table and forcing Mark to back away more to make space for the alien.
Wug opens a toolbox and rummages around for a moment, before grabbing something from the box and turning around to face me.
“Me Wug.” He says, gesturing towards himself.
“Press button.” He says, holding out his hand not holding the meal.
I stare at the device in his hand before accepting it, looking up at him once more.
“Wug find. Wug help. Wug happy help.” Wug says, patting his chest.
“Always!” Wug says, causing me to give him a thankful smile.
“Thank you, Wug.” I say, the alien nodding at my words.
“Uh, Wug, thank you.” Mark says nervously, causing Wug to turn towards him.
“Thank you!” Wug exclaims, causing Mark to stare at him, still trying to get used to the alien’s loud mannerisms.
“Great. But how does that help us exactly?” Mark questions as Wug taps a few buttons on his forearm.
“Ha ha! Wormhole bad! Wormhole people help!” Wug says.
“Arrival!” A voice exclaims.
“We here!” Wug states.
“Go in peace!”
“In peace?” Mark and I say in an unsure tone.
“Yes! Ha ha!” Wug says as Mark meets my gaze, before we’re both beamed away in a column of light.
Chapter 17: I Thought Alien Government Buildings Would’ve Looked Nicer
Notes:
Here's the next chapter everyone. Thank you so much for the kudos and be sure to comment what you think of the chapter.
Chapter Text
We’re beamed into a waiting room of some kind. Mark looks around before looking to his left.
“Uh…oh!” Mark exclaims, causing me to look to my right.
I see two aliens sitting to the right of me.
Both avoid looking at us as one of the aliens, presumably male, lets out a disgusting sounding cough.
Another alien walks past, looking at the both of us before letting out a sneeze, almost bending in half from the force of it.
Ah, don’t tell me they’re allergic to us or something, is my exasperated thought.
“Thank you for visiting the Universal Stability Agency,” The receptionist behind the glass says in a nasally tone as she reads her newspaper.
Mark shuffles closer and I follow behind him, coming to a stop a few feet away from him.
“The last line of defence between order and chaos.” The blue skinned and haired receptionist says as she glances at Mark momentarily, before looking at her newspaper once more.
I quickly glance around the waiting room, furrowing my brows slightly.
Doesn’t look much different from modern government buildings on Earth. In my day as District Attorney, the government placed a lot of effort in making sure the interior of the buildings looked impeccable. Now, they’ve cut as much cost as possible and the end result…interior that isn’t pleasing to the eyes in the least.
I let out a silent sigh, realising just how old I really am.
I was twenty eight, the same age as Damien and Celine when I attended that poker night. My timeline’s Mark was a year older than me, which meant William was also twenty nine since I can faintly recall that the butler, Benjamin had mentioned that.
“Hi.” Mark says to the receptionist as he waves, which breaks me out of my musings.
“My name’s Mark.” Mark says as he places the hand he was waving with, against his chest.
“I’m a human from Earth. We come in peace.” Mark says as I feel eyes watching me from my right.
Glancing to the side, I can see the two aliens from before looking at me with curiosity.
They quickly look away when they realise that they’ve been caught.
I return my attention to Mark and the receptionist, unsure of what to make of that.
“We have a big problem. There’s a giant—” Mark tries to explain.
“Your crisis has been documented and will be addressed in the order it was received. Thank you for trusting the U.S.A and have a wonderful day.” The receptionist says dismissively.
“So, we—we wait? Do we—do we wait?” Mark questions.
The receptionist looks up, nodding at him with a polite smile, before returning to her newspaper.
“Okay.” Mark says with a nod as he backs away, forcing me to also do the same.
“All right.” Mark turns around to face me with a smile.
“Let’s just have a seat.” Mark says to me as he approaches the two aliens, intending to take the middle seat between them.
“Could I squeeze in here real close?” Mark inquires as he gets closer to the aliens.
The aliens don’t take too kindly to that and lets out some sort of snarl at him.
The aggressive reaction towards him causes Mark to immediately retreat from them.
I narrow my eyes at the aliens, feeling quite irritated with their reaction towards him. My auras flare and the room almost seems to get colder as I stare them down.
They immediately look away from me, appearing to look quite a bit uneasy.
So they can see my auras, I note as I turn away from them.
“Okay, right.” Mark says in an awkward tone as he moves to the left of the waiting room, where the other alien we saw, is sitting on one of the seats located there.
I move towards the seat closest to me and sit down.
“Hi, are you feeling better?” Mark questions the alien as he moves to take one of the unoccupied seats.
The alien lets out a grumble of some kind and takes the seat furthest from Mark, not looking in our direction.
Mark lets out a sigh as he sits on the seat across from me.
“This has been a weird day, Captain. We’ve had a lot of weird days, but this is definitely very, very weird.” Mark says as he looks at me.
“And I thought that an alien government building might be just a little bit nicer—” Mark complains, causing me to smirk slightly.
“But they look just like the ones on Earth, don’t they.” I state, causing Mark to nod in agreement.
“Exactly, Captain.” He says.
I hear a door open somewhere behind me.
“I didn’t do it. Please!” We hear a female voice say.
I turn around in my seat, seeing two uniformed aliens with blasters, guiding another alien in handcuffs.
“No, I didn’t make the wormhole. Come on.” The alien in handcuffs says.
“No, no! I can’t go back there! I can’t sing!” The alien protests before stopping in her tracks as she’s almost past me.
I feel my eyebrows rising into my hairline when I see her look me up and down with a smile on her face.
The two uniformed aliens begin dragging her down the hallway once more.
“Wait! Wait, come on, come on!” She protests as she disappears from sight.
“Wait a second. Wait a second.” I hear her faintly say.
I lean back into my seat.
Had I just gotten checked out by an alien? Is my incredulous thought.
Mark turns to face me as we hear a door down the hallway close.
“Um…Must’ve been talking about some other wormhole, but just in case let’s not talk about any wormholes.” Mark says, causing me to nod in agreement.
I notice another alien walk into the waiting room from the hallway the uniformed aliens had entered a few minutes ago.
Mark also notices the alien.
“Hi.” Slips out of his mouth.
“Hello, humans.” The alien says as she waves at us with a red, gloved hand.
She seems familiar…
It’s only then I notice that her voice is indeed familiar.
Is this the woman from earlier who had accused me of killing a lot of people?! I feel quite alarmed at the thought.
“We come in peace.” The lady says as she claps her hands slightly.
She then approaches me, surprising me.
She’s not angry with me now?
“It is a pleasure to meet you.” She says as she holds out a hand.
I stand up, blinking, but ultimately deciding to roll with it.
It seems I’ve missed my opportunity to shake her hand because she steps away with an awkward smile on her face, turning to face Mark.
I just wave at her in greeting, feeling quite confused and uncomfortable with the entire situation.
Bureaucracy and politics was never my forte…that was Damien’s area of expertise. The thought of him, causes the grief to increase from the dull ache I had forced it down to be.
The lights flicker but I don’t pay it much mind.
Mark and the lady glance at the lights momentarily.
The lady then turns her attention to Mark.
“It is a pleasure to meet—” She says in an unsure tone as she holds out her hand towards Mark.
“Oh, it is a pleasure to meet you.” Mark says with a smile.
He grabs her hand as he stands up, proceeding to shake her hand.
“Oh, yes.” The lady says as she bows at the waist, continuing to shake Mark’s hand.
The gesture surprises Mark and myself, Mark copying her bow.
“Yes.” Mark says as I continue to watch the scene in front of me, mystified.
“A pleasure.” She says, bowing once more as she continues to shake his hand.
“Pleasure.” Mark says, bowing yet again.
“Pleasure.” The lady says, holding out a hand for me to shake.
“Pleasure.” Mark and I say at the same time as I grab her hand, shaking it as I copy her movements.
“Pleasure.” She says, bowing.
“Pleasure.” Mark and I say in tandem, copying her movements.
How much longer do we have to do this?
“No wait, this is—ha!” She says, thankfully letting our hands go and stepping back slightly.
“Human customs, am I right?” She says with a smile and a little shake of her hands.
“Yeah.” Mark says as I nod silently.
“Please come with me.” She says.
“Oh yes, where?” Mark asks, looking at me for a split second.
“Oh, my office.” She explains before snapping her fingers and beaming us into her office.
“Please, have a seat.” She invites.
I glance around at the small, cramped office.
“Ohh.” Mark says from beside me as we both take a seat in the chairs behind us.
Even the seating is the same as Earth’s modern government buildings, hard and vastly uncomfortable.
“Lovely office.” Mark says politely.
“Well, first things first, congratulations. You made it out of your solar system. Wah!” She says.
“Oh, thank you.” I say with a slight smile.
“Hey yeah. Thank you.” Mark says.
“Of course. Of course.” She says.
“Now that you’re here, we just have this teensy little problem that maybe we should address.” She says as she holds her thumb and index finger close to each other to emphasize her point.
She then picks up a remote control, pointing it over her shoulder.
“This—” She pauses to press a button on the remote control, turning on a projector.
The projector shows an image of the Invincible II.
“This is your ship, correct?” She questions us.
“Yes, it is.” I state, causing her to look at me.
“Oh yeah. That’s my ship. It’s my pride and joy—The Invincible II.” Mark says with a smile, causing her to turn her gaze towards him.
“Oh, I just love that name. You have the most adorable ship.” She says to Mark.
“Thank you. I mean, it’s our ship actually.” Mark says.
“This is the Captain,” He says, pointing at me.
“So technically, she’s in charge.” Mark explains, causing the lady to turn towards me.
“Oh, you’re in charge?” She inquires.
“That’s correct.” I say, nodding slightly.
“So this ship is your responsibility.” She states, causing me to nod.
“Yes, it is.” I state.
“Okay. Which means that all decisions for this particular vessel come down to you?” She questions.
“That’s right.” I say, not sure where exactly this line of questioning is going.
“Great. That is so great. That is really, really great.” She says as I stare at her, having a feeling I’m not going to like where this conversation is heading.
“So then this is…” She says as she presses a button on the remote control, slightly zooming out from the shot of the ship’s name.
“…is…is…” She continues to press the same button, gradually zooming out.
“So many.” She remarks as she continues to press the button.
“This—this.” She says as she stops pressing the button.
She briefly looks over her shoulder to see the image.
“Nope. Ha ha.” She presses the button once more, looking at the fully zoomed out image.
“This is your wormhole?” She questions, causing me to point at Mark.
“Yes, it’s our wormhole.” I state as I continue to point at Mark.
“He’s the ship’s Head Engineer, so ask him for the details.” I explain, since I’m not an engineer or have any knowledge on wormholes to begin with.
If I did, we probably wouldn’t be in this situation to begin with.
She looks at Mark, expecting an explanation.
“Yeah, that’s ours. Worked like a charm, too.” Mark says as I look at him.
“Actually, worked a little too well.”
“Uh-huh.” The lady says, agreeing.
“Like, we can’t seem to figure out how to turn it off.” Mark reveals.
“Oh, you can’t?” The lady says, a laugh of disbelief bubbling up.
I silently look on, because what more can I add to this conversation.
“No.” Mark says, laughing slightly.
“Wow.” The lady laughs.
“That’s awful. That is really quite bad.”
“Oh, man, you’re telling us. We have had so many problems from this stupid wormhole.” Mark says, causing me to nod in agreement.
“Yeah, a lot of problems.” I say, frowning slightly as I recall just how much trouble it still continues to cause us.
“Aw, mm. Yeah. We sure have, too. Um…” She says as Mark starts playing with the Newton’s cradle on the table.
Surprising to see one of those here, granted we’re in space…in an alien’s office. Does she perhaps have an interest in Earth?
“Just—no.” She says softly as she stops the magnetic balls from moving, before sitting on the edge of her desk and looking down at him.
“Oh.” Mark says, looking down slightly.
“We really—we really need you to tell us how you made it so that we can turn it off.” She explains as she presses a button on the remote control, rotating the image of the ship.
I look at the man beside me, also wanting to know how he went about making it, since I don’t recall our superiors mentioning anything about a warp core.
“It would be really great if you could just tell us right now because we need to turn it off pretty much immediately.” She states as she continues to rotate the image.
Mark meets my gaze as I return it, silently urging him to explain.
“Um, uh, okay. Well, here’s the thing.” He says as a sense of foreboding passes through me.
It’s never a good thing when someone starts off an explanation like that…
“I didn’t make it.” His words cause me to stare at him in disbelief, auras rippling in reaction.
The lady glances at me momentarily, before looking at Mark once more.
“You’re gonna laugh. We were just, you know, up in space. You know, space.” Mark says.
“Yeah, space.” The lady says with a chuckle, a strained smile on her face.
“Space—Um, and it was just floating there.” Mark says as I blankly stare at him.
“Just floating.” The lady says.
“So I don’t know how it works, but I plugged it in.” Mark says, gesturing with his hands.
“Uh-huh.” She says.
Mark imitates an explosion.
“Wormhole. Crazy wormhole.” Mark says.
“Oh.” She says as I look at the man beside me, growing increasingly angry at how careless he’d been to just use something floating along in space.
I have to use every ounce of self-control I have to restrain myself from reaching over and slapping him upside the head for being an idiot. The lights begin flickering once again as it turns frigid.
“Yeah, yeah.” Mark says with a slight chuckle before rubbing his arms and shivering.
The other woman also pulls her cape around her, shivering.
“The heating must’ve malfunctioned or something.” I hear her mutter before focusing on us.
“Okay.” She says before getting off of the desk.
“Yeah.” Mark with a smile and a chuckle as he turns his head to look at me.
The smile on his face falters when he sees the displeased look on my face.
He looks away from me, looking at the other woman who had retaken her seat in the chair behind the desk.
“Wow that’s…” She says, laughing.
“Yeah.” Mark says, also laughing.
I look between the both of them, forcing myself to calm down.
The lights stop flickering and the cold lessens slightly.
Am I causing all of that to happen?
They begin laughing more as I reluctantly join in with a forced laugh, slapping my right hand onto the table.
I do not find any of this funny in the least. This is no laughing matter.
“That’s really incredible.” The lady says in between her laughter.
“Yeah, well, you should’ve seen what happened to the first Invincible.” Mark says, before gaining a thoughtful look.
“I mean, actually, now that I think about it, I don’t think anyone saw what happened to the first Invincible so…”
That’s because they’re probably in the same mess as us! Is this what the machine meant by a paradox occurring?
“So you’re—just to get the story straight, you’re telling me that you were lying around, and you found an unknown wormhole generator?” She says, looking at the both of us.
“Yeah.” Mark says before his gaze catches on a glass container on the desk…that appears to have candy of some kind.
“And you decided to turn it on?” She questions as Mark grabs the container and opens it.
“No. No, no.” She says as I silently gesture to Mark for one of them.
“No, no, not for humans.” She says, causing me to glance at her.
Shouldn’t be a problem since I don’t think I’m human…not anymore.
“Oh, I got it. It’s okay. I got it.” Mark assures as I gesture for two, growing increasingly disgruntled with the entire situation.
“Two. Come on.” Mark says as he hands me one.
I accept it, before looking at him and wiggling my fingers at him.
“Come on Mark, I asked for two.” I say to him.
“So you turned on a generator…” The lady says as Mark hands me another candy with a small sigh, before taking one for himself.
Mark and the lady begin laughing once more.
I toss one of the candies into my mouth, pocketing the other as I feel my stress levels increase with this entire situation.
“...wherein you created the largest, most destructive wormhole that the universe has ever seen?” She says as Mark goes to put his candy into his mouth.
Largest and most destructive?! I look at her in surprise, before looking at the man beside me.
Who or what made a machine like that and just decided to leave it floating in space? This doesn’t make any sense?! I feel the stress within my body increase.
God, do I wish this was a glass of Moscato instead…
I almost spit the candy out in surprise when the minty flavour changes to that of a quality glass of Moscato wine.
Okay…well that’s a thing, maybe alien candy does that?
“Do not put that in your mouth right now.” She says to him as he pauses the candy’s journey to his mouth, looking at her in surprise.
“Large. Like on the record?” He questions as he turns to look at me.
“Like, seriously?” He asks as he then looks at her.
“Mm-hmmm.” She says, staring at him.
“And most destructive?” Mark inquires.
“Take that Oppenheimer, you old sack of shit.” Mark says with a smile.
I see her expression change as she reaches for something. I feel my body tense.
“No, no. Shut it down.” She says as she pulls out a blaster, standing up.
Mark and I stand up in alarmed reaction.
I hold my hands up, palms facing her as I panic at the situation, the lights flickering in the background.
Mark has both of his hands up, visibly uneasy at the sight of the blaster.
“You need to shut it down, right now.” She says, swivelling the muzzle of the blaster between the both of us.
“Well, I mean, this feels really familiar for some reason,” Mark states, causing me to furrow my brows, confused at his words.
“But we came here for help!” He exclaims.
“No.” The lady says.
“No. No, no, no, no. We help races just getting started. No one starts off with tech like this.” She says, causing me to stare at her, feeling mortified.
“It would take thousands of years to get something that advanced.” She says in an angry tone as she points her blaster at the projector image.
Then where did it come from?!
She then points the blaster at us. “Tell me how you made it, and then you need to shut it off.”
“I don’t know—” Mark tries to say, growing more scared as she continues to wave the blaster around.
“Shut it off. Shut it off. Please for the love of God, turn it—” She says, before a vent cover falls on her head.
She falls to the floor, unconscious as Mark and I look at the scene in shock.
Chapter 18: The Bandit
Notes:
Thank you so much for the kudos everyone, here's the next chapter of the story.
Chapter Text
The same alien we saw earlier, falls through the opening in the vent and lands on her feet. She looks at me with a smile, her right eye obscured by the black, loupe lens she has over it.
“So you made that wormhole, huh?” She says as she approaches me.
“Um, hi. Who are you?” Mark says from the left of me as the alien grabs my left hand and holds it up, tracing the crystal on my glove.
“Yeah, you could say that…” I say in reply to her question, a bit surprised at her bold actions.
“Fascinating.” She says as she ignores Mark.
“Touchy things, wormholes. Very temperamental.” She says as she lets my hand go.
I momentarily look towards the unconscious woman on the floor, before looking at the other woman.
“Love to help you with that. I happen to be a bit of an expert in that department. I can help you shut it down if you let me poke around in your warp core.” She says, before interacting with the Newton’s cradle on the desk.
Her words cause my eyes to narrow slightly.
She has knowledge on warp cores? She could be lying, but what other choice do we have…she was getting arrested based on accusations of creating a wormhole. So she must have some knowledge on wormholes. I’ll just have to keep an eye on her to ensure she doesn’t steal anything…I know a bandit when I see one.
“Sound fair?” She asks as she looks towards me.
“No it—” Mark interjects as he moves towards us.
“Hey, hey, hey, hey, hey.” Mark says as he stops the movements of the metallic balls of the Newton’s cradle.
“It doesn’t sound fair. No. You probably just killed that nice lady and you’re a criminal. You’re just gonna steal our tech.” Mark says in accusation.
“What?” She hisses in disbelief at him.
“Yeah, we saw you getting arrested when we arrived here.” Mark says as he looks at me momentarily.
“And? So were you.” The woman says.
“Well, that was a misunderstanding. We would never steal anything.” Mark states.
“Do you want my help or not?” She questions, exasperated.
Mark and I share a glance with each other.
“Because the way I see it, the both of you are stranded here until some other wormhole expert helps you out of the wormhole problem you got yourselves into.” She says as she looks at Mark.
“Well it’s not up to me. It’s up to the Captain.” Mark says with a smile.
“Why is it even a decision?” She asks, incredulous.
“Because the Captain’s in charge. That’s why.” Mark states as he points towards me.
“But the choice is literally you get the help that you need or you die.” She says, her voice layering in her annoyance.
Mark chuckles mockingly at her words.
“Oh, you know how many times we’ve faced that exact scenario? We’re not impressed, criminal.” Mark says in a snide tone.
I let out a silent sigh, pinching the bridge of my nose, very annoyed at everything seeming to go wrong for us.
We came here to get help with the wormhole…from an agency that’s supposed to be here for that purpose and we end up with a blaster shoved into our faces.
How did it even come to this? I feel the frustration well up but I force it down, needing to keep a level head.
Anger clouds judgement, and having an impaired sense of judgement will place my crew and the colonists into more danger.
Looking up at the both of them, I see that they’ve descended into glaring at each other, identical sneers marring their features.
“What do we call you?” I ask, causing her to look at me in surprise.
“You can just call me Bandit.” She states.
“Alright Bandit, we need your help.” I say, seeing Mark staring at me in disbelief.
“Of course, you do. And I am more than happy to help.” She says as she pulls out a device.
Mark mocks her words in the background as Bandit moves towards me.
“Let me see your hand.” She says as she grabs my left hand and begins attaching the device to it.
I look up at Mark, seeing him looking at what’s she doing with interest. I also look down at what she’s doing, slightly amused at him.
Once an engineer, always an engineer, I guess.
“This is a portable wormhole generator. Takes a lot of juice to tear holes in the universe.” She explains as she finishes attaching the device, letting my hand go.
I observe the device, seeing the crystal pulsing with blue light, unlike the dim state it was in the moment it attached itself to my glove.
The device hums as I flex my fingers slightly, testing to see if it impairs any movement.
“I have never seen a warp crystal like that before.” Bandit says, looking at the crystal hungrily.
Bandit looks over her shoulder at Mark. “You all have more of these on your ship?”
She then looks at me with a smile as Mark meets my gaze once more.
“Oh, yeah. Oh, definitely. Loads more.” Mark says, obviously lying.
She looks at him momentarily before looking at my hand once more.
Mark gives me a shrug when I raise an eyebrow at him.
“That is wonderful.” Bandit says.
“And I guess you aren’t as dumb as you look.” She states, looking at Mark once more before she presses the button on the portable wormhole generator.
“And just like that, we are off to the races.” Bandit says as she steps back slightly, causing Mark and I to stare at her.
“What does that mean?” Mark questions in confusion.
“If that thing is the real deal, you’ll see exactly in five—” Her words are cut off as the device activates, sending us into a swirling blue vortex.
I can hear overlapping voices as we travel through the wormhole, the words the different voices are saying, are indistinguishable from each other. With a flash of light, we appear in the bridge of the Invincible II.
“I’ll be damned. We made it.” Bandit says with a grin.
Mark also smiles, happy to be back on the ship.
“Whew.” Bandit says as she looks around at the darkened interior, red light sparsely lighting the surroundings.
“You guys were flying around in this thing?” She questions as I watch Mark approach the main console.
“Uh, well, she’s seen better days.” Mark states as he picks up a human skeleton that was resting on top of the console.
I sincerely hope that is a fake skeleton and not a real one. I look around at the bridge with an uneasy frown.
Where is the rest of my crew?
“Computer, where’s the crew?” Mark questions the AI before I could.
We all look up when the Computer replies in a distorted voice, the words indistinguishable.
“Uh, Computer?” Mark and I question in unison.
“…is offline.” The Computer replies in a demonic sounding voice.
Mark’s eyes widens slightly at the voice.
“That’s normal, right? That’s just how your people build computers, right?” Bandit questions Mark, causing him to stare at me like a deer in headlights.
“Well, that’s not not how it’s been in the past.” He says in reply.
The ship begins rocking, metal creaking at the red lighting shuts off, shrouding us mostly in darkness.
My auras allow me to see my surroundings, hand grabbing onto the console to steady myself as the lighting turns back on.
I hear knocking coming from behind me, the alarmed expressions on Mark and Bandit’s face causing me to turn around, seeing that there appears to be someone trapped in my Cryo pod.
I can faintly hear murmuring coming from within the pod. I turn to look at Mark and Bandit.
“Is that your crew? Do they need help?” Bandit questions, a bit uneasy.
“Well, they probably don’t not need help.” Mark says as he continues to stare in the direction of the pod.
“The Captain can check on them.” Mark says, causing me to grimace slightly.
“Go on. Yeah.” Mark says as I hesitantly turn towards the pod.
I turn towards them momentarily, seeing the wide eyes looks on their faces.
“Well, you’re the Captain. You’re in charge of the crew and morale and speeches.” Mark says, trying to encourage me.
I give him a pointed look, turning towards the pod once more and steeling myself. I cautiously approach the pod, reaching out my right hand to open it. I look at Mark and Bandit over my shoulder.
“Go on. You got this.” Mark says quietly with a smile.
Taking a deep breath, I face the pod once more, opening the door and looking inside.
I step back in surprise, not expecting to see Mark sitting on the floor of the pod, hugging his knees to his chest and rocking back and forth in place.
“Mark?” I question in concern, causing him to look up, meeting my startled gaze with his terrified ones.
“That’s not me, Captain. That’s not me.” He says, pointing at the Mark behind me.
I spin around to look at the Mark behind me.
Bandit also looks at the Mark beside her.
“Well, that’s not me!” Mark exclaims from beside Bandit.
Looking inside the pod once more, the other Mark had vanished. The door leading out to the bridge opens and I see Mark step into the doorway, leaning against it with a cup of coffee in his right hand.
“Morning, Captain. How’d you sleep? Good?” He says as he looks at me with a smile on his face.
I look at him with wide eyes, not sure what to think of any of this.
“You feeling good.” He says before some sort of alien looking appendage grabs him by the shoulder, pulling him down the hallway.
I hear his screaming cut off as the door closes shut once more. I look at the door with a horrified expression on my face.
“Is this how human ships are?” Bandit questions as she hurries over to me.
“Please tell me this is just how human ships are.” She says to me in a desperate tone.
“Well, they’re not not like this sometimes.” Mark says, causing the both of us to look at him.
Pounding sounds on the door leading out of the bridge, causing me to move in front of the door.
“Stay back.” I say in a low tone to both of them, seeing them doing what I told them from my peripherals.
“Hey, how’s it going?” A man’s voice says from the other side of the door.
“It’s, uh, one of your crew members. An important one. I—uh forgot my keys in the bridge. Could you open the door for me?” The voice says, causing my eyes to narrow.
“Before we do that, can you tell us which crew member you are specifically and what department you’re from?” I inquire, looking at the door.
“You know, it’s not really important who I am, Captain.” The voice purrs from the other side of the door.
“What’s really important is that you need to open this door and quick. I’ve got a, uh, dark surprise for you on the other side. It’s very, um, dark. Wink, wink. I think you’ll like it.” The voice says, my sixth sense screaming at me to not open the door.
“Just think of this as the dark path to get to the warp core.” The voice says, trying to persuade me.
“Just use the device and get us the hell out of here. Why are we standing around like morons? Just get the hell out of here.” Bandit says from behind me and I can just hear the fear in her voice.
I turn around to face them.
“Hey, we still have to save the ship.” Mark says in defence.
“You didn’t tell me how messed up your ship is.” Bandit says, causing Mark to glare at her.
“Don’t insult her. She’s got character.” Mark says.
“Yeah, I’ve got character. Just open up this door and see how much I’ve got.” The voice says from behind me in a tone threatening.
“Do not open that door.” Bandit says, pointing at me.
“Do not let anyone tell you how to do your job.” Mark says, pointing at me.
“You’re the boss. But maybe don’t do that.” Mark says, looking towards the door.
I look towards the door.
“If you were really one of the crew members, you would’ve been able to use the scanner on the wall to open the door.” I say to the voice in a cold tone as I press the button on the portable wormhole generator.
Mark stares at me with wide eyes.
“You’re right, Captain. I have a feeling that’s a trap. That’s not the door we need to open.” Mark says.
“Did somebody say 'Open door'?” The voice says as it starts pounding on the door, the metal denting inward.
I start pressing the button frantically as Bandit and Mark move closer to me, also scared.
“Let’s go, Captain. No I did not say 'Open door'.” Mark yells, looking at the door.
“Open more?” The voice asks with a sinister laugh as Mark and Bandit turn towards the device on my hand.
The thing on the other side of the door starts growling in frustration as it tries to break the door down, the metal denting more and more with each hit. It’ll soon be able to slip through the gap it created in the door.
“Hurry up with that thing, Captain!” Mark exclaims over the noise of the pounding as he presses the button.
“Let’s go, go, go, go!” Bandit yells as she also presses the button as the door gives in.
Before we can see what’s behind the door, a wormhole opens, pulling us into it.
As I travel through the wormhole, Mark and Bandit vanishes from my side, causing me to panic.
“Mark?! Bandit?!” I call out as I hear overlapping voices once more.
“Would you like a cookie dear?” A voice that sounds like Ms Whitacare, says as I’m transported into a room.
I lean against the nearest wall, trying to get my bearings. Taking a few deep breaths, I straighten up, looking around for any sign of Mark and Bandit. I panic more when I don’t see either of them, looking around at the room wildly as I try to pinpoint where I am.
Focus, Y/N. Focus. It takes me a moment to calm my panic enough, so that I’m able to think somewhat clearly.
My eyes observe the red lighting, along with the console in the room.
Finally I look at the flat screen displays, seeing the words glitching on them, but still able to read them.
“I’m on the ship, this is ADS.” I whisper to myself, a tinge of hope blooming in my chest.
Surely, I can find the warp core and fix this mess. I can save my crew and the colonists. I can fix this problem that’s affecting everyone throughout the entire universe. Everything will be alright once I get to the warp core and shut it down.
I walk towards the door leading out of ADS and place my hand on the scanner, the door sliding open, revealing Gunther pointing his gun at me.
Chapter 19: Accusations and Betrayals
Notes:
Thank you so much for the kudos everyone.
We're nearing the ending of ISWM Part 1 quite soon.
Chapter Text
I instantly step back with wide eyes, hands rising in the air, palms facing him.
“Good to see you again, Cap.” Gunther greets, still pointing the gun towards me.
“Gunther?! What do you think you’re doing?!” I question in shock, uneasily eyeing the gun and the drones behind him.
“You know, I’ve been thinking…” He says as he steps towards me, forcing me to back further into ADS.
He enters the room after me.
“We need a little change in management around here.” He says, causing my stomach to sink into the flooring.
“See, after you were abducted, I got to thinking, who got us in this mess in the first place?” He says as other crew members appear with guns.
I look around, realizing that I’m completely surrounded by my crew, every one of them staring at me coldly.
He planned mutiny against me, the thought sends blades of betrayal and grief through my soul.
Even if he doesn’t remember the other instances, Gunther’s my friend. My friend is betraying me… I swallow around the lump in my throat.
“And I think it all comes down to bad leadership.” He says, pointing the gun at me once more.
“Now I tried to play it your way. I really did. I tried to get to the warp core best I could. I jumped into a wormhole full send! But there’s no escaping this, not with you in charge. I can see that clearly now.” He says angrily, moving the gun away from me for the time being.
“So why don’t you step down as Captain and let somebody with the guts to do what it takes run this ship from here on out?” He says, pulling back the safety on his gun and pointing it at me once more.
“Well, what do you say, Cap? You willing to do the right thing?” He asks, as I look around at everyone, seeing the hatred on all of their faces.
“Gunther, think of the colonists.” I say calmly, trying to reason with him.
He laughs slightly at my words, removing his cigar from his lips and outing it on the console behind him.
“I am thinking of the colonists, Captain. But the question I gotta ask myself is, were you?” He says softly.
“Were you thinking about them when you were out there having fun? Were you thinking about them when you abandoned us? Were you thinking about them when you destroyed our ship?” Gunther says, every question rising in pitch until he’s shouting at me.
I’ve never destroyed the ship, why would I do something like that?!
“Are you thinking about them, right now?” He asks, removing his sunglasses and looking at me angrily.
I stare at him sadly.
“Everything I’ve done…I’ve done for the good of my crew and the colonists, Gunther. I’ve thought about everyone’s safety every step of the way. I am saddened that it’s come to the point where my own crew lost faith in my leadership, but I am going to fix this problem…for all of our sakes.” I say in a quiet tone as I look at every one of them, seeing that their expressions of anger and hatred hasn’t changed.
I can tell that nothing I say will change their minds.
“Waving a few guns around isn’t going to fix the wormhole problem, Gunther.” I say in parting as I press the button on the portable wormhole generator, activating it once more.
“What’s that? Some special captain’s thing?” Gunther questions as the device hums.
I stare at him one last time as I’m transported away.
As I travel through the wormhole, I blink the tears away.
I need to fix the warp core, I can’t let them down, not any more than I’ve apparently have.
“I told you I’m not married…” A voice says pointedly before I appear inside the reactor room.
Looking around, there’s no sight of anyone.
No time to look around for the others, I need to get to the warp core. I rush towards the scanner for the warp core hallway, placing my hand on it.
It beeps, a red light appearing. I try placing my hand on the scanner again, only to have the same result.
Am I locked out of the system? I try opening the door by force.
“Captain?” I hear Burt ask, surprising me slightly.
I turn around, looking for him. “Burt?”
“Over here, Captain.” He says, my eyes landing on the spot I heard him, only to see his image on the surface of the console for the reactor.
I walk slowly towards the console, confused.
“Yup.” He says as he catches sight of me.
“Are you transmitting your image from somewhere else on the ship? Why am I locked out of the ship’s system? What about the colonists? Where’s the rest of the crew?” I question him urgently.
“The futility of what you asked of me is laid bare. To quest upon infinity is to be drawn ever deeper into the tides of madness. Recognizing the inadequacies of the human mind, I merged my psyche with the computer in an attempt to find a deeper understanding of this quandary which we find ourselves.” He says, voice computerized.
I stare at him in horror, wondering how desperate you have to be to resort to such an extreme decision.
“And lo, I did find sorrow.” He states, glitching slightly.
“We are cast adrift against the web of the infinite, hopeless souls worn dull against the waves of eternity. All will be consumed by darkness. But in darkness, lies salvation.” I listen to his words silently.
How long have I been trying to fix this problem we’re facing? How much time has passed by for me…it’s been years and with every attempt, I’m no closer to stopping all of this.
“I have modified the reactor to create a singularity that will collapse unto itself and take the wormhole with it. Though our ship will be destroyed, so too will our suffering.” His words cause me to panic, shaking my head at him.
“Do not try to change my mind,” He states as the reactor starts up, humming in the background.
“For I have touched the fabric of reality. I have drunk deep the knowledge of infinity. You are but a mote of dust against the mountain that is my mind.” He says as I look around in fear, realising that I can’t proceed any further, not with Burt being fused with the computer and having control of the entire ship.
I’m essentially trapped.
Looking down at his image, I see him place his goggles over his eyes.
“Yup.” He says.
“Burt, you can’t do this! Think about the colonists and the rest of the crew! Do their lives mean so little to you?” I plead, trying to reason with him.
“Acknowledged. One moment, please.” He says, pausing momentarily.
I hear a small beep.
“Calculations complete.” He says.
“Colonists and crew have been thought about. Initializing black hole.” He states, causing me to activate the wormhole generator once more, knowing that it’s a lost cause trying to convince him.
“Yup.”
“Goodbye Burt.” I state, pressing the button a few more times before I’m transported away.
Travelling through the wormhole, I rub at my eyes, the frustration and helplessness creating a sickening mix within me.
The wormhole transports me into another room, Cryo from the look and feel of things.
I shiver slightly.
“It never ends.” I hear Celci say from the left of me.
Turning to the left, I see her behind the frosted glass.
“It just keeps going and going and going.” She says, before letting out an unhinged sounding laugh.
Oh no, not Celci too…
“I’m gonna put the ship in stasis, Captain. I’m gonna put everybody to sleep. It’s much better than this endless looping nightmare that you and Mark put us in.” She says angrily.
“And don’t worry. If you were to leave this room, it doesn’t matter. I’ve rigged up the ship to be one big cryo pod.” She says, before giggling.
“I want you to sit back, relax, and accept it because this is for your own good.” She says, looking at me with her glowing blue gaze.
“Celci, think about the colonists and the rest of the crew. You really think that they’ll want to be stuck like this?” I say to her quietly.
“Think about the colonists?” She says, scoffing.
“I’m the only one who’s been thinking of the colonists this entire time! As for the rest of the crew, this is for the best.” She yells.
I look down at the floor, clenching my right hand into a fist.
“I’ll still help you, Captain.” She says, voice softening from the harsh tone she had adopted.
I look up at her.
“You’ll have a better chance in the pod.” She states, pointing to the pod to the left of me.
I can feel the weight of everything heavily resting on my shoulders, causing them to sag.
I’m so tired. When was the last time I slept or had anything substantial to eat or drink? Even before I found myself in this mess…as DA, the day Mark had died, I didn’t even have time to do any of that. I was too busy trying to help the Detective find the one who did it.
I look down at the wormhole generator, seeing it begin to freeze from the low temperature.
If I don’t act now, it’ll render the device utterly useless.
“Sometimes the best decision is for things to end.” She says to me as I make my decision.
“I’m sorry, Celci.” I say in a regretful tone, turning around and running out of the room.
“Where are you going, Captain? There’s no other way! You’re gonna be stuck looping forever.” She yells as I make my way to the airlock and get inside of it.
“Don’t say I didn’t warn you.” She says as the door closes behind me.
Steeling myself, I pull the lever inside of the airlock, ejecting myself out of the ship.
I barrel into the vacuum of space, pressing the button on the generator once more and transporting myself away.
I appear in the hallway leading to the warp core.
“Wow. We finally made it.” Mark says, causing me to turn towards him, startled.
“Come on, Captain. It’s time to end this.” He says as he begins walking down the hallway, forcing me to follow after him.
“That is if that thing actually works.” He says.
Oh it works all right…
“I guess I still have a lot left to learn about wormholes.” He says as I look at the device on my hand.
He comes to a stop in front of the scanner for the door leading into the warp core room. I hear him let out a sigh.
“Does this feel right to you?” He questions, causing me to look at him in confusion.
“What do you mean, Mark?” I inquire.
“Like, this moment feels kind of final. You know when you’re up against the last boss and you get a moment to breathe before pressing on? Isn’t that what it feels like?” He says, causing me to stare at him in silence.
He’s got a point, we’ve spent so long trying to get to the warp core and it’s here in front of us. Yet, why do I feel like there’s something more to this?
“Eh, maybe I’m crazy.” He murmurs, looking at the door leading to the warp core.
“What do you think we should do?” He asks, looking at me as I begin hearing faint music from behind me.
“Hold on a second, Mark…” I say.
“What? What did you say?” Mark asks in disbelief as I turn around and begin walking back down the hallway.
“Captain, hey. Captain, where are you going? Captain we gotta fix the ship! We gotta save the colonists! Captain, we came all this way! Where are you going?!” Mark says from behind me but I ignore him, something telling me that I need to see where the music is coming from.
Opening the door, I step through, the door closing behind me.
Looking up, I see a man up ahead, bathed by the multi-coloured lights streaming through the vents above. The man wearing yellow trousers, a pink satin shirt and white shoes, hums along to the disco song playing. He has a jacket of some kind, draped over his shoulder, but I can’t tell what colour it is due to the lighting.
“You got to feel it~” A familiar voice says as I walk forward, making my way towards him.
“You got to feel it!~” The song plays, the man dancing as he turns around.
The music abruptly stops when the man catches sight of me.
I stare at him in shock, feeling as if someone just dropped a bucket of ice water on me.
Then again, I’m probably still feeling the effects of the temperature from Cryo.
“No, no.” He says, pointing at me.
“That’s bad. I know why you’re here. You’re looking for an Easter egg.” He says, confusing me greatly.
“No! Wrong! That’s bad!” He exclaims, pointing at me.
I feel the frustration reach a threshold.
“What the hell are you talking about, William?!” I ask, frowning at him.
He stares at me in surprise.
“What are you even doing here?! How did you even get here?!” I say, voice wavering.
“How did I even end up in this mess?” I whisper in anguish.
“Nothing makes sense, we were at Mark’s party and then he died. There was the investigation with the Detective and everything went wrong. I lost Damien and I remember that you shot me.” I say quietly, looking at him momentarily with blurry vision, before looking at the ground.
“I fell over the banister and broke my neck…I-I should be dead. But I’m not! My memories don’t make any sense, some of them are missing and some even contradicts the rest! And now I’m a Captain of a space ship, despite being a District Attorney!” I yell, all of the emotions I’ve tried bottling up, exploding.
I let out a sob, not bothering to try hiding the fact that I’m crying.
“N/n.” I hear him say in a gentle tone, before I feel strong arms wrap around me in a hug.
“There, there. Just let it out, old friend.” He says softly.
His words only cause me to cry harder, clinging onto him as each sob wracks my frame. He rubs comforting circles onto my back as he lets me cry to the point I can’t any longer.
At this point, I’ve thoroughly soaked through his shirt but he doesn’t let me go.
I sniffle, resting my head against his chest, feeling so very tired.
It’s quiet between us for some time before I break the silence.
“I don’t blame you, you know. I know that it was an accident and you didn’t mean to shoot me, Will.” I say in a quiet tone, feeling his arms tighten around me.
“You don’t blame me?” He asks quietly.
I pull my head away from his chest, looking up at him and noticing that the tips of his black moustache is tinged with pink.
“I don’t, I’ve never blamed you for what happened. You’re my friend, despite the fact that you shot the Detective.” I say, seeing his eyes mist with tears.
“I’m so sorry this happened to you, Y/N.” He says in a sad tone as a tear falls down his cheek.
“Maybe things would’ve been better if all of us never accepted that invitation for a poker night…” I state, wiping the tear away.
“Yeah, maybe. But then I wouldn’t have met you or seen my friends again.” He whispers.
I let out an exhausted sigh, closing my eyes momentarily before reopening them.
“We can’t change the past, all we have is the present.” I say softly.
I pull away from him and he lets me go. I step back slightly, looking over my shoulder at the door before looking at him once more, torn with staying with him or proceeding with shutting down the warp core.
“I-I still have to fix my ship.” I say in a regretful tone.
“I know.” He says with a nod.
I look down at the floor.
“Y/N.” He says, causing me to look up.
“Just try to hold out a little bit longer, alright. I can’t get you out of this mess, not with him keeping tabs on you. I’ve already taken a big chance in meeting you here, we’re lucky he hasn’t noticed.” William says in a serious tone.
“Who? Is it the presence I’ve felt watching me?” I ask in a hushed tone.
He nods. “So you’ve noticed?”
“Kind of hard not to notice, especially when he said that “I’m going to have to suffer a lot before we meet face to face”.” I say, making air quotations.
I see his face harden into anger.
“He’s going to pay for that.” I hear him mutter under his breath before his face twists into a regretful frown.
“We’ve run out of time, Y/N. Since you’ve almost reached a significant part of this story, he’s going to be watching you closely. Don’t give an inkling that you have any memories outside of being a Captain, not if you want to stop this wormhole issue and keep him from intervening.” William warns in a grim tone.
“We will meet again, old friend, just hang on a little bit longer and pretend that you don’t know who I am when we do see each other again. He’ll be watching us when that happens.” He says.
“Goodbye, William. Until next time.” I say in parting.
“Goodbye, N/n. By the way…I go by Wilford Warfstache now.” He says, causing me to raise an eyebrow but I accept the name change.
“Alright. Goodbye, Wilford.” I say, turning around and walking back down the hallway, drying my face as I go.
“Goodbye, Captain.” I hear him say before I exit through the door.
Chapter 20: The Hero vs The Villain
Notes:
We've reached the end of ISWM Part 1and what a trip it has been.
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
I appear in the hallway leading to the warp core. Like Wilford had said, I can sense the presence watching us once more. I make sure to not give an inkling that I’m aware of him.
“Wow. We finally made it.” Mark says, causing me to turn towards him, this time not being startled by him.
“Come on, Captain. It’s time to end this.” He says as he begins walking down the hallway.
I follow after him.
“That is if that thing actually works.” He says.
“I guess I still have a lot left to learn about wormholes.” He says as I glance at the device on my hand.
He comes to a stop in front of the scanner for the door leading into the warp core room. Placing his hand on the scanner, he opens the door, revealing the wormhole.
“You do know how to use that thing, don’t you?” Mark asks me.
“Unfortunately, she does.” A woman’s voice says before I could answer him.
I hear the sound of a blaster being primed from behind me. Before I can react, an energy blast flies past me and nails Mark in the chest, causing my eyes to widen in alarm. I spin around, seeing the lady from the Universal Stability Agency, pointing her blaster at us.
“Don’t you, Captain?” She questions as Mark stumbles by me.
“Ow. Not again. Ow.” He says as he collapses to the floor.
I sink to my knees, checking his injury, furious. I look towards her, the lights flickering violently.
“You didn’t have to blast him with your blaster! What’s wrong with you?!” I snap at her, glaring.
“This is my last chance.” She says, walking towards us.
At this point, I don’t care that she’s injured, if she tries to hurt him again…
“This is the last chance to save the universe, so I am begging you, give me the crystal.” She says, pointing the blaster towards me.
“Hey, that’s a nice bracelet you got there.” Mark says, his voice slightly slurred, most likely from the pain he’s in.
I glance at him in concern, before returning my gaze to the other woman.
“Sure would be a shame if the computer activated the defence turrets!” Mark exclaims, nothing happening.
The lady crouches near him with a smirk on her face.
“Sure would be a shame if the computer inverted gravity! It would be terrible if the computer vented all the oxygen.” Mark says.
“It would be. That’d be bad. That’d be so bad.” Mark says, laughing nervously.
“It’d be so bad.” She says, laughing slightly.
I feel all the muscles in my body coil, ready for anything she might do.
“Yeah, we want the same thing here,” Mark says, trying to reason with her.
“Which is why it’s important we test out the Event Horizon Proto—” Mark tries to say as I see her bring the muzzle of her blaster down, aiming it towards his right leg.
Not thinking, I shoot my right arm out, taking the blast meant for him.
The blast damages the safety gauntlet on my arm.
“Captain!” Mark gasps in surprise as I stare the other woman down, auras flaring.
“Don’t think I’m just going to stand by and let you hurt my Head Engineer.” I snarl at her, voice seeming to layer and echo slightly.
She quickly points the blaster at Mark’s chest and I instantly dive between the both of them, back facing her as I block the blast from hitting him in the chest again.
“Captain, don’t!” Mark cries out as I look down at him, grimacing as I hear her stand up from behind me and step away.
“It’ll be alright, Mark. I did say that I’d protect you.” I say quietly as I adjust myself, trying to keep him covered from any more blasts.
“There will be no self-destructs.” She says, before I feel another blast from the blaster hit my unprotected back.
I grit my teeth, refusing to let any sound of pain out.
“No defensive measures.” She says, blasting me again.
I brace my right hand on the wall next to Mark’s head.
“Captain, please! You don’t have to protect me!” Mark pleads.
“No venting.” The lady says, blasting me yet again.
A hiss of pain escapes before I bite the inside of my cheek.
“Nothing.” She states, another blast hitting me on the back.
I slump forward slightly from the immense pain, feeling the areas I’ve been struck, burn something fierce.
“Captain?” Mark asks in concern as I take a sharp inhale, coughing slightly as I try mustering up any strength I have left to get up.
“It’s fine.” I say to him through gritted teeth.
“There will be nothing because I have fixed every system on this ship,” She says as I manage to shove myself back to my feet with a small grunt, back protesting from the movement.
I stand between her and Mark, feeling the blood dripping from the injuries I’ve sustained.
“Captain, you’re bleeding!” Mark says from behind me in horror.
“I’ve noticed.” I say to him dryly, keeping an eye on the lady.
“And I have overwritten every insane and violent contingency that you could ever possibly ever have.” She says, pointing the blaster at me and walking towards me, forcing me to back away slightly.
“Why are there so many self-destructs, and just like, one repair protocol?” She questions, turning her head to look at Mark.
I tense up at her having her attention on him.
“You wouldn’t get it. It’s a human thing.” Mark says, coughing slightly.
“No, no, no. No, it’s not.” She denies in anger, turning her attention to me once more and pointing the blaster.
“How many people have died because of your carelessness, and how many universes have you destroyed?” She says in accusation as she walks forward, forcing me to back away once more.
Why does everyone keep accusing me of things I didn’t do?!
“Whoa, whoa, whoa. Why so mad?” Mark asks from his spot behind her.
“We’re just gonna reset things and fix it. It’s fine.” Mark says, causing her to look at him.
“That’s not how it works, you reckless, careless, idiotic monsters.” She says before turning to face me once more.
“These aren’t second chances. Every mistake has cost the lives of people who have trusted you. The multiverse is littered with the corpses of you failures. So unless we can undo whatever it is you’re about to do, then every living thing in existence will be snuffed out forever.” She says in accusation.
“Whoa. We’re not trying to hurt anybody. We’re just trying to save our people. We—the Captain wouldn’t do that.” Mark says, coughing slightly.
“Captain, you wouldn’t let that happen, would you?” Mark questions.
“Of course not.” I say quietly, not moving my gaze from the other woman.
“I’m done being nice. Give me the crystal.” She states.
“If shooting unarmed people is your definition of being nice—” I growl at her with narrowed eyes.
“Paradox detected.” A voice says, causing me to tap the button on the device on my hand.
“No. No, no, no.” The lady says, also doing the same.
The voice continues to speak but I can’t make out what its saying.
“No. Stop, stop.” She says, pressing the button on her device as I also do the same.
“No, no, no, no, no. No, no, no!” She says as her device activates and she disappears, the blast from her device sending me flying through the open doorway.
“No!” I yell, seeing Mark trying to reach for me, but he’s too late.
“Mark!” I scream, watching the doorway get further away.
“Captain!” I hear him faintly yell back, tone tinged in concern and fear.
I can only hope he’s alright, but who am I kidding…he’s injured and needs medical attention. I also need medical attention, I grimace, feeling my back throb angrily.
I watch as multiple doors appear in my sight before I unexpectedly hit the ground, back first, letting out a shriek from the pain. I gasp in a few breaths, before a whimper escapes my lips at the blinding pain as I sit up, looking at the closed door with watering eyes. I gingerly rub at my eyes, spotting the railing beside me and using it to drag myself unsteadily to my feet.
Leaning against it weakly, I look around, realising that I’m in the warp core room.
“The warp core, I made it.” I whisper.
Ignoring the pain and exhaustion in my body, I stumble my way to the console for the warp core, keeping my grip on the railings around the device. Feeling my knees buckle, I lean heavily against the railing, raising my right hand to my mouth as a coughing fit wracks my body. Once the fit ceases, I pull my hand back, seeing the blood splattering my glove.
Grimacing, I wipe the blood onto my damaged bodysuit.
I need to fix the problem, before I collapse from my injuries or from exhaustion…whichever one comes first.
Gritting my teeth, I make the rest of the distance to the console.
Looking down at the display screen, I see the words ‘Paradox Detected’, showcased in all caps.
Breathing raggedly, I begin typing a list of command prompts, hoping that it’ll be enough to shut down the device. Reaching out, I push the lever located to the left of the console’s display screen, inputting the commands.
Hearing a creak of metal to the right of me, I snap my head to the side, seeing an aged version of Mark with a knife in his hand. My eyes widen in surprise as he charges at me with a yell.
“Fuck!” Slips out of my mouth as I barely dodge the blade, adrenaline coursing through my body as I snatch his hand that’s holding the blade.
“Unhand me, you fiend!” He yells.
“Or don’t. Hand me if you dare!” He says, trying to punch me with his other hand.
“What the hell is wrong with you?!” I snap as I move out of the way, seeing him stumble past me from the force of his punch connecting with air instead of my face.
He yells, holding onto his left arm and to my horror, he doesn’t have his left hand.
“Oh, look what you’ve done! Oh, what have you done?!” He cries, back facing me.
I stare at him, cautiously resting my right hand onto his shoulder.
“What you’ve done is fall right into my trap!” He exclaims, spinning around with another knife in his hand as he lunges towards me.
I sidestep, letting him pass me, before chopping him firmly on the shoulder, being mindful to not hit him too hard, since it isn’t my intention to hurt him.
“Seriously, can we not just talk like the adults we are?!” I ask him, a frustrated growl to my words.
He straightens with a loud crack of his back, before he turns around to face me.
“I’m not as fast as I used to be.” He says as he holds his back with one hand, the other still holding the blade.
“Or am I?” He asks as he spins towards me, causing me to lean back, watching the blade fly over me.
I straighten with a hiss, the adrenaline not being enough to significantly ease the pain. He turns around, leaning against the console.
“Okay. You win.” He says, dropping the knife to the ground.
I stare at him warily.
“Can I have my hand back?” He asks as I realize I’m still holding it.
I bring it up to my line of sight, looking at it and seeing that it’s fake. I look up in time to see Mark charging at me with another blade, sidestepping and chopping his hand harshly, the force sending him to the floor.
“Enough, Mark. I don’t want to hurt you but if you continue to try attacking me, I’ll have to retaliate.” I warn him.
“Oh, my God. I think I broke something.” He says from his spot on the floor as I lean against the railing to the side of me, feeling the adrenaline beginning to wear off.
I slightly shake from the pain as I look down at him.
“Oh, oh please. Oh, please help me. I need help desperately.” He says as I walk to the side, keeping an eye on him as I continue to hold onto the railing.
“Friend of mine, oh, close confidant, I missed our exchanges of conversation.” He says as I see him reach into a pocket located on his leg.
“That’s it. Come closer.” He says as I stop walking, not about to walk into whatever he had grabbed.
“And payback!” He says, rolling onto his back and tossing something into the air.
I blankly watch him as he screams in pain from the item falling into his eyes.
He bolts up from the floor.
“I won’t let you do it!” He yells.
“I won’t let you destroy the universe!” He says, blindly moving and missing me by a wide shot with the blade.
I back away from him, putting some distance between us.
At this point, I don’t know if I’d be able to fight him off, not in the state I’m in.
“I’ll stop you! Don’t move! Don’t do anything whatever you do. Unless that’s what you did, and then do it. I dare you to do it!” He says as he waves his blade around, words not making any sense.
“Whatever you do, don’t not do it!” He says as he turns to face me.
“Captain, I can’t let you win.” He says in a serious tone as he stares at me.
“This is the final confrontation, good versus evil, the hero versus the villain.” He says, brandishing his blade.
“Justice will prevail this day! But first I need to test out the Event Horizon Protocol. The hand?” He says, causing me to lift the hand in confusion, seeing a blinking red light as the hand lets out a series of beeps from the speaker in the middle of its palm.
“Bye-bye!” The hand says, my eyes widening in realization that it’s an explosive.
Before I can toss it away, it blows up, sending me crashing to the floor as I black out from all of the pain, not able to withstand it any longer.
The first thing I notice as I regain consciousness, is how much everything hurts.
For a moment, I can’t remember what had happened, but after some time…everything slowly starts coming back to me.
The warp core, old man Mark…and getting knocked out from an explosive blowing up.
I struggle to open my eyes, my body urging me to just give up and stop trying.
I can’t…I can’t give up now, not when I’m this close to fixing everything.
I manage to peel my eyes open, squinting at the harsh lighting, along with everything around me seeming to triple.
“Ugh.” Helpfully comes out of my mouth as my vision properly focuses.
My eyes settle onto the glowing center of the warp core as I hear typing to the right of me. My eyes fall onto the portable wormhole generator on my hand, seeing that it’s damaged.
The damage must’ve happened from the explosion, I grit my teeth as I manage to return to a sitting position.
“This is the only way to be sure,” I hear Mark say as he types something into the console.
“The only way to truly fix the problem once and for all.” He says as I look down at the damaged device on my glove, frustrated.
“Oh, yeah, sorry about that.” He says, causing me to look up at him.
“I’m sorry about a lot of things.” Mark states as he types more commands into the console.
“Well, when you’ve tried everything else,” He grabs his cane that’s resting against the side of the console.
“There’s really only one more thing left to try.” He turns a knob on the console, causing the warp core to begin humming as it starts up.
Mark reaches for the lever as I try to muster anything left to get up.
“Be advised, designated location outside known universe.” The Computer warns.
“Don’t.” I say to him firmly as I try to get up.
“If you do that, you could collapse the entire universe!” I say, managing to get to my knees.
“I know.” He says, looking down at me.
“That’s the point.” He says as he pulls the lever towards himself.
“Warning. Current action could have unforeseen consequences.” The Computer states.
I have to do something! If I can’t get up to stop him, I’ll have to try another way.
“Computer, override the warp core input and return the warp core to its neutral state!” I yell, trying to stop him.
“I’m sorry, Captain. The Head Engineer has negated your override privileges.” The Computer informs.
“What?!” I cry in disbelief as I look up at Mark’s smiling face.
“You idiot!” I snarl as the warp core activates.
Before I can say anything else, we’re enveloped in blue light, forcing me to close my eyes before I become blind. When I see the light dim behind my eyelids, I open my eyes and see Mark standing a few feet in front of me.
Except for a blue light shining from above, everything else is bathed in darkness.
I realise that I’m standing up, barely as it is, since my knees are shaking from the strain my body is under.
Mark looks around at the darkness.
“I-I did it! I did it!” He exclaims in happiness as I stare at him in despair, knowing that I’ve failed.
I couldn’t stop him, I couldn’t even save my crew or the colonists. What kind of a Captain am I?! Maybe Gunther was right, I’m not suitable to be Captain. I can’t do anything right! I couldn’t even save the people I love when I was DA…I couldn’t save Damien.
I don’t even have the strength left to cry.
“I finally did it!” Mark says as he turns around to look at me.
“I beat you!” He says, pointing at me, before he starts laughing.
“I did it, I did it, I did it~” He sings as he dances around.
I slump more into myself, watching him with tired eyes.
“Oh, yeah, and you know what else?” He says as he moves closer to me, looking down at me.
I stare up at him.
“I forgive you.” He says, baffling me.
“Well, come here.” He says, before giving me a hug, a yelp escaping my lips, the hug placing pressure onto my injuries.
He lets me go, not seeming to notice the pained reaction. He steps away from me.
“All the pain and suffering that you’ve caused, I forgive you! It’s all in the past or the future, or um, that will never be because I beat you! Everyone can finally go live their infinite lives in peace.” He says in a triumphant tone as I descend into another coughing fit, collapsing to my knees.
“Captain?” He says, concern on his face as I continue to cough, hand covering my mouth.
“Captain?” He asks again, before I see him look at his hands, noticing the blood coating them.
I can see the horror settle onto his face as my coughing fit ceases.
“Captain, you’re injured!” He exclaims, moving towards me.
I shrink more into myself.
“Stay away, why would you care if I’m injured or not.” I say in a hoarse, angry tone.
“Congratulations Mark, you’ve destroyed everything! And because of your actions, I’m not able to save my crew or the colonists, because there isn’t anything left! Everything I’ve done to try to save everyone is for naught!” I snarl at him with a death glare, seeing him stare at me in disbelief.
I take in a shuddering breath, hugging my knees to my chest and hiding my face into them.
“Captain…” I hear him say but I refuse to look at him.
“Paradox detected.” A voice says, causing me to look up from my knees, seeing that the Warp Core has reappeared.
“Yeah, I know. That’s why we’re here.” Mark says as he approaches the machine.
I can see another version of old Mark in the background, but I try to ignore it.
“Question is, why are you here? I thought I muted this thing.” He says, turning to look at me.
“Wouldn’t shut up about paradoxes!” Mark exclaims, banging his cane on the side of the machine.
“Warning, universal stability compromised. Attempting to resolve.” The device says.
“Probably just tying up some loose ends.” Marks says as the lady appears on the ground a few feet away from us.
She looks around as Mark crouches slightly to take a closer look at her. She turns to look at him.
“No, no. No, no, no, no, no. What have you done?” She says to him as I look on from my spot on the floor.
“What did I do?” Mark asks, affronted.
“I just saved the universe from the Captain’s rampage of destruction, and apparently from you, too, whoever you are.” Mark says to her, her mouth dropping open at his words.
“Error. Unable to resolve. Paradox detected.” The warp core says as I begin to see other people in the background, bathed in blue light.
I notice with increasing horror, that I can see my crew…Celci, Gunther, Burt, even the other crew members, all of them shouting and looking around in fear.
Whatever they’re shouting, I can’t make it out…it’s as if they’ve been silenced by something.
“You? You did this? It was you?” She asks in disbelief.
“And for once, you’re on the right path with your questioning.” I pipe up coldly from my spot.
She looks over at me, eyes widening, at the very likely, horrible state I’m in.
“Lady, you’re gonna have to be more specific. I’ve done a lot of things.” Mark states, causing her to look at him once more.
“Infinite paradox detected. Universal collapse imminent.” The machine says.
“Turn it off.” The lady says urgently.
“You have to shut it down. You have to.”
“Uh, well, maybe that’s not the worst idea in the world.” Mark says, approaching the device.
However, the device activates, sending a wave of energy outwards, which pushes him back.
Hearing a buzz from my left hand, I look down, seeing the warp crystal generating blue electricity, the electricity travelling towards the warp core.
“Oh, no, no. Oh, no. You don’t get to blow up! I’m the one who blows things up.” Mark says as the electricity continues to travel to the warp core.
“Oh, you think you’re better than me? You don’t get to—” He says, before we’re all frozen in place.
From where I’m sitting, I can see his eyes are the only part of his body that he can move, looking sideways, up and then downwards.
Everything glitches around me and I find myself, still frozen, back at the instance the lady was pointing her gun at me, the young, Head Engineer Mark, sitting in the hallway due to his injury.
Another glitch and Bandit is in front of me, a gun in her hand as she seems to be stuck in the middle of saying something, glitching in place just like the lady from before.
I don’t recall this ever happening, is this some other timeline I could’ve gone down if I made decisions different from the ones I’ve made?
“He’s coming!” A man yells as I see a brief appearance of a man, before old man Mark is in front of me once more, the both of us in the warp core room.
I can still feel the presence watching me but I keep my eyes focused on the Mark in front of me, not wanting to jeopardize anything.
Whoever the presence seems to be, Wil doesn’t seem to have any love for it, only anger.
Despite seeming to be glitching through what’s left of time, I can still feel my injuries and the exhaustion heavily weighing on me.
Another glitch, and Ms Whitacare and young, Head Engineer Mark are in my sight, Mark seeming to be frozen from Cryo.
“Come back!” I hear the lady exclaim before she’s standing in my personal space, giving me a hair raising smile, Mark in the background.
We seem to be in the Universal Stability Agency, but the place is off from what I can see of it, the red lighting casting the environment into an uneasy, eerie air.
Everything glitches again, this time Wug and Mark are in front of me, all of us in Wug’s space ship.
I see a quick glimpse of Mark seeming to be wearing mostly black clothing, along with black sunglasses and gloves.
Then Ms Whitacare glitches into view, standing in the darkness, a blue light shining down on her, holding the portable wormhole generator.
I then see different members of my crew glitch into view. I can see Gunther, Burt and even Celci, amongst the crew.
“L-let go!” I hear Mark exclaim, before I find myself back at the instance I was just stepping into the Invincible II, Mark and the crew also present from that time.
Another glitch and I see myself back in the bridge, holding a champagne glass and ready to give my speech. The lighting turns red and I see a black slash over everyone’s eyes momentarily, before the lighting turns back to normal. Then everything turns pitch black and I find myself alone in the darkness.
I sense the presence leave and I realise that I can move once more.
Turning around, everything looks the same, causing me to hyperventilate as the last of the wall blocking my memories, comes crashing down, seeming to be triggered from the darkness.
I sink to my knees as I’m assaulted by memories of being stuck in the void with Damien and Celine, agreeing to work together with them to get out of it, all of us inhabiting my body and then being trapped in the mirror.
The darkness around me is just like that instance in the mirror, before I didn’t have the knowledge that I could conjure things into existence…I spent so long in the dark, that it took everything I had, to not lose my sanity. I had to fall back on all of the good memories I had in my life, to not completely lose myself.
I close my eyes as I remember waiting in that mirror, hoping that Damien and Celine would come back and get me out of there.
They did come back, just not the way they used to be. Damien was in control at that point in time and he was merged with one of the entities that was in the manor. He went by Dark at that point, not that I could blame him, he wasn’t Damien anymore.
I smile slightly, recalling everything he’d done for me and all of the instances he kept me company.
The smile falls as I come to the last of my memories that were hidden from me…my version of Mark forcibly pulling me from the mirror, not being able to defend myself from him, him drugging me and blocking my memories, replacing them with new ones.
I even remember the small amount of time I spent with him in his home, before he sent me onto the shuttle headed for the Invincible II. He went by Actor and he was even more delusional and full of himself, which was surprising because I didn’t think he could get even worse than he already was.
I grit my teeth, livid.
It’s his fault, he caused all of this! And he even had the gall to mock my attempts of keeping my crew safe. He’s the one responsible for even sending the warp core out to space, he wanted to send the other version of himself into a loop, unable to escape.
A test, he claimed…to see if I’m ‘worthy’ of being his co-star. When I get my hands on him…I swear he’s going to regret everything he’s done to not just the people from that poker night all those years ago, but all the innocent lives he’s just sent into a tailspin.
Dark was right, he is a snake.
Looking up, I notice that in the darkness, there seems to be a green glow.
Getting up with a hiss, I slowly trudge over to the glow, noticing that the glowing comes from a message.
‘REBOOTING UNIVERSE, PLEASE STAND BY.’
Looking down, I see the status bar, showing how much progress has been made in rebooting everything.
Further down is the estimated time for the universe to reboot.
“Twenty eight days remaining.” I whisper to myself as I retreat a few feet away, still ensuring I’m able to see the message.
Sinking back to the floor, I look up at the message, seeing the time ticking down.
Frowning, I look to the side, looking at the darkness. A bit curious, I try seeing if I can create a lamp just like I’ve done when I was stuck in the mirror.
Instantly, it forms a feet away from me, but forming it has caused me to feel even more exhausted.
Narrowing my eyes, I will it to turn on, the lamp turning on and bathing the area in a bright, white light.
Reluctantly, I also form a mirror, looking at my reflection.
I look like I’ve been dragged through hell more times than I can count.
I observe my auras, seeing that they’re dimmer due to my current state. There are dark circles under my eyes and my skin has changed in hue once more, looking greyer by the second.
Any greyer and Dark and I would end up with matching complexions. A feeling of yearning wells up.
I miss him so much, it’s been years since I last saw him. I have to find a way to see him again, without Actor noticing anything, because I have no idea of the true scope of his power.
I pluck my captain’s hat off, setting it beside me.
Looking into the mirror once more, I flinch in surprise, not expecting to see another person reflected back at me.
“Ms Whitacare?” I say, seeing her looking at me with concern.
“You’re injured, Captain.” She says softly.
I nod slightly. “I know,”
I look at her through the mirror, hesitating slightly.
In my timeline, Damien’s last name was also Whitacare, and Doreen also said the same phrase that Damien was so fond of saying.
“Allow me to assist you with medical attention, I’ll have your injuries treated in a jiffy.” She says as I watch her reflection, seeing a first aid kit appear in her hands.
My eyes widen slightly at that, but I’m more focused on what realisation is brewing in my mind.
“Ms Whitacare, I’m not sure if you remember or not, but some time ago, you stated that this was said by a ‘friend’ of yours, that…life is ours to choose.” I say, seeing her eyes soften.
Getting up from the floor, I turn around to look her in the eye.
Checking for any sign of Actor watching me, I sense that his attention isn’t on me for the moment.
“Celine, is that you?” I ask in a hushed tone.
“So you remember everything now.” She smiles at me, sadness and regret tinting the expression.
“It’s been a long time, hasn’t it, Y/N?” She says.
“It has.” I manage to say around the lump in my throat.
She lets out a small sigh, looking at me sombrely.
“I’m sorry, for a lot of things I've done on that fateful day. I let my desire to know what exactly had happened, cloud my judgement and because of that…I’ve failed as an older sister when the entity Mark was working with, had managed to push my soul out of my body and possessed my empty vessel. It then turned its attention to Damien and attacked him, before pushing his soul out of his body. Mark then took control of Damien’s body and all we could do was look on. The groundskeeper had arrived and tried to close the door, but the entity possessing my body was too strong. We could hear you calling out to us as you ran down the hallway, and we knew that you’d noticed that something was wrong.” Celine explains.
“Yes, there were blue and red flickering lights behind your possessed body.” I say in a quiet tone, understanding that that was their souls.
“It was the right choice that you helped George close the door, else that entity might’ve attacked everyone else.” Celine states in a grim tone.
“After the door was closed and locked, Mark left us in the Upside-Down with his broken body. Damien was too aggrieved to notice that another entity was there with us. It telepathically spoke to me and offered me a deal, that it’ll help us get out of here and deal with Mark, if we manage to secure another vessel and merge with it. It also wanted the other entity that escaped in my body to be hunted down and dealt with. I accepted in my anger and desperation, but I had enough awareness to not let it get anywhere near Damien’s soul.” I silently take in her words.
It was the explanation I wanted in the past, it’s interesting that I’m getting said explanation over a century later.
“When you died, I brought your soul to the Upside-Down and that’s where Damien and I convinced you to let us inhabit your body. After we all got out, I was partially merged with the entity. Admittedly, it was almost too much for me to handle, which caused my control on it to slip, the entity ejecting your soul from your body in order to protect you. After you were ejected, Damien tried to stop me and by extension it, and even managed to gain control of your body for a moment, but I managed to merge halfway with the entity and regain full control of your body.” Celine says, before her gaze drops to her red gloves.
“I couldn’t protect Damien and I couldn’t even do anything to help you. The entity thought that putting you in the mirror would be something Damien would’ve also wanted, since my brother loves you and the entity apparently always had an interest in you whenever you used to visit the manor. With myself merged with the entity, I knew everything Mark had been planning, since it was watching him closely. For almost all of the time I was in control, I kept Damien unaware of everything that was happening as I tried to hunt down Mark and make him pay for what he’d had done. Hunting down the entity possessing my body fell to the wayside. I was so consumed with anger due to everything that had happened, that I became careless in my sheltering of Damien’s soul and Mark somehow managed to speak with him before I became aware.”
Celine looks up at me.
“By then, I was too late in keeping Damien in the loop I had placed him in. Damien urged me to let him help and I had agreed. I was so tired at that point, I couldn’t continue on any longer. I warned him that he’d never be the same after this…he didn’t care, he wanted to make Mark pay for what he’d done, but most of all…he wanted to protect you and give you an explanation.”
I smile at her.
“And he did, he explained everything to me.” I say, before looking at her curiously.
“How are you here, when he mentioned that you were asleep when I had asked?”
“When Mark took you, he was so consumed by anger, that he turned his attention to trying to get rid of any help Mark might’ve had. As you know, my body was still possessed by the other entity. Said entity was still helping Mark, so he tracked down the entity and managed to eject it from my body, before he destroyed the entity.” Celine states bluntly.
I recall the instance I had seen Dark angry and wondered how much angrier he could get.
“What happened after that?” I ask her, despite knowing that he’d gotten her soul back into her body.
“He retransferred my soul into my body and I was in a coma for some time as my soul readjusted to having my own body back. When I woke up, he was there to speak with me, but I could barely see any traits of my brother remaining, he and the entity were now fully one.”
I stare at her, a bit overwhelmed with the information given to me.
“That’s…that’s really something…” I say, at a loss for words.
“Your body was aged when he found it once again?” I inquire after some time.
Celine shakes her head. “No, this is just the form I elect to take when I’m not within the safety of his domain. If Mark knows that we aren’t still stuck in one body, anything my brother might be planning against him, will go up in smoke.”
“Right now, it appears that bastard is planning some big adventure for the both of you after you finish his little ‘test’ and yes I’m aware of that.” She says, tacking on the last part when she sees the surprise on my face.
“How did you even know I’d be on the Invincible II?”
“I didn’t, it was a surprise to see you as Captain, though you’ve always been capable of leading others in high stress situations, it’s something Damien had always praised about you.” She says, a small flush rising on my face at the last of her words.
The flush disappears from my face at the reminder that I’ve failed in my mission.
“Some Captain I’ve been though, I couldn’t save anyone, no matter how hard I’ve tried.” I say as I look at my feet, frustrated.
“Y/N, you can’t blame yourself for that, you did the best you could with what you had. The situation you were forced in, it’s something most people would lose hope and give up…but I’ve seen you.” Celine says, tilting my chin up and forcing me to meet her gaze.
“Despite everything, you still managed to power through, you didn’t lose hope in saving your crew or the colonists, and you even protected that Head Engineer that has the misfortune of looking and even sharing the same name as my ex-husband.” Her words cause me to crack a small smile, especially at the jab towards Actor.
“Thank you, for explaining everything and for the pep talk, Celine.” I say, grateful at finally getting the closure to my past.
Because at this point, Y/N, the District Attorney, has been dead a long time now. All that’s left is who I am now.
“Don’t thank me yet, I still have to patch you up.” She says in a pointed tone, causing me to chuckle.
“Alright, alright, I’ll be sure to thank you when you’re done then.” I tease lightly, causing her to laugh.
“That’s enough sass from you, Captain…now let’s get that bodysuit off of your injuries and we can assess how bad they are.” She orders.
“Damien always did mention that you’re too bossy.” I quip, but do as she says, unbuckling the belt around my waist and unzipping the suit until it reaches my hips.
Looking up, I see that Celine had replaced her gloved with latex medical gloves. She helps me remove my damaged safety gauntlet and helps me pull down my sleeves. Next, she conjures a table and a stool, indicating that I sit down.
“You’re going to have to remove your upper garments.” She says and I reluctantly do so, wincing at having to pull the turtle neck off and then my bra.
I hold my ruined turtleneck over the front of my chest as Celine gets to work in cleaning off all of the blood to see the injuries better. I wince at the stinging but try not to move too much, biting the inside of my cheek.
“Your injuries are already healing, which isn’t exactly surprising since you aren’t human anymore.” Celine informs.
“I imagine that the reason they aren’t healing at a quicker pace is due to the fact that you’re exhausted and low on energy, judging from how dim your auras currently are.” She explains as she goes about treating the burns.
I look down at my now grey complexion. “I don’t understand how my skin tone has changed though and why my voice has the same echo and layered quality as you know who.” I say, afraid to mention Dark by name, in case that causes Actor to become aware of this conversation.
I feel her pause in her treating of the burns, looking at me through the mirror.
“I have a theory…the reason your appearance is looking more eldritch, has to do with the fact that it was dark magic that was used to bring you back. As it stands, you and my brother are in the same boat of being eldritch anomalies to everything that is natural.” Celine reveals.
I frown at her words.
“Great…just one more reason to despise the person who did this to me in the first place.” I say in a frigid tone.
“You can’t go against him yet, Y/N. He’s too protected at the moment and you don’t know what your powers are.” Celine says.
“I know that I have a healing factor and I can conjure things out of thin air. Besides, I’m not stupid to go gunning for him when I have no idea what he’s capable of. The best thing I can do is learn more about my abilities and then somehow get back into contact with your brother, without that pest noticing.” I say bluntly, causing her to snort.
“Well, I’m glad we have an ally on our side in dealing with said ‘pest’.” Celine says as she returns to treating the burns with ointment.
“Since we have twenty eight days until everything resets, I’m more than capable of teaching you a few things, magic wise.” Celine says.
I smile at the offer.
“I look forward to learning from you then.”
“You have much to learn my young protégé.” Celine teases as she finishes treating the rest of my injuries.
I scoff slightly at her words.
“You’re only older by a few days.” I say as my clothing is replaced by a new captain’s uniform, courtesy of Celine.
“Which is just long enough for me to be in charge. And my first order as your teacher, is that you have something to eat and drink, then you need to get some sleep, Y/N. You look ready to fall over any moment now.” Celine says firmly as she makes the medical supplies disappear and replaces it with a hot meal, along with a pitcher and glass filled with water.
I feel my mouth water at the aroma of the meal.
“You make a hard case to refute, Ms Whitacare.” I say in tired amusement as she conjures another stool and sits beside me.
She shakes her head slightly at my words as I pick up the glass of water and drink it, refilling it once I’m done. It’s quiet between us as I eat the vegetables and rice, baked chicken and mashed potatoes with gravy.
Once I’m done with the meal, Celine makes the empty plate, the cutlery and the pitcher, along with the glass, vanish once more. She then makes a bed appear and helps me get to it when I stumble from how exhausted I am. I pull off my boots and lay under the covers, looking at her as she sits beside me on the bed.
“Thank you, for helping me and for giving me an explanation.” I say, words slurring more since I actually have some food in me.
“You’re welcome, Y/N.” She says, giving me a small smile.
I close my eyes. “As for your apology, I forgive you both for what had happened a long time ago.”
I hear her breathing hitch slightly.
“Thank you.” She says softly, voice wavering a bit.
“You’re welcome.” I say, before drifting off to sleep.
Notes:
Thank you so much for the kudos and comments everyone, I really appreciate the support this story has gotten.
Hopefully, I'll be seeing you lot in a month, since I need a bit of a break from posting on all of the writing projects I'm currently writing for.
But I'll probably be posting some art on my Tumblr blog for the month, so you can check out my Tumblr page if you're interested in what I have over there.
Here's the link:https://silver-halloween.tumblr.com/
Chapter 21: Universal Reset
Notes:
Hey everyone, I'm back! Thank you so much for the kudos.
We're off to a start with Space Part 2! We'll be seeing just how the Captain navigates and adapts to everything.
Chapter Text
I stand beside Celine, watching the timer count down the minutes left until everything resets.
“I guess this is goodbye, for now.” I say, turning my head to look at her.
She nods slightly.
“I suppose it is…remember what I taught you.” She says, tugging on the ends of her gloves.
“I will.” I state, looking down at my ungloved hands and willing the illusion into place, returning my appearance to the more human one I had.
“We might see each other again, Y/N, but we’ll have to play our parts and pretend that we don’t know each other.”
I look back at the timer, seeing that we only have five minutes left.
“That’s true.” I sigh, a frown on my face.
“I despise having to act like this…but I’ll play along with his games, for now.” I say in a quiet, frigid tone.
“You’re a lot more patient than I am, so I’m sure it won’t be a problem for you.” Celine says with a small smile.
I let out a small snort at her words, pulling on my gloves and securing them. I then reattach the portable wormhole generator to my left hand.
“If you say so Celine, though…I have to ask before you leave, you said he found your body with the entity possessing it, I just remembered that when I had initially asked, he said that the entity had been dealt with and won’t be bothering anyone again?” I say, looking at her expression closely.
Celine blinks, seeming to be a bit surprised at the question.
“If I had to guess, the entity he had destroyed in the past was just a fragment of it. Such entities are able to split their essence and be in multiple places at once.” Celine explains.
I narrow my eyes, thoughtful.
“Since you’re currently here in your body, I assume that the entity is truly destroyed.”
“I would think so, he was and I quote ‘very thorough in making sure that the entity couldn’t somehow weasel out of escaping this time’.” Celine says, grimacing slightly.
“Let’s just say, since I had experience with being merged with the ruler of the Upside-Down, it can get really creative when it wants to.”
I feel a small shiver run down my spine at the foreboding tone.
“Then I’ll be sure to not get on his bad side then.” I say, glancing at the timer and seeing that we have a minute left.
“That won’t be a problem, I doubt he’ll be angry with you, it’s not your fault that you’re stuck in this predicament.” Celine assures me, also looking at the timer.
She turns to look at me, saddened. “We’re run out of time.”
I look at her, a bit mournful “I know.”
I hold my arms out for a hug, causing her to laugh slightly.
“Seriously, Y/N.” She says in mock annoyance, but steps closer and hugs me.
I wrap my arms around the taller woman, smiling slightly.
“I’m going to miss you, Celine. You’re the only female friend I have, who knows about all of this. It’s not like I can say anything to my crew, not with that jerk watching me.”
She tightens her arms around me. “I’m happy that you still think of me as a friend, despite what had happened in the past.”
“As I’ve told you, I’ve forgiven you a long time ago. Besides, we have all of eternity once we deal with our common enemy.” I say, feeling her release me from the hug.
We both turn to look at the counter, seeing that we have ten seconds left.
“Just hold out a little bit longer, alright.”
I nod at her. “I’ll try my best, granted that I have no idea what will happen when everything resets.”
Celine grabs my hands, giving them a squeeze.
“Good luck, Captain.”
“Thank you, for everything.” I say in parting, the timer hitting zero.
I see her disappear, my hands grasping at thin air.
“Your welcome.” I hear her voice faintly say as my surroundings glitch into existence.
I find myself looking through a glass window, seeing the Invincible II getting closer.
I’m on the shuttle that had first transported me.
Feeling Actor watching me, I keep my face neutral.
Time to put on a show.
I hear a window opening on my left.
“Might want to take a step back, Captain!” A man’s voice exclaims.
I turn to the left, seeing the pilot outside of the shuttle, hanging onto the window.
I stare at the scene, stunned.
“Oh, by the way, I’m a huge fan.” He says, looking at me.
I see a live image of him appear on the console.
“Closing blast shields.” The video feed says.
“No, no! No—ahh!” The pilot yells as the blast shields come down.
I stare at the severed fingers in horror, feeling my stomach give a slow nauseating roll at the sight.
“Shuttle Marmota, you are clear to dock.” A voice says over the console’s radio.
I hear laughing from behind me, causing me to spin around, seeing the pilot.
“What an idiot!” He laughs, looking at the window where his clone was hanging from.
“Boom! We’re here.” The pilot says, jabbing his thumb to the side of him as a crash occurs outside.
“You like bratwurst?” He asks, moving closer to me.
“My uncle has bratwurst, like, a restaurant.” He says as I back away from him, not sure how to respond to that.
“I was thinking maybe you and me, we could go grab a couple of brewskis and pop out there.” He says as I turn to the door, seeing it slide upwards, revealing Mark.
“Welcome abroad the Invincible II, Captain.” Mark says as he holds out a hand for a handshake.
I reach out to shake his hand, having to reach quite a bit since some of the crew members seemed to have glitched between us.
Mark doesn’t seem to see anything amiss with that.
“Glad to have you here. Took you long enough.” He says before the crew and himself, glitches.
“Let me give you the grand tour before we embark.” He states as he turns around.
I stare at the crew in the docking bay, seeing that they’re all unconscious. I bite the inside of my cheek, following after him.
It’s obvious that the reset of everything still has some issues.
I blink, seeing Mark and the crew glitch out of sight as I continue to walk forward.
“This is my pride and joy. My baby.” Mark says, voice glitching as he appears in front of me once more.
I take another step, the both of us abruptly in the sterilization chamber. I look beside me, seeing Mark smiling at the wall blankly, causing me to feel uneasy.
“A baby always remembers its father.” He says in a distorted voice, causing my eyes to widen, seeing him glitching in place.
“Father, father, father...” His voice echoes, still distorted as he looks at me with a smile.
I slowly reach out a hand towards him, not sure if touching him would be detrimental.
Mark glitches again…this time, he’s leaning against the side of the chamber, seeming to be looking at something and screaming.
I shift my eyes to the side, trying to see what exactly he’s screaming at.
All I can see is the walls of the sterilization chamber.
Everything glitches again, Mark beside me in the chamber once more.
“First stop, the—” He says, looking at me as a glitch appears over his mouth, preventing me from hearing the rest of his words.
“The heart and soul of the—” His words are cut off once more as my surroundings and him glitches.
I look down at myself, not seeing the same thing happen to me.
“I’ve yet to meet a problem that can’t be solved with explosives.” He says as we walk down the hallway lined with explosives.
“And speaking of explosives—” I walk forward as he disappears from sight once more.
“All will be consumed by darkness.” Burt says in a distorted tone as I come to a stop in the middle of the reactor room, turning my head to the side to look at the reactor.
I see the video feed of a crew member waving at me, the glass separating the reactor from the rest of the room, seeming to be a large screen.
“Hi, Captain.” The crew member says in a slowed voice, smiling as he waved at me slowly.
I wave back heart-heartedly, forcing a smile onto my face.
“Where are you going, Captain?” I hear Celci ask as I’m now standing in Cryo.
“Do you think she had the right idea, Captain?” Ms Whitacare asks as I see Mark on the floor, frozen.
“Did she give up, or did she move on?” She asks as I hear Celci speaking in the background.
“All a matter of perspective, I suppose.” Ms Whitacare says in a lower pitched voice, before letting out an echoing laugh.
I narrow my eyes at her words, trying not to show any other reaction as I reach out for Mark, seeing his eyes flit over to me as the lights shut off.
Blinking, I find myself in front of a sliding door, the door opening to show Mark smiling at me, the crew lining the sides of the hallway, all of them looking at me coldly.
So they’re still angry at me. I try to ignore the hurt I feel.
“Come on, slowpoke.” Mark says with a smile, before turning around to walk down the hallway.
I follow behind him, feeling the eyes of my crew boring into me, but I don’t meet any of their gaze, too ashamed of letting them down.
I can’t let them down again, I have to shut down the Warp Core.
As I walk down the hallway after him, different versions of the crew appear in front of my eyes.
One instance, everything is in black and white and they seem to be wearing Noir detective style clothing, the next instance, they’re on the floor, unconscious.
I force myself to continue forward as it returns to them in their usual uniforms, before the cycle of appearances occur once more.
I then see a brief view of the darkened hallway, no one in sight, before everything continues to glitch in the same pattern, voices overlapping and echoing.
I clench my hands into fists, biting down my anger and frustration as new scenes glitches into view before disappearing just as quickly.
“All that’s left now…” Mark says, suddenly to the side of me as he sweeps an arms towards the door leading into the bridge.
I walk forward.
“…is for you to say the word.” He says with a smile, handing me a flute of champagne as I look at my crew, seeing them with flutes of champagne.
“Try not to get them too excited, Captain.” He says, causing me to look towards him, wondering if he even remembers anything.
“I know how your speeches can get everyone riled up.” Mark states as I turn to look at the crew once more, only for them to glitch out of sight, replaced by old man Mark.
I stare at him coldly, seeing him laughing as he holds a glass of champagne. I watch as different versions of the old version of Mark, glitches into view, doing a variety of poses and movements. I narrow my eyes, drinking my glass of champagne as I see the young version of my Head engineer, walk into view.
The old version of Mark takes a sip of his champagne before raising the glass slightly in a silent toast.
I have to retrain from breaking my glass at the sight, still miffed about what he’d done.
“Captain, why does this seem familiar?” The young version of Mark questions, causing me to look at him sharply, before my attention is stolen by a blue vortex appearing behind old man Mark.
“Look out, behind you!” I try to warn the both of them as the younger version goes to drink his champagne.
“Eh? Ahh!” The old version says as the glass gives way and we’re all sucked into the wormhole.
I begin hearing suspenseful music as I travel through the wormhole, still feeling Actor watching me.
The image of him kicking back with a bowl of popcorn and watching this as if it’s entertaining, nearly causes me to flip him the bird rudely but I refrain, silently seething.
“And so our intrepid Captain falls headlong into the spiralling chaos of dimensional calamity, heralding the beginning of the end.” A man’s voice narrates, causing me to look up, anger turning into baffled confusion.
“My goodness, what an adventure. I swear, this story never ceases to amaze me.” The man says, causing me to blink.
“Um, excuse me…who are you exactly?” I question, not certain if the voice would be able to hear me.
“Oh Captain, you can hear me…” The voice says in slight surprise.
“Allow me to introduce myself, I’m the Narrator.” The voice states.
“Uh, pleasure to meet you?” I say in an unsure tone.
“The pleasure is all mine, Captain…I’m sure we’ll meet again for the first time in the very near future and/or somewhat distant past.” The Narrator says, causing me to grow more confused.
“Should this all prove to be the end of all reality, which it almost certainly is, it would be my great pleasure to guide you through my own universe should the opportunity arise. Which doesn’t seem likely to happen at this juncture, but when thinking in infinites, unlikely is just certainty waiting for its turn.”
I silently take in his words.
He’s got a point about unlikely just being certainty waiting for its turn, I never thought I’d see Damien again, or even William or Celine. Perhaps I’ll even see Abe.
I exit the wormhole with a start, realising that I’m lying on a bed.
What the? I look down at the gloves on my hands.
The left one is a shade of dark blue, the other, a deep purple.
I then look around the bedroom, seeing some space themed decor on the walls and bookshelf.
I sharply look to the door when I hear footsteps running towards my bedroom door. I then hear a knock as I pull the blanket up, covering my face from view.
“What’s wrong sport?” A man asks as he opens the door and steps into the room.
Pulling the blanket down slightly, I stare at the silver haired Mark, wearing white shorts, a blue polo shirt and a fanny pack with a white cross on it, stunned at the sight.
I notice that on the left chest of his shirt, the word ‘dad’ is written.
Quickly improvising based on the context clues, I drop the blanket and make grabby hands at him, not saying a word.
He lets out a small breath.
“Bless my stars,” He says, hand to his chest as he steps further into the room.
“Was it the nightmare about the spaceship again?” He asks with his hands resting on his hips.
I nod silently, wondering what the hell is this even supposed to be.
He chuckles slightly, looking at me.
“That one keeps coming back, doesn’t it? Well, I know just the thing that’s going to cure that-” He says as he turns to the side.
“Another story.” He states, kneeling in front of the bookshelf.
“All right, let’s see what we got here.” He says as I glance down at my feet, noticing that I’m wearing two completely different coloured socks, one pink with diamond geometric patterns, the other blue in colour, with triangles a darker shade of blue.
I look back up in time, seeing the first book he pulled from the shelf. I have to use all my will power to keep my expression the same as I see a picture of Actor lying on the floor, in the same position I found him all those years ago, a black slash over his eyes.
That son of a—Actor definitely had something to do with this scenario! I have to refrain from tightening my grip on the blanket in my grasp.
“Ugh, maybe a little too grisly.” ‘Dad’ says as he sets the book down on the floor.
Yeah, it was grisly…granted I lived through it!
He pulls another book from the shelf, a picture of Mark holding a red rose in his hand, is displayed on the front cover.
“Uh, read that one too many times.” He sets that book down on the floor, on top of the other one.
He pulls out another one, this one having William on the cover.
“Nah.” That book joins the others on the floor.
He pulls out another book from the shelf and I stare at the cover blankly, seeing a long haired Damien on the cover, a winter background behind him.
I bite the inside of my cheek, feeling the anger climb steadily and the tightness in my chest, increase.
Don’t show a reaction, don’t show a reaction, don’t show a reaction...I chant repeatedly in my head, willing the rage down.
“Not in the mood.” He says, resting the book with the Damien cover, onto the growing pile on the ground.
I keep my eyes on him, afraid to look at the book cover of Damien, least I decide to hurl curses at Actor, because I can still feel him watching me.
‘Dad’ pulls another book off of the shelf, the image showcasing a large ‘M’ in the background, with a pink moustache and the word TV, beneath the ‘M’.
“Eh, not today.” He says and I am so grateful that he rests that book over the one with Damien’s image, blocking his face from my sight and allowing me to breathe a little easier.
He pulls two books from the shelf and looks at the title on both of them, before looking at me.
“Why don’t you decide, huh?” He says as he rises to his feet and approaches the bed.
I tap my feet together, feigning excitement.
“You could read uh, a nice romance story. That’d be fun.” He says, glancing at the book in question as he sits on the edge of my bed.
He then looks at the other book.
“Or a horror story.” He says, looking at me.
“I know how much you love scary stories. But it might give you a few more nightmares, so you could go romance. It’ll be a little silly and more than a little sappy, but it might be just the thing to kick you right back to sleep.” He says, before looking between both of the books.
He then looks at me.
“Well, whatever you choose, I can guarantee it’s going to come with a big ol’ hug free of charge.” He chuckles slightly at his words, patiently waiting for me to make my choice.
Chapter 22: Romance
Notes:
Hey everyone, sorry for not being able to update the story last week...things have been a bit hectic for me. Currently my schedule is a bit uncertain so I don't know if I'll be able to have another chapter up next week. Normally, I have a good bit of chapters prewritten to make writing a bit easier but I just haven't had the time to do so. Maybe when things ease up a little, I'll get the time to sit down and get a good bit of writing done for all of my projects.
With that said, this chapter has a bit of a deviation from the canon storyline, but you'll see just exactly what that deviation is.
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
I glance between both of the stories, deciding to roll with whatever this is.
Maybe hearing a nice romance story will take my mind off of things for a few minutes at the very least. I also have no idea if this will set off anything, so the romance book will be the safer option compared to the horror book. I’ve went through enough harrowing situations to last me a few lifetimes.
I point at the romance book, causing ‘Dad’ to look at my choice before looking at me once more.
“Oh, all right. Probably for the best. We don’t want you getting anymore nightmares, now do we?” He says, tossing the horror book over his shoulder, the book hitting the floor with a dull thud.
A loud crack of thunder sounds off, lightning flashing brightly. I flinch slightly at the sound, not expecting it. ‘Dad’ also flinches from the sound, looking around slightly.
“We hadn’t had a sky water for a spell.” He says, before looking at his watch.
“Oh, and speaking of which,” He says as he rests the book onto his lap and unzips his fanny pack.
“It’s been at least an hour since you last hydrated, so be sure to drink up, champ.” He states, pulling out a glass of water and offering it to me.
I reach out and take it.
“Thanks, Dad.” I say, silently wondering how he even managed to carry a glass of water in the pack without any of it spilling.
He gives me a smile, picking up the book once more. “Okay. Romance.”
I sip the water as I lean back against the headboard.
“I never read this one myself. Not really one for romance.” He explains as he looks between me and the book a few times.
“Or at least that’s what your mother used to say, right before the divorce.” He blubbers slightly at the end of his words.
I shift my foot slightly so that it makes contact with his side, trying to comfort him.
“But that’s not important right now!” He says with a forced, sad laugh, causing me to move my foot back to its previous position.
He opens the book, flipping to a page.
“Okay,” He says, clearing his throat slightly.
“So the story begins—” He says, he and everything around me glitching.
Blinking again, I find myself standing in an apartment. I look around, a bit confused…but I can tell that Actor doesn’t have his attention on me at the moment.
Hopefully, he’d gotten bored with watching me for the time being.
Setting down the glass of water I still have on a coffee table, I explore around the small, cramped apartment, breath hitching in surprise when I hear a knock on the door.
“I wonder who it could be.” I murmur to myself as I cautiously approach the door.
Please be anyone except Actor.
Opening the door, I see Mark in a grey suit. Underneath the suit jacket, he wears a white button up shirt and a red, checkered tie.
He smiles when he catches sight of me.
“Bonjour.” He says, hands behind his back.
I smile slightly at the greeting.
I can tell he isn’t Actor, thanks to Celine’s lessons. No, the Mark in front of me is entirely human.
“Bonjour, Mark.” I say back in reply.
I see him begin to pull something from behind his back.
“I got you something. Roses.” He says, holding the red blooms out in front of him.
I stare at the flowers in surprise.
“Oh, that’s very thoughtful of you. Thank you.” I say as he hands me the roses.
I bring them up to my nose and inhale, taking in the comforting, familiar scent.
“So good to see you again. I can’t wait for our second date.” He says, causing me to lower the bouquet to regard him, a bit taken aback.
Second date? I glance down at my clothing, seeing that I still have on my Captain’s uniform.
“I know our first one got a little away with us, but this one will be so much better.” Mark says, causing me to look up at him once more.
“We could go see a movie, or ride roller coasters, or pretty much whatever you want—” He says, before glitching out of view…replaced by a Mark wearing pizza delivery attire?
Huh?
“Did someone order a large pizza?” He asks in a slow cadence as some sort of music plays in the background, confusing me greatly.
Why is he speaking and looking at me like that?
He looks down at the pizza box and I do the same, seeing him remove his hands from the box, hands now resting on his boxer clad hips.
The pizza box is now suspended in the air, held up by something I can’t see.
“Extra pepperoni?” He inquires, as my face turns red in mortification, realising exactly what could be holding up the box.
Oh dear God, please no.
Before I can say anything in rejection, the wholesome Mark in the grey suit glitches back into view, holding a large teddy bear. I let out a small sigh of relief.
“I’ve got tonight all planned out. We can go to the carnival and share cotton candy, and maybe even hold hands.” He says.
As I open my mouth to reply, he glitches out of view once more, replaced by a Mark with a large moustache, dressed in a plumbers outfit. Plumber Mark has a wrench resting on his right shoulder as I hear the same music as before, in the background.
I stare at him, grip tightening on the flowers, auras flickering in annoyance.
“I hear your plumbing’s clogged. Mind if I, uh, inspect your pipe?” He says, pointing the wrench towards me and looking me up and down.
Plumber Mark glitches out of view.
“I rescued this adorable puppy from a burning tree just this morning and now we’re best friends.” Wholesome Mark says as he cradles a small, white haired dog in his arms.
Before I can inquire how the puppy even got onto a burning tree, a version of Mark, wearing inappropriate doctor’s attire, glitches into view.
“I’m writing you a prescription that you need to take several times a day—Hah, it’s my—” He says as he gestures downwards.
Before I can retort, wholesome Mark glitches into view once more.
“Kitty!” He exclaims with a smile, holding out a stuffed toy towards me.
“Wink.” A lumber jack version of him says, holding up the same toy, axe resting on his right shoulder.
“Ain’t I ador—” Wholesome Mark tries to say as he hold out a gold, gift box, with an adorable face drawn onto it.
A life guard version of Mark pops up and I hurriedly raise my eyes to the ceiling, avoiding looking at his half naked body.
I hear him blow a whistle.
“You drink?” My eyes rest on wholesome Mark, seeing him holding two bottles of wine, one appearing to be a red wine, the other being a bottle of white wine.
I can feel the frustration and irritation beginning to set in as he glitches out of view once more, replaced by a construction version of him, holding a stop sign.
He shakes his head at me, gloved hand in a stop motion to match his sign. He flips the sign over and makes a come here motion.
I read the words on the sign, feeling the irritation increase at the obvious innuendo.
‘COME’. The sign reads.
“Ready to get wet?” The life guard version of him, asks, before the last of his words glitches.
“B-b-bonjour.” Wholesome Mark greets.
A whistle goes off.
“—Large…” Pizza delivery Mark is in front of me once more.
“Kitty!” Wholesome Mark holds the stuffed toy towards me.
“…wait for our second date.”
I scowl, chucking the bouquet at wholesome Mark, fed up. He glitches out of view before it hits him.
The lights flicker in the hallway as I slam the door closed, locking it. I then spin around and stalk further into the apartment, thoroughly disgusted.
“Ugh, that was horrible, why did I think that Romance would be the better option! I should’ve went with Horror instead!” I hiss to myself as the lights in my apartment flicker, most likely from the ire I’m currently feeling.
I hear another knock at the door, not turning to face it.
“I’m not opening that door…only to be accosted by men, clothed or half naked, trying every innuendo in the book! I am not that kind of lady!” I snap.
I hear the door creak open, cold air seeping in and spreading around the apartment.
I whirl around in alarm, because I had just locked the door. How could anyone be able to open it?
Looking at the now wide open door, no lights are on outside the apartment. The cold air seems to caress my cheek, as if beckoning me to move closer to the door. I stay where I am, staring at the doorway. My breath hitches in my chest, since I can sense that someone’s outside in the shadows, watching me.
I continue to look into the darkness, biting the inside of my cheek as I consider what to do. I can’t use my powers...it’ll instantly alert Actor and I can’t let my trump card go quite so early into this.
It’s not Actor, his attention is elsewhere at the moment. This person, their presence is masked, as if they don’t want to be noticed by anyone that it doesn’t want to reveal itself to.
“Fortunately for you, I am not the kind of man to treat a lady in such an uncouth manner.” A smooth, deep baritone streams into my ears.
My eyes widen at the familiar voice, having to push back my first instinct of rushing forward.
I don’t know if it’s a trick from Actor, at least not yet.
“Then how would someone such as yourself, treat a lady?” I say in challenge, trying to see any movement in the swirling darkness.
“Hmmm.” He purrs thoughtfully, the sound creeping along my skin, cheeks flushing in reaction.
Trick or not, I’m still strongly affected by this man.
“I’ll begin by offering the lady a bouquet of her favourite flowers.” He says.
A white, suit jacket clad arm with a red and blue outline, appears from the darkness, holding a bouquet of white roses.
I silently take in the flowers, staring at the grey complexioned hand, holding them aloft. I pause in my walking, not even realising when I had begun to do so.
While Dark and Damien both know that I love white roses, so does Actor. However, Actor doesn’t seem to be the kind of person to ‘sully’ his image by pretending to be his supposed ‘enemy’, he’s much too prideful.
Being closer to the door, I can hear faint breathing and I can feel his eyes on me, the heat of it searing through me as I consider my next actions.
I tilt my head back, averaging where his eyes are and looking at that spot.
“So you’ve done your homework…if the lady accepts them, what would you do next?” I say softly.
“I’ll invite her closer for a little chat…” He says after a moment’s pause.
I silently take in his words, moving three more steps, now closer to the bouquet.
Dropping my gaze to the flowers once more, I hesitate slightly, before ultimately deciding that this most likely isn’t a trick.
Reaching out, I accept the bouquet, gloves brushing gently across his hand, our auras seeming to mingle with the other, before separating when I pull my hands back, now holding the flowers.
I look back up, seeing his arm disappear into the darkness.
“Will you accept my invitation of speaking with the other? All you have to do is walk right through this doorway.” He says as I catch a whiff of his cologne…sandalwood, a hint of rose and vanilla, traces of leather and cinnamon, along with something that’s just him.
He’s changed his cologne. I take in another breath, letting the scent settle into my lungs.
God, does he smell delicious…
Holding the bouquet in the crook of my left arm, I walk forward the last few steps, crossing the threshold of the apartment door and entering into the darkness.
I hear the door close behind me, but I don’t turn to look back, having a feeling that there’s no going back now.
Hand held in front of me, I cautiously walk forward, my auras only lighting a few inches in front of me.
“Where are you?” I ask, trying to hear any sound of footsteps.
“Everywhere, yet nowhere.” He says, the vague answer flitting around me as I feel his presence not be as masked as before.
I stop walking. “Is this your definition of speaking with me? Offering a few vague words…”
“There’s a great deal of things I can speak with you about, the question is…would you even understand what I might have to say.” He says from somewhere behind me, causing me to turn around.
“We’ll never know if you don’t, now do we?” I offer in reply, not sure how to interact with him.
He’s different from before, not that I can fault him for that. I’m also not the person I used to be.
“Mayhaps.” He merely says, somewhere behind me, once again.
“I’d ask if you were a vulture in a past life, with how you’re circling me…but I digress.” I say lightly, hoping to lessen the tension between us.
He chuckles, causing me to turn around.
“Quite the sharp tongued lady, aren’t you.” He says in amusement, voice closer.
“Oh, this isn’t the most cutting thing I can say to a person.” I say, stepping forward.
“However, cutting words aren’t something I wish to aim towards you…” I state, taking another step and sensing him move away.
I immediately stop in my tracks, not wanting to drive him further away.
“Tell me something, Captain…are you even aware of what’s truly occurring?” He says from behind me, tone neutral.
“I haven’t much of a clue, at this point, nothing makes sense…and every choice I’ve made has not brought me any closer to solving anything.” I say, not turning around to face him.
“Is there anything you’re certain about?” He questions from somewhere to the side of me.
I close my eyes, torn with the different things I can reply with.
“Yes.” Is my soft reply.
“And that is?” He inquires in that same, neutral manner.
Re-opening my eyes, I turn to face his general direction.
“You’ve changed your cologne.” I state, not hearing anything from him.
The silence causes me to feel nervous, wondering if I had said the wrong thing.
“Pardon?” He asks, an edge of disbelief to his tone.
It appears that I’ve caught him off guard with that little remark.
“You’ve changed your cologne, there’s more notes within this particular cologne, compared to the one you wore in the past. The sandalwood is still present, however, it’s complimented by other scents—” I stop rambling, looking down at the roses.
He doesn’t say anything in reply.
I take in a deep breath, letting it out quietly.
“I’ve missed you so much, Dark.” I whisper into the silence, hoping that he’d at least say something, now that I’ve mentioned him by name, showing that I do indeed remember him.
I hear footsteps quickly approach me, but I continue to look at the flowers, too nervous to look anywhere else.
A blue light shines down around me and a pair of white, dress shoes appear in my line of sight.
I hear the ringing that always follows him, increase slightly in pitch as cool fingers cradle my chin, forcing me to tilt my head up.
My eyes meet his and this time, I’m able to see the swirling storm in his gaze. The sight of his face, causes my eyes to turn misty.
“I’ve missed you so much, Dark.” I whisper again, seeing something seem to break within him.
I let out a gasp as I’m tugged forward, flowers slipping from my grasp as his lips press against mine with urgency.
His actions surprises me to the point of it taking a few seconds to realise what’s happening.
Regaining my senses, I wrap my arms around his neck, kissing him back with equal urgency. I feel him pull me even closer, crushing me against him, not that I mind in the slightest.
Having him hold me again, brings so much comfort and safety, in the way only he, and he alone, can do.
We both let out a groan of frustration when the visor of my Captain’s peaked cap, keeps getting in the way. Pulling back slightly, I reach up with one hand and pull the hat off of my head, dropping it onto the floor, next to the roses.
“Much better.” I mutter, feeling his chest rumble slightly in silent laughter.
Letting my hand re-join its twin that’s gripping the back of his neck, I pull his head down for a proper kiss, feeling him smirk against my lips at the demanding gesture.
This kiss is more thorough and emotional, the both of us silently communicating everything the other is feeling…all of the yearning, the anger, the pain, the helplessness and most importantly, all of the love we continue to feel for the other. We spend a long time like this, before I feel him pull back slightly, lips still brushing against mine.
Reopening my eyes, I meet his gaze once more, seeing the storm that’s still present, lessen the longer we stay wrapped up in the other’s arms.
“I’ve missed you too, my little monster.” He says tenderly after a moment of just taking in the other’s presence, each word whispered in the small distance between us.
The use of the old nickname, causes me to blink rapidly to prevent any tears from escaping.
“I’m so sorry, Dark—I tried to fight him off, but he was too strong.” I say, staring into his eyes mournfully.
I see his gaze soften even more.
“It’s not your fault, darling. I’ve never blamed you for what happened, I should’ve done more to keep you safe.” He says in a disgruntled tone, ringing getting louder.
Pulling away slightly to look at him, I shake my head.
“Please don’t blame yourself, Dark. You’ve done the best you could at that point in time.” I say, placing a hand on his cheek.
He closes his eyes, letting out an echoing sigh as the ringing quiets down slightly.
“Not that I’m not happy to see you, but how did you manage to find me?” I ask, his eyes fluttering open to regard me.
“Your Head Engineer was the one who alerted me to your possible location. After realising that you’ve become Captain of the Invincible II, I’ve kept an eye on you as you went along your journey. It vexes me greatly that I cannot intervene on your behalf, not until I find a way to trap that snake in his own game.” Dark says, glitching slightly in my grasp.
I stare at him, blinking at the sensation of the static from his glitching. The sensation isn’t unpleasant in the slightest…might I even say, it’s strangely comforting.
“Oh,” I say softly in reply to his words, hand dropping from his cheek to rest behind his neck once more.
After a small bout of silence, I speak up.
“You know, you scared my Head Engineer half to death, he thought he met the devil when he encountered you.” My words causes him to smile, eyes lined in black, twinkling in sly amusement.
“And do you consider me to be the devil?” He asks, a teasing edge to his words.
I raise an eyebrow at him. “No. If you’re the devil, what would that make me?”
“An angel, one who is too good for the likes of myself.” He says in swift reply.
I smile slightly at his words, smile faltering as I remember how different I look from the woman I used to be.
“I’m not exactly traditionally angelic looking, per say.”
He looks at me, obviously confused. “What do you mean, darling? If it’s the auras, I’ve never thought any less of you.”
“It’s not that, perhaps it’s best I show you.” I say, completely stepping away from him, him reluctantly letting me go.
I look at him, swallowing dryly.
“I do not wish to deceive you Dark, but would you still be able to accept me if I look like this?” I say, letting the illusion drop and revealing just how drastically my appearance has changed, not just from the effects of the spell Actor had used, but also from the fact that I was no longer human when I was trapped in that mirror.
I see his lips part slightly, eyes tracing over my form.
He’s already familiar with my auras, but he hasn’t seen that my complexion had changed to almost match his, that my eye colour had also changed, the irises generally being purple. My eyes only tended to slate to white when I’m angry, frustrated or feeling any strong emotions, evidenced by some of Celine’s lessons when I was having difficulties doing a particular spell.
The last few additions to my new look…are the luminescent pairs of wings on my back, the halo of purple and white light hovering over my head and the same purple and white light, marking symbols onto my arms, not that he can currently see them, covered as they are.
“I know this is a bit of a shock…honestly I thought the entire thing is overkill, but I can’t exactly change it.” I state, voice echoing slightly.
He doesn’t say anything, form glitching as the entirety of his eyes slate to inky black.
The sight of his eyes doing that, surprises me.
“This explains why I’ve sensed a small trace of magic around you.” He says as he regains control of the glitch, eyes returning to normal.
His gaze roves over me, settling onto the wings on my back.
“The wings are a nice touch.” He says with a smirk, not angry or disappointed in the slightest.
“So you’re alright with this?” I inquire in surprise, tilting my head slightly.
“Of course Y/N, you’re still the most beautiful woman I’ve ever laid eyes on.” His words causes my cheeks to flush.
“I see you’re still quite the smooth talker.” I say, his smirk being replaced by a serious look.
“Since we’re on the topic of being honest with the other, I only tend to take this form since it’s one you and the others are familiar with. My less, ahem—human characteristics, I keep them hidden.” As he says this, I feel something cool slither around my waist, causing me to look down.
A small gasp escapes my lips at the sight of the shadow wrapped around me, feeling it gently tug me towards Dark.
Looking up, my eyes widen at the new additions to his appearance.
His fingernails are black in hue, his ears are elongated, there’s a halo of shadows over his head and he has pairs of wings that are made of darkness, flickers of red and blue light appearing along the feathers. Looking behind him in the shadows, I can see flickers of shapes appear and disappear just as quickly. It’s as if his presence extends further than the physical form I can see, as if he really is made of the darkness itself. He gives me a smile and I can see that his canines are sharper than a human’s.
The tendril around my waist continues to guide me along as I continue to take in the changes, stunned at how similar, yet different we are.
“This is quite unexpected…” I say softly, the shadow around my waist stopping its guidance since I’m now standing directly in front of him.
“Indeed, it appears that you’re just like me.” Dark says as the tendril lets me go.
Glancing down, I see it droop down to collect my peak cap, rising up and letting it drop into Dark’s waiting hand. It then sinks and disappears into the shadows cast by our bodies.
Looking back up, I see Dark observing the peaked cap in his grasp.
“Tell me, how exactly did you end up in this predicament, Y/N?” I let out a sigh at the question.
“It’s a long story…” I say in warning as he hands me back the cap and I plop it onto my head, my halo not disturbed by the action, since it isn’t exactly tangible.
“In that case, we should make ourselves comfortable.” With that said, he makes two chairs and a table appear, the table holding the contents of a tea pot, along with tea cups and saucers.
Willing my wings to dematerialise for the time being, I see Dark also do the same.
“If you insist.” I say, allowing him to pull my chair back and push it in when I sit on it.
The familiar gesture makes me smile.
Some things never change.
Taking his seat, Dark pours us each a cup of tea, picking up his teacup and taking a sip of tea.
Picking up my own teacup, I copy his movements, the taste of earl grey washing over my taste buds.
Nostalgia settles into my bones as I remember when Damien and I used to have afternoon tea when I was a lawyer and himself being the newly elected Mayor.
Those times were so much simpler…
Shaking away the nostalgia, I look up at him and begin recounting everything that had occurred when I was forcibly pulled from the mirror—I mentioned how Actor had drugged me, how he manipulated my memories and how I was a prisoner in his home as he finalized his little ‘test’ for me.
With every word out of my mouth, I see Dark’s face become angrier and angrier. I falter in my explanation of what I went through as Captain, when he grips his teacup too tightly, the porcelain shattering and embedding shards into his hand. The remainder of his tea falls onto the pristine, white table cloth.
“Dark!” I state in alarm, hand reaching out and grabbing the injured hand by the wrist.
“I’m going to hurt him, slowly and painfully, until all he can do is beg me to end him.” Dark hisses, a demonic undertone to his words.
The temperature drops sharply as the ringing that follows him, increases.
Looking behind him, I see various versions of himself glitch into view, all of them angry. One version is clenching his fists and growling, the other is pacing with an angry scowl on his face and the last one has his wings showing, the feathers ruffling to match the angry flare of his auras.
I return my gaze to the Dark whose wrist I have in my grasp, looking at his face momentarily and noticing that his eyes have slated to black once more. I drop my gaze to his injured hand.
“It’s fine, darling.” He says as I look at the blood, dark as the shadows around us, steadily trickle from the cuts.
“No it’s not, you’re injured.” I say in protest, letting his hand go and undoing the portable wormhole generator and setting it onto the table.
I then pull off my left glove with the warp core crystal and drop it onto the table, Dark’s eyes settling on the crystal.
“You wouldn’t want to lose that, it’s what’s been allowing you to travel the different universes.” Dark cautions, though he stares at the crystal with a thoughtful look on his face, as if seeing it has caused the wheels to begin turning in his head.
“It’ll be fine for now,” I state, beginning to gently pull the shards from his palm.
“Actor isn’t able to tell that you’re here?” I question as I set the shards onto his saucer holding the remains of his teacup.
“No, since we’re in my domain, he isn’t able to sense anything amiss.” He says, the ringing lessening as he regains control of his rage.
I look up at him, noticing that the other versions of him have vanished once more.
“That’s great, it allows me to do this then…” I say as I use my powers to heal the cuts on his hand, the cuts rapidly healing and the skin knitting itself back together.
He pulls his hand out of my grasp, using his handkerchief to wipe the blood off. I see him observe his hand, turning it this way and that.
“So you’re able to heal injuries.” He states, making the handkerchief, teapot, teacups and saucers, disappear.
“Yes, it’s something a certain seer taught me.” I say, Dark not seeming to be surprised at my words.
“I’m not surprised, she wanted to help when I brought her up to speed on everything.”
I grab my discarded glove, tugging it back on and reattaching the portable wormhole generator to it.
“She was a big help, it’s because of her lessons, that I know how to do quite a few things with my powers.” I say, eye being drawn to the crystal on my glove.
“Well that’s different.” I state softly, seeing the crystal pulsing blue light as it did when the portable wormhole generator was properly working.
Dark looks down at the crystal, a frown settling onto his face.
“We’ve run out of time.” His words causes me to grimace.
“I don’t want to leave you again.” I say, very disgruntled.
He reaches out and grabs the hand that doesn’t have the warp core crystal on it. “I know, but I also know that it wouldn’t sit right with you if you left those under you care, to the fate of being stuck in a time loop forever. You and I both know that they’re blaming the wrong person of being the villain of this scenario…they have no idea of who’s really pulling the strings.”
I stare at him, knowing that he’s right. Unlike Actor, I still have my morals and ethics and it appears that Dark still has some of Damien’s own ethics to him.
“When I fix this entire wormhole issue, it’s very likely that he’ll make me forget everything again, I may not be as lucky to remember you in that instance, beloved.” Despair seeps into my words at the thought of not remembering him.
Dark squeezes the hand in his grasp.
“I know, my heart…but I have my ways of helping you when that time comes.” He says in a serious tone.
“No matter how much he tries to weave his stories, we’ll always find each other again.” Dark promises.
“I’ll hold you to that.” I say as I squeeze his hand back, trying to will down the blush at the new pet name.
We both look down at the warp core crystal when the light shines even brighter, reminding us of the little time we have left.
I will the illusion hiding my true form, into place.
“Goodbye, Dark. I love you and I always will.” I say, trying to put on a brave smile, not wanting to leave him quite yet.
“Goodbye Y/N, I love you too, for all of eternity.” He leans over the table and I do the same, our lips meeting in a kiss, before I’m pulled into another wormhole, our grip on the other slipping loose.
“Until we meet again, my love.” Dark says with a sad smile as the wormhole’s opening seals over his visage, not allowing me to see him.
Determination renewing within me, I let the wormhole carry me to my next destination, lips still tingling from his loving kiss.
Notes:
Yes I did it...I added more Darkiplier and Reader interaction because I just wasn't satisfied with what we got in Space Part 2. Hopefully it was satisfactory since I'm not the most versed in writing romance.
Chapter 23: The Search for My Head Engineer
Notes:
Here's the next chapter everyone. Thank you so much for being patient as I get this chapter ready and thank you for the kudos and continued support on this story.
Chapter Text
The wormhole deposits me onto a pile of knapsacks?
My hands are resting on something so I bring the item up to my line of sight, seeing a moldy burger bun within my grasp. I toss it away from me, a bit disgusted. Returning to my feet, I see that I’m in a small room containing lockers. Stretching my awareness out, I can tell that Actor still has his attention elsewhere.
Looking towards the door, I move towards it, stretching my hand out with the intent of opening it. Before I can do so, the door opens and I and the other person flinch back in surprise. My eyes widen when I see the ladle happy chef that used to work for Actor.
“How many times do I got to tell you to stay out of my kitchen?” Chef says in an exasperated tone.
“Sorry, Chef.” I state with a small grimace, not expecting to see him again.
He shoves past me, heading into the room.
I enter into the kitchen, seeing another copy of the chef washing the dishes.
Lovely, as if one copy of him was easy to deal with.
The chef washing the dishes turns his head to look at me. While his gaze used to intimidate me…that was an old version of myself. I walk past him, keeping him in my sights. He turns his head to follow my movements, hand reaching into the soap water filled sink and pulling out a knife. I stare at the scene blankly.
“You need to keep your knife clean. You never know when you’re gonna need it.” He says with a smile.
I don’t say anything to that, turning around as I hear him let out an unhinged giggle. I part the clear, plastic curtains dividing the cooking station from the rest of the kitchen, seeing another copy of the chef walking towards the girdle with a container of fries. He continues to look at me as he empties the container onto the girdle and flips the fries, some of them ending up on the floor. Turning around, I sidestep another version of the chef, heading into the main area. I ignore the other two versions of the chef to the best of my ability, though I never want to see the man in a dress with blonde hair, ever again.
Looking around the diner filled with aliens, I spot old Man Mark looking at me. He hastily ducks his head behind the newspapers he’s holding. I let the blonde haired alien that was looking at the menu board, pass by me before I move towards Mark.
“Ooh.” I hear him say as get closer to the table he’s sitting at, sliding into the seat across from him.
I sense Actor watching me once more as I glance at the newspaper’s headline.
‘INVINCIBLE III: THIRD TIMES THE CHARM?’
“Ooh, would you look at that? Seems like this morning there was a stabbing—” He says, before dropping the newspaper and thrusting a knife towards me.
Expecting him to do that, I quickly snatch his wrist and tug the knife out of his hand harshly.
“Sorry. Old habits.” He says as I toss the knife away, making sure it doesn’t hit anyone by mistake.
“I guess you can’t teach an old dog new tricks.” I state icily under my breath as I continue to keep a grip on his wrist.
“Oh, please be careful. That is my real hand. Or is it?” He says, pointing at me.
I don’t say anything in reply, tightening my grip on his wrist pointedly, the leather of my glove creaking from the movement.
“Okay, all right, okay. It is.” He says in a pained tone as I stare at him.
“Oh, please, can I have it back?” He asks as I let the appendage go.
I watch him pull his arm towards himself, cradling the wrist that was in my grasp, in his other hand.
“Ooh, strong grip, Captain.” He says as he looks at me.
“Just like I remember, and it is good to see you.” He states as he continues to cradle his wrist.
I lean back in my seat and cross my arms, staring at him coldly.
“I guess I, um—I guess I owe you an apology.” He says, surprising me.
At least this version of Mark has the capacity to apologize.
“You do, but not just to me…the crew and the colonists also deserve an apology.” I state quietly.
“Yeah, they too…” He says, gaze dropping to the table.
Mark looks up at me, solemn. “I was wrong.”
My eyes widen slightly at his admission.
“I was wrong about a lot of things.” He continues to say, causing me to remain quiet, letting him say his piece.
“I gave up hope, in you, in all of this. If I hadn’t gone back—well if I hadn’t tried to stab you—” He’s interrupted by something dropping onto the table, followed by a knife’s point being stuck into the table’s surface.
I look to the side, seeing yet another version of the chef. This time he seems to be one of the servers of the diner.
“Oops. Dropped my knife.” He says with an aggressive smile on his face as he picks up the knife.
“Sorry about that.” He says before he turns around and walks away.
I look back at Mark.
“Eh?” He asks, gesturing down at the alien looking food.
I look at it before looking up at him.
“No thank you.” I state, not the least bit hungry.
And even if I were hungry, I wouldn’t go about eating…whatever that is. All in all, I hadn’t expected Celine to be that good of a cook…she’s miles better at cooking than Damien ever was when I first met him. The man couldn’t even boil rice without almost burning down the apartment building. Luckily for him, I was able to teach him a thing or two since we were roommates.
I shake myself out of my musings.
Now is not the time to get side-tracked by the past, I need to remain focused. Though, I do wonder if Dark is any good of a cook…all I’ve ever seen him do is drink wine or tea. Is he even able to eat anything?
“I’m, uh—” Mark says, causing me to turn my attention back to him.
“I’m tired, Captain.” Mark admits softly, causing my gaze to soften, understanding how he feels.
“I’m very tired. I’ve been trying for so long to fix things.” He says, grabbing his mug.
“I don’t think I’ve fixed anything at all actually.” He says quietly, before looking at me.
“Worse yet, I think I’m the one that caused all of this.” Before I can say anything, we’re interrupted yet again by a loud bang on the table.
I look to the side, seeing another version of the chef…a manager version of him. I feel my temper rearing its head, but I keep a tight rein on it.
“How are you all enjoying your dinner? Is there anything I can do to…” He says in a threatening tone before inhaling.
“…make it better?” He asks, staring at me.
I stare back at him, eyes narrowing.
“We’re enjoying our dinner just fine, I’m sure there are other patrons who might need your assistance…so we won’t be taking up too much of your time.” I state in a clipped tone, putting all of my knowledge of intimidation into my words and actions.
The aggressive look on the chef’s face falters when I don’t back down or cower away. He backs away and moves towards the other side of the diner.
“I almost forgot how scary you can be when you want to, Y/N.” Mark says with a small chuckle, causing me to look towards him.
“Perhaps…but I haven’t forgotten how you’ve always put everyone before yourself, Mark. You always tried to do the right thing, even if such good intent landed you into…destroying the universe.” I say gently, no longer angry at him because I know who’s responsible for everything.
“Truthfully, everyone’s been trying in their own way to fix things…Gunther, Celci, Burt and even that lady from the Agency.” I say, Mark frowning slightly at my words.
“You didn’t mention all the effort you must’ve went through, Captain.” Mark says, looking at me, albeit sternly, when I don’t say anything to that.
“I saw you, when I destroyed everything…you were gravely injured, you weren’t even able to stand upright, Captain! Yet you still tried to fix everything, you still tried to save everyone!” Mark states.
“I did what I had to…not that it all mattered in the end. All of my crew, except maybe the younger version of yourself, hates me for everything that occurred. As their Captain…I’ve failed them terribly.” I say, gaze dropping to the table.
“But it’s not your fault, Captain! I’m the one responsible for everything…” Mark says in a tone full of tired grief.
I look up at him, not certain of what to say. It’s not like I can tell him everything that’s occurring, is due to someone who bent and manipulated reality to set off those scenarios, there’s no telling what Actor will do to him or anyone else for that matter.
I won’t put them in any more danger as it is…I’ll deal with Actor when the time is right.
It’s quiet between us for a moment.
“For what it’s worth,” Mark speaks up.
“You were an excellent captain.” He says with a smile, his words causing me to tear up slightly, because I didn’t expect anyone to say that.
“You never give up on your crew. Not even once. I wish I could’ve done the same for you.” He says, words ending in a regretful whisper.
“It all seems so crazy now.” He says, resting his mug back onto the table.
“Maybe if I’d gone back to the right time? Maybe if I hadn’t sabotaged the ship?” He says, causing me to let out a tired sigh.
“So you’re the one who messed with the ship’s systems, no wonder the younger version of yourself and I couldn’t figure out why that had happened.” I state, seeing him give me a brief, sheepish smile.
“Maybe if I hadn’t gone back in the first place, I could’ve—” He says, stopping his words abruptly.
“Could’ve what?” I inquire, seeing him look to the side.
“If I didn’t go back. If I didn’t go back!” He says, looking at me.
“Captain!” He exclaims urgently, lunging towards me and grabbing my hands.
The gesture surprises me but I quickly regain my composure.
“If I didn’t go back!” He exclaims again, letting my hands go.
“Oh! Oh, there’s something you have to tell me.” He says, causing me to point towards him in question, wanting to know what he meant.
“Well, not me right now. The other me, the younger me.” He elaborates swiftly.
“You have to find me and—” He’s interrupted by something being slammed onto our table, causing the both of us to look towards the side, seeing the chef in his cook uniform, standing at our table.
“Now, who’s going to pay for this, hmm?” The chef asks.
Before I can say anything, I’m being sucked into the wormhole that appeared on the receipt.
“Captain!” Mark yells as I enter the wormhole.
“Captain, tell me not to use the warp core! And tell me I can’t go back!”
“I’ll try!” I yell over my shoulder, hoping he was able to hear me.
Looking forward, I see that the wormhole seems to branch off into two channels.
“Alright, let’s see what’s on the right then.” I mutter, shifting my body towards the right and travelling down the channel.
The wormhole deposits me at the end of a long hallway, either side of me having shelves that are almost as tall as the ceiling. On the shelves, there are undistinguishable brown cardboard boxes.
I begin jogging down the hallway, surprisingly not sensing Actor watching me.
That’s a bit disconcerting, he had his attention on me for most of this timespan, what is he doing that’s causing him to be so distracted? It’s probably not anything good…
Looking to the end of the hallway, I can see two men dressed in black suits.
I continue to jog towards them, coming to a stop in front of them when the shorter one holds a hand out.
“Bonjour, look here.” The taller of the two men, says to me.
I look towards him, only for some sort of scanning device to be shoved into my face. I grimace slightly at the bright light assaulting me eyes.
He pulls the scanner away before leaning closer towards me and…why did he sniff me? I’m too baffled to say anything about that.
“Bonjour, raise your arms.” The shorter man instructs.
I raise my arms, wondering what all of this is supposed to be about as he pats me down. I watch him pull out a knife and a pistol from my pockets, causing me to glance down, seeing that I’m wearing a bodysuit different from my Captain’s uniform.
What am I, some sort of agent?
“Bonjour. All clear.” He says, stepping back.
“Bonjour. Have a nice day.” The taller man says.
I just nod at the both of them, walking forward and towards the door.
“Bonjour.” The shorter man says as I walk past him.
“Bonjour.” The other man also does the same.
“Bonjour.” I say, not turning towards them as I hurry towards the door, needing to find my Head Engineer.
“Bonjour.”
“Bonjour.”
“Bonjour.” They both say in unison as a beep goes off, signalling that I can open the door.
I shove the door open, seeing other men in black suits situated throughout the room, along with a man in a dark brown suit, the shoulders of the suit having quite noticeable shoulder pads.
“Sir, we’ve got every single possible agent on this already.” A black suit says to the man in the brown suit.
“There’s no way we can add more men.” The black suited man says as the one in the brown suit, grabs one of the lapels of the taller man’s suit jacket.
“I don’t want excuses. I want results!” The man in the brown suit says as he tosses the taller man.
“Aah!” The man in the black suit cries as he sails across the room and hits the far wall.
I look towards the brown suited man, instantly sensing that something is wrong. Staring at him, I reach my senses out, immediately having to reel it back and keep my expression the same.
This doesn’t make any sense…I can still tell that Actor’s distracted elsewhere…
“Getting too old for this shit.” The man in the brown suit says as he turns towards me, revealing another version of Mark…or should I say Actor. Wait, why does he have a moustache that was cut into halves, acting as a set of eyebrows?
“Well, I’ll be damned.” He says as I try regaining my bearings.
He holds out a hand towards me.
“They actually managed to pull you out of retirement.” He says as I reluctantly accept the handshake.
Just great, exactly what I needed, two Actors and I can’t even deck one of them in the face yet.
“Then again, if anyone would’ve wanted to catch this snake, it would be you.”
He’s unfortunately, not wrong about that.
“Just don’t make this personal!” He says, pointing a finger at me.
“I’ll try not to.” I state with my best poker face on.
He nods slightly at my words.
“Now I bet you’re wondering how he managed to escape from prison, huh?” I merely nod at the question, playing along as I try to gather clues about the scenario I’m currently in.
“Yeah, you and me both, pal.” He says as he heads towards another black suited agent and grabs him by the lapels.
“Pull it up on the main screen.” The Actor in the brown suits, says, before he throws the man across the room.
“Ahh!” The man screams, hitting the wall I’m currently facing.
I grimace slightly, seeing the man lying limp on the ground.
A projector image appears on the wall the man had crashed against, showing a version of Mark or more accurately, Actor, dressed as a robber of some kind.
I blink at the picture, not sure what to make of that.
“Mark Iplier.” Actor states as I pull off my sunglasses and wipe the lenses, trying to keep my hands occupied so that I don’t reach out and strangle him.
“Bet you never thought you’d have to see his ugly mug again.” Actor says as he turns his head to regard me.
I plop the sunglasses back onto my face as Actor turns his back towards the projector slide.
“A few hours ago, this maniac somehow managed to break out of the most secure prison the world has ever seen.” He explains as I refrain from rolling my eyes.
He really has to embellish his escapades, doesn’t he?
Actor grabs an agent wearing a neck brace. “Next slide, please.”
“Ahh!” The man crashes into the wall the projector slide is being displayed on.
Alright, so Actor has enhanced strength, I need to keep that in mind.
The slide changes to show a concrete building.
Actor turns to face me.
“Somehow the entire eastern block of the building vanished into thin air in an instant.” Actor says, snapping his fingers.
I pull out my hand gun and begin wiping down the barrel, sorely tempted to shoot him when he turns his head to face the projected image, but I manage to refrain.
“Either Mr Iplier learned some magic, or he has some crazy tech up his sleeves the likes of which we’ve never seen.” Actor says as he turns his face towards me.
I place my pistol back in its thigh holster.
“It’s almost as if he has a goddamn wormhole in his pocket.” Actor says as he takes off his sunglasses.
How did Actor even manage to get his hands on the warp core crystal to begin with? Damn it, I should’ve asked Celine or Dark if they knew about that.
“And we know he’s still alive because he’s used this same crazy tech to hit three museums already. We don’t know where he is, we don’t know where he’s going to be, and we don’t even know what kind of firepower we’re up against.” Actor says, before he grabs another agent with a neck brace by the lapel of their suit jacket.
“Can I get a coffee?” Actor asks.
“Yeah, no problem.” The agent manages to say before Actor tosses him away.
“Ahh!” The man screams as he hits the wall and slides down.
I turn my attention back to Actor.
“We don’t know, but I think you do. I can already see a plan cooking up in that big beautiful brain of yours.” He says as I raise a martini glass filled with champagne towards him, not even fazed by the appearance of it.
“It’s why I respect you so god damn much.” He says as I drink from the glass.
He talks about respecting me, yet I’m being strung along in this entire scenario because of him, the audacity!
“So what is it? What’s the plan? How are we going to catch this heinous criminal?” Actor questions as I stand there and drink my champagne.
Chapter 24: The Multiverse Is A Mess
Notes:
Thank you so much for the kudos and comments everyone, here's the next chapter of the story.
Chapter Text
I need to keep a cool head around him, it wouldn’t do to lose my temper so early into this.
Looking at him, I merely point towards him as I continue to drink my champagne. I sense the other version, my version of Actor, return his attention to watching me. The sensation of having two Actor’s watching me, makes me want to bathe in a bathtub of bleach.
However, this time I can sense someone else watching me. I relax slightly, knowing that Dark’s keeping an eye on me.
I see Actor’s ridiculous eyebrows rise in disbelief.
“Now, correct me if I’m wrong. I just want to be absolutely clear with what you’re saying. You think that I, the director of an organization whose sole purpose is to track down Mark Iplier, notorious international criminal wanted in eighty seven different countries, is that very criminal standing in front of you? Is that what you really believe?” He says, voice ringing in offended disbelief.
I silently hold up a finger, signalling him to wait, as I drain the remainder of my champagne…because I need all the strength I have, to continue to deal with this barely even a human being. Setting the glass onto a nearby table, I look at the disguised man.
“What better place for a wanted criminal to hide…than hiding right under the noses of those who are looking for him.” I state calmly.
He points at me in anger, before the angry look drops from his face and he lets out a chuckle.
“I guess you really are as good as they say.” He says, dropping the fake accent he was speaking with throughout this entire meeting.
In a flash of light, his disguise disappears, revealing Actor wearing the same gear as his image shown on the projector screen.
I step back slightly, faking alarm at the reveal.
“But it doesn’t matter how good you are.” Actor says with a smile.
“It’s too late…however, it is a shame that you chose to waste your talents with the likes of this organization.”
“Not so fast, Mark.” A man says to the left of me.
I turn my head, seeing the shorter agent from before. He pulls off his neck brace and aims his gun towards Actor.
“Well, well. If it isn’t Agent Crank.” Actor says with a condescending smile towards the other man.
Agent Crank lets out a laugh.
“Oh, no. I’m not Agent Crank.” He says, before reaching for his neck.
“No! No, it can’t be! That’s impossible!” Actor exclaims, causing me to momentarily look towards him.
I turn my attention back to ‘Agent Crank’, seeing him succeed in pulling off the fake face he was wearing. I take in the bald man with a large beard as he drops the fake face onto the floor.
“It’s Wubba, and I’m taking you down.” Wubba says as he points his gun at Actor.
“Wubba, how could you do this to me? You were like a brother to me!” Actor says as he walks towards the taller man and grabs the left lapel of his suit.
I struggle to not break the neutral mask I’m wearing.
Doesn’t feel all that nice to be betrayed by someone you saw as family, doesn’t it…
“That’s right.” Wubba says, cocking his gun and pressing the barrel of the gun against Actor’s chest, where the bulletproof vest is absent.
Actor backs away from the gun.
“And you thought you were so smart infiltrating this organization, but I beat you to the punch.” Wubba says in a smug tone.
“You think you’re so clever. You think you’ve won?” Actor states in a dangerous tone as I feel his powers flicker to life around him, the stifling aura making an appearance once more.
I frown slightly, making sure to appropriately shield myself from it, a nifty trick I’d learned from Celine that has nothing to do with using magic, but sheer force of will instead, which won’t be picked up by Actor.
As of right now, none of us know how capable he is in sensing magic use, but he doesn’t seem to be aware of the illusion hiding my true form.
“He does,” A voice says to the right, causing me to turn towards the sound, seeing the other taller agent with a neck brace around his neck.
“But he forgot one small detail.” The agent says, before reaching for his neck.
I look towards Actor and Wubba, seeing the shock on their faces.
“That’s not possible. That doesn’t make any sense.” Wubba says as Actor backs away.
I look to the right, seeing a version of Wubba with a head full of brown hair.
“That’s right.” The Wubba with brown hair, says as he points his gun at the other version of himself and drops the crutch that he held under the arm not holding the firearm.
I watch the agent sitting behind the desk mouth the words ‘what the hell’ as he gets up from his seat and moves away from the standoff. I glance around, not seeing any sight of the version of Actor dressed in gear.
So he slithers away once more…
“You thought you were undercover, uncovering Mark’s undercover operation, but little did you know that I was undercover the whole time. Triple undercover.” The Wubba with hair on his head, says.
I press the button on the portable wormhole generator, knowing that I won’t find my Head Engineer in this place.
“No, no.” The bald Wubba says as he approaches his doppelgänger.
“That literally can’t be.” The bald Wubba waves his gun around before he glitches slightly.
“How are you you if I’m me?”
I watch the interaction, impatiently waiting for the wormhole to form.
“Isn’t it obvious?” The other one questions as he also glitches.
“Well obviously—wait. What.” The Wubba with hair says, as the wormhole appears.
Ignoring their screaming at the sight of the wormhole, I hop right into it.
Just like the last wormhole, this one has two options. This time, I aim for the left, ending back in a Cryo Pod.
“Software complete.” A female automated voice says.
“Good morning, Captain. We are currently ERROR years into our journey. Coffee is en route. Current ship status is…” The Computer says as I look at my left hand, not seeing the warp core crystal or the portable wormhole generator in my possession.
The sight of the missing items, admittedly, causes me to panic.
“…absolutely catastrophic.” The Computer says as red light flashes and alarms sound off.
Knowing what’s going to happen next, I reach up and press the emergency release switch.
“I am not getting tossed.” I mutter under my breath.
“Emergency Wakey-Wakey Protocol over-ride, acknowledged.” The Computer says as the door to my Cryo Pod emerges.
I rush towards Mark’s Cryo Pod, determined to fix everything.
“I just need to tell him what the older version of himself said, granted if he remembers that is…” I say to myself as I come to a stop in front of his pod and pull open the door.
I step back in shock and surprise at the person in the pod.
“Problem, Captain?” The man in the pod asks as he steps out of the pod.
What the hell, this isn’t Mark?!
An explosion occurs before I can question the man.
“Computer, damage report.” The man orders the AI.
“Meteorite impact in Life Support. Fire detected. Systems failing.” The Computer says as I move towards the fire extinguisher, intending to put of the fire and then figure out just what is happening.
“Whoa, hold on there, Captain. No need to be so hasty.” The man says as he stops me.
“Got this under control.” He moves towards the main console.
“Computer, reroute power to auxiliary life support. Activate fire suppression.” The man states as he presses two tabs on the main console.
“Large object on collision course with the ship.” The Computer informs, causing me to reach for the blast shield control, only to have my wrist grabbed in a tight grip by the mystery man.
I freeze in place, shocked by his actions. He turns to look at me with an unfriendly stare.
“Brace for impact.” The Computer warns as the man presses the tab for the blast shield, continuing to keep his gaze on me.
The shield slides down seconds before an impact rocks the ship, causing the man and myself to hold onto the main console. The lights flicker back on and I rip my wrist out of his grasp, not happy in the slightest.
“Current ship status is nominal.” The Computer reports as the crew begins filing in.
Before I can even say anything, the man rudely steps in front of me.
“Stand back, Captain. We’ve trained for this.” He states in a dismissive tone, causing me to bristle silently behind him, auras flaring up.
I’ve always detested rudeness, are all people in this day and age lacking in manners?!
“Judy, Cryo. Kai, Life Support. Rodrick, check that navigation. Gabriel, reactor. Make sure nothing back there is in danger of going kablooey.” The ‘Head Engineer’ orders.
Fed up, I walk past the ‘Head Engineer’ intending on seeing if Mark is even on this version of the Invincible II to begin with.
“And, Captain,” The man blocks my path once more.
I glance down at his name tag, seeing the name ‘Mack’, written in black, bold print.
“I think it’s time we have a little talk, hmm? This way.” Mack begins walking further into the bridge, not even waiting for me to give a response.
“I get the sense that you’re not a real hands on sort of Captain, so why don’t you just take a break? You know relax.” He says, causing me to stare at him in offended disbelief.
“Let’s be honest with ourselves. It’s not like you’re going to be able to help anyway.” He says in an insulting tone, further angering me.
“You just got on board this ship. You’re learning all the systems. Leave everything to me, that way you don’t get in the way. Trust me, nothing’s going to bring down this ship when I’m in charge, and that is a Mack guarantee.” He says, giving me a thumbs up.
“What do you say, Captain. All you have to do is make one choice. Take the guarantee.” His words end in a whisper as he aims a fake smile at me.
“Leave everything to you.” I state lowly, frigidly.
I have been through hell and back for this ship, its crew and the colonists aboard it, I am not about to be told that I am of no help what so ever.
“That’s right, Captain.” He says, still giving me a thumbs up.
“You see, Mack, before I boarded the Invincible II, I was required to know about all of the systems on this ship and I also happen to know how to fix each and every one of those systems…which does make me a hands on Captain.” I say in the same low tone, making each word icier than the last.
His smile falters as he drops his arm back to his side.
“I was never informed…” He states.
I grimace, realising that this isn’t his fault and that he has no control over any of this.
God, this is such a mess.
“I am sorry to inform you Mack, but you aren’t my Head Engineer.” I say quietly.
“W-what do you mean by that, Captain?” He asks, incredulous.
“You aren’t Mark, Mark Fischbach is my Head Engineer.” I say in the same quiet tone.
“What did you say? That’s—that’s not my name. I’m—I’m not of course, I’m not…” He says, getting quite upset…not that I can blame him, horrible manners or not.
“What did you say? Mark?” He says, glitching when he mentions Mark’s name.
“Who’s that?” He questions, still glitching.
“What did you do? Why would you say that name?” He questions in horror as he continues to glitch throughout the bridge.
I watch the scene, not able to do anything to stop it.
“No! Mark.” Mack says, glitching.
“What did you do?” He questions desperately as he grabs my upper arms.
Mack glitches out of view.
“This is my ship. This is my ship.” He repeats as he glitches throughout the bridge, appearing in various poses, each time seeming to be looking at something I can’t see.
Mack continues to speak, but I can’t understand what he’s saying, his words overlapping and distorting. I watch the crew glitch into view, all of them looking confused.
“This is real—chaos.” Mack says, glitching into view directly in front of me.
“You do not get to choose whether or not I exist!” Mack exclaims, pointing at me.
“I’m sorry, but I’m not the one who chose any of this! Especially if you exist or not!” I exclaim back, frustrated.
“This is my—” Mack yells.
“Ship!” Mark exclaims, glitching into view where Mack was standing.
“Mark!” I state, relieved to see him.
“Uh, Captain?” Mark questions in a confused tone.
“Listen Mark, you—” I try to warn.
“Goodbye.” The Computer says as a wormhole appears underneath both of our feet.
“Ahh!” Mark screams as we both fall into the wormhole.
“Mark, where are you?!” I yell when I lose sight of him.
“On your left!” He answers, causing me to turn to the left, turning fully around when I don’t see him.
I barely manage to see him barrelling towards me, letting out a yelp when he crashes into me, which in turn, momentarily stuns me.
“Captain, what is going on?!” He screams as I try to reach out for him, the wormhole pulling the both of us in different directions: Mark to the left, myself to the right.
“Mark! You can’t go back! You can’t go back! Don’t use the Warp Core.” I shout in an urgent tone.
“Damn it!” I growl when I hear no answer from him.
It appears that I’ll have to find him again.
The worm hole ejects me into a room with flickering lights.
I land feet first, knees buckling from the force as I manage to brace my hands on the top of a couch.
Pushing myself fully upright, I look around, noticing that I’m in the waiting room of the Universal Stability Agency.
Good heavens, it looks like a tornado passed through here…
I look down at my hand, seeing that the crystal and the portable wormhole generator is back.
“Please evacuate this station immediately.” A voice says over the PA, most likely a pre-recorded message for emergencies.
“I repeat, universal stability compromised. This is not a drill. Please evacuate this station immediately.” The voice on the PA, says, as I cautiously walk forward, pushing some hanging wires out of the way.
Heading towards the open door, I make sure to keep my footsteps silent and slow, in case there’s anyone else here.
“I-I-I repeat, universal stability…”
“…compromised.” The PA powers down.
Inching closer to the door, I see that there’s someone there, but I can’t see who it is, unless I move closer. I push another set of wires out of the way, the wires crinkling slightly. Apparently that was enough to alert the Lady sitting on the floor of the room. She looks up and points her blaster at me.
“Whoa, easy there.” I say, raising my hands up in a placating gesture.
She drops her blaster to her side, waving me closer silently.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t think anyone else was still here.” She says, before looking at the floor.
I crouch down, staying by the doorway and keeping most of my body out of sight, in the event she tries to shoot me.
“Thought everyone was lost trying to um, stem the tides.” She explains, looking at me momentarily.
“Stem the tides?” I question, hoping for once, that she’ll give me some clarification on what she’s dealing with on her side.
She looks towards me, something akin to shock appearing on her features.
“Wait. Oh, my God. You’re here.” She says.
“You! You, you!” Her words causes me to raise an eyebrow.
“Yes, me.” I reply, tilting my head slightly.
“We have been looking everywhere for you, for your ship, and it was-it was-it was gone. In every universe. Lost.” She says, the last of her words filling me with dread.
“The ship is gone from every universe?” I question firmly.
“It was.” She confirms, causing me to curse silently.
If the ship’s gone from every Universe, then how is this problem going to be resolved? I have to find Mark…if I tell him not to go back, then it might reset everything. Question is, where would he even be, if the ship doesn’t exist?
“So how are you here?” The lady questions, causing me to turn my attention back to her.
“How?” She questions again, causing me to silently raise my left hand, palm facing her, showcasing the crystal and the device connected to it.
Her gaze zeroes in on my hand, moving closer to me.
“This. This thing? This?” She says, causing me to let out a small sigh.
“Yes, this thing, any more questions?” I ask in a weary tone.
“You used that, didn’t you? Who give it to you?” She inquires, staring at me.
“It’s a long story, but to summarise, I got this from the Warp Core of my ship…” I say, pointing at the crystal.
“…and this from a Bandit.” I state bluntly, pointing at the portable wormhole generator.
“Give it to me. I need it. Please.” She says, causing me to stare at her.
“Uh, or I will shoot.” She says as she stands up, myself mirroring her movements and backing away.
“Look, unfortunate as your current situation is…I am not parting with anything, the least I can do is get you out of here.” I say in an apologetic tone as she points her blaster towards me.
“Look if you just—if you give it to me, I swear, I promise I can fix everything.” She pleads as she continues to move towards me and I continue to back away from her.
“Warning. Potential Paradox detected.” The voice of the Warp Core machine says as my surroundings and the lady glitch.
I reach for the button of the generator on my hand.
“I am—I am begging you.” The lady says, an edge of desperation entering her words.
“Please avoid.” The Voice urges, causing me to back away more as I press the button of the device a few times, trying to urge it to hurry up and form a wormhole.
“We can still fix this. Look I—” The Lady tries to convince me.
I give her a regretful look as I back away some more.
“Safety limit exceeded.” The Voice says in warning as the crystal on my glove, begins to glow brightly.
“I refuse to believe this is intentional. No one is that evil. Come on!” She says, glitching.
“Initiating emergency abort.” The Voice of the Warp Core states.
“Please!” She says as the wormhole appears and pulls me into it.
“Come back!” She screams as I travel through the wormhole.
I see a blaster beam shoot past me, causing me to spin around in alarm, seeing that the lady had jumped into the wormhole to follow me. She soon catches up to me and grabs at my hands, holding onto me.
“Why? Why do you want to destroy everything? How could you?” She questions, causing me to give her an exasperated look.
“How could—AGH!” She yells, her grip on my hands faltering when the wormhole rips her away from me.
My gaze falls to my left hand, seeing that she had managed to get the portable wormhole generator from it.
“Hey! Give that back! And for the last time, I’m not trying to destroy anything!” I snap, trying to move towards her.
“Ah-ah, ah…not so fast, Captain.” Actor says in a singsong tone as I’m forcefully pulled further away from the lady, causing me to scowl as I see her become a mere speck in the distance.
“You’re that voice from before.” I say in accusation, pretending that I have no idea who he is.
“That’s right…our meeting draws nearer…that is, if you’re successful in finding that ‘Head Engineer’.” Actor states, voice dripping in disgust when he mentions the Head Engineer version of himself.
“Do you have a problem with my Head Engineer?” I question, wondering why he’d be disgusted with himself.
“Oh please, he is nothing compared to the likes of myself. I have no idea why you’re so fond of him.” Actor states, a hint of disdain and jealousy to his words.
Someone’s full of themselves.
“What is that even supposed to mean?! Are you the one responsible for all of this?!” I snap, letting my anger leak through my words.
“And if I am, what would you do to stop me, Captain.” Actor purrs, causing me to grimace, since I have to continue to play along.
I just hope I’m able to meet up with Dark or Celine sometime in the future. I’m putting a lot of faith in Dark’s ability to help me remember when that time comes.
“I’ll answer that for you, you won’t be able to stop me…I am not someone you want to anger, Y/N.” Actor states, his last words full of warning.
“Who even are you? How do you know my name?” I question, letting my words be tinged with unease.
“You’ll find out soon enough, won’t you?” Actor merely says as my surroundings glitch into appearance.
“I’ll be watching you closely, Y/N. Give me an excellent performance and everything will be fine.” Actor says in parting.
Chapter 25: This Isn’t Working
Notes:
Thank you for the kudos and comments everyone, it makes me quite happy whenever I read your reactions to the story.
This might be the last chapter for the year, but we'll see if I'm able to get a chapter written for next week.
Having said this, I hope everyone has a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.
Chapter Text
Looking around, I see that I’m in a bathroom, the walls painted a muted shade of blue. The sound of muffled crying, soon reaches my ears.
Moving towards the door, I turn the handle, opening the door slightly. Peering through the small opening, I then fully open the door, seeing Mark sitting on a bed, his back facing me as he cries. He’s crying so hard, that his body shakes from the force. I stare at the sight with wide eyes, stepping into the bedroom. I silently approach Mark, keeping my pace slow and steady.
“Did I say enough that I love you, from the other side of the screen? Do I seem sincere when I thank you?” I hear the lyrics of the song from his headphones.
“Mark?” I call out softly, gently, as to not spook him.
He turns around to look at me, tears streaming from his eyes.
The sight of his tears, makes my gaze soften.
“Y/N?” He hiccups, wiping at his eyes.
I give him a gentle smile.
“I’m here, Mark.” I say, holding my arms out to him.
“It’s okay, you can cry.” I encourage softly, seeing him get up from the bed and approach me, trying to hold back more tears.
He loses the battle with his emotions and begins crying in earnest, throwing his arms around me and wrapping me into a tight hug. I wrap my arms around him, gently shushing him as I rub his back soothingly, occasionally reaching up and running my fingers through his hair. I whisper gentle words to him as I do this.
Throughout all of my efforts to calm the Mark in front of me, I can tell that Actor isn’t pleased that I’m comforting another other version of himself, which makes my lips twitch slightly, pleased.
I may not be able to confront Actor yet, but I’m more than capable of making him jealous. Maybe then, he won’t place innocent people into his games.
“Shh, it’s going to be alright…everything is going to be alright. You’re safe with me.” I whisper, tightening my hold on Mark as he sobs and blubbers.
My surroundings glitch, Mark and the bedroom disappearing from sight, replaced by a decrepit room with off white paint missing on some parts of the wall and there are two white doors at the left of the room, leaning against the wall.
I look down, seeing a roll of wire, used for construction, on the floor in front of the doors. Realising that I’m holding something in my hand, I bring it up to eye level, seeing a silver, metal case in my hand. I open it up, eyes widening in alarm at the bomb in my grasp.
“Let me take a look at that, Rookie.” Mark states, popping out of nowhere and almost giving me a heart attack.
I quickly look him over, noting that he’s wearing bomb diffuser gear, before glancing down at myself and seeing that I’m wearing matching gear.
I hand the bomb over to him, hearing him whistle at the sight of the C-4.
“That is a beauty of a bomb!” He states in an accent different from his usual.
“All right, no time to waste.” He states, setting the bomb onto a crate covered in plaster that must’ve fallen from the ceiling.
“Yeah. Perfect. All right.” He says, before standing on the other side of the crate.
“Must be pretty exciting though, right?” His question causes me to give him a blank look.
“All those years spent training and that hard work is finally going to pay off. And I know how much you’ve been looking forward to your first bomb, so I’m gonna let you take the lead on this one.” He says, handing me a pliers.
“No backseat bomb diffusing from this guy.” He states, pointing both of his thumbs towards himself.
“I’m not even going to say a peep. I’m just going to sit back, shut up, and let the master work.” He says as I look down at the bomb, seeing the timer counting down.
It’s silent between us for a bit as I try to not panic at the sight of the bomb and the timer counting down, getting closer to zero with every second that passes.
Do I have to diffuse it and then tell Mark to not use to the Warp Core?! What do I—
“Boom!” Mark exclaims out of the blue, causing me to flinch back with a startled cry.
“That’s not funny!” I snap at him, before letting out a sigh.
I close the lid of the bomb, ignoring the intensified beeping when I do so.
“Mark you can’t go back and use the warp core, it’s what’s caused all of this to happen.” I state in a firm tone, seeing him stare at me, the confusion clearly seen in his eyes.
“What did you say? I can’t go back and use the Warp Core? Why would you say that? What did it cause to happen? Don’t say such silly things. There’s a bomb, Capt—” He says, faltering as he looks around at his surroundings, then down at himself, seeing that his clothing is different.
I see the realisation cross his face as he remembers who he is.
“Captain?” He questions, staring at me as he glitches out of view.
I look around, noticing a yellow wire attached to the crate.
That wasn’t there before.
Curious, I use the pliers still in my grasp to cut the wire. I’m immediately pulled into a blue and pink wormhole.
I can tell that Actor isn’t happy, getting a brief mental image of him cursing and throwing a fit… which tells me that this isn’t a part of his ‘test’.
The wormhole deposits me into a room with metallic gold streamers hanging along the wall and disco lights flashing above me.
“You got to feel it.” A familiar line of lyrics blasts overhead.
I run my fingers through the streamers on the wall, keeping a confused look on my face.
Inside though, I’m grinning because now I understand why he said what he said some time ago.
I hear familiar voices talking outside of the room I’m in.
Is that the Detective? I can also make out Wilford’s voice.
I watch as Wilford backs into the room I’m in, still hearing him talking to the detective.
“I recognize you! How are you?” I hear Wilford say from outside of the room.
So he can be in multiple places at once…though the pink afro is a bit much for my tastes.
The Wilford in front of me goes to drink from his martini glass as he turns to face me. He lets out a sound of surprise as the music overhead abruptly comes to a stop.
I merely stare at him, wishing I could give him a hug.
Unfortunately, since we’re being watched by Actor, I have to pretend that I have no idea who he is.
“Oh, it’s you. Is it that time already?” He asks, causing me to frown slightly.
“What are you talking about? Who even are you?” I question, feigning ignorance, sensing Actor seeming to calm down slightly at my words.
I can still tell that he’s still quite angry that I’m talking to Wilford though.
“Stop stalling! You’re under arrest…” I hear Abe snap from outside of the room, causing me and Wilford to turn towards the doorway.
At least I know that the Detective is alright.
“Ooh, let’s chat over here away from them.” Wilford says as the turns towards me and begins walking forward, forcing me to walk backwards.
“They’re still figuring themselves out, those two. Quite the story but for another day.” He says.
I catch the silent promise in his words.
“And I’m glad that I ran into you because you’ve been avoiding me!” He says, words ending in a yell as he points a finger at me.
“Uh—I’m sorry?” I say, tone uncertain.
Before he can say anything, a pink coloured wormhole pops into view, causing Wilford and myself to look towards it.
Wilford aims an exasperated look at the wormhole, reaching into his trousers’ pocket for something. He lets out a sigh as he looks at me, opening his butterfly knife without looking at it.
He turns his head to face the wormhole one more.
“No.” He states in a disapproving tone towards the wormhole as he stabs it, the wormhole popping and deflating like a balloon as it flies around the room and lands on the floor in a heap beside us.
I barely refrain from laughing at the sight, settling my features into a look of shock and surprise, with a tinge of unease.
If I can get Actor to believe that Wilford makes me feel unsafe, then he surely won’t suspect that things are amicable between us.
Wilford turns to look at me yet again.
“You’ve been avoiding me,” He repeats, pointing the blade of his butterfly knife towards me.
I back away a step at the sight, Wilford taking a step in reaction.
“And now that I have you right where I want you,” He says as we repeat this dance of one step backwards, one step forward.
“I’m gonna book that interview.” He says as he closes his knife, his gaze still on me.
He’s gonna have to teach me how to do that sometime…
“And I won’t take no for an answer. And I won’t take yes either. No choices at all really.” He states as he places the knife back in his trousers’ right pocket.
“Haven’t you had enough of those?” He asks, my lips twitching slightly at the question, choosing not to say anything in reply.
A pink wormhole appears beside me, Wilford reaching into it for something.
“If you’re insisting on an interview, can you at the very least tell me your name?” I ask in a neutral tone.
“The name’s Wilford Warfstache.” He states in an offhanded tone, continuing to reach for something, letting a small sound of triumph escape when he grabs what he’s looking for.
I look at the item he pulled from the wormhole, seeing that it’s a calendar.
“Could you hold that for me?” He asks, holding out his glass.
I silently accept the glass, a small amount of cocktail spilling from it.
“Thank you.” He merely says, already invested in looking at the calendar in his grasp.
“All right, let’s see if I have an opening.” He says as he flips to a page.
“Well, booked. Very busy.” He says as he flips a few pages.
I look at the images on the calendar, not having to fake my confusion.
What is this supposed to be, tasteful nudes? Why would someone want to do that?
“I am so popular. Ah!” He says, stopping on a page.
“All right, I’m booking you for October 30th, 2019. Don’t worry, I’ll come to you.” He says as he taps the calendar for emphasis, before he tosses the calendar back into the pink wormhole that appears.
The wormhole then disappears from view.
I’m pretty sure he had the calendar opened on the month of February, my judgment made from the image of the naked man with the wings and Cupid’s bow. I decide not to say anything about it.
2019? I question to myself, not even sure what year it is anymore.
I’m pretty sure that in my original timeline, I was still stuck in that mirror by myself, which puts into perspective just how long Celine must’ve been in control when she was a part of Dark.
“And I don’t want any excuses this time.” He says, taking his glass back.
“None of this, 'Oh, is that in the past? Is that in the future? Oh, I can’t wrap my head around this timey-wimey thing'.” He says, causing me to furrow my brows.
“Figure it out!” He exclaims, pointing at me.
“Lovely talking to you. But you’re already running behind, so let me order you a ride since your previous one seems to have been unfortunately stabbed by an unknown assailant.” He says as he grabs a phone from another wormhole.
“Probably that old man.” He says as he flips the phone open and pulls up the antenna with his teeth.
I raise an eyebrow at his words.
He then dials something into the phone, humming a merry tune as he does this.
“You don’t mind pink, do you?” He asks.
“Not at all…” I merely say.
“Ohh!” He says when the wormhole appears beside him.
He gestures towards the wormhole with a smile, still holding his phone up to his ear. I pass by him, our eyes meeting briefly and a silent message being exchanged.
We will see each other again. Turning my eyes towards the wormhole, I walk towards it and step through.
“Oh, you’ve got to feel it~.” The music starts up once more as I travel through the wormhole, the pink colour being a welcome respite from the blue variety.
Up ahead, the wormhole branches off into two channels.
“I said no more choices!” I hear Wilford say as the left channel is blocked off.
I bite the inside of my cheek to refrain from laughing.
If it’s going to be that amusing every time I meet him, I’m going to have to get better at keeping a straight face at his antics.
The wormhole deposits me into a forest? I look around at the trees barely bathed in moonlight, finally noticing that I’m holding something in my hand.
Please don’t be another bomb, I raise it to eye level, seeing that it’s a flashlight.
I switch it on, seeing that it barely gives any sort of light.
Void, the light from my auras does a better job of lighting my way than this thing.
I cautiously make my way forward, not hearing any sounds from nature.
That’s not good, surely there would be sounds of crickets and other denizens of the forest, but there’s nothing of the sort. It’s as if the animals are afraid of something.
It’s easy to make out the sound of footsteps quickly making their way in my direction, not even using a significant fraction of my enhanced hearing.
Coming to a stop, I see a murky shape heading towards me, a man’s visage slicing through the gloomy mist that swirls around the trees.
“Hello?” I question as the man gets closer to me.
He quickly places a finger to his lips, causing me to keep quiet, seeing the scared urgency on his face and in his body language. It also doesn’t help that I can hear his heartbeat hammering away in his chest. I’m surprised it hasn’t burst out from its resting place from how frantic the beat it.
“Shh! You can’t be out here.” The man says, causing me to give him an exasperated look.
First you warn me to be quiet, then you go and make noise.
I look behind him sharply, hearing breaking branches in the distance, something else heading in our direction.
“He’ll find you.” The man in front of me warns as whatever was chasing him, begins growling.
I stare at the man standing in front of me, seeing the slashes over his left eye. The scars are old, judging from the fact that there’s a lack of blood and the wounds appear to be healed. This injury isn’t caused by whatever is chasing him.
“Oh! Oh, he’s coming! He’s coming!” The man yelps, causing me to frown.
Yes…keep yelling and give away our position. I narrow my eyes at the man, switching off my flashlight.
I can see just fine with my auras anyway.
“He better find you and not me!” He exclaims before running off.
“Oh my God!” The man whimpers as I lose sight of him, his image disappearing behind some trees and shrubs.
I retreat behind a nearby berry bush. Whatever’s chasing him, will unfortunately be on his trail since I haven’t given it much auditory cues.
It’s out of my control to help that man, he’s essentially doomed himself, I look around for a potential weapon, not seeing one.
Looking up, I hear growling coming from the direction the man had went.
“No! What are you doing?!” The man questions, voice ringing with fear as the growling increases.
I tighten my grip on the flashlight as I hear the man screaming, followed by squelching.
“Oh! Oh, no! That’s my shovelling arm!” The man squeals as I spot a severed arm fly by my hiding spot, causing me to crouch down with a grimace.
“Mama! Heavens to Betsy!” The man screams as whatever creature that caught him, continues to attack him, the squelching increasing in frequency.
I’ve got get out of here, without being noticed.
“Aah! Oh, no! No, no, no! No!” I wince at the sounds, shaking slightly.
“That’s my leg! That’s my leg!” The man states as the creature presumably bites down on his leg, my enhanced hearing easily picking up on the sound of bones breaking.
I tense my jaw.
Wilford could’ve dropped me off into another universe, whatever that thing is, it’s capable of easily biting down with what seems to be the bite force or a lion…am I dealing with a mountain lion by chance? I try wracking my brain on any knowledge of how mountain lions hunt, drawing a blank.
Damn it, hunting was never my level of expertise, though I imagine Wil has knowledge of such things from his hunting escapades.
I creep towards another set of berry bushes that are in a cluster, hiding amongst them as I hear the squelching give way, the forest going quiet once more.
I make sure to keep my breathing quiet, looking down at my left hand. The crystal isn’t glowing yet, which means that I’ll have to evade this thing until I can get out of here.
Looking through the bushes, I see a shape round the corner of the bush I was crouched behind, seeing a man wearing a bush covering his, ahem, lower region. I look at the sight in confusion, hearing the man snarling and growling as he looks around, fresh blood splattering him.
So it isn’t a mountain lion but a man?
“The Captain’s plan…” The voice of the Narrator starts up, causing me to flinch in surprise, quickly going still when the leaves shift slightly.
I look up at the sky, giving a pointed look and placing a finger to my lips.
“…to hide from HeeHoo amongst a cluster of berry bushes seemed to be going well at first.” The Narrator says, ignoring my warning.
Ugh, he’s going to give away my position if he continues to do that!
“However, the Captain starts shaking her head and making small, bizarre gestures as she looks up to the sky. Her actions are very unstealthy in manner.” The Narrator narrates my actions, causing me to scowl.
“If the Captain wished to succeed, she would do well to be polite to any higher dimensional being that might happen to be watching!” The Narrator says in warning.
I clench my fist not holding the flashlight, gritting my teeth.
“Otherwise, unfortunate things such as a spotlight might appear at a very inconvenient time.” A spotlight shines down on my location, causing me to hold an arm over my eyes as I look up at the light source.
I hear snarling and growling, forcing me to dive out of the bushes, eyes easily adjusting to the sight of HeeHoo a few feet to the side of me.
His back is facing me as I quickly look around, spotting a rock I can use to distract him with.
Picking up the rock I aim it to the spot furthest to me, sending it sailing through the air, the rock travelling away from my location.
“The Captain tried to use craftiness in getting away from HeeHoo, having hoped that the rock she threw, would land some distance away from her. She intended to create an auditory disturbance that’ll lead the feral man away.” The Narrator says.
“Unfortunately for her, the rock that she threw to distract him, somehow ended up hitting the ground beside her.” As the Narrator says, the rock appears beside me, hitting the ground loudly.
That’s just playing dirty, you scumbag!
HeeHoo turns around at the sound, seeing me crouched on the floor. I stand up, immediately backing away slowly. HeeHoo starts charging in my direction, forcing me to dart to the side, sprinting away from him and easily putting some distance between us. I make sure to keep an eye out for any stray rocks that may be on my path. The last thing I need is to trip.
Behind me I can hear the footsteps trying to catch up to me, HeeHoo snarling in frustration at my quickness.
Risking a glance over my shoulder, I see him quite some distance behind me.
Alright, I just need to keep this pace, get out of this forest and find Mark.
“The Captain easily outpaced HeeHoo…” The Narrator says, causing me to feel dread settle in my stomach.
“In her smugness of being quicker than the man behind her, she failed to notice the convenient rock in her path, having tripped over said rock.” I let out a string of curses, landing on the ground harshly.
I hiss out a breath, quickly pushing myself to my feet.
“By the time the Captain had managed to get back to her feet, HeeHoo caught up to her.”
“Well, it seems to be the end of our intrepid Captain.” The Narrator states in a smug tone as I hear the snarling behind me, the smell of blood causing me to wrinkle my nose in disgust.
Spinning around, I smash the flashlight into the man behind me, the flashlight breaking on impact as it hits the side of his head.
HeeHoo collapses to the forest floor, out cold from the hit.
I let out a ragged breath, looking down at the unconscious man and seeing that behind the long hair and beard, he looks a lot like Mark.
I stare down at the feral version of Mark in panic.
Please tell me that I didn’t kill him with that hit…
“No, no, no! This won’t do!” The Narrator says in frustration as I hear the turning of pages and the scratching of a pen on paper.
“The Captain’s attempt of knocking out HeeHoo with her flashlight, ended in failure, HeeHoo quickly getting back up.” I watch HeeHoo’s eyes flash open, the feral man glitching back to his feet.
“Oh, no.” I murmur, staring at the sight in horror.
“This the end of our intrepid Captain. Truly unfortunate. You hate to see it.” The Narrator says as the crystal on my glove begins glowing, making me feel relieved.
The glow from the crystal causes HeeHoo to falter in approaching me.
“Oh, no, no. I don’t think a convenient escape is a very fitting end for this story. Hold on.” The Narrator says as HeeHoo lunges towards me.
I drop the remains of my flashlight, bringing my fists up.
If I’m going down, it’s not without putting up a fight.
Before HeeHoo can grab me, everything pauses. HeeHoo and I are not able to move another step.
“There we go.” The Narrator states as HeeHoo and I stare at each other, the feral man with a snarl showcasing his blood stained teeth, whereas I wear a defiant sneer.
“The ominous glow of the crystal on the Captain’s hand subsides to a normal level and does not whisk the Captain away from this deadly encounter.” The Narrator says as I hear the scratching of pen on paper.
The bright glow from within my left fist, dims, HeeHoo still trying to reach for me, despite not being able to take another step.
HeeHoo grunts and snarls, fingers wiggling as he tries to grab me. The blue light begins shining bright once again, causing me to unfurl my hand and look at the crystal.
“What? That’s not—” The Narrator sputters at the sight.
“Hold on! Ahem! The ominous glow subsides and returns to normal.” The crystal glows brighter at the Narrator’s words in defiance.
I smirk at the sight, looking at HeeHoo and seeing the fear on his face at the sight of the glowing crystal.
“I said, the ominous glow—” The Narrator’s words are cut off as the crystal activates, sending me through another wormhole.
Chapter 26: So Close, Yet So Far
Notes:
A bit late with this chapter, but here it is, the last chapter of the year! I hope you guys have a Happy New Year.
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
I land in what looks to be an office.
Looking around, I return to my feet, turning to the right and seeing an older man wearing a brown suit with a brown turtleneck underneath, sitting in the single seat sofa.
“Well, isn’t this a surprise? Greetings.” The man says, causing me to realise that this is the Narrator.
“You’re the Narrator, I presume.” I state, looking down at him.
I press my lips into a thin line.
I can’t tell if this is an ideal situation or not. He’d been a scumbag in that last universe with HeeHoo.
“You presume correctly.” The man says.
“You may be wondering where you are and how you got here.” He says as he gets up from his seat.
“Me too.” He states, giving me a displeased stare before it shifts into a smile.
“But as no choice is a coincidence, I believe this gives us an opportunity to chat.” He says before he turns away from me.
“My name is Dr Cecil H.H Mills, known author of adult intellectual literature.” He shrugs off his suit jacket, revealing he’s wearing an identical one under it.
Normally I’d shake someone’s hand when I’m being introduced, but I won’t indulge in such pleasantries with someone that’s turning out to be yet another thorn in my side.
He sets his jacket onto the sofa he was sitting on.
“I’m also responsible for writing one other thing.” He says, gesturing to a hardcover book on the bookshelf.
I momentarily glance at it, returning my attention back to him.
“Is that why you came?” He grabs the book and turns around to fully face me.
“Are you here to be served an ad for ‘Ghost Hunter’s Adventure Club and the Secret of the Grand Château,’ my young adult mystery novel?” He inquires, causing me to blankly look at him.
If he’s supposed to be the Narrator, doesn’t he know that I’m looking for my Head Engineer?!
I merely shake my head, even as my auras flare in annoyance. He doesn’t seem to notice them or he’d most likely react to them.
So called ‘higher dimensional’ being or not, he’s still a human.
“No? Fine.” He says, lowering the book.
“Listen,” He takes a step towards me, causing me to take a step back.
Unlike my interaction with Wilford, I’m not enjoying this in the slightest.
“I have copious amounts of gambling debt. I need money, so I take whatever job I can get. In this case, it’s a side gig as a narrator for this project while I wait for my young adult mystery novel for children to take off.”
So Actor hired him to Narrate, why am I not surprised. Honestly, I rather hear Dr Mills’ voice narrate my actions than Actor’s, I have a much higher chance of not closing my sanity and self-control otherwise.
“Buy my book!” Dr Mills exclaims, causing me to flinch back slightly in surprise.
I stare at him, him returning the look as he drops the book to the floor.
“But back to the matter at hand.” He says as he walks towards the left of the room, causing me to follow behind him.
“You see, I’m a very private person.” He reveals as he makes his way towards his desk.
“I don’t like to receive visitors unless they have my express written consent.” He turns to face me.
I come to a stop a few feet away.
“So this begs the question, how did you get here?” He asks, causing me to give him a narrowed look.
“Surely you know the answer to that.” I merely say, shifting my left hand slightly.
He momentarily looks at my hand with the crystal on it.
“No matter. Easy fix.” He backs away to his seat and sits down.
I watch him grab the quill sitting atop the open book on the desk.
“Yes.” He says as I give the book a suspicious look.
“With a sucking whoosh and a burst of blue light,” He says as he write the words down.
A wormhole forms beside him as I rush towards his desk, a plan taking root in my mind.
“The Captain is whisked away—” I reach the desk and snatch the book from his hand.
“What are you doing?” He asks in anger as I look at the words on the page, hearing the wormhole close.
“No, give that back.” I ignore his words.
I then look at the previous pages, seeing my interactions within the forest as I try escaping from HeeHoo.
“Don’t look at it!” He snaps.
“That’s not for your eyes!”
“What? What are you doing? Stop!” I grab the quill from his hand, easily pulling it away from his grasp, despite him trying to hold on to it.
It’s no use…my strength is a lot more than a mere human can ever hope to overpower.
“You return that to me, you cretin. On the count of three, I want it back.” His words causes me to smirk.
Without this, that threat has no weight behind it.
“One, two, three.” His stern expression drops when I make no move of returning it to him.
“All right, so you called my bluff.” He merely says as I shift my gaze towards the journal in my grasp.
Thinking about what I want to write, I then write it down, making sure the account is detailed.
I’m not taking any chances, I’m ending this once and for all.
“Oh, no, it’s fine. Write whatever you want. It’s infinite power, that’s all. No big deal.” Dr Mills grumbles as I write.
Finished writing, I hand the book and quill back to him.
“Oh, thank you.” He says, surprised that I’m returning the items to him.
“The Captain enters another wormhole and finds her Head Engineer aboard the Invincible II. Together, she and Mark are able to enter the warp core room and shut down the warp core, returning stability to the universe and undoing all of the damage the paradox caused. Dr Cecil H.H Mills was also able to pay off his gambling debt.” Dr Mills reads aloud before looking at me in surprise.
“Quite the detailed account, Captain, it just might work. And thank you for mentioning that I’ll be able to pay off my gambling debt.” He says, looking down at the book.
I see his eyes widen in alarm. “The words are changing!”
“What?!” I exclaim, moving towards him and seeing the words I wrote being erased, replaced by a small sentence in a handwriting I’m familiar with.
It’s written in Actor’s handwriting!
“The Captain finds Mark.” Dr Mills reads as I grit my teeth.
“What? No.” Dr Mills shakes his head in disbelief.
“Now Captain, I can’t let you just get away with an easy solution, can’t I. That’s cheating by the way…it’ll just rob me of seeing the grand finale and we can’t have that!” Actor booms, causing the Narrator to flinch in surprise.
I look around for any sight of him, not seeing him in person. He seems content to contact people as a disembodied voice.
Dramatic bastard!
“No, you can’t do this. You can’t be so ambiguous. You have to be more specific.” Dr Mills protests.
“I can and I will do whatever I desire.” Actor sasses.
“Dr Mills, I pay you to do your job and nothing more, now get back to work!” Actor snarls as I’m thrust into another wormhole.
“What? No!” I protest as the office is sealed off from me.
“You can’t just play around with innocent people’s lives, you scumbag!” I yell in frustration as I’m forcefully propelled by the force of the wormhole.
Actor merely laughs at my words as I’m dropped into a dark hallway, holding a glass candle in my hand.
Looking around, I see that I’m on the Invincible, at least some version of it…but why is the power out?
Making my way slowly down the candle lit hallway, I see various pages lining the walls of the hallway.
I press my hand against one of the pages, observing the tally marks scrawled onto it.
There's also the sound of whispering coming from all around me but I'm not able to make sense of what they're trying to say.
Continuing forward, there are more pages with tally marks littering the surface, a page showing the diagram of what looks to be the bottom of a wormhole, are amongst other pages that I don’t take much time to look at.
My attention is drawn towards the open doorway at the end of the hallway, seeing a man with long, unkempt dark hair, close the door of a Cryo Pod before he makes his way to the other side of the room.
My eyes widen in realisation.
It has to be Mark, no one else wears that particular uniform.
Walking down this hallway, makes me recall a hazy memory of one of the universes we were in.
Did I somehow see a glimpse of this universe when I was hallucinating?
My gaze catches on two of the pages on the walls.
“Current ship status, nominal.” I whisper to myself, wondering if this is the Mark from that particular universe.
“Where did it all go wrong?” I read the next page silently.
As I get closer to the doorway, the whispering gets louder, though I still cannot make out what the voices are saying. Peeking around the edge of the door frame, I see Mark seeming to be in the middle of fixing the console of the Cryo Room.
Glancing at the pages filled with tally marks covering the room, I slowly make my way towards the muttering man.
Mark pauses in his tinkering, looking towards the blast shield. “Who’s breathing?”
“Who’s breathing?” He repeats, tone sharp.
“There’s not enough air for all of us.” He snaps, standing up and continuing to look at the blast shield.
I look at the multitude of candles he has lit.
Gee, I wonder why…
“If that’s the case, shouldn’t you have less candles lit?” I ask softly, hoping to not startle him.
“Give it back! Give—” He turns around to face me, face turning pale as he stumbles to the ground and backs up until he hits the closed door of the Reactor room.
“Captain?” He questions, as if he can’t believe I’m here.
“Hello, Mark.” I say lightly as I slowly approach him, seeing him look at me as if he’s seen a ghost.
“Captain.” He whispers with wide eyes as he returns to his feet.
I stop in my tracks, seeing him approach me.
“You’re not here.” He says, causing me to look at him sadly.
“What do you mean, Mark?”
“You’ve never woke up here before.” He says as he gestures around at the darkened vessel.
“You were always gone.” He lets out a ragged breath as if he’s trying to hold back tears.
“I tried. I tried to keep them alive, Captain.” He says in a shaky tone as he takes a step forward.
I take a step back, realising that he’s in a fragile mental state at the moment.
“But I go and I come back. I solve problems and I go and I come back, and I go and I come back, and I always come back!” He says, causing me to stare at him, the both of us coming to a standstill.
“But this time…This time…” He whispers as he looks at me, before he then looks around at the room.
“This time…I’m here.” I state, taking a small step towards him.
“Mark, I am so sorry you had to go through this alone. I know that you must’ve tried your best to save everyone.” I say kindly, knowing that he needs all the emotional support he can get.
I hesitate slightly as I go to rest my hand on his shoulder.
“You did the best you could…” I say, his gaze falling onto my raised hand.
“Captain, what’s that in your hand?” He questions, causing me to look towards the hand I have raised, realising that he’s seen the warp core crystal.
“Where did you get that crystal?” He questions sternly, grabbing the front of my body suit.
His actions alarm me, but I try to keep my cool.
“You didn’t shut it down, did you?” He questions as he backs me into the hallway.
“If you would just calm down a little, I’ll be able explain everything…” I say, trying to reason with him.
Unfortunately, it was the wrong thing to say.
“Calm down…calm down, Captain?” He says in a tone that suggests that I’m crazy to ask that of him.
“Was she right about you? We trusted you! I trusted you, Captain!” He yells, the betrayal clear in his words and on his face.
I shove him away, seeing him struggle to regain his footing.
“I’m trying okay! The warp core is being a lot more difficult to shut down since I can’t find it!” I exclaim in frustration as I see the crystal activate.
“Captain!” He screams as the crystal glows brighter.
He lunges towards me, but the crystals pulls me into another wormhole before he can touch me.
“Damn it.” I hiss, grimacing at the betrayed and pained look I had last seen on his face.
The hate I feel for Actor, increases exponentially.
I can see all too clearly, that the Engineer version of Mark is too similar to Damien for me to ignore. I couldn’t save Damien but I can try to save this Mark, along with everyone else.
When I’m finally able to drop this charade, I’ll unleash hell upon Actor. Dark and Celine can have what’s left of him when I’m through.
I land in a storage room, seeing different weapons strewn about. I pick up a blaster, deciding to keep it on hand.
I am in no mood to deal with any more nonsense from anyone.
I hear clanking, causing me to turn towards a close door, seeing the crimson lighting on the other side.
“You helped them escape. You helped those monsters, which means that you’re just as responsible for what’s going on.” I hear the lady say, causing me to put two and two together.
She has Bandit…
“I didn’t have anything to do with that.” Bandit says as I open the door a sliver, catching sight of lady.
She moves to the side, revealing Bandit sitting on a chair.
“Come on. You’re the most notorious wormhole bandit in the galaxy. You give them this, yes?” Lady says.
I look towards her hand, seeing the portable wormhole generator on her wrist. I scowl at the sight, growing increasingly irritated.
“Then you can tell me where they are.” Lady says coldly.
“Even if I did have anything to do with that, I didn’t break any laws. You can’t even do anything about it. In fact, I think—” Bandit’s words are cut off when lady shoots an energy beam at a spot above her head.
“Do you understand what is going on out there? Do you understand what’s at stake? People are dying because of this. So there is nothing and I mean nothing, that I won’t do to save the universe. So tell me where they are.” Lady says, keeping her blaster pointed at Bandit.
“Woah—woah. We can—we can work this out. I tried to stop it. I swear I did, but I don’t even know what they did. They don’t even know they’ve got entire universes smashing into each other in there. I don’t even know how I got out.” Bandit says in a voice filled with fear.
I can feel that part of me that hates to see injustice of any kind, rear its head.
After all the universes of this lady accusing not just me, but everyone around her, it’s about time I give her a piece of my mind.
“Oui! Instead of you pointing blasters and threatening people, maybe you should try talking with them instead!” I kick the door down, causing both of them to look at me.
“You.” Lady states, going to blast me with her blaster.
I grab the vent cover next to me and toss it at her, a barrier of some kind appearing.
“Nice try—” She says with a normally hair raising smile, but I put an end to her celebrating by using my own blaster to shoot a beam at the hand holding her own.
She isn’t able to activate her shield in time, so the blaster goes flying out of her grasp, landing on the floor between us. She goes to make a move towards it.
“Not another step!” I snarl with a death stare as I point my own blaster at her, seeing her raise her hands in the air.
I stride into the room and kick the fallen blaster out of the way.
“Now you listen here, lady. Accusing people every chance you get is the irresponsible way to go about fixing the universe. You’re so content to blame everyone, I think it’s about time you get a taste of your own medicine.” I state coldly, seeing her stare at me in shock.
“When my Head Engineer and I first came to your Agency for help, you refused us and accused us of building the warp core, despite you also stating that tech like that would take thousands of years to build, which isn’t possible for human beings since humans have short lifespans.” Her eyes widen at my words but I press on with my speech.
“You, a part of an Agency meant to keep balance and stability throughout the universe, instead of you talking us through on how to shut off the warp core or how to even find it, you chose to blame us instead. Hell, instead of offering any sort of help to make things easier for everyone, you thought it necessary to threaten us with a blaster like a common thug.” I berate, seeing her open her mouth to object.
“I am not finished.” I state in my scariest tone, seeing her instantly shut her mouth.
“Instead, I have to enlist the help of Bandit over here, to try to fix the problem ourselves, since apparently, the very Agency we came to for help, is too incompetent to think of any such solutions to stop the paradox we find ourselves in.” I say, seeing Bandit nod in agreement to my words.
“You think any of us want the universe to be the way it is! Every one of us, wants to find that warp core and shut it down, but the only problem with that is that the warp core keeps moving around by transporting itself into other universes!” I exclaim.
“You want to shut down the warp core?” She questions in surprise.
I give her the most deadpanned look I can muster.
“Well duh, why’d you think we wanted your help earlier? I want it shut down, I want the universe to return to normal and most importantly, I want my ship, along with everyone on board to be safe.” At this point, my words are quite cutting, just about fed up of everything going wrong and with Actor interfering with my decisions.
I glance at my hand, seeing the crystal begin glowing once more.
“And it seems my time in this particular universe has been cut short.” I remark as I return to looking at the other two women in the room.
“Damn, she’s so attractive when she’s angry…” Bandit mutters under her breath, but I can still hear her easily.
I then look towards Lady, seeing her look at me as if I just turned her entire universe upside down.
The crystal’s glow is a lot brighter now, warning me that I’m about to be transported away. I toss the blaster down, away from everyone.
“So if you happen to find that warp core, shut it down, for everyone’s sake.” I say softly, quietly as I let out a tired sigh.
Feeling the wormhole form behind me, I step back into the portal, letting it take me away.
Notes:
Well, the Captain seems to be reaching the end of her fuse. Not that I can blame her.
Chapter 27: Melodies Anyone?
Notes:
Hey everyone, sorry for the gap in updates. I had gotten the cold and was sick for a bit, but the good news is that the cold is gone and I'm feeling a lot better. I hope you enjoy the chapter...we're nearing the end of In Space with Markiplier.
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Exiting the wormhole, I see that I’m back on some version of the Invincible II.
Looking up, I see a light pass through the grid at the top of the darkened hallway leading into the bridge. Turning around, my eyes widen slightly as I see Gunther, Burt, Celci and two other crew members lining the hallway.
I walk towards them, hearing music playing in the background.
“Oh my God, the Captain is back.” One of the crew sings as he holds out his hands.
Rolling with it, I reach out and grasp his hands with mine as he walks backwards, leading me into the bridge. I note that his uniform has sequins on it.
“And here we are in space…” He spins me to the right and I stop when I see them in my sight once more.
“…how amazingly cool is that.” He sings as the others join us in the bridge.
They glitch, their uniforms being replaced by country styled clothing and they are also holding instruments used in country music.
“Oh my God, the Captain is back—how amazingly cool is that! Yeehaw!” They all sing before their clothing is replaced with choir clothing and the instruments are replaced with books about hymns.
“Captain you are—” The clothing shifts to a heavy metal aesthetic, my crew also holding the appropriate instruments.
I can only look at the scene, a bit baffled, but relieved that they don’t seem to be angry with me at the moment.
“—back!” The lead singer sings in a heavy metal scream.
“And now here we are, back in space again.” They sing, everyone dressed in medieval clothing?
I don’t think all of those instruments come from the medieval period.
“How amazingly cool is that! Hey!” Their clothing shifts to something a jazz band would wear.
I keep my expression the same, even though I’m annoyed at having Actor continuing to watch my every move.
God, do I wish he’d be distracted by something since I don’t appreciate him having such a laser focus on me.
“The Captain is back, the Captain is back! Bring it home ninja Brian!” The lead singer sings as everyone’s clothing is now some strange combination of articles that doesn’t really makes sense.
They then begin glitching, all of the different costumes they wore being looped as this universe becomes unstable.
The warp core crystal on my glove glows in reaction as it readies to transport me away once more.
As the universe becomes more unstable, I’m sent through another wormhole.
Exiting this wormhole, the first thing I notice is that everything is dark, except for a single, glowing light in the distance.
I being walking towards the light, seeing the warp core resting in the middle of the blue glow. I speed up my walking, quickly decreasing the distance between the warp core and myself.
Now a lot closer, I can see someone slumped against the base of the warp core. I cautiously make my way around the warp core, seeing that I won’t be able to use it to reset anything since it has no power nor does it have a control panel to input any commands. I stop a feet away from the lady sitting at the base of the warp core.
"Hello?” I question softly as I take in her injured form.
I crouch besides her, watching the eye not covered by the gauze, fluttering before opening. Her gaze settles on me as she lets out a small breath.
“I spent all of this time trying to find you, and it’s you that finds me.” She says before a pained groan escapes her lips.
I stare at her in concern since I can see the blood leaking from her nose and from her eye that’s covered by the gauze.
“You know, after all this time…after all of the different universes I’ve travelled through—you never did tell me your name nor did I tell you mine.” I say softly, seeing her stare at me in surprise.
“I’m Y/N.” I say my full name, seeing her smile slightly when I hold my hand out for a handshake.
“I’m Allu Minium.” She says as she softly grasps my hand and I give her a gentle handshake, not wanting to injure her any more than she already is.
Finishing the handshake, I let her hand go as I shift to sit cross legged.
It’s quiet between us for a while.
“I was wrong.” Allu admits, my eyes widening in surprise.
“I was wrong.” She repeats with a shuddering breath before a cough escapes her lips.
“I-I thought it was you.” She says hoarsely as I keep quiet, letting her speak.
“I thought…you did it on purpose…and if I-if I could’ve just stopped you…” She says, her words interrupted by a cough.
I would’ve helped her with her injuries but my hands are unfortunately tied.
“And I-I wonder what would’ve happened if I didn’t choose to follow you down that wormhole. But there is still time to save the universe. There has to be.” Allu says, voice getting softer.
“Otherwise, why are we still here?” Her question causes me to bite back on my anger, not able to lash out at Actor at the moment.
“We’re stuck in the moment of our destruction.” A small laugh escapes at the end of her words, causing me to tilt my head slightly in curiosity.
“What’s so funny?” I inquire softly, feeling a bit strange sitting here and having an amicable conversation with Allu and not have to worry about her shooting me.
“Like that, um…it’s a small mammal from Earth, in the little—little wheel. I loved that.” She explains as she closes her eye.
“A hamster?” I say.
“Yes, a hamster—I could’ve watched that thing forever. I could’ve—” She says before choking, causing me to reach for her in alarm as she coughs, clearing her airways.
Seeing that the choking has passed, I let my hands rest on my legs.
“Always running forward…” Her eye reopens.
“…and never moving anywhere. Like—like me. Like you.” My eyes drop to my hands momentarily at her words, feeling the bitter truth in them.
We’re all currently powerless against Actor, they don’t know that everything’s being manipulated by that monster. And I’m as powerless as them at the moment because I know he’ll harm innocent people if I don’t play his game.
“Everything has to end.” Allu says quietly, my gaze returning to her.
“And everything has to begin. And sometimes—sometimes you just have to hold on to hope.” I silently hold out a hand towards her, showing that I carry no ill feeling towards her.
She places her hand in mine and I wrap my fingers around her hand, squeezing gently as I stare at her, trying to convey that I haven’t given up on fixing everything.
I see her eye close, her head slumping onto her shoulder, causing me to feel alarmed once more.
“Allu?” I call softly, her hand slipping from my grasp.
I see her eye open after a beat.
“Um, am I dead?” I let out a small chuckle at her question.
“Would you be disappointed if I said no?” I ask, a bit teasingly.
“Oh, sorry. I really thought I was dying. I really did. Because it felt like a really poetic moment, you know?” She says as I stare at her, a bit amused.
“Like, ooh—like the Earth movies where they die, and they’re just like—” She says before letting out a dramatic gasp and slumping back against the warp core with her eye closed.
Allu reopens her eye once more to look at me. “You know? But that didn’t—that didn’t happen. No worries. I’ll probably pass soon because my wounds are pretty severe.”
She looks at her injures before shifting her gaze towards me and seeing the concerned look on my face.
“But my people are also notoriously though to kill. Like, super tough. Like you chop off all of our limbs and we just keep going and going.” I grimace slightly at the mental image of her not having any arms or legs and wiggling towards me.
I shake my head slightly to get the disturbing image out of my mind.
“Like, my Uncle Fob, all that’s left is a kneecap in a jar.” She says as I stare at her, horrified.
“He is happy.” She says as I spot the warp core crystal begin to glow and hum.
I raise the hand with the crystal, up to my face.
“Is that supposed to be here?” She asks, pointing at the crystal.
“Allu, I’ll try my best to fix everything alright. You have my word.” I state in a serious tone, seeing her open her mouth to reply.
Unfortunately, I’m transported away before I can hear her respond.
Looking around, I furrow my brows, seeing nothing but the vastness of space around me. Then, I begin hearing piano chords playing in the background.
Within the darkness, I see Mark step forward.
“Space was so cool.” He sings, seeming to not be able to see me.
So this version of Mark can also sing…
“So cool
But it won’t even live in a memory
Universe unspooled
So cruel
To be leaving with only a melody
So pretty, what a pity.”
“There were billions—” I see other versions of Mark appear from the darkness, all of them singing along as they join him in the spotlight.
“And billions of stories
And infinite, infinite stars
We did our best to hold it together
But now the seams are all
Pulling apart.” A flash of light appears as we begin moving throughout space.
“Space was so cool
So cool
But it won’t even live in a memory”
I silently watch them as they harmonize for a bit as the music swells.
“It was so pretty what a pity.” The black and white version of Mark, dressed as a detective, sings before he puts on his hat.
All of the different versions of Mark disappears, leaving only my Head Engineer.
“If there was a way
That I could change
All that’s been wrecked” He sings, his gaze settling on mine and I know that this time, he can see me.
“Rewrite the regrets
Let’s leave no stone unturned
Let’s stay bright till we’re
Burned
It’s so cool
So cool.” A planet begins passing between us, gradually blocking the other from view.
We keep our gazes on the other.
“And so pretty.” Mark sings as the planet fully blocks him from view.
I look down at my boots, ignoring the wormhole, even as it pulls me in.
“I’ll fix this Mark, for all of our sakes.” I whisper, the wormhole transporting me into the same area Allu was interrogating Bandit.
I look around warily, a bit worried that I’d have to go through that entire interaction again. I go to reach for a blaster, turning to the side when I hear a clatter coming from the room, the door wide open. I slowly move towards the room, tensing slightly when I hear heavy footsteps getting nearer.
It’s not Allu, her footsteps are lighter. It’s also not Bandit…
“Captain?” Wug questions as he rounds the doorway, revealing that he’s holding a baking tray with cookies.
I let out a sigh of relief.
“Wug, is that you?” I question with a smile.
“Yes, Wug is here!” He says happily.
“Cookie?” He inquires, holding out the tray.
“Oh, thank you Wug.” I say, taking one of the cookies off of the tray.
I glance down at it.
Eh, it looks edible enough. I take a small bite, chewing thoughtfully.
It’s actually not that bad, just a little burnt.
I see a flash of blue light occur from behind me, along with the hum of a portable wormhole generator, which causes me to turn around.
My eyes widen in surprise when I see Bandit standing there.
She rests the white, plastic bag she’s holding onto the bench besides us, before noticing me.
“Ah, Captain. Oh my God, it’s you.” She greets with a big smile before she gives me a hug.
“Hello Bandit, good to see you again.” I say, returning the hug.
She lets me go.
“It’s been—I don’t know how long it’s been. Time doesn’t really work the same, but, man, it’s been awhile.” She says with a smile.
“Look at you.” Bandit says, giving me a once over.
“Welcome back.” Wug says from behind me.
Bandit and I turn to look at him.
“Cookie?” Wug asks as he holds out the tray towards Bandit.
“Oh, Wug, buddy, that is so sweet, but you know your cooking will kill me.” Bandit says as she momentarily rests a hand on one of Wug’s oven mitted one.
I glance down at my cookie at that, deciding to set it onto the table behind me.
“You right.” Wug says, shoulders slumping as he looks down at the floor.
Bandit turns to look at me as Wug heads back through the open doorway.
“Anyway, I am so glad you’re back.” Bandit says with a giddy smile.
“I don’t know what you did, but it has been so freeing. I just—opening wormholes has never been easier. I can go wherever I want and whenever I want. I’ve been able to see some things that I thought I lost.” She says before she grabs my hand with the warp core crystal.
I see the smile slide off her face when the crystal begins glowing.
“Oh, well, I mean, I guess that means you gotta go now.” She says, letting my hand go.
“Yeah, I guess.” I say quietly, letting my hand return to my side.
“I know this probably isn’t even real and it’s probably all just one big dream, but I am just so glad we met.” She says, causing my gaze to soften.
“I’m glad we met too, Bandit…I’m glad I was able to see you and Wug again.” I state earnestly, knowing that this will be the last time I’ll see them in a long time.
I can hear heavy, thudding footsteps to my right once more.
“Hug?” Wug questions, causing me to look towards him, seeing him standing there with his tray of cookies.
Wug then drops his baking tray. “Wug hug?!”
“Wug no.” Bandit says in a shaky, nervous tone as she approaches him.
“You know you can’t hug people, okay? It’s just—”
“Hug!” Wug exclaims as he barrels towards me, causing me to hold up my hands in alarm, the crystal activating and sending me through another wormhole.
Exiting the wormhole, I look around, seeing that I’m standing on a darkened stage. I can feel eyes watching me, but I can’t see who they are.
All I know is that Actor doesn’t have his attention on me, his presence is blocked by someone.
A few dim lights flicker to life in front of me, revealing that everyone I’ve met on this journey is sitting at tables and looking at the darkened stage I’m standing on. Hearing a piano begin playing a slow melody, I shrug slightly.
It’s seems like it’s my turn to sing a song.
I step towards the microphone and hold onto the microphone stand, the microphone already at the perfect height.
A soft, purple spotlight shines down on me as I being to sing, not letting my gaze settle on any person in particular.
“So here we are, at the edge of space
The journey a heavy weight
Time’s running out as the stars go out
The sand in the hourglass is almost gone
It won’t be our Memento Mori
We’ll do our best in this endless loop
As long as there’s hope
There’ll be a way
To make everything right again.” My gaze finds the young and old versions of my Head Engineer, seeing the both of them look at me in surprise.
I guess they didn’t know I can sing, though not as good as I can play the violin…
Cellos and violins join in with the piano as I continue to sing.
“At the point of no return
There’s nowhere to run
And nowhere to hide
Everything seems bleak
But we’ll see this through until the very end
It won’t be our Memento Mori
We’ll do our best in this endless loop
As long as there’s hope
There’ll be a way
To make everything right again.” Shifting my gaze again, they catch on a few people sitting in the only darkened corner of the room and I have to refrain from smiling when I see Dark, Celine and Wilford looking back.
They all smile at me, Wilford shooting me a wink as Celine sits beside him, wearing clothing that has stars printed across it.
That’s why Actor can’t pinpoint where I am, it’s all Dark’s doing. Keeping my gaze on them, I continue to sing the rest of my song.
“I won’t lose hope
As long as there’s a will
There’ll certainly be a way
I’ll change what’s been wrecked
And rewrite the regrets
As long as there’s hope
There’ll be a way
To make everything right again.” The music fades away with the last note of my song and everyone beings clapping and cheering.
I bow slightly in reaction, looking around at everyone in the room before my gaze settles at the table Dark and the others are sitting at. Spotting the fact that Wilford and Celine are holding hands, I then look at Dark, seeing him looking directly at me with a small smile on his face.
“Thank you.” I mouth to him, seeing him nod at me, his smile shifting into a smirk as he presses two of his fingers to his lips and gestures towards me.
Straightening up, I blush slightly at the gesture.
Looking around, I see everything beginning to fade away as the stage beneath me disappears and a slow moving wormhole appears around me.
Thunder rumbles as I float along in the wormhole, noting that even the shade of blue is different—it’s now a stormy, greyish blue.
This wormhole is different, I think I’m nearing the end…all I can do now is be ready for anything.
With that in mind, I let the wormhole transport me to my next location.
Notes:
Alright, alright, I couldn't resist giving the Captain a song. After all, the crew got a song and Mark also sang a song, so why not the Captain?
The name of the song is: "There'll Be a Way", and I wrote it myself, drawing some inspiration from "Space is so Cool".
Chapter 28: We’re At the Edge of Space and Time
Notes:
Hey everyone, just a few more chapters and we'll be at the end of In Space!
Chapter Text
I land in a darkened room, my hands landing on a knapsack.
Returning to my feet, I realise that I’m in the locker room area of the diner I had previously landed in. Heading towards the door, I open it, the door creaking noisily in the eerie silence.
Outside of the locker room is also darkened and there’s no sign of the chef, along with the multiple versions of him, anywhere in sight.
Is there no one in the diner? Using my supernatural hearing, I pick up breathing coming from the other side of the diner, along with only one heartbeat.
Okay, so only one person remains in the diner…time to see who it is.
With that in mind, I step into the area where the sinks are, closing the door behind me. Keeping my footsteps silent, I make my way towards the cooking station of the kitchen, parting the clear curtains as I go.
Now in the area near the cash register, I take note of the amount of cobwebs covering the different surfaces.
Did everyone abandon this place? How long was it since I was previously here?
Eyes falling onto the bell on the counter, I resist the urge to ring it, wondering why I’d feel such a strong impulse to do so.
Heading into the dining area of the diner, I briefly look around at the desolation, before turning my head towards the breathing and seeing the old version of Mark.
Turning my body to face him, I beginning walking towards him, making my footsteps audible when I sense Actor’s attention appear on me with strong intensely.
“Mark?” I call out to the old man cradling his coffee cup in his hands.
There’s a few lit candles lining the side of the table he’s sitting at, all of the candles situated near the window.
“Captain?” Mark questions, turning his head towards me.
“I was hoping you’d be back. It’s gotten real dark out there.” He says as I close the distance between us and sit across from him.
Glancing out of the window, I see that there’s only one star left in the sky.
“I imagine that this is probably the end.” His words send a sense of foreboding through me.
No, this can’t be how it ends…surely Actor won’t have things end anti-climatically.
“Don’t worry about not stopping me sooner.” He says, looking down at his mug momentarily.
“I’m starting to realise that even though we have infinite choices every single second of our lives, there’s only a handful that really, really matter.” He says, letting out a sigh.
“You know what’s funny?” He asks, causing me to lean my arms on the table.
“No, but enlighten me.” I offer in soft reply.
“I don’t know why, but I’m—I’m happy.” He says, surprising me.
“Happy?” I inquire, causing him to chuckle, a bit sheepish.
“I, uh, don’t know any other way to explain it. I’m content with everything. Being this close to an end, finally an end, and seeing you again—even hearing you sing just—I don’t know.” Mark says and I can sense that Actor isn’t happy about something but I ignore him, placing all of my attention on the man in front of me.
“It’s good. It’s good.” Mark says as I see from the corner of my eye, the last star beginning to flicker as if it’s about to go out.
Turning my head to look at the star properly, a few blinks later, the light of the star disappears, leaving only darkness outside. I return my gaze back to Mark, knowing that in the back of my mind, we’re running out of time.
“For a while there, I felt like I was right back there again living every single life again and again, never stopping, always moving forward, and…” He says, words ending in a whisper.
“And never going anywhere.” I state quietly, seeing him nod at my words.
“But now, it’s calm. It’s calm.” He says as a rumble sounds off to the right of me, causing me to look towards the sound and not seeing anything amiss.
Looking back at Mark, he meets my gaze.
“Everything has to end, Captain.” He says as he reaches into one of his pockets.
“It has to.” He says as I watch him, wondering what he’s reaching for…and if I have to be weary.
Pulling his hand out of his pocket, he holds his fist over the table, grains of sand trickling through his fingers.
“It doesn’t matter how tightly you hold onto things, they’ll still just slip right through your fingers.” He says as all I can do is just stare at him, more sand streaming through his fingers.
“You’ll always make mistakes. You have to. And that’s okay. I just wish I learned that sooner.” He says softly as he lets the rest of the sand fall to the table.
I hear noises to the right again, looking to the right and seeing a light pass underneath the door located across the diner.
“For what it’s worth, I’m glad I got to share this adventure with you.” He says, causing me to turn my head towards him, intending to give him a reply.
My eyes go wide, seeing that he’s not sitting across from me and that all off the candles have been extinguished. Gaze dropping onto the table where the sand is located, I reach for the sand and grab some in my hand.
“There’s no one else I’d rather share this adventure with, Mark. Thank you.” I say quietly to where he was sitting, letting out a shaky sigh as I return to my feet.
Keeping the sand gripped tightly in my hand, I make my way towards the door across the diner.
“The Captain pauses for a moment,” The Narrator says the moment I do so.
“Taking in the emptiness of the once bustling diner,” He says as I begin walking forward once more.
“Pondering the lives of all those who must’ve passed through this place.” A few inches from the door, I turn to look at the diner.
“It’s hard to imagine it was ever full to begin with. But it was once, and that’s what matters.” I turn to face the door, steeling myself for what could be on the other side.
Opening the door, I hear an echo of Mark’s voice. “Just like old times, eh, Captain? Captain.”
On the other side of the door is the warp core room, the warp core nowhere in sight.
I spot the young version of Mark in the room, a time-lapse of his movements playing out before my eyes.
“—Captain, there you are.”
“—And the only person that I trust more than myself…-There’s still time.”
“—….is the Captain.”
“—Where you going, Captain?” The question echoes as I watch Mark sit on the ground, seeming to be at a loss on what to do.
“I can’t give up.” He says as I watch him banging on the door leading out of the warp core.
How long has he been stuck in this room? The thought causes me to feel quite concerned.
“—Did we make it?”
“—But, Captain. But, Captain.”
“How could the Captain do this?” That question causes my eyes to widen, realising that this must be the version of Mark, the old version wanted me to stop.
“—That’s not me, Captain. That’s not me.”
“There has to be a way.” I silently watch Mark begin rebuilding the Warp Core.
He’s the one who built it after Actor placed it in his path? He kept rebuilding the Warp Core…
“—It’s not up to you! And I’m sorry…”
“—I just need more time.”
“—There’s not much time!”
“—Why would you do that?”
“We trusted you.”
“—I trusted you!”
“One more…” Mark says as I see the multiple versions of him stop doing their respective tasks, all of them staring at me in surprise.
“-Captain!”
“…time.” I realise that I had stepped into the room.
Hearing breathing behind me, I turn around.
“Hi, Captain.” Mark says as I barely manage to register the fire extinguisher hitting me on the head.
A pained cry escapes my lips as I fall to the ground, losing consciousness.
Ugh, definitely going to feel that in the morning.
I dazedly sit up, seeing Mark coming towards me.
Alright, so I wasn’t out cold for too long…
I blink rapidly as he drops the fire extinguisher, trying to focus my vision.
“Sorry about that.” He says, voice sounding far away as he kneels in front of me and grabs my left hand.
I stare up at him, quite disgruntled that he caught me off guard yet again.
“Couldn’t afford to let you make another mistake.” He says as he uses a pliers to rip out the warp core crystal from my glove, an arch of blue electricity appearing when it separates from the leather.
“What?” I say, managing to focus my vision.
“Yeah. Funny thing to say after an eternity of nothing but second chances—” He says as I try to grab the crystal back.
He snatches my hand by the wrist.
“Don’t.” He says firmly, slightly shaking his head.
I still in my movements, initially surprised at the tone he had adopted but soon getting over it.
I still have to stop him but I can’t take action yet…
Mark stands to his full height, looking to the side. “You don’t have to keep trying anymore.”
“There’s no time anyway.” He states, his consequent smile devoid of humour as he shifts his gaze towards me once more.
“Another thing I never thought I’d say again. But I’m going to fix the damage you caused.” He begins moving towards the newly rebuilt warp core.
I silently track his movements.
“I have a long time to spend rebuilding this machine you broke. A long time over too many lives.” He says, a hint of anger saturating his words as he crouches in front of the machine.
I hold onto the railing around the warp core, feigning that I’m still hurt from the blow to the head.
One good thing about being an eldritch entity is that I’m more durable.
“But I know now that this thing does more than just make wormholes.” He says, before placing the crystal into the warp core machine, activating the crystal.
“Distance and time are the same thing from different perspectives.” He explains as he returns to his feet.
“That’s all these universes are, just different points of view.” He backs towards the console for the warp core.
“And this machine didn’t just bridge a tunnel through our universe. It was bridging all of them. And you destroyed it.” He says as he begins typing a list of command prompts into the warp core’s console.
“I can’t undo what you’re done. Not here anyway. Or at least not now.” He says as he pushes the lever upwards, inputting the command prompts.
“Warp core engaged.” The AI for the warp core states as I clutch the sand in my hand tighter.
“If I could go back, if I could try again, if I could stop you before any of this even started, maybe I could save everyone.” He says as he stands a few inches from me.
“Or it could cause another paradox.” I merely state.
I can tell that my words confuse him.
“Warning, paradox detected.” The AI states before he can say anything in reply, which causes Mark to look towards the warp core machine.
“What? What the hell does that mean? What do the both of you mean?” Mark inquires as I swiftly return to my feet while he’s distracted.
Waiting until he turns to look at me once more, I toss the sand in my grasp, into his eyes.
“Ahh!” He yells in pain as I rush past him, towards the console.
“Temporal lock unstable.” The AI cautions as I stare at the code that was input by Mark.
“What the hell was that?” Mark cries in the background as I curse silently to myself at the plethora of complicated code.
“Is that sand? Who throws sand?” Mark inquires in an angry tone.
I ignore him, eyes settling on the warp core.
Mark has more coding experience, I’ll have to get rid of the crystal to shut down the warp core.
With that in mind, I rush towards the crystal.
“Paradox detected.” The AI warns.
I get a few inches from the crystal.
“Captain, no!” Mark yells, grabbing my wrist.
“You’ll destroy everything! Again!” Mark states as I turn to look at him with narrowed eyes.
“Target arrival date not guaranteed.” The AI states in the background as a wormhole forms above us.
“Captain, Captain!” Mark yells as the pull of the wormhole lifts him off of the floor.
I snatch his wrist in an iron grips as I wrap one of my legs around the railing, anchoring the both of us easily.
“Wait. Let me go.” He states, causing me to frown up at him.
“Why should I?” I ask in a neutral tone.
“Captain, please. I can fix this. Look, I don’t know what you did, and maybe you didn’t mean to, but I have to stop you. I have to!” He says over the buzzing of the wormhole.
“God, I wish I had thought of a fake hand or something.” His words causes my lips to twitch.
Yes, this is definitely the younger version of old man Mark. Which means that if I stop him, the paradox will be no more.
“Please! This is it! This is the end of everything. Everyone that ever existed is gonna get wiped out unless you let me go!” He pleads.
I look towards the warp core crystal.
“Captain! Please.” Mark pleads once more, causing me to look up at him.
“I have to keep trying. I have to.” He says, causing me to shake my head at him.
“Please. Let me go. I know I can fix everything. I know that there’s a perfect solution. I just have to find it! Please! Captain!” He says as I glance towards the warp core crystal, then at the wormhole above us.
Looking at Mark once more, I give him a firm look.
“Sorry Mark, I can’t let you go, this is for everyone’s own good.” I state, before reaching towards the crystal.
“Captain, no!” Mark screams.
“Y/N! Don’t do it!” Mark pleads, desperation entering his words as I feel my fingers curl around the crystal.
I pull the crystal out of the warp core, the blue light that was around the crystal, disappearing.
“Y/N!” Mark cries as I toss the warp core crystal into the wormhole, the wormhole imploding on itself and sending the both of us to the floor.
As a result of the wormhole imploding, it also knocked out the lights.
“Alert. Paradox resolved.” The AI says as I quickly return to my feet, noting that Mark is still on the floor, having knocked his head against the wall when he landed.
Momentarily taking in his dazed expression, I make my way towards the warp core.
Resting a hand on the device, I look at the warp core, seeing it begin to lose all of its power since it’s no longer connected to the crystal.
Above us, the backup lights flicker on, dimly lighting the room in crimson light.
“Paradox resolved.” The AI says in a slurred voice as the last of the power in the warp core device, disappears.
Oh, thank void, it’s over.
“What have you done?” Mark whispers to the side of me.
Turning to look at him, I take in his dirty, dishevelled appearance.
“You destroyed us.” Mark says as he approaches the warp core.
“You destroyed everything.” He states in a wavering tone.
I don’t say anything, letting him say his piece.
“This was our last chance to fix things and it’s gone. I spent an eternity in hell rebuilding this stupid machine, and you threw it all away! I don’t know if you’re evil or just stupid. But—” He yells angrily as his hand swings close to my face in his rage.
I snatch his wrist firmly, cutting his tirade off and causing his heart to skip a beat.
“That’s enough, Fischbach.” I state in a no nonsense tone, shocking him into silence since I’ve been fairly passive in this entire encounter…if you don’t count my throwing of sand into his eyes.
“What would you think would have happen if you’re not back there to fix things?” I question gently, seeing him stare down at me, the anger disappearing from his face as the inquiry registers in his mind.
He looks at the silent warp core machine before looking back at me.
“If I’m not back there…” His eyebrows furrow as he repeats the cycle of looking at the machine then back at me.
“If I’m not back then, the warp core is not back.” He says, voice getting smaller in his doubt.
He steps back and I let his wrist go, watching as he continues to move towards the console once more.
“I thought—I thought—” His words falter and I can just see the gears turning in his mind.
“I thought I rebuilt it because you destroyed it.” He says as he stands in front of the controls.
“Unless…” He whispers as he looks up to meet my gaze.
I can see the tears well up in his eyes as the realisation hits him.
“I built the warp core?” He questions.
“I sent it back?” He asks as I feel my heart break at the anguish on his face.
He lets out a shaky exhale. “I built it.”
He approaches where I’m standing.
“I built it. It was my fault.” He says in a shaky tone as he takes in a gasping breath.
I wrap my arms around him, hugging him tightly.
“It’s alright, Mark, just let it out.” I encourage, feeling him sag into the hug.
Above me, I hear him let out a broken sob. Feeling his knees buckle, I gently lower the both of us to the ground, keeping my arms around him.
“Shhh, it’s going to be okay. I don’t blame you for anything that happened. It’s going to be alright, Mark.” I whisper into his ear, feeling him cling onto me, his face buried into my shoulder as I feel him shake.
I run my fingers through his hair as we stay like this for a long time. At this point, the shoulder of my bodysuit is completely soaked with tears and I can feel it seep into my turtleneck, but I don’t care in the slightest.
“I’m—Captain, I’m tired.” He says through his tears as I continue to run my fingers through his hair.
“I don’t know when the last time I slept was. I don’t know if I’ve slept at all.” He pulls back slightly to look at me, his eyes red.
“Have you?” He asks as I reach up and wipe a tear away.
“Once, but that was a long time ago.” I whisper.
“I’m really sorry, Captain.” He says, my eyebrows furrowing.
“For what?”
“I thought the only way to stop this was to stop you, stop all of this from happening in the first place. But it was me.” He says, trying to put on a brave face.
“It was me.” His words causes me to shake my head.
“Mark, you had no way of knowing that this would happen.” I state quietly, resting a hand on his shoulder.
“Maybe I didn’t, but all those mistakes, all those lifetimes, all those people. I guess I lost hope.” He says as rumbling occurs outside of the warp core room.
“But you didn’t. You never did.” He gives me a small smile.
I return his smile, sensing Actor stop paying attention to us.
While that fact worries me a little, I keep my gaze on my Head Engineer.
“I imagine you haven’t had anything to drink or eat either.” I say, seeing him nod.
Reaching into my pockets, I pull out two water bottles and a few granola bars.
“I know this isn’t a substitute for a proper meal but here.” I say, holding out the items towards him.
He takes them.
“Thank you, Captain.” He says in a grateful tone as he shifts to sit on the platform the warp core rests on.
I copy his movements, sitting beside him as he rips open one of the packets of granola bars and begins scarfing it down.
“Take your time.” I scold gently when he almost chokes on it.
He grumbles through the mouthful of granola but slows down on his eating.
“Captain, you’re not hungry or thirsty?” He asks after swallowing his granola, not seeing me eating or drinking anything.
I don’t bother telling him that I don’t necessarily need such things anymore.
“No…but that reminds me.” I say, reaching into one of my pockets once more and pulling out a tape.
“Here, listen to this when you get a moment alone when everything resets.” I say to him, seeing him reach out and take the tape.
“What’s this, Captain?” He inquires, staring down at the tape.
“Call me Y/N, we’re alone after all.” I say.
“As for your question, they’re answers.” I whisper, shifting my gaze away from him.
“You should drink some water.” I recommend, feeling sadness well up.
“Right.” He says as I hear him opening one of the bottles.
I’m really going to miss him and the others…
I look back at Mark, seeing him finish gulping down the water in the bottle he opened.
“And Mark,” I say, causing him to look towards me.
“Yes, Y/N?”
I smile at him.
“I’m grateful that you were in my life.” I say softly as the rumbling increases in pitch and everything begins fading to black.
The last thing I see before darkness covers my vision, is Mark looking back at me with a smile.
“Me too.” He says as everything collapses.
Chapter 29: The Head Engineer and The Actor
Notes:
This fic has 206 kudos, that's awesome! Thank you so much for the continued support everyone.
As for this Chapter...there's a small suicide TW-a noose is briefly mentioned.
Chapter Text
My surroundings brighten into view, revealing the inside of a Cyro pod. Looking down at my hand, I don’t see any sign of a warp core crystal. A sigh of relief escapes my lips at the fact.
The touch screen built into the door of the Cryo pod, starts up.
“Software update complete.” The Female AI says as I look around, a bit weary.
Looking outside, I see a shadow of a power tool cast across the right wall of my Cryo pod. I can also hear a multitude of breathing and heartbeats outside of the pod.
“Initializing Wakey-Wakey Protocol.” The Computer says as I glance up at the emergency release button.
If everything’s alright, then I won’t need to press that.
Actor’s gaze is still absent, which makes me quite uneasy but I try not to let it show.
“Current ship status is nominal.” The Computer says as I quickly adjust my peaked cap.
The door to my Cryo Pod opens, revealing some of my crew.
Stepping out of the pod, I look to the right of me, seeing one of the crew members holding a drill in her hand and looking at a bracket she’s attaching to the wall.
“Morning, Captain.” Mark says in a chipper tone.
Turning my head towards him, I see his mouth form into an ‘o’.
“Morning, Mark.” I say back with as much enthusiasm as I can…which isn’t a lot.
“Ooh, you look like you’ve been through hell.” He says as he holds two mugs of coffee.
“You could say that, even scraped my knee when I crawled out.” I state dryly.
He gives me an empathetic look.
“Yeah, cryo sleep sucks, but coffee can help.” He says, offering one of the mugs.
“Thanks.” I say, accepting the mug and taking note of the writing on it.
#1 Captain, huh…Mark clinks his mug with mine before moving to the left of the bridge.
I take a sip of my coffee, relaxing a bit when there’s no sign of anything going amiss.
“Morning, Cap.” Gunther says, causing me to look to the left, seeing him with a case of explosives resting on his shoulder.
“Morning, Gunther—I take it that we didn’t have anything eventful happen in ADS?” I say.
Gunther shakes his head.
“Only a few asteroids, which is pretty good luck. I’ll be heading down with the advance team. If there’s any horrible aliens down there, I’ll take care of them.” He says, placing his cigar back between his lips.
“Right, I won’t keep the advance team waiting then.” I say.
“Not everything can be solved with explosions.” Celci says as she enters the bridge.
“Eh,” He says around his cigar, removing it from between his lips as he looks at me.
“Not in my experience. I’ll see you on the ground, Cap.” Gunther says in farewell, placing his cigar back to its usual resting place.
“Until then, Gunther.” I state, turning my gaze on Celci.
“You and Mark are one in the same.” Celci says to Gunther’s retreating back.
“Celci.” I say in greeting as the woman turns her gaze to me.
“Captain, all colonists are safe, healthy and accounted for, but I’ll keep my eye on them as they wake up.” She reports when she gets closer to me.
Celci then steps back with the intent of heading back to Cryo.
She pauses, turning to face me once again.
“Thank you for getting us here safe.” Her words causes me to nod, feeling warmth in my chest.
“Just doing my job, Celci.” I say softly with a small smile.
She returns my smile, turning towards the crew member waiting for her with a tablet in hand.
I watch the both of them walk off, speaking about the state of the Cryo pods and if there’s anything that needs maintenance.
“Captain,” Burt says, causing me to turn towards him.
“Burt.” I say in greeting, seeing him step down from the raised platform the main console rests on.
“You are a child of the universe. No less than a tree or a star, you deserve to be here.” He says as he gestures towards me with his wrench.
I smile slightly, recognizing the passage.
“And whether or not it’s clear to you, no doubt the universe is playing out as it should.” Burt says.
“Lines from Max Ehrmann’s Desiderata.” I say, seeing the surprise flicker across his face.
“You know about him?” Burt asks in gleeful surprise.
“Yes, he was quite the insightful gentleman.” I say with mirth, knowing that Burt had no idea I’d met the man when I was a practicing attorney at law.
“Burt, prepare main reactor for down-cycle and maintenance.” The Computer notifies.
Burt rests his wrench on his shoulder.
“Captain.”
“Burt.” I say in farewell, watching him leave.
“Please report to your assigned drop pods.” The Computer says over the PA.
Turning to face the main console, I see Mark standing in front of it.
“Computer, let’s get those blast shields open.” Mark says as he taps on the tab for the blast shields.
The blast shields open, revealing a few close by planets—the closest being a big, blue planet with a striking resemblance to Earth.
I take another sip of my coffee as I head towards the glass window for a closer look.
“Ah, the trip was smooth.” Mark reports.
“Just a few rocks. A couple cosmic rays. Nothing the computer couldn’t handle on its own.”
I let out a hum to show that I heard him.
“Acknowledged. All systems are fully operational. All crew accounted for. Disembarkation underway.” The Computer says overhead.
“Good—good, everything is as it should be.” I murmur, looking out of the window.
At this point, it was just the both of us in the bridge, the other crew attending to their duties throughout the ship.
“She is a beauty, isn’t she, Captain?” Mark says to right of me.
“Indeed she is.” I say in reply, looking to my right and meeting his gaze.
“Long range scans did not do her justice. Perfect in almost every way.” He says, before looking out of the window.
“We’ll still have to do top to bottom scans once we’re down on the surface, but we’re moving equipment as fast as we can.” He says as I look out the window, seeing the ships the crew are taking to planet-side, slowly making their way into the planet’s atmosphere.
“The crew is eager to get off the ship and onto solid ground. I think you can understand the sentiment.” I chuckle at his words.
“Yes, I image having solid ground underfoot after so long on a ship would be downright heavenly to some of them.” I say, amused.
“And, uh, thank you…” He says, causing me to turn my gaze towards him.
“…for, uh, not giving up on me. Just thank you.” He says, giving me a small smile.
“You’re welcome.” I say with a gentle smile, seeing him take a sip of his coffee as he turns his gaze outward.
Feeling a swell of friendly affection for him, I do the same, drinking my coffee as I tune into my senses.
Actor’s still not watching us, what is he planning to do? The thought drives away any happiness I have about the paradox finally being fixed.
Why do I feel like I’m on borrowed time?
“Do you still have the tape I gave you?” I ask him quietly, a bit of urgency entering my words as I turn to look at him.
He turns his gaze to me, silently tapping on one of the pockets on his thigh.
“Good.” I nod.
“I didn’t get a chance to listen to it yet.” He says.
“When you do…seek out one of the colonists, her name is Doreen Whitacare.” I say, avoiding his imploring gaze.
“Captain, you’re worrying me…what’s on the tape, why do I have to speak with one of the colonists?” Mark asks earnestly.
Turning to face him, I walk closer to him.
“Mark, I don’t have a lot of time left here.” I say quietly, not wanting to let anyone else overhear.
I see alarm cross his features.
“Y/N, you’re talking as if you’re going to die.” Mark says in concern.
I shake my head. “Not die, it has to do with the contents of the tape I’ve given to you.”
He opens his mouth, probably to ask more questions.
“Please Mark, no more outward questions…I don’t want anyone to hear about it. There’s too much that can go wrong if the wrong person hears us.” I implore him, grip tightening on my mug slightly as I feel foreboding creep in.
Something’s wrong. Something’s definitely wrong.
Before he can say anything in reply, I feel Actor’s presence the strongest I’ve felt in a long time. The only time I felt his presence this strongly…was when I stood in the same room as him.
I can tell that Mark feels the presence too, judging from his flinch at the oppressive energy around us.
Overhead, the lights take on a dark red hue.
The sight of the lights changing hues causes my breathing to hitch.
No, please don’t let my suspicions be correct…he can’t be coming for me this soon!
“Captain, something’s wrong.” Mark says, face twisting into a worried look.
I open my mouth to reply, not getting the chance to.
“Am I interrupting something, Y/N?” My spine stiffens at the question, head swivelling to look at the man in the crimson suit.
Actor leans on his cane, a wicked, gleeful smile aimed at me.
Not even an hour after everything got reset. It appears that time’s up.
“Sorry to keep you waiting, my little starlet.” He purrs at me as I feel disgust surge through me.
My little starlet? He’s still trying to replace Damien and by extent, Dark! Which is never going to happen on my free will!
I hear Mark take in a sharp breath as I hear the shattering of glass.
Glancing down, I see the remains of his mug, the coffee splattering the ground between us. I set my mug down on one of the shelves close by, keeping my gaze on Actor. I wouldn’t put it past him to do something while my back is turned.
“That—that’s not possible, why does he look like me?” Mark questions in shock.
Actor turns his gaze to my Head Engineer, a look of disdain on his face.
“Well—if it isn’t the sub-par, alternate version of myself.” Actor sniffs.
That remark causes my hackles to rise as I glare at Actor, taking a step in front of Mark.
“Leave him out of this, Actor.” I state coldly, not giving a damn that the cat’s out of the bag.
I’m not about to just stand here and let him insult my Head Engineer. Mark’s a better man than Actor could ever hope to be.
Actor smiles cruelly. “Ahh—so you’ve regained your memories. It doesn’t matter, I’ll just have to wipe them out of that pretty little head once more.”
I grimace at his words.
This isn’t good, I have to keep his attention on me—if he realizes Celine is on board of the ship and is no longer a part of Dark, this situation will get worse. I have to protect all of them.
“Captain, what’s he talking about?” Mark asks from behind me.
I risk a glance at him, taking in his confused face. I feel guilt punch me in the gut.
“Your Captain hasn’t been entirely truthful to you, has she?” Actor asks mockingly.
“Y/N?” I avoid Mark’s gaze, not refuting Actor’s words.
“She and I go way back, a lot longer than you’ve known her.” Actor chuckles.
“Is this true, Captain?” Mark asks quietly.
“Unfortunately, it is.” I mutter to him, eyeing Actor warily and seeing his gaze on the man standing behind me.
Actor chuckles, my brows furrowing in confusion.
“What’s so funny?” Mark asks, tone conveying the confusion I currently feel.
“You’ve spent so long painting her as the villain. It’s hilarious, especially when you’re the one who picked up that warp core I had conveniently placed in your path. I knew you couldn’t resist finding out what it was and how it worked.” Actor smirks.
“You—you placed the warp core in my path? Why?!” Mark harshly questions Actor, voice raising in pitch.
Actor doesn’t seemed fazed by his counterpart’s anger.
“Why to give this little story a kick start, I couldn’t test whether Y/N would be the perfect co-star in my stories if there wasn’t anything interesting occurring.” Actor states, tapping his cane on the floor.
“You son of a bitch!” Mark steps past me, hands clenched into fists.
I stare after him with wide eyes, not expecting him to approach Actor.
“How could you do something like this?! We aren’t just your pawns to play with!” Mark shouts, going to take another step forward.
Sensing that this situation will turn violent and that it won’t end well for my Head Engineer, I grab at Mark’s arm, stilling his movements.
Mark’s head whips towards me, fury on his face—though his gaze softens as he peers down at me, showing that his anger is aimed at only one person.
“Mark, don’t approach him. He’s dangerous.” I state in warning, completely serious and immensely worried for his safety.
“But Captain—” Mark tries to protest, lips pulled down into a frown as I remove my hand from his arm.
“I would listen to her warning if I were you, boy. Else things will get ugly quite quickly.” Actor says, the mocking countenance shifting into a more threatening one as the lights flicker above us.
“But he’s the one responsible for everything going wrong—he said he took your memories Captain!” Mark states.
“I know what he did, Mark.” I say quietly, feeling my own anger well up from not being able to put Actor in his place.
Actor’s powers seep around us, Mark almost buckling from the stifling intensity. I guard myself against his powers, seeing that Mark won’t be able to withstand Actor’s powers much longer.
“Mark, I’m so sorry.” I whisper to him, stepping in front of him and reaching behind me, blindly snagging one of his hands as I subtly protect him from Actor’s powers.
Actor doesn’t seem to notice what I’m doing, which is a relief.
Thankfully, Mark chooses to keep quiet behind me. I can feel his other hand bunch the back of my bodysuit, sticking close to me as he intertwines his fingers with mine.
Alright, Actor can’t sense subtle magic, that’s good to know.
“Actor, I’ve passed your test—so leave him alone. You got what you wanted.” I say in a neutral tone, not showing the anger simmering beneath the surface.
The crimson clad man spreads his arms with a smile, gripping the cane in one hand by its shaft.
“You’re right about that, what a wonderful performance you put on, Y/N—the only downside was that I hadn’t gotten the opportunity to hear your beautiful voice sing. It appears that a certain someone is meddling in my affairs.” He says, smile shifting into a displeased frown, but he stops using his powers, the stifling intensity disappearing.
I give no inkling that I know who he’s talking about as I drop the shield around us.
“What do you mean?” I ask, keeping my hand in Mark’s grip, in the event I need to stop him from trying to attack Actor once more.
If it were a fair fight, I’m sure Mark would’ve have no trouble kicking Actor’s ass.
“The villain in my stories, it appears that you haven’t met him yet. Which is for the best, I don’t want you and him interacting quite yet. Especially since he’ll do nothing but lie to you.” Actor says, twirling his cane.
It takes all of my self-control not to scoff at his words.
Mark scoffs at his words from behind me, not needing to keep his true feelings hidden.
“Villain? Can’t he see that he’s the villain in all of this?” Mark mutters behind me, his hands still gripping both the back of my body suit and my hand.
Whether he’s doing this to keep me close by or to restrain himself from attacking Actor, I haven’t the slightest clue.
I would’ve loved to answer Mark on his words but I can’t risk Actor doing anything to the people on the ship.
If they die, they’ll stay dead and I can’t let that happen…they must live on.
My shoulders droop slightly, knowing that I have to bide my time on Actor getting his just deserts. Which means, I’ll have to play along to his whims. Hopefully, in whatever story he has in mind—I’ll meet Dark at some point, my memories hang in the balance of this happening.
I don’t even want to think of what’ll happen if I don’t run into Dark.
“I won’t fight you Actor, all I ask is that you leave Mark and everyone in this universe alone, they’ve gone through enough problems.” I implore, swallowing my pride when all I want to do is throw my coffee mug at his smug face and actually show the true scope of my powers.
“They’ll be left alone, I have no interest in furthering any story of you as a Captain. I don’t enjoy anyone else starring in any stories with you. You’re MY co-star now.” Actor states bluntly, obviously jealous.
“Though I’m pleased that you’ve come around to my point of view Y/N, at least I don’t have to resort to drugging you again.” I feel Mark bristle at Actor’s words behind me.
I turn my head, shooting him a warning look.
Don’t.
“Since I’m in quite the good mood, I’ll allow you to say goodbye to your ‘Head Engineer’.” Actor says from his spot.
“But make it quick…I am a busy man after all.”
I turn around to face Mark properly, forcing him to let the back of my body suit and my hand go.
We both share a look with the other. I can see him silently pleading with me not to go.
“Y/N, you can’t go with him—what would the crew and I do without you.” Mark pleads with me, grabbing my hands once more.
“You’ve all lasted without me being here before…just know that I’m doing this to protect all of you.” I whisper up to him.
“Please don’t go, we need you—I need you.” Mark pleads again.
I momentarily close my eyes at his words, hating that it’s come to this—that I have to leave them all behind for their own safety.
“I’m sorry, Mark. It’s for the best that you and the others forget about me. I wish you all the best and hope that you can find happiness out there.” I say, words wavering slightly as I try putting on a brave face for him.
“Live your live Mark, fall in love—form a stronger bond with the crew—even find new friends amongst the colonists. I know you’ll be able to successfully see the rest of this journey through.” I say in farewell.
“That’s the thing, Y/N…I’ve already fallen in love with someone.” He says, staring down at me with a look I know too well.
My heart drops into my boots, shaking my head in denial, even as I have a feeling of what his next words are.
“You’re the one that I love, it’s always been you, please don’t go.” Mark says, grip tightening on my hands.
My face twists into a saddened, regretful look.
“Oh, Mark. I am so sorry, but I can’t return your feelings—not in the way you hope. Know that you’ll always be dear to me.” I whisper, hand reaching up and cupping the side of his face as tears well in his eyes.
“How sentimental, I haven’t felt this choked up since I had a noose around my neck.” Actor mockingly remarks as I scowl slightly, annoyed at him.
“But it appears that your time to say goodbye is over.” Actor states as a small yelp escapes my lips when I’m ripped away from Mark by Actor’s powers.
I watch my mug go flying off of the shelf, disturbed by Actor’s powers. Luckily, it doesn’t land near the main console. It shatters the same instance Mark crumbles to the floor, Actor’s powers affecting him once more.
My back meets Actor’s chest, feeling him wrap a possessive arm around my waist, keeping me close.
“Mark!” I yell to his fallen form, refraining from ripping myself out of Actor’s grasp and running to him.
“Captain!” Mark cries out, trying to reach for me.
“Give her back, you bastard!”
Actor laughs above me.
“Give her back?” Actor questions, thoroughly amused.
“You’re a bit slow on the draw—SHE’S MINE.” Actor says, the last of his words ending in a snarl as his voice multiplies.
Mark’s eyes widen in terror.
“You’re a monster.” Mark whispers, struggling to get back to his feet.
“I’ll be nice and ignore those previous little remarks you’ve made.” Actor says as he wraps his other arm around me.
I look on, helpless as I see Mark’s nose begin to bleed from the strain of Actor’s powers.
I hate being helpless! If I use my powers now, Actor will get suspicious. I have to do something!
“Actor please stop, you’re hurting him!” I plead to the man holding me prisoner.
“You’re begging me on his behalf, Y/N?” Actor asks and I can tell he’s enjoying this…enjoying that I have to resort to begging.
Hating that I have to do this, I turn around in Actor’s arms, staring up at him imploringly.
“Please, please stop this, Actor.” I say again, reaching a hand up and touching the side of his face.
I can tell that my actions surprises him.
I can sense Dark watching us, but I don’t know what he plans to do. I can only hope he has a plan at the very least.
Actor stares down at me with a thoughtful look.
“Hmm, if that’s what you want, I suppose I can give the poor boy a break.” Actor says as his gaze softens slightly, cheek pressing more into my palm.
I manage not to shudder in disgust at his returned affection.
“Thank you.” I say, despite wanting to swallow a bowl of nails instead.
Actor grins at my words as I let my hand return to gripping his bicep. I look over my shoulder, seeing that Mark’s nose bleed has stopped.
I let out a mental sigh of relief.
Thank void. I turn around in Actor’s arms, facing Mark once more.
“You’re lucky that Y/N spoke up on your behalf, I would’ve left you to bleed out or maybe I would’ve squashed you like a gnat.” Actor says in a sinister tone.
Mark sits up, still not able to stand but he’s able to at least wipe the blood trail from his face.
I stare down at him, feeling tears well in my eyes at the state he’s in. I blink rapidly, not wanting to end up crying at the fact that I can’t even fully protect him.
“Don’t worry, little engineer…you’ll have a Captain to lead you, it just won’t be my little starlet.” Actor says, pointing his cane at a spot on the floor in front of us.
He’s really going to continue to call me that? I despise that nickname.
A woman with long, brown hair appears on the floor, looking up at us in fear. She’s wearing the same outfit as myself, which means that this is most likely the original Captain for the Invincible II.
“Say hello to the woman who was supposed to lead this crew of yours—Captain Amy Nelson.” Actor introduces, the woman scooting back as she stares at the man behind me.
I look up at Actor with narrowed eyes.
“What did you do to her?” My question gains an affronted look.
“Give me more credit, Y/N—all I did was have her as a guest in my home and as an active audience to your journey.” His words causes me to frown, looking back at the woman and seeing her now beside Mark.
“He didn’t do anything?” I ask the woman, ignoring Actor’s little huff when I don’t take his words at face value.
“No, he didn’t harm me in anyway—he only cursed and got angry few times when things didn’t go according to his script for you.” Amy explains.
“I see…” I remark, blinking at the answer.
“I think this conversation has gone on long enough, so I’ll be leaving with this lovely lady here.” Actor states, his grip tightening on me and causing me to hold back a wince of discomfort.
Looking at Mark, I give him a meaningful look, hoping that he understands why I gave him the tape. By the way his eyebrows shifted slightly, he seems to understand what I’m conveying, wisely not saying anything about his realisation.
“Take care of everyone, alright? Keep them safe.” I say to the both of them.
Amy merely nods as Mark manages to somehow get back to his feet and lunge towards us.
“Y/N!” Mark yells with tears in his eyes, hand reaching out towards me.
Feeling Actor’s powers wrap around us, I give Mark a soft smile, knowing that I may never see him again.
“Goodbye Mark.” I say as Actor teleports us away.
The image of his crying face will forever haunt me.
Chapter 30: The Aftermath
Chapter Text
Mark can only watch as the man that looks like him, takes away the woman he had grown to love.
“No, no.” Mark whispers in a wavering tone as he looks at where you were standing.
He pinches himself, hoping that it was a nightmare or that he was still stuck in a paradox and will wake up in his Cryo Pod—that he’ll exit his Cryo Pod and see your beautiful face once again. The pain registers in his aggrieved mind, telling him that it isn’t a nightmare, that it’s reality.
He blankly stares at the spot you were, hoping for everything to reset. With every minute that passes by, the hope of it just being another loop, grows smaller and smaller.
“Goodbye Mark.” You had whispered to him with a soft smile upon your face.
He collapses to his knees, sobbing in anguish at the realisation that you’re gone—trapped in the arms of a monster that looks just like him.
After everything the both of you had gone through, nothing could’ve prepared him to confront such a harsh reality—that you wouldn’t be by his side when everything was said and done.
“Mark?” A voice says, causing him to look up with bleary vision, seeing the woman who’s supposed to actually be his Captain, crouched in front of him.
“She really did care about you and everyone she met.” Amy says quietly to him.
“She refused to give up on all of you, I saw all of the struggles she had to brave. What she went through…it was something only those of the strongest of wills, could shoulder.” Amy states, sitting cross legged.
Mark numbly copies her pose, tears still streaming from his eyes.
“I admire her quite a lot—she’s been a better Captain than I could ever hope to achieve.” Amy says, before looking him square in the eyes.
“I am so sorry for your loss.” She says, resting a gentle hand on his shoulder.
Mark sags at the touch, curling into himself.
“She was the best Captain I could’ve ever asked for. She never gave up on me or lost hope, even when I did.” Mark says to her.
More tears well up in his eyes, recalling all the accusations he aimed towards her during this nightmare of a voyage. “And I called her evil and stupid, when all she wanted was to protect everyone. Even up to the point that monster took her, she wanted to protect me.”
Mark lets out another sob, feeling hands gripping his shoulders.
“Hey, look at me.” Amy says firmly, causing him to look up at her.
“She wouldn’t want you to blame yourself for what happened. There was nothing the both of us could’ve done to stop Actor—he’s dangerous and I have a feeling Y/N knew what he might’ve done if she hadn’t gone with him willingly.”
“How dangerous can one man be?” Mark questions, despite having gotten a small taste of what said man’s powers could do.
He reaches up and wipes at his eyes before he proceeds to wipe away some of the blood still smeared across his face.
Amy opens her mouth with the intent to offer up some sort of answer.
“Quite dangerous, especially since said man only qualifies as human by a mere thread.” A man’s voice says, a strange echoing quality to the smooth baritone.
Mark and Amy look around, realising that their surroundings have become devoid of colour and the lighting is now quite dim.
Looking towards the doorway leading out of the bridge, they see a man in a white suit with matching dress shoes. The man leans against the doorframe, his arms crossed. Underneath the suit’s jacket he wears a black, button up shirt, along with a navy blue tie with constellations printed on it. His face is shadowed so they can’t make out his features and they could’ve sworn they’ve seen flickers of crimson and cyan light outlining his form—but surely that’s just due to the poor lighting. Behind the man is nothing but pure darkness.
The sight alarms the both of them, worried about everyone still on the ship.
As if the man can read their thoughts, he speaks up. “You need not worry about your crew or the colonists, they’re safe—Y/N made sure of that.”
The man stops leaning against the doorframe, arms falling to his sides as he steps forward into the sparse lighting, revealing it to be the man Mark had bumped into so long ago.
“You.” Mark croaks, eyes widening as he recalls hanging in the air with the mystery man’s hand around his throat.
“So we meet again, under more dire circumstances.” Dark states, taking in the tear and blood stained face of the version of Mark on the floor.
The eldritch entity feels a twinge of sympathy well up for the man, knowing quite well what it’s like to lose the person you care about the most.
“Who are you?” Amy asks when Mark neglects to speak up.
Amy hadn’t witnessed what Mark had gone through on his journey through the different universes, Actor having had most of his attention on you.
Dark cracks his neck to the side, the gesture unnerving the both of them.
“I went by many names in the past, but you can call me Dark.” Dark says, Amy’s eyes widening in realisation.
“You’re the person Actor was talking about as the “villain” in his stories.” She says.
Dark crosses his arms.
“I think we all know that Actor is a snake that can’t be trusted to tell the truth.” Dark merely says, managing to keep his anger under the surface for the moment.
Dark knows all too well why you had chosen not to fight back against Actor, it was to protect everyone on the ship. He hates that you had no choice but to appeal to Actor’s vision of being a damsel in distress to sway him in ceasing to hurt this version of Mark.
“Just when I thought the man wasn’t capable of being even worse. It appears Actor had no qualms with killing someone that looks exactly like him.” Dark muses grimly.
“I remember that you had accused me of taking the Capt—Y/N, away from you.” Mark says quietly.
Dark grimaces slightly, remembering all too well how close he was to snapping the Head Engineer’s neck in his anger. The engineer was quite lucky that Dark took a peek at his soul and saw that it was human—blue and awash in pure light…not the twisted, blackened husk of a soul Actor has that barely contains a spot of blue.
“Yes, I apologize for that—you’re not the man I’m after. You’re another victim of Actor’s schemes.”
“You’re hunting down Actor? Why? How do you know Y/N? And what sort of name is Actor anyway?” Mark asks, peering up at the monochrome man.
He realises he must’ve looked like a pathetic mess to the both of them, but he didn’t care. What he cares about is finding out more about the situation his Captain is in and if he’ll be able to help her.
Dark’s eyes look out of the window, eyebrows furrowing slightly.
“I have reason to hunt down Actor because of what he’d done in the past. He hurt a lot of people and on that long list, includes Y/N.” His words causes Mark to look visibly concerned.
“Why didn’t she fight back if she got hurt by him in the past? Why did she just let him take her away?” Mark inquires.
Dark looks at the Head Engineer. “She did it to protect everyone on the ship…think about it, it only took Actor placing that warp core in your path to manipulate everything behind the scenes.”
“You know about the warp core?” Amy asks, Dark shifting his gaze to her.
“Yes, I’ve been keeping a close eye on everything.” Mark shakes his head at the entity’s words, growing angry once more.
“If you were able to see everything, then why didn’t you do anything to stop Actor?! You could’ve stopped him from taking her away!” Mark exclaims.
Dark narrows his eyes at the other man, not pleased at the yelling. His auras jump in annoyance as a red clone of himself flickers into view, pacing angrily behind him.
“You think I didn’t want to stop him from taking her away—I’d do it in a heartbeat if I had the means of permanently trapping that bastard so that he can’t escape—so that he can’t somehow weasel his way out of me tearing him apart atom by atom until there’s nothing left of him!” Dark snarls in a demonic voice as his control momentarily slips on his anger and hatred, eyes slating to black as the room turns frigid.
Frost begins forming at the edges of the room. The ringing that accompanies him, kicks up a notch as the sound of indistinguishable voices screaming in agony, echoes in the background. The sound of wood cracking and creaking can also be heard in this orchestra of horror.
This reaction from the eldritch entity causes Mark to reel back, realising that it’s probably not wise to anger the same man that was a hair’s breadth away from killing him in the past.
Amy only stares at both versions of Dark with a wide, horrified gaze.
“W-what are you?” Amy whispers, uneasy and fearful.
Actor didn’t have as much of a threatening and powerful presence compared to Dark. It’s like comparing a child having a tantrum to the devil himself. With Dark, all you want to do is crawl into a hole and hope that he doesn’t come after you.
The red version of Dark glitches out of view, Dark tugging on the lapels of his suit jacket.
“Something the human mind can’t fully comprehend.” Dark merely says, taking in a deep breath as he tries to draw on whatever meagre patience he has left.
His eyes return to normal as the temperature warms up slightly.
“As for your previous questions, Head Engineer, Y/N and I…we have quite a long history together. Even before I had become what I am today.” Dark explains.
“As for why Actor chose that name to go by, it’s most likely to distance himself from who he used to be.” Dark says.
“Why are you explaining all of this to us?” Mark inquires in a hoarse cadence.
“Because it’s what Y/N would’ve wanted for you. I’m not blind to see that she cares about your wellbeing.” Dark says, looking into the darkness of the door leading out of the bridge.
“What—what sort of relationship do the both of you have?” Mark questions, needing to know what this man—this creature is to his Captain.
His question causes Dark to look back at him, a bit of pity entering his gaze since he knows that his answer will crush any hope left in the other man’s heart of you returning his feelings.
Dark hesitates, Mark seeing that the other man is quite reluctant to tell him.
“Just tell it to me straight, I can handle it.” Mark implores the entity.
Dark seriously doubts that but answers nonetheless.
“She’s my girlfriend.” Dark sees a little piece of Mark die at his words and Amy’s mouth form into an ‘o’, stunned.
It’s quiet for a beat as Dark’s words echo in Mark’s mind.
She’s my girlfriend.
Girlfriend.
Girlfriend.
The entity might as well stab him in the chest while he’s at it…it’ll make the anguish he feels easier to ignore.
Mark recalls your reaction to his confession, understanding why you had told him that you couldn’t return his feelings in the way he had hoped. At that point, he thought it had to do with the fact that Actor had come for you…now he knows it’s because your heart lies with Dark.
“These feelings I have for her were doomed from the start.” Mark thinks to himself, gaze dropping to the floor as if it’s the most interesting thing in the room.
He couldn’t stand seeing the veiled, pitying looks Amy and Dark are casting his way. Mark tries to pull himself together somewhat—now isn’t the time to break down or cry, he can do that later.
“How did Y/N keep it together for so long?” Mark wonders to himself as he looks up at Dark, the eldritch entity returning his gaze.
The entity doesn’t gloat or look prideful that you had chosen him, instead there is compassion within his gaze.
A feeling of kinship is formed between the men, both understanding the other’s pain.
It brings into perspective for Mark and Amy on just how unfortunate the situation is for you.
“Actor’s even more of a scumbag than I initially thought…what kind of person kidnaps another man’s girlfriend and forces her to play along in his sick games?! Then again, he did knock me out when I was in the middle of reading the reports on the different crew on the ship, so I’m probably giving him too much credit.” Amy thinks to herself.
“The Captain hasn’t had a chance to be with him all these years—it’s been too many lifetimes since everyone was stuck in that paradox. And now she’s lost him again because she’s been kidnapped by that monster.” Mark thinks to himself, sincerely wishing that he were able to punch the actor in his smug face for making you suffer.
While it’ll take some time to accept that his feelings will be unrequited from your side, he can live with that. All he wants is for you to be happy and if that happiness lies with another man…he’ll just have to accept that.
“So Actor has your girlfriend.” Mark says in a serious tone, returning to his feet, still a bit unsteady from the ordeal he went through.
Dark nods at his words as Amy also returns to her feet.
“Yes, I intend to get her back.” Dark says, arms behind his back.
“I’m sure you both will have quite a lot of questions about how exactly we’ve all ended up in this particular situation…but it’ll take up too much time for me to answer such questions.” Dark says, Mark and Amy opening their mouths to protest, both wanting to know what he intends to do to get you back and stop Actor.
Seeing this, Dark speaks up once more. “You haven’t been left without answers, Y/N gave you a tape didn’t she.”
Mark looks down at the pocket on his thigh where the tape is. Wiping his hands on his bodysuit, uncaring that it’s now stained with his blood, he unzips the pocket and pulls out the tape. A sigh of relief escapes his lips when he sees that the tape hadn’t gotten damaged when he had fallen.
Dark sees that the tape is in one piece, turning his head to look at the darkness behind him.
“It’s best you take the both of them to watch the tape. Then you’ll be able to answer any questions they might have.” Dark says to the darkness, confusing Mark and Amy.
“You’re right about that.” Doreen says, stepping out of the darkness.
“It’s also best that you call back the crew, they deserve to know the truth.” Dark recommends to the both of them as they take in the mature woman with grey hair and white glasses.
The woman wears a navy blue dress with a shawl in the same shade. On the shawl are white stars and she also wears a pair of crimson gloves on her hands.
“Who are you?” Amy asks in curiosity.
The woman smiles.
“My name is Doreen Whitacare,” That causes Mark to look at her, realising that this is the woman you wanted him to talk to.
“Judging from the look on your face, Head Engineer, Y/N’s told you about me.” Doreen says, Mark nodding at her words.
Dark glances at her as she comes to a stop beside him. “You can drop the charade, Actor has his attention elsewhere.”
Mark and Amy notice the scowl to cross the entity’s face when he said ‘elsewhere’, both understanding that Actor’s preoccupied with you at the moment.
Doreen nods at Dark’s words.
“Yes, you’re right.” She says, her form glitching as a young woman that looks to be about 28 years old, appears in Doreen’s place.
The woman looks eerily similar to Dark and there’s also a similarity to Celci’s facial features.
The woman wears a long sleeved, black dress with stars, her shawl a crimson shade to match her gloves. Her black hair is in an elegant up-do, which shows off the gold earrings with stars dangling at the ends of it. Around her neck is a gold necklace with a full moon flanked by a waxing crescent moon on either side. She wears eyeliner just like the man beside her but it’s punctuated by the crimson and black eye shadow on her lids. Unlike Dark’s eyeliner, Celine opted for a winged look which brings out the intensity of her gaze even more. Her lips are shaded in a muted shade of red.
“Since that bastard isn’t watching us, I can finally get rid of that disguise.” The woman says.
“My true name is Celine, Celine Whitacare.” Celine says to the both of them.
Mark and Amy can only stare between the both of them.
“You both look like—” Amy says.
“Like twins—that’s because we are, for the most part.” Celine states as she steps closer to them.
Her words only confuses them both.
“It’s a long, complicate story.” Celine says, Dark merely nodding in agreement.
“I’ll be leaving now, Celine.” Dark says, Celine glancing back at him.
“Go, I’ll meet up with you later.” Celine says, sharing a look with Dark, a silent message being sent between them—one that Amy and Mark can never hope to decipher.
Dark briefly turns his gaze towards the other two occupants in the room, before stepping back into the doorway leading out of the bridge. With Dark doing this, him, along with the shadows, disappear—as if they were never there in the first place.
The surroundings regain their usual hue and the lights brighten once more with the eldritch entity’s absence.
Celine turns her head towards the both of them.
“Now, it’s best you call back the crew so we can get this explanation underway.” The way she says it, it’s obvious to Mark and Amy that she isn’t asking them to do so—she’s ordering them.
“Yes ma’am.” Mark says, Celine looking a bit amused at his words.
Not wanting to possibly anger her, Mark heads towards the main console and presses one of the tabs, alerting everyone that an emergency has occurred and to return to the ship.
“Just what other kind of people does Y/N potentially know?” Mark wonders to himself, thinking back on the plethora of interactions he’d had in the past hour or so since everything had returned to normal.
“Hard to imagine that not a whole lot of time has passed from the Captain fixing everything—to her being kidnapped by that douche bag.” Mark mutters under his breath.
“I’d call my ex-husband something worse than douche bag.” Celine says from behind him, causing him to flinch.
“How did you—” Mark says as he whirls around.
“I have quite sharp hearing.” Celine smirks.
“Right.” Mark says, frowning slightly as he looks down at the tablet attached to his forearm.
“All of crew will be back in a half hour since quite a lot of them are planet side.” Mark reports, Celine crossing her arms at his words.
“Alright, then we’ll wait until they’re back for this explanation. Because I hate having to repeat myself.” Celine says as she makes her way towards the window at the front of the bridge and looks out.
Realising what Celine had said previously, Mark and Amy look at her back, stupefied. “Wait, did you just say that monster was your ex-husband?!”
Celine looks at the both of them over her shoulder.
“Unfortunately, let’s just say it was a poor lapse in judgement from my younger self and leave it at that.” Celine states before looking out the window once more.
“Y’know,” Amy starts after a brief lapse of silence, causing Mark to turn towards her, seeing her holding a hand out.
“We haven’t been properly introduced, I’m Captain Amy Nelson.” Amy says, Mark nodding at her words as he accepts her handshake.
“Nice to meet you, Captain Nelson…I’m the Head Engineer—Mark Fischbach.” Mark says, shaking her hand for a beat before he lets her hand go.
With the introduction out of the way, they both wander off to different sides of the bridge, both needing time to mull things through.
Mark silently taps one of his feet, feeling impatience well up. He wants nothing more than to get some answers about his Captain’s hidden past, but he has to be patient—at least until all of the crew arrives back onto the ship.
With the crew now back on the ship, Amy had recommended that he get everyone gathered into the conference room. Which is where everyone is now, sitting in their respective seats.
Mark can see that Amy is quite nervous, especially with the way Gunther, Burt and Celci are looking at her, obviously noticing that she’s wearing the Captain’s uniform for their ship.
Celine stands beside Amy and gives the shorter woman’s shoulder a comforting squeeze.
The crew then look at Mark, alarmed when they see the dried blood on his uniform.
“Hey Mark, who are these two? Where’s the Cap? Why is one of them wearing the Cap’s uniform and why does the other women look quite similar to Celci? And why the hell is there blood on your uniform?!” Gunther questions in rapid fire succession.
This was it, the moment he had to break it to the rest of the crew that the Captain was gone. Mark takes a deep breath, letting it out slowly.
“The Captain—Y/N, she’s been kidnapped.” His words causes mayhem to erupt.
“Kidnapped?!” Everyone except Amy, Celine and himself, exclaims with varying degrees of shock, horror and concern on their faces.
The crew begins shouting and throwing questions towards him.
“Just tell us who kidnapped the Captain, I’ll put a bullet in em!” He manages to hear Gunther shout over the noise.
“I’ll hit them with my wrench!” Burt states in a serious tone.
“I’ll freeze them with Cryo solution!” Celci says in an irate tone.
“Everyone quiet down.” Mark says, trying to control the chaos.
They don’t seem to hear him, his consequent words drowned out in the noise.
Amy grimaces, knowing that she has to do something. Seeing an air horn, she grabs it and presses the button, a harsh noise erupting from the nozzle. Everyone goes silent.
“Good job, Captain Nelson…I was beginning to lose my patience.” Celine remarks as she eyes the crew pointedly, seeing them shrink back from the gaze.
“Captain Nelson?” Someone questions in the background in a confused tone.
“Now, I know that everyone wants an explanation so if I were you I’d keep my mouth shut and let your Head Engineer and Captain Nelson explain themselves.” Celine says in a tone that suggests that they best do as she says or they won’t like the end result.
Mark and Amy look towards her, having seen the way the crew gazed at her, very intimidated.
While Celine is no longer a part of Dark, she still knows how to intimidate and command a room.
With there now being silence, Mark and Amy take turns explaining everything that had happened in the past two hours. They then spoke about what each of them had endured because of Actor and how originally, Amy was supposed to be their Captain but had been knocked out and kidnapped by Actor so that you could take her place on the ship. During everyone’s time in the paradox, Amy had been a prisoner in Actor’s home and was forced to be an active audience to what you had gone through.
Hearing Mark and Amy’s accounts just causes everyone to be justifiably angry.
“I can’t believe this, the Captain was forced into all of this with no memory of her past and had to fix the paradox we were all stuck in because of a man that looks exactly like you.” Celci says to Mark, horrified.
“Yes, unfortunately. He said that it was some test for Y/N to see if she’s “worthy” of being his co-star.” Mark says grimly.
“That son of a bitch! It’s his fault everyone had to suffer, including the Cap! He even held an innocent woman prisoner and forced her to be an audience to his sick game!” Gunther exclaims in a pissed off voice as he rips off his sunglasses and outs his cigar in an ashtray, crushing the remains.
“Y/N, she gave me a tape after she had stopped the paradox. She said that it’ll have answers on it.” Mark says.
“Then we all should see it, it’ll hopefully give us an explanation on everything.” Burt says in a tense tone, trying to keep his anger in check from everything he had heard.
“I hope you know that you have some big boots to fill, Captain Nelson. The Cap was quite dedicated to her job and responsibilities.” Gunther says in a serious tone.
Amy nods. “I’m aware of that Gunther, I don’t intend to let Y/N or any of you down.”
Celci lets out a sad sigh, tears welling in her eyes.
“I just wished we were able to tell her that we’re sorry. We had no idea that we were blaming the wrong person all this time.” Celci says, the rest of the crew looking down, ashamed of their previous actions—every single one of them remembering everything—Actor’s way of showing them that they were the antagonists in your story.
“I-I planed mutiny against her. I thought that it was her fault everything had happened—that she didn’t care about us.” Gunther reveals, forming a fist with his hand as he avoids looking anyone in the eye.
“And we were all in on it because we lost our faith in her leadership.” One of the maintenance crew says in a regretful tone.
“I had turned the entire ship into one large Cryo pod because I thought that she didn’t care about the colonist’s wellbeing.” Celci admits.
“I had fused myself with the computer and was going to use the reactor to create a singularity that will collapse unto itself and take the wormhole with it, because I didn’t see another way out of the mess we found ourselves in.” Burt says, fiddling with one of his tools.
“I called her stupid and evil when she stopped me from sending the warp core back.” Mark says to the crew, no one saying anything to rebuke him since they were all guilty of placing blame on her.
“If she hadn’t stopped me, we would still be stuck in that paradox.” Mark says, eyes resting on the table.
It’s quiet for a moment as everyone thinks back on how horribly they’ve treated you.
Mark looks up from the table, gazing at everyone.
“All this time, we’ve been vilifying her—blaming her for everything that happened…when the real villain was pulling the strings behind the scenes like a giant, fucking coward.” Mark says and everyone can tell that he’s furious.
This is the first time they’ve seen Mark get this angry and admittedly it scared quite a few of them. He’s normally level headed and dedicated to his responsibilities, when he’s not bickering with Celci that is. They don’t even remember ever hearing him curse either.
Celine looks at everyone, seeing the grief and regret on most of their faces, along with the anger.
“It’s best everyone looks at the tape, you know a part of the events that transpired in Y/N’s life, but not the full picture.” Celine says.
Mark and Amy nod at her words, Mark taking the tape out of his pocket.
“You look like a mess by the way, Fischbach.” Celine says, Mark letting out a small huff.
“I’m aware.” He says dryly, Celine smiling slightly.
“Here.” She merely says and makes a small gesture, Mark’s uniform being replaced by a new one and his face being clean of any dried blood and tears.
That display of power causes everyone’s jaw to drop.
“What? Did you honestly think that my brother and ex were the only two with powers?” Celine teases lightly as Mark slightly shakes his head, handing the tape over to Amy since she was the closest to the VHS player.
“Brother? Ex?” Someone asks from the crowd.
“The tape will explain everything.” Celine merely says in reply to the inquiry.
Amy inputs the tape and presses play before she, Mark and Celine take a seat and face the large screen. Celine is sitting on Amy’s left and Mark on her right.
Nothing shows on the flat screen TV for a moment, until the black screen fades out and is replaced by you sitting on a high backed chair, set in front of a grey backdrop. You’re looking directly at everyone with a serious look on your face, your face fully in view with the absence of your peaked cap. Everyone can see that you’re also not wearing your uniform. Instead, you wear a navy blue pants suit with a black button up shirt underneath, the first two buttons of the shirt undone. There’s a string of pearls around your neck that matches the earrings in your earlobes. Your hair is in an elegant braided updo with some locks of hair framing your face. There’s minimal makeup on your face, just your usual eyeliner and black lipstick. Finally, you wear a pair of black, leather gloves on your hands.
“Dark, Celine and even Y/N seems fond of wearing eyeliner, though out of the three of them, Celine’s the most dramatic.” Mark muses as he looks at the image of you.
He always thought you looked beautiful in your uniform but seeing you in a suit topped that by a landslide.
“Damn, the Cap can really pull off a suit.” Gunther wolf whistles, Mark and the crew silently agreeing with his sentiments.
“If you’re seeing this tape, then it means I wasn’t able to tell you the truth in person. It means that Actor has taken me away.” You say in a sombre tone.
“It was never my intention to withhold information from any of you, but I had to in order to keep everyone safe.” Everyone silently listens to your words, hearing the sincerity in them.
“For you to understand how I came to be your Captain, I’ll start from the beginning. My name was F/N L/N and I was the newly elected District Attorney for the county of Los Angeles. It was on the day of Wednesday October 3rd, 1938—” Some of the crew let out a few gasps when they heard the date.
Mark and Amy can only stare at the screen with wide eyes. They were not expecting you to be that old, you looked to be twenty eight at the oldest—just like Dark and Celine. Which means that Actor has to be around the same age. It’s the year 2238 in their timeline, so they can’t be sure just how old you and the others really are.
“I had received a letter from Mark Fischbach—not the Head Engineer we all know, the Mark from my timeline was known to many as Mark Iplier—a multi-award winning actor that had been disgraced by the media.” You say, which clears up some of the confusion the crew had.
“As I was saying, I was invited to a poker party he was hosting at his manor. At the time I was quite surprised that he reached out with the intent of catching up since it had been years since I had last spoken with him. The Mayor of Los Angeles, Damien Whitacare had also received an invitation from Mark. Like myself, he hadn’t spoken with Mark for years since he locked himself in Markiplier Manor and refused to speak with anyone.”
“Egotistical much, naming the manor after himself.” Celci mutters, those able to hear her mumbling their agreement to her words.
“We’ve both been long-time friends with Mark—I knew him since high school and Damien knew him since they were children. As for how Damien and I knew each other, we attended University together and were also roommates. After we graduated, we remained in contact as we started our respective careers as politician and lawyer, becoming closer as the years go by.” Mark notices how you seem to be a bit sad talking about the Mayor.
“Damien and I had spoken to the other about the invitation and had agreed to attend since we didn’t see the harm in catching up.” You say, expression darkening.
“At first it was a normal party, nothing amiss. I had met some of Mark’s other friends who were also invited, a detective by the name of Abe Lincoln and a Colonel named William J Barnum. I even finally got the courage to tell Damien about my feelings for him, luckily he also felt the same way.” Everyone sees the affectionate smile on your face as you say this, seeming to be remembering that particular moment.
The smile then drops from your face as you say your next words.
“It’s the next day that things changed drastically—I had found Mark murdered in his home.” Everyone looks aghast at your words, even Celine, since she had no idea that you were to one to find his body.
She always assumed that the detective or her brother had found the body, not you.
“She’s gone through so much pain and grief because of Actor. When the time’s right—I’m definitely going to kick his ass for what he did.” Celine vows to herself.
“As you can imagine, it wasn’t a pleasant experience for me. With finding Mark’s body, it spiralled from there—the detective insisting that we investigate. He appointed me as his partner despite my reservations on said role. Towards the end of the day things had gotten much worse, tensions had been building throughout the day between Abe and William and they had drawn their guns against the other, accusing the other of being the murderer. Celine, Damien’s twin sister, had also made her appearance by then and had found out that Mark, who was her ex-husband, had been killed. She insisted that we can find out what happened to Mark by communing with his spirit since she had experience with the arcane arts.” That causes Amy and Mark to look towards the woman in question, seeing the way she frowns slightly, looking a bit sad.
“She asked me to help her with this and I had agreed, despite not knowing if it was such a good idea to delve into the occult. Damien also had his worries about her doing this and urged me to be careful.” There’s a small smile on your face, affection in your words when you mention Damien.
It’s abundantly clear to the crew that you loved Damien and he also loved you.
With the context clues being given, along with seeing Dark and Celine standing side by side and Celine confirming that they’re twins, Mark and Amy share a look of realisation with the other.
“Dark was Damien, but how did he become the way he is now?” Both question silently, returning their gaze to the screen.
They continue to listen to your words—how you learnt from a vision about the groundskeeper, how Damien had stayed back with Celine to learn more about what’s going on and how to prevent anyone else from dying. You explain how while outside with the detective, along with Mark’s chef… that Mark and the entity he had been conspiring with had attacked Damien and Celine, the entity possessing Celine’s body and pushing her soul out of it before strangling Damien to the point of unconsciousness, which allowed Mark to possess Damien’s body and push his soul out of it.
The crew can see the pain on your face as you relay this to them and can also see the grief on Celine’s face—no doubt reliving the memories.
“While this was happening, the manor had begun to shake, eerie lights and sounds emerging from it. This prompted George, the groundskeeper, to run inside—Abe and myself following after him. At this point, I saw Celine standing in the doorway of the room she and Damien were in.” You say, eyebrows furrowed.
“But I knew that wasn’t Celine, not with the way it looked at me. I had no choice but to help George close the door to the room she’s in, him locking the door with the set of keys he had. When I asked him what that was, he told me it was one of the entities in the manor, which is one of the reasons he didn’t set foot into the place for fifteen years.” You explain, gaze dropping to your lap.
“With Damien and Celine gone, I was in a lot of grief so I didn’t notice that the surroundings around me had changed again. I started hearing the voices of the Detective, the Colonel, Mark and even Damien. I couldn’t handle all of the voices that the other entity was making me hear so I begged it to stop. Surprisingly it did but it transported me into the room the Detective had taken to placing all of the findings of his investigation. From what I could see, he was investigating William and Celine the most out of everyone.”
“William had managed to find me in that room and he saw the papers, coming to the conclusion that Abe was the one responsible for everything that happened. I tried to stop him but he and Abe were at each other’s throats again, both pointing their guns at the other.” You pause in your explanation, hand drifting momentarily to a spot underneath your ribcage.
“In the midst of Abe’s accusations towards William, he shot the Detective in the heart in his anger. I tried to wrestle the gun out of his grasp and was accidentally shot. I had instinctively backed away from William and had fallen over the banister on the second level of the manor…right to my death.” You say grimly.
The crew’s eyes widen in horror.
“The Captain died, then how can she be alive?” Burt murmurs.
“Was it a rare case of Homo necrosis?” Burt questions to himself.
“I had ended up in a place called the Upside-Down.” You say, Burt focusing on your words intently.
“It’s while in this place I met Damien and Celine’s soul, along with Mark’s broken shell of a body—too damaged from all of the times he tried to end his life. They explained how it was Mark’s fault that all of this happened—that he did all of this in his quest for vengeance. The reason he wanted to do this is due to the accusation the detective was aiming at William…that he stole Mark’s wife from him and used him for money.” That causes some of the crew to look towards Celine before they return to looking at the screen.
“To put some things into perspective, Celine had already divorced Mark a few years before all of this had happened. While I’m not fully aware of what had transpired between Mark, Celine and William—whatever happened certainly wasn’t justification for Mark to trick William into shooting him, nor for him to plot with an inhuman entity to steal someone’s body and leave their soul trapped in the Upside-Down.” You say, the last of your words quite cutting.
Somewhere overhead where you’re sitting, a light seems to flicker.
You shake your head slightly with a grimace, looking at the camera once more.
“I’m getting a head of myself in this account…” As you say this, the light stops flickering.
“…with being in the Upside-Down, Damien, Celine and I were essentially trapped. However, Damien and Celine had convinced me that we can all get out of there if we use my body that was still lying on the floor of the manor. Despite it being damaged from my injuries, it was still out there. Not having any other choice, I accepted and was sent back by Celine. I was now back in my body but it was at the detriment of William’s sanity. He had been staring at my body for hours, consumed by guilt and grief—so seeing the fact that I had apparently woken up from dying, it fractured his sanity.” Your retelling of what happened to William causes another pained look to appear on Celine’s face.
It was never her intention for that to happen to William, not when he’d been so kind and understanding to her all the years they’ve known each other.
“Thinking it was a joke Damien had put me up to, he wandered deeper into the manor in search of Damien and Celine. At this point, I was having a hard time dealing with having so many souls in my body…unbeknownst to me—there was also one more soul that had also inhabited my body. That soul was one of the entities in the manor.” The last of your words causes alarm to the crew once more, but they keep quiet—knowing that you’ll explain further.
“At the time, I had no idea that Celine had made a deal with the ruler of the Upside-Down to stop Mark and to also hunt down the entity that had escaped. The entity had ended up ejecting my soul out of my body…right into a mirror to keep my soul safe, though I didn’t realise it at the moment.”
“A fucking mirror?! Seriously?!” Gunther exclaims in shock, quieting down when everyone shushes him.
“My body had changed to look similar to Damien, but different. His skin tone had turned grey and there were crimson and cyan auras around him. He seemed to be struggling with himself, before he met my gaze. There was so much coldness in that gaze, though it had softened for a brief moment when Damien’s soul had managed to gain control of my body. The look shifted into anger when Celine, half merged with the entity, had gained control. They left the manor, leaving me in the mirror.”
“I tried to call out for help when the Detective passed by, alive despite being shot in the heart, but it was futile since he couldn’t hear me. I don’t know how long I spent in that mirror…at first I was so hurt and angry that they’d betray me, but the anger disappeared the longer I spent in there. At that point, I was quite bored and it was during this that I learned I could materialise things out of thin air. Since I was dead, my features had changed, I was a lot paler compared to when I was alive and I also had purple and white auras around me.”
“Auras?” Mark questions, not seeing any in sight.
Now that he thinks back on it, didn’t Wug mention something about that the first time you both met the alien and he had slapped that horrible helmet onto his head?
“You’re not able to see them right now because I have them hidden, I never had to hide them up to a certain point because they couldn’t be seen by normal human beings.” You acutely explain as you make a small gesture.
Everyone sees a purple and white aura appear around your body.
“Whoa.” Celci breathes, mouth dropping open slightly at the sight.
You then begin to explain the rest of your time in the mirror, how a changed Damien, now known as Darkiplier/Dark had come back to visit you in the mirror and explained everything to you—how he promised that he’ll find a way to give you back a physical form. You mention how he said it’ll be a lot simpler since you were no longer human.
That revelation causes everyone to blink, not as surprised since no human being has auras like that around them. They listen to your further explanation on how, while waiting for Dark to come back to free you, Actor had managed to track down your location and had used dark magic to forcibly give you a physical form.
“He had teleported us into his home—I tried to fight him off, but since I was still adjusting to having a physical form after eighty four years as a trapped soul, you can imagine how well that went.” You state grimly.
“Actor held me down and had managed to drug me. Whilst unconscious he’d also blocked most of my memories and made false ones in their place, which tampered with any of my earlier memories that I had with him—all for the sake of me fitting the ‘role’ he wanted me to play.” Those words causes a lot of anger to rise up in everyone once more, the room darkening quite a bit from Celine’s anger.
“I’m going to kill him.” Celine says in a vehement tone.
While most of the crew were against killing, they all can make an exception when it comes to Actor and what he did to their Captain.
“Oh, we would love to help you with that endeavour.” Gunther states, itching to introduce Actor to the business end of his gun and maybe even his fists while he’s at it.
“With my memories tampered with and being deemed well-adjusted to having a body again, I was sent aboard the Shuttle Marmota to be transported to the Invincible II. This sets off my journey as Captain and as the time loops continued, the wall Actor placed on my memories had begun to weaken. By the point the universe was destroyed and everything was rebooting, I had regained all of my memories and realised that the presence I could sense watching me at certain points in the journey, was Actor.” Everyone can see your gaze turn flinty.
“Since it was black magic that brought me back and my body had sustained quite a lot of damage on the first half of this journey. My physical appearance had changed, it’s more eldritch in appearance now, which also ties in with the fact that despite regaining a body—I was no longer human to begin with.” You stand from your seat, the chair disappearing.
“Now, I’m quite similar to Dark.” You say, stepping back a few steps as your form shimmers before the illusion hiding your true form disappears, revealing to the crew how different you look.
For the umpteenth time today, their eyes widen as they take in your grey skin, the halo of purple and white light over your head, the luminescent pairs of wings on your back and your purple irises. They see you unbutton your suit jacket and pull one of your arms out of it.
“I also have symbols marked onto my arms too.” You explain in a slightly echoing voice as you pull off the glove on the arm you had out of the suit jacket, before undoing the button on the ends of your shirt sleeve and rolling it up past your forearm.
With you doing this, the crew is able to see the faintly glowing symbols on your arm with twisting vine-like designs decorating your skin and ending near your wrist. To them, it looked like some strange, exotic tattoo of the supernatural variety.
“The Captain kind of looks like an angel.” Burt states, the crew agreeing quietly.
Finished with showing everyone the changes, you snap your fingers, clothing appearing back into proper place and both of your gloves are once more on your hands.
“It is because of Actor I’m like this.” You say to the screen in an angry tone as they see your eyes slate to white.
Mark and Amy can only stare at your image, starkly understanding just how alike you and Dark really are. The rest of the crew can only look at your image sadly, hating that you, along with everyone Actor had crossed paths with, had to suffer so much.
“Celine had managed to find me when the universe had gotten destroyed and she helped me learn to control my powers. One such power is over illusions, I was able to hide my true form for the second half of the journey so that Actor doesn’t know the truth. He won’t ever know that I’m not human because even when he takes away my memories once again, the illusion will stay in place until I will it to disappear.”
“For the rest of the journey to fix the paradox, I pretended that I had no memory outside of the ones he planted in my head. I knew that if he even suspected that I remembered anything—he’d pull me from his so called ‘story’ and leave everyone else to suffer and or even kill everyone on the ship.” They see your eyes narrow, your irises returning.
“I wasn’t about to let that happen, so I had to play along with his game. I had to continue on with the journey until I could stop the paradox and return everything back to normal.” You vanish your wings, the seat appearing behind you once more as you take a seat and cross your legs.
You don’t will back the illusion into place, choosing to remain in your true form.
“And while this may have been a sick game and test for Actor to see if I’m worthy to be his co-star…it was never a game for me.” You reveal sincerely to them.
“I took my role as your Captain seriously because all of you deserved a Captain that had your best interests, along with the colonists, at heart. Know this, even if I may never see all of you again and even remember you since Actor will alter my memories once more…I will always care about everyone I met on this journey and I wish you the best on the rest of it. Also, don’t blame yourselves for what happened, don’t blame yourselves for placing the blame on me…you didn’t know and I had never blamed you or held you responsible for what had happened.” All of the crew starts crying at your heartfelt words, even Amy and Celine are teary eyed at your compassion.
“By now, Y/N the District Attorney has been dead a long time and I no longer connect with that identity. I also won’t be known as the Captain for much longer—so allow me to truly introduce myself…” You say with a small smirk on your face.
“I am Light and I will strike down Actor when he least expects it.” You say in a serious tone.
“But until then, I will play his games until the time is right. I will ensure that he pays for what he’s done to everyone that has been a victim of his schemes…you have my word on this.” They see you tilt your head downwards for a moment.
When you look towards the camera once more, they see the sadness in your eyes.
“This is the end of my retelling of the past events of my life, which means that this tape will be ending quite soon.” Some of the crew shake their head, openly sobbing at your words.
You smile softly at the camera, giving them a salute.
All of the crew of the Invincible II, along with Amy, salute you back as they cry.
“This is goodbye, I’m honoured I was able to serve as your Captain and I wish you all the best.” You say, before your image slowly disappears, fading into black until the tape ends.
The screen of the TV is now a blank, blue canvas.
For a long time, everyone just cries, the crew hugging each other as they sob.
“The Capt—Light, she didn’t deserve any of this happening to her! She suffered and went through so much!” Burt sobs as Celci and Gunther also lean against his sides and cry, all three of them holding onto the other for emotional support.
Mark can only stare at the table, tears streaming down his face, now knowing the hell you had to go through because of Actor. Hearing a sob beside him, he turns his head and sees Amy also crying. He holds out an arm as an invitation, Amy leaning against him and crying. He wraps his arm around her shoulders, his other hand forming a fist, nails digging into his glove.
Just as he followed you on this journey, he’ll do the same with his new Captain. He’ll put his faith in Amy’s leadership, having learnt from his previous mistakes with you. He’s really is going to miss having you around—you were his Captain, his best friend and the person he loves. Whether you would’ve returned his feelings or not, that wouldn’t change the fact that he does love you and wants you to be happy.
“I won’t let her down, not any more than I already have. I’ll see this mission through.” Mark vows silently.
Celine makes boxes of tissues appear throughout the room for the crew, grabbing the closest box and using some of the tissues to wipe at her eyes, not caring that her makeup is essentially ruined.
To actually hear the account from your side…all of the pain and injustice you had to endure, it tore her to pieces. She didn’t even think it were possible, but her level of hate for her ex has risen exponentially.
You and Damien were both innocent in all of this and because of Actor, the both of you are now eldritch anomalies. If she could, she would’ve gone back in time and done something to change things—to stop Actor before he could hurt anyone…but she knows all too well if she were even able to tamper with time, it would’ve had negative effects further down the road.
Look at what happened to everyone in this universe, the last thing she even remotely wants happening is for everyone from her timeline to end back in the events of that day after the poker night, stuck in a loop forever. That would be a worse fate than the one they’ve been dealt with. At least with everything that had happened, it has granted all of them powers that’ll help with dealing with Actor…all they have to do is trap him in one place long enough to put an end to him.
Celine looks around at everyone in the conference room, seeing them trying to get a handle on their crying.
They grab at the tissues and wipe their eyes, sniffling.
Knowing that they might have questions with her side of everything that had happened, she resigns herself to being questioned. She knows that she’ll be here for quite a bit of time...not just for the sake of telling them the truth, but because she promised you that she’ll help them work through the aftermath of everything. It’s the least she can do for someone she loves like a younger sister.
Underneath the night sky, the warp core crystal lies nestled in the gravel floor where it had landed after you had thrown it through the wormhole.
Glowing dimly, it lights a few inches around it with blue light and a faint hum emits from the crystal due to the power still coursing through it. The only sound to be heard besides the hum, is the sound of the wind rustling through the leaves of the trees close by. Faintly, footsteps can be heard from the right of the crystal, along with faint ringing.
Dark approaches the warp core crystal, sensing that Actor still has his attention on you. The ringing pitches upward in volume, his anger and hatred for the other man festering beneath the surface. Stopping near the crystal, he reaches down and picks it up, the crystal growing dim as he wraps his powers around it, keeping its power contained. He observes the crystal, turning it with a calculative look in his eyes.
“So much trouble…all for something so small.” Dark says, before looking up at the night sky.
“With this, it’s the beginning of the end for that snake.” Dark sneers.
“He’ll want it back and the fool won’t know that it’s not his game he’ll be playing, but mine.” Dark grins, eyes slating to black as he eyes the crystal once more.
He places it in his suit pocket and turns on his heel, laughing wickedly as he walks a few steps away before teleporting into the void.
Right now, he has a bit of tinkering to do with the crystal and then, his plan will begin in earnest.
“Don’t worry my love, he won’t be getting away with what he’d done for much longer.” Dark vows as he enters his office in the void and locks the door.
He heads to his desk and sits down, rolling out the blueprint he has on the desk. On the blueprint is a box of some sort, the most distinguishable feature of the box it the large crystal inlaid near the top.
Dark looks at the lone picture on his desk, seeing the image Celine had taken when she was teaching you how to use your powers. You’re sitting on a chair in your true form, wearing a sleeveless, charcoal dress that shows off the markings on your arms. You’re facing the camera with a smile on your face.
Dark smiles at the image, fondly recalling the attached note, written in your handwriting.
“Whenever the length of time we are separated grows painful, beloved…let this image remind you that I’ll always be yours and will always be with you in spirit.” He shifts his gaze back to the blueprint, reminding himself that when this is all over—he can finally give you that dinner date he promised you all those years ago.
He’ll play Actor’s villain, lull him into a false sense of control and pull the rug out from under him when the time is right.
“Sometimes the maiden doesn’t want the “hero of the story”…but the villain instead.” Dark smirks, beginning to write down what he needs to build his little box.
A bark makes him pause in his writing, looking up and seeing the dog that appears in his office. He grins at the sight of the golden retriever as she approaches him.
“Ah Chica, my loyal pet—I see you’ve taken the opportunity to visit since Actor is preoccupied.” Dark says, giving the dog a few scratches behind the ear.
Chica telepathically speaks with him, relaying everything she’s seen since Actor brought you back to his home.
“So he’s already wiped her memory, but before he made her fall unconscious to accomplish this…she managed to punch him in the nose and broke it.” Dark’s grin widens at the affirmative bark.
“That’s my little monster.” Dark thinks to himself, immensely proud.
He listens to what Actor has in plan for the both of you.
“A potential road trip…keep an eye on the both of them and don’t blow your cover, girl. Pretend to be Actor’s loyal puppy until I say otherwise.” Dark says as he cradles the dog’s face in his hands, making eye contact with the dog and seeing the colour of her irises briefly flicker to red, showing only a glimpse of her true nature.
Chica turns her head in his grasp and affectionately licks his palm.
“Go on then, we don’t want him noticing anything’s amiss.” Dark orders, letting go of the dog and watching her disappear once more.
Picking up his pen once more, he proceeds to continue where he left off.
Notes:
The initial plan for the next chapter was to jump straight into A Heist With Markiplier, but I wanted to write a bit more interaction with Actor and the Protag since they've had a minute amount of interaction throughout the story. So Heist! won't happen for maybe a few chapters, but we'll see the interactions between the "Hero" and his "Maiden".
Chapter 31: Mark’s New Ride
Notes:
Hey everyone, sorry for the long gap in the story update—these past two months haven't been the best for me with getting sick twice, amongst other things I had to deal with.
Explanation out of the way, in this chapter we'll see how Actor and the protag interacts with each other.
Chapter Text
Actor stares down at the unconscious woman, cradling his broken nose. He can feel the blood steadily streaming from his nostrils, nose pulsing in time with his heartbeat. He turns to the side, mindful of your body on the floor where you had fallen, and leans forward, pinching his nostrils closed to stem the bleeding.
The reason he turned away from you is because he didn’t want any blood to fall onto you—he is a gentleman after all.
Getting the bleeding under control after a few minutes, he takes a breath through his mouth as he braces himself for what he’s about to do. His eyes water from the pain as he sets his nose back into place with a crunch, a high pitched curse erupting from his lips. He feels his powers slowly begin to heal the injury but he knows that there will definitely be bruising to contend with.
He’ll be sure to pay one of his creations, Dr Iplier, a visit to ensure the nose is set properly.
“Damn it, I didn’t know she could punch that hard.” He grumbles.
It appears to the Actor that the spell he’d use to give you a body had some unforeseen side effects…slightly enhanced strength seems to be one of the side effects.
“I’m definitely going to feel that in the morning. I thought she said she wasn’t going to fight me on this…I suppose she meant with regards to leaving the ship and not to me erasing her memories.” He grabs a few tissues and starts cleaning the blood off of his face, mentally reminding himself to be on the lookout for any more potential side effects the spell might’ve caused. He couldn’t ask the entity he was working with about what to expect from the spell he used—it’s been dead for a while now.
Mark grimaces a bit, remembering using the summoning ritual for the entity and nothing happening, which meant that the entity was no more. All entities have to answer the summoning ritual when it’s cast, that’s a part of the general rules they have to follow. The Actor has a feeling that his ‘villain’ is responsible for what had happened to the entity, only high ranking beings from the Upside Down can destroy a lesser entity’s very essence and Dark is one of those high ranking beings—he’s at the top of the food-chain, he’s the King.
“Just my luck Celine would manage to make a deal with the Ruler of the Upside Down.” He growls, still offended that the King had no interest in his scheme of revenge all those years ago. Instead he had to settle for a midlevel entity that wanted freedom to roam the Earth and all the other Universes.
Glancing around for Chica, he doesn’t see the dog. Shrugging, he figures she moved to some other part of the house when he brought you back with him. He looks back down at you, you having gone unconscious when he used his powers to make you fall asleep.
You really threw a vicious left/right hook when he had least expected it.
“Right, note to self…if she somehow remembers again, I’ll just have to keep my distance so she doesn’t punch me again.” Because he doesn’t want to go through that again, it’s quite hard to breathe through his nose at the moment.
“Then again, putting her through such a long cycle of looping through different timelines must’ve placed a strain on the wall I had initially placed around her memories.” He muses to himself.
“It just means I’ll have to keep an eye on her and ensure that she doesn’t remember, which should be a piece of cake since she’ll be by my side for the most part.”
He walks over to a nearby mirror and looks into it, seeing that his nose thankfully looks straight, but he can’t be sure until the swelling goes down a bit.
Tossing the tissues into a garbage bin, he makes his way over to you and lifts you up. Your head lolls away from him, as if even with you being unconscious, you don’t want to be anywhere near him.
“Maybe she isn’t too happy about the warp core incident but it was just a test, no permanent harm was done.” Actor reasons to himself.
“I’ll just alter her memories again and she won’t have to remember anything unpleasant.” Actor mutters.
He sets you onto the closest couch and proceeds to block your memories.
While he isn’t able to see what memories you have, he’s able to write his idea of what memories you should have in that pretty little head of yours.
He places altered memories of your shared past, keeping the high school memories the same and completely fabricating your University and consequent days with him. Since you’re both in a more modern time compared to the 1930’s, he makes sure the memories reflect that. He then places all knowledge of the modern world into you head, not wanting you to be confused since a good co-star has to know the setting of the story quite well. How else are they supposed to interact with the protagonist of the story if they’re confused about what a smartphone even is?
Using his powers, your clothing changes into jeans and a t-shirt. He’s quite fed up of seeing you in the Captain’s uniform of the Invincible II because it reminds him of his annoying, alternate version that you seem to care about and dote on quite a lot. He growls as he recalls all of your friendly interactions with the other Mark—you comforting him, running your fingers through his hair, hugging him.
He clenches his hands into fists, nails digging into the flesh of his palm.
Never again will he make you play a story where he isn’t a significant part of it. No one else will be the focus of the story, it’ll just be him and you. The villain of his story has already begun to play his part—he’d already interfered with his ability to see you at some points during your stint as Captain. He’ll have to keep an eye on you to ensure that his villain doesn’t find you…wouldn’t want him to fill your head with lies.
“My little starlet, we are going to have so much fun together.” He says to your unconscious form before teleporting you into the house he had gotten just for you.
Since you’re both supposed to start off as best friends since high school, he won’t have you move into his home quite yet. He still has to finish his script of the first big adventure the both of you will do, but for now he can do smaller activities with you. This way, he’ll get a feel of the dynamic between the both of you once more...because it’s been so long since he’s spent quality time with you.
Quite frankly, he missed having you around him.
Staring at where you were for a moment, he teleports to Dr Iplier’s office to get his nose looked at.
Dr Iplier flinches in surprise at the appearance of his creator.
“Actor, what can I do for you?” He questions, before noticing the state of his nose and the bruising under his eyes.
“I need this looked at to make sure it’s set straight.” Actor merely says, moving over to the bench and sitting down.
“Of course, sir.” Dr Iplier says, not wanting to set off the other man’s temper. He and the other egos know all too well how bad things can get if that happens.
Not to mention, if his creator even knew that he’s in cahoots with his arch nemesis, he didn’t want to think about Actor wiping him from existence.
He remembers when Actor had first warned them about the eldritch being that was hunting him down and how he was dangerous and would only lie to them. He and all the other egos believed his words wholeheartedly—because why would their creator have any reason to deceive them. Dark was the monster that was trying to harm their beloved creator, so all of the egos were quite wary and scared when he saw them for the first time and chose to speak with them.
He recalled how baffled he was that the entity didn’t yell or insult them like Actor tended to do when they did something he wasn’t pleased with. Instead he was professional and polite, nothing like Actor had portrayed the grey complexioned man to be. They expected a raging monster that wouldn’t have a problem tearing their insides out, laughing as he did.
When Actor was questioned about the eldritch entity’s demure, he only told them that the devil doesn’t come towards his victims the way most people would assume—hateful, angry and bitter, instead he’d come well dressed with a pleasant, charming personality because it works a lot better to fool people who didn’t know any better.
The egos foolishly believed him, each terrified when the entity had managed to corner an ego to talk. The ego he managed to corner was Bim, the poor guy couldn’t stop shaking as he recounted the interaction with the others.
All of this changes when Actor had managed to track down locations of where the former District Attorney could possibly be. He give them a poor explanation of why he’d have to leave them for some time and promised that he’d come back.
They weren’t worried that he’d been gone for a week, but that week quickly turned to two, then three and suddenly it had already been a year since he left with no communication.
The older egos; himself, the Host and Google, were beginning to suspect that he wasn’t coming back—that he abandoned them. The younger egos still had hope that he’ll come back but it was dwindling as more time passed by. Another six months passed and all of the egos were on the verge of homelessness and starvation. The pay check he, Host and Bim had from their respective jobs wasn’t enough to take care of all of them. They didn’t have any electricity to continue to charge Google and Bing, so both were on power saving mode.
This left all of the egos with a sense of resentment for their creator, all of them starkly understanding that they were abandoned by the one person they thought they could trust without a shadow of a doubt. Actor had told them that Dark was a liar that couldn’t be trusted, but they can all see that those words described their creator more aptly than the shadowy entity.
By the time Dark approached them once more, they were a lot more willing to listen to what he had to say. He offered them a second chance of life where they didn’t have to worry about not having a roof over their heads—that they won’t go to bed with nothing in their stomachs or have to worry about not paying their bills in time, that Google and Bing wouldn’t have to worry about shutting down from lack of a power source to charge their batteries. All he asked of them is to get back to the point of being able to stand on their own two feet so that they never feel this helpless again, that they’d support each other to the best of their ability and most importantly, to not feel that they aren’t worth anything because their creator abandoned them. The entity was all too open about showing his displeasure and hatred for their creator. He told them that he understood what it’s like to be lied to by someone you trusted, to realise that the person you cared about wasn’t above using you for their own selfish agendas. Seeing a more humane side of the eldritch entity was what had swayed their decision to take him up on his offer.
It’s a decision none of the egos regretted.
Yes, Dark has quite the temper when riled up about something, it’s something he can’t help due to the nature of his creation. If angry, his words, body fracturing, auras and his slip on his powers are quite telling but he keeps it mostly restrained for their sakes. If he’s having a hard time keeping a handle on his emotions, he distances himself from the others to deal with that anger without worrying about harming any of them.
With time, they learned about the entity and Wilford’s past with the Actor and how you and the others from that poker night suffered from their creator’s actions.
“I don’t have all day to stay in this stuffy office, Dr Iplier.” Actor’s impatient words cut through the Dr’s reminiscing.
“Sorry, sir.” Dr Iplier says, focusing on the matter at hand.
Hiding his fear and hatred of the other man, he puts on some latex gloves and carefully approaches the man, gently checking his nose. He winces a bit when the Actor hisses in pain but informs him that it’s set straight and all he has to do it put some ice on it to help with the swelling.
“The swelling will go down in a day or two but the bruising will remain for about a week.” Dr Iplier explains.
Actor doesn’t say anything to that, he just gets up, slaps a few bills onto the Dr’s desk and teleports away.
With him gone, Dr Iplier doesn’t have to hide his expression of hatred and disgust anymore.
“When my shift is over, I’ll be sure to inform the boss he was here.” Dr Iplier notes to himself with a frown.
Due to his Hippocratic Oath, he can’t refuse the Actor medical attention, despite not wanting to be anywhere near his creator. He won’t break his oath, he isn’t like Actor—he refuses to be like that monster.
I hum to myself as I read a book in my apartment, having nothing better to do. An involuntary flinch wracks my body when my phone starts ringing on the coffee table. Shifting until I’m sitting properly, I reach over and pick up the phone, looking at the caller ID. A smile appears on my face, seeing that it’s Mark calling.
Book forgotten for the time being, I accept the call.
“Hello?”
“Y/N, how ya doing? I’m not calling at a bad time, am I?” He asks over the phone.
“Not at all, I was just reading a book to pass some time. And I’m doing fine, thanks for asking.” I say, setting a bookmark into the book to note my progress before closing it.
I then lean back into the couch.
“How about you?”
“I’m doing great! It’s just that I could use a bit of help.” Mark states.
“Help?” I inquire in a curious tone.
“Yeah, can you head on over to my place?”
“Uh—sure, I’ll be over in five.” I say, since we live a few houses apart.
“Good, good, I’ll see you in five then.”
“Until then, try not to burn the house down.” I say teasingly.
“Ha ha, very funny Y/N.” Mark says before ending the call.
Setting my book onto the table, I stand and place my phone into the pocket of my black, over the knee length skirt. I do an overhead stretch, a small groan escaping my lips when my back cracks in a few places. I let out a hum of contentment as I adjust my white, cap sleeve shirt. I then pick up my wallet and pocket it.
Grabbing my house keys off of the key hook, I give a cursory look at my house, ensuring that all the windows are locked, before making my way to the front door and putting on my black, knee high boots. Giving a quick look in the mirror to ensure my hair and makeup looks decent, I exit the house and lock the door behind me. Pocketing my keys, I make my way to Mark’s house, passing the two houses that separate our homes.
Walking up his driveway, I make my way to the front door and raise my hand to knock. The door opens before I can do so, revealing Mark’s smiling face.
“There you are! I was wondering if you had gotten lost.” He teases.
“Hah, hah, very funny Fischbach. I see that your house is still in one piece.” I say in a dry tone, smiling a bit as I observe him, briefly taking in his black t shirt that hugs his chest, his light coloured jeans and the black sneakers on his feet.
Hearing a bark, Mark steps to the side, allowing Chica to greet me.
She jumps up and rests her front paws onto my shoulders, which almost knocks me over but I managed to keep my balance. I giggle a bit as she lets my shoulders go and sits on her haunches. Chica stares up at me with her tongue lolling out of her mouth.
“Hello, Chica.” I smile down at the dog, giving her a few scratches behind the ear.
“Who’s a good girl? Who’s a good puppy?” I coo at her, her fluffy tail nothing but a blur behind her.
“Man, she really loves when you come over.” Mark chuckles, causing me to glance up at him, seeing the smile he aims towards me.
I feel my face turn a bit red, having a crush on him since high school. I didn’t say anything about my feelings since I didn’t want to ruin the many years of friendship between us.
“I’m surprised she has the same level of excitement every time I come over, I almost practically live here with how frequently I visit.” I say, straightening to my full height.
“Heh, well maybe it wouldn’t be too much of a stretch if you decide to move in.” Mark says, smile still on his face.
“You mean like when we were roommates in University?” I question as I look at his face a lot more closely and notice a bit of bruising on his nose.
This causes my smile to falter, then disappear.
“Hey, what happened to your nose?” I inquire in concern as I reach out and gently touch it, mindful that it might still be aggravated.
He awkwardly chuckles a bit. “Ah—I tripped and hit a wall, no big deal Y/N, I’m alright.”
“Oh.” I let my hand drop to my side.
Mark does have a history of being a bit clumsy, I remember when he tried Parkour in University. It ended with him breaking his behind. I’m still amazed he didn’t have to go to the hospital for that, not that he would’ve been able to cover the bills for a hospital visit.
“Well if you insist that you’re fine…what did you need help with anyway?” I say as I enter the house, Chica at my heels.
She sits beside me as I watch him close the door and lock it.
“Well I have a bit of a conundrum…” He reveals as he walks deeper into the house and up the stairs.
I follow behind him, a few steps between us.
We crest the top of the stairs and make our way over to a couch. Mark plops down onto the couch as I opt to stand in front of him.
“Meaning?” I ask, seeing him look up at me.
“It’s best I draw it.” He says as he grabs the whiteboard on the couch, along with a black whiteboard marker and begins to draw.
I try to see what he’s drawing but he moves the whiteboard away.
“No peeking, it’s not finished yet.” He says chidingly, giving me a brief pointed look before returning to drawing.
“Boom!” He says after a bit of time has elapsed.
He turns the whiteboard around and shows me a badly drawn car with a stick man inside it.
“A car?” I question.
“Think of all the things you can do with a new car!” He exclaims, visibly excited.
“Like—Hang on, I gotta get—I gotta get a map.” He says to me as he caps back the marker and stands up.
He tosses the marker onto the couch and rushes towards the stairs, which forces me to follow behind him.
“Chica, where’s my map?” He asks the dog as she follows behind him.
Mark and Chica races down the stairs and I follow behind them, a bit amused at Mark’s antics.
“It’s nice to know he hasn’t changed a bit, despite all these years.” I murmur with a small smile.
We search around the house and Mark manages to find his maps in one of the drawers in his office. With maps in hand, he races out the room with Chica and I go to follow him, stopping a bit when I take a good look at his office.
For some strange reason, I don’t like being in here…as if the place carries bad memories despite me having no memory of the sort.
Brows furrowing in confusion, I ignore the feeling and race after Mark before he comes back to look for me. I walk back up the stairs and see Mark and Chica near the couches.
“Ah, there you are Y/N, what took you so long?” Mark says in an easy going tone.
“I decided to walk back, the last thing I want is to have a matching bruise on my nose like you.” I quip.
“Ouch, that’s hurtful, little starlet.” He says with a mock hurt look on his face.
I’m a bit surprised at hearing that particular nickname.
“It’s been a while since you last called me that.” I say softly as I walk over to him and stop a few inches away.
The fake hurt look disappears from his face, replaced with a fond smile.
“Yeah, I missed calling you that…you were quite the star in University.” His words causes me to laugh a bit, face a bit red as I recall some of the parties we attended.
“Maybe a little, but you’re the one who knew how to keep the spotlight on you.”
“That’s only because you didn’t want people to notice you, little starlet.”
“Mark, the last thing I wanted was the entire male population knowing I exist, they’d think I’d be interested in dating them. Surely you saw how some of them stared at me.”
“I don’t think they would’ve tried anything Y/N…I’m pretty sure most people were convinced we were dating.” He says, my eyes widening in surprise.
“Why would they think that?”
“We were always together, whether attending the same lectures, doing homework or partying—we were always together. It also didn’t help that we were also roommates.” His words causes me to blink.
“And even if anyone would’ve hit on you, I would’ve scared them away—no one messes with my best friend.” He says, giving me a pat on the shoulder.
“Right.” I say, a bit disappointed that he only considers me to be his ‘best friend’ but I soon get over it.
“Okay,” He says as he turns towards the couch.
“One,” He tosses one of the maps onto the couch.
“Two,” Another map is tossed onto the couch.
“Three,” Another map joins the growing pile.
“Peter, Paul and Mary.” We both say with a grin as he tosses three more maps onto the couch.
He sits down and opens out one of the maps, turning it to face me. “What can you do with a car?” He questions as he gestures to the map.
He realises he has the map upside down and turns it right side up. “What can you do with a car?”
“You can travel anywhere you want.” I say, seeing him point at me with a smile.
“Exactly!”
“Chica, what can you do with a car?” He asks her, giving her a brief pat on the head.
He then looks at the map in his hands.
“So you see right? You see what I’m talking about? If you have a car you get…” He says as he moves off of the couch and crouches in front of it.
He lays the map flat on the surface of the couch as I move closer.
“You get Respecc.” He says as he writes the word down onto the map.
“You get lots of respecc. You can do anything for everybody, you can do people favours! You can give ‘em rides!” He says.
“And also like…okay, this is a more important thing—I mean sure respect is whatever and you can go up to like…” he draws an arrow up to a spot on the map, “I dunno…Bakersfield, if you want to go up there and die.”
I snort slightly at that.
He draws another arrow. “You can go to San Diego if you want to get swarmed at Comic-Con.”
“Yeah, let’s not do any more Comic-Cons right now.” I say, remembering how wild the last one got when we both attended.
“Oxnard, I didn’t—didn’t even know that was a city…and the most insane thing in my mind.” He says before he looks up at me.
“Is the nearest Cracker Barrel to where we live in LA, is four and a half hours away in Las Vegas.”
“Woah, really? It’s that far away? But you love their chicken and dumplings.” I say as I stare at the map, a bit baffled.
“Yeah, you would’ve thought they’d open up a location in LA already.” Mark says in a grumble before his face brightens.
“But! If I got a new vehicle that can take me the distance that I need to go, I can take you and Chica and we can go to Cracker Barrel whenever we want!” He says.
“Right?!”
“Right.” I say with a nod.
“When you have everything that you need, you can go pretty much everywhere so long as you have a vehicle.”
“So we have to find the right vehicle for the job.” He says as he stands up to his full height.
“Which brings me to needing your help, Y/N. What sort of vehicle should I get?” He says as he peers down at me.
Even with the heeled boots I’m wearing, he’s still taller by a small amount.
“Well that depends on what you want your vehicle to have…” I say thoughtfully.
“If you just want to be able to drive around and do basic things like shopping and so forth, you can get a car or maybe even a pickup truck.”
“No pickup trucks because only douche bags drive one and you need to pay a fee if you’re keeping the back uncovered since the state sees it as a ‘work vehicle’.” He says, making air quotes at the end of his words.
“Alright, so pickup trucks are definitely out of the question then.” I merely say.
“How do we get a car that can give me respecc?” He questions to himself before he pulls out his phone and Googles something.
His eyes scan his phone.
“Attractive Older W/M Seeking Attractive Girlfriend/Roommate.” He reads from his phone before he shakes his head, a bit bewildered.
I giggle a bit at this.
“Not what I was expecting when I decided to Google the word ‘respect’.”
“Before we even think about Dealerships and whatnot…how about we write down what you want in a vehicle.” I suggest.
“Great idea.” He says as he pockets his phone and grabs the whiteboard.
“Uh, I need something to erase this marker with.” He says, a bit sheepish when he doesn’t find his whiteboard eraser.
“Here.” I say, reaching into my pocket and pulling out a napkin.
“Thanks.” He says as he takes the napkin.
“Let’s see…” He wipes away the image of the car he drew and started to write some pointers.
“A car gives you mobility, you want to haul things in it and it should be able to take us to Cracker Barrel.” He says.
“Don’t forget your respecc.” I say, pointing at the map he wrote it on.
“Respecc. Of course, thank you.”
“Okay, for mobility it only really needs wheels. For hauling, you need a lot of cargo space.” He says before he looks at his next point.
“For Cracker Barrel, you need a vehicle that can go for miles.”
“That’s what he said.” I say jokingly with a smirk.
He snorts at my words. “For respecc, you need size.” He wiggles his eyebrows before he winks at me.
I smile at him, a bit flustered. “So since you don’t want a pickup truck, how about a van then?”
“A van,” He seems to be considering it for a moment.
“Yes, a van will be the best fit! We can go to Cracker Barrel and I guess even road trips, especially if it’s an off road version!” He says, really liking the idea of getting a van.
“I’ll just send out a tweet asking if anyone in the area has a van to sell and we’ll be golden.” He says as he gets his phone out and types.
“Is anyone in LA area selling a van?” He murmurs as he types.
While he does that, I elect to pet Chica a bit. After some time passes, I look up and see Mark reading the answers he got to his tweet.
“I didn’t say a white van! Listen, it’s not suspicious, I didn’t…” Mark says as he reads the posts.
“Don’t ask me why I need a van…I just need a van! A white one…A white one?!” I just shake my head at the comments.
“I’d be surprised if no one asked if you wanted to buy candy too.” I remark, seeing him look up from his screen to regard me, eyebrows furrowed.
“They did.” He mutters with a frown before he looks back down at his screen.
“Why do they say—I did not say a white one! Why is everyone…?” He makes a sound of frustration.
“Everyone’s assuming I said a white van! I didn’t say a white van! What’s so scary about a van?”
“Maybe it’s the stigma white vans have from everyone associating it with weirdos that lure children in with candy?” I say, unsure.
“Good point, but I never said anything about a white van, Y/N. Are they scared of how much respect I’ll have?” Mark says as he continues to scroll through his phone.
I walk over to him and peer over his shoulder.
“Do minivans even count as a van?” I question as I look down at the vehicle listing he’s going through.
“No, what would you even fit in that? A van’s more superior.” He says absentmindedly before he stops on a picture of a white van and reads the description.
“120,000 miles…it’s a four wheel drive, which is handy for when we go off road…hunting Big Foot or whatever. Or go to a Cracker Barrel that’s really off the beaten path.” He says as he scrolls through the pictures for the van.
“It’s pretty good. It’s got a lot of mile on it, but…it’s really cool.” He says as we look at the wooden panelling on the inside of the van, along with the wooden flooring.
There’s even a small bench/bed in the back of the van and a lot of storage space, which is just what Mark’s looking for.
“If it runs well, then it’s gonna be pretty good right?”
“Yeah.” I merely say as I stop looking over his shoulder.
I look outside the window and could’ve sworn I saw a man in a black suit staring at me, but when I blink—he’s nowhere to be seen. It was so quick that I wasn’t able to make out much details of the man—just that he’s well dressed in a suit and his dark hair slightly covers his left eye. That and the sunlight was so bright it almost looked as if the man has an aberration effect of red and blue around his body.
“Huh? That’s strange.” I look at where he was standing across the street as I hear Mark behind me, presumably talking with the seller of the van.
I gingerly rub at my eyes, careful of the makeup on it.
“Maybe I’m not getting enough sleep if I’m imagining a man staring up at me.” I reason to myself, hearing Mark say goodbye to the other person on the phone.
“Chica!” Mark exclaims from behind me, causing me to flinch.
“Get your leash! We gotta go!” Mark says as I turn around and see the both of them rushing towards the stairs.
I follow behind them, electing to walk.
“Come on slowpoke!” Mark calls over his shoulder, the phrase seeming quite familiar for some strange reason.
“Just for that I’ll walk slower.” I say to him, but continue with the same pace of walking.
“If you keep running around like that, you’ll end up bumping into another wall!” I call down to him as he runs down the stairs.
We both get into the Uber’s car and situate ourselves.
“Thank you so much for accommodating a dog.” Mark says to the Uber driver.
“So how long you been driving Uber?” Mark makes conversation as we travel down the road.
“Only six months.” The Uber driver says in a thick accent.
“Yeah? Six months?” Mark asks.
“Yeah. Because I can’t afford to pay my bill.” The driver explains.
“That’s a good reason.” Mark says.
“All of those streets, it’s easy to get there.” I manage to make out from the driver’s accent.
“On the side, you know, I can get here easy.”
Mark nods at the driver’s words, but I can tell he didn’t understand what he was saying.
“Ah, you’ll have to get off the freeway to get to the street.” I say, Mark turning to look at me.
“Yeah, I need to get off the freeway to get to street.” The driver says, nodding.
The Uber pulls to the side of the road.
“Thank you.” He says as I open the door and get out, Chica and Mark following behind me.
Mark closes the car door.
“Thank you. Five star!” He says to us before he drives away.
We begin walking past a house that has a dog in the yard.
Unlike Chica, this dog isn’t a friendly one, but a barking and snarling one. It really didn’t seem to like Mark for some strange reason.
“You had a better time understanding the Uber driver’s accent than me, Y/N.” Mark remarks as we walk down the street.
“Only a bit better, his accent was quite thick.” I say as Mark comes to a stop on the sidewalk and I do the same, watching as he pulls out his phone and calls the seller of the van.
“Hi, this is Mark…I’m the guy interested in the van.” Mark says, before proceeding to converse with the seller for a minute or two.
He hangs up and not long later, a man wearing black shorts, a white graphic t shirt and a black baseball cap, comes out to greet us—there are a few tattoos on his arms. The seller walks over to the white van parked on the side of the road, our little group following behind him.
“GMC Safari, dude.” The seller says as he opens the back doors of the van.
“Ooo! That looks so cool!” Mark says as we both watch him pull the curtains located behind the bench seat/bed, to the side.
“It’s a lil’ dusty.” He says as he swipes a hand along the metal of the van, his hand now coated in a thick layer of dust.
“That’s understandable.” Mark says as the man closes the back doors and walks over to the side door, opening it.
He climbs in and Mark pats the wooden floor of the van. “Chica, y’wanna hop up?”
Chica doesn’t seem keen to do so.
“Oh, she’s scared.” I say, reaching down and patting her on the head as a way to reassure her.
“Come on, hop in bub! Hop in!” Mark says as he tries to encourage her.
Chica hops into the van.
“Good girl.” Mark and I say in unison before climbing into the vehicle after her.
I close the side door and take a seat on the bench seat at the back of the van, Chica sitting in front of me.
Mark sits in the passenger side of the van up front. The seller of the van starts up the vehicle.
“It’s starts, which is better than I was expecting.” Mark says.
“I bought the thing when it—when it had uh…172.” The seller says as he turns the wheel a bit and begins to drive off.
“You ever went crazy on the road?” Mark asks.
“Yeah.”
“Where did you go?” I question curiously from my spot as I keep a secure hold on Chica’s leash.
“Uh, anywhere from Baja, all the way up to Northern California.”
“Wow…” Mark says in reply to his words.
“Never done that, never had the chance, like, to just take a road trip—go out, see the world.”
“No, like uh…if you go, like, on a solo trip for a couple months and you did that in the van…”
I reach out and pet Chica, listening to the conversation.
“Yeah?” Mark says as he looks at him.
“You pretty much learn all shit by yourself.” The seller says.
Mark is now in the driver’s seat, taking the van for a spin around the neighbourhood. He pulls back into the spot the van was parked and turns to look at me.
“I think I want it.” Mark says to me.
“Yeah?” The seller asks.
“Yeah, I really do.” Mark says to him.
The seller of the van gets out of the vehicle, probably to get the necessary papers for it. Mark turns towards me again.
“So you’re happy with the van, Mark?” I ask him, seeing him smile.
“This is the one. We’re gonna be able to travel to Cracker Barrel and get chicken and dumplings and buy knick-knacks at Cracker Barrel.” He says, grinning.
“And get respect. That’s another thing.”
“Of course.” I say, amused as I hold my fist out for a fist bump.
He fist bumps me, smile still on his face. “Thanks. You’re always there for me. Thank you.”
I smile at his words.
“What are best friends for?” I say as the seller comes back and he and Mark deal with the transaction.
With the van now being Mark’s, I climb into the passenger seat and buckle myself in. Chica sits between us and Mark pulls off from the side of the curb, making his way out of the neighbourhood.
“There you have it! We got a van!” He says happily, momentarily glancing at me before looking at the road.
“That was easier than I though.”
“Yeah. I bought a van all by myself.” He says before looking at me once more.
“I mean, you helped but…it was mostly me. I was doing the talking there.” I raise an eyebrow at his words.
“You did most of the talking,” I say, accepting that fact.
“Which is a given since I’m not the one who wanted to buy a van—that’s all you, so it would’ve been weird if I did all the talking.”
“Hmm, touché.” Mark says, returning his attention to the road.
“Y’know…” He says after a brief lapse of silence.
“You haven’t changed a bit, you’re still the same sharp-witted girl I met in freshmen year of High school.”
“Hmph, and you’re still larger than life and a big goof.” I say fondly, glancing outside and seeing us turning onto the freeway.
“There’s only one thing left to do after this…” He says before glancing at me.
“And you know what that is.” Mark says.
“We head back to your house and order a pizza?”
“That’s right.” He says as we make the way back to our neighbourhood.
We’re now back at Mark’s house and a pepperoni pizza has already been ordered. While we wait for the delivery driver to get here with the pizza, Mark and I talk in the kitchen about what else he plans to do with the van and if he’d want to re-paint it another colour.
“Nah, I think I’d keep it the same colour.” Mark says.
“Really? Just don’t go about luring people in with candy alright?” I say teasingly before taking a sip of the soda in my grasp.
Mark chokes on his soda, coughing as I pat his back.
“Shoot, are you alright?” I ask in concern, feeling a significant amount of regret for making him choke.
“I-I’m fine.” He sputters.
I continue to pat his back as he get his breathing back under control.
“I’m fine.” He repeats, setting his soda down.
“But I almost saw the light at the end of the tunnel for that little remark of yours.” His gaze is on me, a slight frown on his lips.
I set my soda down onto the kitchen island.
“I’m sorry Mark, it wasn’t my intention to cause you to choke.” I say sincerely as I briefly touch his arm.
“Yeah, yeah. I know…just, if you’re going to say anything like that unexpectedly, make sure it’s not when I’m eating or drinking anything.” He says with a small sigh, smiling down at me.
The doorbell rings, causing Mark and myself to look towards the noise.
“That must be our dinner, I’ll go get it.” Mark says in an easy going tone as he gives me a pat on the shoulder.
I watch him go, disappearing round the corner.
I let out a soft groan, running a hand through my hair.
“Nice going, Y/N, you almost made your crush choke to death on a soda.” I grumble to myself, ashamed and mortified.
While Mark gets the pizza, I grab two plates, along with two fresh cans of soda and set them onto the kitchen island.
“Alright,” Mark says as he enters the kitchen.
“One large pizza with extra pepperoni.” He brings the pizza over and we both take a seat.
He seems to notice that I’m still beating myself up for what happened earlier.
“Hey, it’s alright, Y/N. No harm done.” He says sincerely, resting a hand on top of mine.
“If anything, I’d say we’re even from that time I made you play Fnaf.” I let out a small huff at that, remembering starkly that the Animatronic bear had almost given me a heart attack.
“Your fans really loved that one huh.” I murmur, remembering reading a few of the comments on that particular video.
My face turns a bit red when I realise he still has his hand over mine.
Mark seems to realise the same thing, cheeks flushing in embarrassment. He clears his throat, moving his hand from mine.
I already miss the comforting weight of his hand but I mentally shake myself out of it.
“Oh, the pizza…we should eat it before it gets cold.” Mark says, opening up the box and not looking me in the eye.
“Yeah…” I say quietly in agreement, taking a slice and setting it onto my plate.
I see Mark do the same as I take a bite of my pizza, glancing around for the golden retriever.
Not seeing any sight of her, I mentally shrug, figuring she might be napping somewhere from all of the excitement of Mark buying a van.
“You should name it.” He says abruptly, causing me to look up at him.
“What?” I ask, taking a sip of my soda.
“The van you should name it—it was your idea to get a van after all.”
I look at the marble counter thoughtfully.
“Well, since you like Cracker Barrel so much…how about calling it ‘The Barrel’?” I say, looking up at him.
He mulls the name over for a few moments.
“The Barrel, I like it!” He says with a nod of his head as he takes another slice of pizza.
“We’re going to be able to go on so many adventures now, it’ll just be me, you and Chica.”
I smile at that. “I wouldn’t have it any other way.”
Chapter 32: Movie Night and Sabotage
Notes:
Hey everyone, I'm not dead if anyone was wondering, lol. New chapter for your reading pleasure. Enjoy the next installment of this Arc I like to call, "A Slice of Life with the Actor".
Chapter Text
“And that’s a wrap.” I say into the microphone as I play Phasmophobia with Mark, Bob and Wade.
“Good job figuring out the correct type of spirit, Y/N.” Mark says, causing me to smirk as I move my character towards the bulletin board to see the results of the mission.
“Of course…we all know that you’re the bait of the operation and I’m the brains.” I quip, hearing him sputter at the insult amidst Bob and Wade laughing.
“You know it’s true so don’t deny it, especially since you’re the one who wanted to use the tarot cards.” As I say this, Bob and Wade’s laughter increases.
“She’s got a point Mark.” Bob says through his laughter.
“Yeah, she got you good.” Wade snorts.
“You’re mean Y/N, I hope you know that.” He grumbles, causing me to giggle.
“Maybe a little.” I reply, turning my character around to look at the boys.
“But what does that make Bob and myself if you’re the brains and Mark’s the bait?” Wade questions as his character picks up the basketball and tosses it towards the hoop.
“You’re the helpful one and Bob’s got the humour.” I state, seeing the ball miss going through the hoop.
“Did you hear that Mark?—I’m the helpful one.” Wade brags and I can just imagine the disgruntled look on Mark’s face.
“And I’m the funny one, a succinct description since I made her laugh the most out of all of you.” Bob says and I can just hear the grin in his words.
“Yeah, yeah, whatever.” Mark scoffs.
Wade and Bob poke fun at Mark a bit more before we leave the game. I turn towards my camera.
“That’s the end of this episode of Phasmophobia with the boys. Thank you all for watching and I’ll see you in the next game…bye everyone.” I wave at the camera with a smile for a moment before I shut off all of my recording equipment.
I then check the gameplay I recorded, hearing my phone give a buzz as it vibrates on the desk.
I look at the message left by Mark. “We still on for movie night?”
I send him a quick text. “Yeah, in a few hours since I have to do some video editing.”
I see him typing a reply. After a few seconds, the phone buzzes in my hand.
“Same, I’ll be over with Chica at around 7:30 PM.”
“Cool, see you both then.” I text back before I begin editing the gameplay a bit, adding my own personal twist to things.
After a few hours, I finish editing all of the gameplays I’ve done for Phasmophobia and another game I’m currently playing.
Checking the time, I see that I have enough time to take a quick shower and order some pizza before Mark and Chica get here. Making sure all programs are closed, I then shut down my computer and make my way to my room.
On the way to my room, I look at the pictures I have on the hallway walls. A smile appears on my face when I see the picture of my parents and myself posing for the camera on the day I graduated University.
"I’ll be sure to pay them a visit soon.” I murmur, seeing the next pictures of Mark and myself in our graduation gowns for High School and University respectively.
“A bit hard to believe that we’ve known each other for over ten years.” I think to myself as I look away from the pictures and go up the stairs, towards my room.
“Here’s your pizza ma’am—one large pepperoni and one Chicago style, deep dish pizza.” The delivery boy says.
“Thank you for the swift delivery.” I say, paying the delivery boy and tipping generously.
“Thank you ma’am, have a good night.” He says, smiling as he hands me the pizza boxes and sees the tip I left him.
“You too.” I return before I re-enter my house and lock the door.
“That the pizza?—Smells great.” Mark says, appearing from the doorway leading into the living room and taking the boxes from me.
“Yep, one large pepperoni and one Chicago style deep dish.” I recount to him as I follow him into the living room.
He sets the pizzas down while I swing into the kitchen and grab the candy and chips he brought over. Mark enters the kitchen and grabs the plates on the island counter.
“Got Pepsi, Coca Cola and Mountain Dew in the fridge, I’ll take a Pepsi—pick whichever one you want.” I tell him before I head into the living room and set down the candy and bowl of potato chips onto the coffee table.
After a moment has passed, I hear him enter the living room.
Turning my head, I notice he also decided to drink Pepsi today.
“Pepsi?” I inquire, a bit curious since he normally drank Coca Cola.
He shrugged a little as he sets the plates and soda cans onto the table. “Figured it’ll go well with the deep dish pizza.”
I couldn’t find fault in that logic.
“Anyway, what do you wanna watch?” I ask as I grab the TV remote and pull up Netflix.
“Halloween is coming up, so how about a scary movie?” He says as he takes a seat on the sofa, Chica lying beside it as she looks at what we had on the table with interest.
Which makes me remember that I forgot something.
“How about you pick something, I’ll be right back.” I say to him, handing him the remote.
He accepts the remote, a bit confused, but doesn’t question why I’m heading into the kitchen.
Going to one of the draws in my pantry, I grab the packet of dog treats I got Chica and got the dog bowl I had gotten for her whenever she comes over. Filling the bowl with water, I then head back into the living room.
Mark takes one look at what I’m carrying and chuckles a bit.
“What? Can’t forget about this gorgeous girl, can I.” I say with a smile as I set the bowl down.
Chica happily drinks some of the water, before staring at the bag of treats with a smile on her face.
“You spoil her too much, you know that.” He says in a mock disapproving tone.
I look down at the dog. “Girl, do you think I spoil you too much?” I get a bark in reply, seeing her stare up at me then look at Mark.
“She doesn’t think so.” I remark, giving her a few of the treats.
“I didn’t take you for the dog whisperer.” Mark says, watching me feed Chica.
“Just because she can’t speak a human language, doesn’t mean I can’t understand her.” I reply, patting the golden retriever on the head.
Having fed Chica some of the treats, I quickly retreat to the kitchen to wash my hands, before I join the raven haired man on the couch.
Glancing at the screen, I see that he’d chosen the Scream series to watch.
“Scream?”
“It’s a cult classic at this point.” He says as he opens up the deep dish pizza box and places a slice each onto our plates.
“Fair point.” I murmur, accepting the plate he passes me with a small 'thank you'.
With the both of us settled, I start the movie and take my first bite of delicious pizza.
Throughout the movie, Mark and I make small comments about what the other would’ve done if they were in that situation.
Soon, one movie turned into a marathon of Scream movies, the both of us struggling to stay awake. We decide to call it quits for the night and sleepily clean up, placing the left over pizza and snacks into the fridge.
I shut off the TV and turn to look at Mark.
“You can crash in the guest room since it’s…” I glance at my phone, eyes widening a bit.
“…almost three in the morning.” I tell him, seeing his eyes mirror mine in size.
“I think we overdid it with the Scream movies.” He says, a bit sheepish.
“Yeah, a little bit.” I stifle a yawn, seeing that Chica’s already asleep.
“Pup’s asleep—she’s got the right idea.”
“Yep, she does.” He says, keeping his voice soft so that he doesn’t wake the golden retriever.
“I’ll leave her to sleep in the living room—I don’t wanna wake her.”
“‘Kay, I’m heading off to bed then. Goodnight, Mark.” I say quietly, giving his shoulder a friendly squeeze.
He smiles down at me and I feel my heart flutter at the smile. I try to ignore what I feel as best I can, not about to ruin over ten years of friendship because I have a crush on my best friend.
“Night, Y/N.” He says quietly.
We both walk upstairs and head into our respective rooms—Mark in the guest room and myself in the Master bedroom.
I yawn as I change into some sleepwear and crash in my comfy, Queen-size bed, pulling the covers over me and quickly falling asleep.
In the other room, Mark just crawls into bed and covers himself with the comforter, smirking a bit, his plan of getting close to you going smoothly and without a single hitch. Now he just has to subtly turn up the charm towards you to get you to fall for him more and then you’ll firmly be in his grasp and control, as it always should’ve been.
He closes his eyes, falling asleep with thoughts of what other adventures you and him can have while he finishes his script.
Outside, in the dead of night, it now being past four in the morning, Darkiplier stands beside the Barrel, gazing up at the upstairs level of your house, his hands in the pockets of the trousers of his white suit. He looks like a frightful spectre to anyone who might’ve been outside at this hour, if they had the ability to see him, that is. With a wave of his hand, he sabotages the AC in Mark’s van, starting off his subtle attempts to make the Actor’s life miserable. From the left pocket of his trousers, he produces a switchblade and with practice ease, he easily flicks the sharp blade open, walking around the vehicle and slashing the tires of the Barrel, slightly irritated he has to resort to such a petty way of antagonizing that disgusting snake that’s currently sleeping in the house that the Actor had provided to you. It’s almost as if you’re some life-size Barbie doll the Actor can place anywhere and make you play a specific role without you being none the wiser.
The eldritch entity hates that he has to be patient in his master plan of making his former friend pay for all of his misdeeds, but he can be a patient man when the situation calls for it. Finished with slashing Actor’s tires and feeling only a modicum of satisfaction at what he had done, he closes the blade of his switchblade and places it back into his pocket.
Dark then teleports into your bedroom, his presence hidden completely from the Actor and yourself. Like a silent shadow, his footsteps not making a single sound on the rug, he approaches your sleeping form and stands at the foot of your bed, watching you peacefully sleep, the comforter of your bed covering you up to your chest. He feels a stab of emotional pain and yearning within his heart and soul, being so close to you…yet so far away—it was pure torture having to leave you at the Actor’s mercy, when all he wants to do is snatch you away and take you to safety. However, this situation is bigger than you and himself, Actor had many people throughout the years that had become his victims and they deserved justice.
Dark listens to the steady thrum of your heartbeat, your auras dim from sleep. Even with the illusion hiding your true form from view of Actor’s and everyone else’s eyes, Dark can still see past it, still see his beautiful girlfriend for what she actually is…an eldritch entity, just like him. He can easily see the miasmic and smokey, crimson energy of Actor’s powers around your mind, your memories altered and not even your own to begin with. The fact just angers Dark, but he keeps firm control of his emotions, having gained control of his tendencies of splitting apart when it came to negative emotions. It all came down to years of practice and keeping a healthy mental state.
“Just some more time and then we’ll be together again, Light.” Dark thinks to himself as he walks around the side of the bed and stands beside you, looming over you as he watches your sleeping face. His hand reaches out and lightly brushes your hair out of your face so he can see your face fully.
The entity that is an integral part of Dark has seen many women in its very long existence, both human and non-human, but it had always found you to be the most beautiful of them all—the way you walked, talked, thought, the way you carried yourself with dignity and respect, it was all very intoxicating. That, and you were stunning to look at physically—a perfect ten in his opinion, especially with that soul of yours, so full of light and hope, of justice and fairness, of equality, duty, empathy and kindness towards others. Dark, the entity that is human, yet not, at the same time, is absolutely smitten with you, that fact hasn’t changed since he met you in University all those lifetimes ago, nor when he watched you from the shadows when you were a High School student and visited the Actor’s house every once in a blue moon due to the timeframe you were originally from.
The gods know that he’s awfully tempted to just go into the other room and use his switchblade to kill the Actor in a very painful way…but that snake is still human by a thread, a single, bloody thread…and as King of the Upside Down, Dark isn’t permitted to directly kill humans, which is why he needed to build that box of his. The Actor wouldn’t be able to resist using it, and with every use, Actor’s thread of humanity will get weaker and weaker until it snaps, making him an entity—a being that he and Celine can torment all they desire and then kill.
Celine and himself already had an agreement when this is all over, she is permitted to torment the Actor, play mind-games and hurt him too, but not to kill him—that is a privilege for Dark and Dark alone, though he’s more than happy to ask if you’d like a hand in the Actor’s demise, but he won’t force you to do anything you don’t want. That is the big difference between him and Actor, Dark respects you and your decisions as a person, Actor doesn’t.
Hesitating slightly, Dark reaches his fingers out and gently caresses your cheek, growing pleasantly surprised when you let out a slight sigh in your sleep and press your cheek more into his hand. A warm smile appears on his grey complexioned face. Even without your memory, even if you’re a pretty marionette on the Actor’s strings, your soul still remembers him and his touch. Dark lets himself caress your cheek gently for a few precious moments before he reluctantly moves his hand away. Your body shifts onto its side, facing him, as if not wanting him to leave and it really is such a tempting offer—to just stay and watch over you as you sleep, but he’s taken a risk being here as it was.
“Sweet dreams, darling.” Dark mouths the words silently down at you before stepping back into the shadows of your room and disappearing from your house, appearing back into the Void, where he continues to plan and scheme.
I awake the next day, past twelve in the afternoon. Yawning a bit, I sit up in my bed and rub my eyes, still half asleep. Getting out of my bed, I get ready for the day by brushing my teeth and showering. I dry off and put on my clothing for the day, a pair of shorts and a tank top due to it being a bit of a hot day. I don’t bother with makeup at this time, choosing to be barefaced for the day. I step out of my room and see Chica bound up to me, her front paws now resting on my shoulders.
“Hi Chica.” I tell her with a quiet giggle.
I look towards the door to the guest bedroom, opening it slightly and seeing Mark still asleep. I close the door, letting him sleep since he seems tired.
“Well it appears your dad is still asleep, girl.” I whisper to her, before walking downstairs, Chica following behind me.
“Luckily, Mark bought some food for you so you won’t go hungry.” I say to the dog, changing her water and then getting the dog food and bowl, placing the dog food into it.
I set it next to the water bowl and let Chica dig into her food.
I then heat up a few of the leftover slices of pizza for brunch. It’s in the middle of eating my brunch, that I see Mark make his way downstairs.
“Afternoon, sleepyhead.” I say to him, seeing him in a change of clothing he had brought over from his house.
“Afternoon, Y/N.” He says, heating up some of the slices of pizza in the microwave before joining me at the kitchen island. I pass him a bottle of sparkling water, seeing him nod in thanks.
“So, what are your plans for the rest of the day, Mark?” I ask him, before taking a bite of my second slice of pizza.
Mark shrugs.
“Nothing much, maybe some more video editing and planning for other video games I might play.” He says, before taking a bit of his pizza, chewing his mouthful.
“That was a good movie marathon last night though…we should do it again when we get the time to do so.” He says, giving me a wink and a smile.
I feel my cheeks turn a bit hot.
“Yeah, we should.” I say to him, trying to keep my cool.
“Don’t act like a school girl around her crush Y/N, you’re a 28 year old woman for Christ’s sake.” I mentally scold myself, drinking from my bottle of sparkling water to hide my blush.
Thankfully, Mark doesn’t seem to notice my blush, causing me to mentally sigh in relief.
We both enjoy our brunch, not talking, but just enjoying the other’s company. After our brunch, we throw away our empty bottles and I wash our plates. Mark gathers all of his things, getting ready to leave for his house. I watch him put on Chica’s pink leash, leaning against the back of my sofa as I watch him.
“You got all of your things?” I ask him, seeing him nod.
“Yeah, I got everything.” He says as he shoulders his backpack and holds onto the end of the leash.
“I’ll talk to you soon, Y/N.” Mark says in farewell as I walk him out of my house.
“Alright, we’ll be in touch, have a great rest of your day, Mark. You too, Chica.” I say, aiming the last of my words to Mark’s loyal puppy.
I watch Mark exit my house and make his way down my driveway, towards the Barrel. He reaches his van and seems to look at it before he starts freaking out.
“Mark?” I ask him in concern as I approach.
“Someone slashed the tires of my van!” Mark says as he walks around the van with Chica, checking the damage done.
“All four of them.” He tells me angrily as he steps onto the sidewalk.
I shake my head in concern.
“But why? Who would do something like this? Something so terrible?” I ask in bafflement, seeing him pace the side walk.
He hands me Chica’s leash and both of us watch him run his hands through his dark hair in frustration and anger.
I don’t say anything, just listening to him vent his anger.
“What sort of low life would slash the tires of someone’s vehicle?! Do they not have anything better to do?!” Mark hisses in annoyance as he pulls out his phone and tries to calm down so that he can call a wrecker to take his van to a shop to get his tires replaced.
I look as his tense body language as he speaks to the person on the other line, explaining the situation. After a while of talking he ends the call with a disgruntled sigh.
“I’m really sorry this happened Mark, I don’t understand what kind of person you have to be to even think about vandalising someone’s property in such a way.” I say to him softly, placing a gentle hand onto his shoulder.
I look around at the street cameras. “Maybe the street cameras caught something, you can go to the police about this.” I say to him.
“Maybe, I’ll also have to contact my insurance company.” He says, letting out another sigh, seeming on the verge of developing a migraine from everything.
“Come on, this sun is just going to make you feel worse, we can sit on my porch until the wrecker arrives.” I say to him, snagging his wrist and dragging him back up my drive way, Chica following since I’m holding her leash in my other hand.
“Bossy much, Y/N.” Mark grumbles, but he lets me drag him forward.
We sit on my porch, Chica’s head in Mark’s lap, trying to cheer him up in her own way. I lean against Mark’s side, giving him my silent support. His mood seems to improve slightly at our efforts.
“Honestly, what would I do without you or Chica?” Mark says, his arm wrapping around my shoulder as he looks at his vandalised van.
“Probably blow a blood vessel from rage.” I say to him, recalling his 'I am Bread' and 'Getting Over it with Bennett Foddy', gameplays and how he almost wrecked his vocal cords from all of his screaming and raging, not that I was much better when I tackled those games on my channel, those game were horrible brainchildren right out of Satan’s mind.
I hear him chuckle.
“Yeah, most likely.” He says, giving my shoulder an affectionate squeeze as he calms down a bit more.
By the time the thirty minutes had passed for the wrecker to get here, Mark had fully calmed down, him approaching the driver of the wrecker, along with the police officer and talking with both of them, the officer taking an official statement of the incident. After a while of talking, I see the wrecker take the Barrel away and the police officer get into his cruiser and drive off.
Mark approaches me and Chica once more.
“It’ll be about a week until I get my van back from the shop and the officer said that they’ll check the street cameras since they might have caught whoever did this to my van.” Mark says, causing me to nod.
He plops down beside me on the porch and rests his head onto my shoulder.
“This sucks, we’ll have to plan our trip to Cracker Barrel at another point in time.” He mumbles into my shoulder.
I give him a friendly pat on the head.
“Don’t worry about it Mark, as long as some Apocalypse doesn’t happen, we’ll be able to go to Cracker Barrel when our schedules are free.” I say to him in comfort.
“As long as we don’t go to Yellowstone, we’ll be fine, Y/N. Knowing my luck, the day we go there, the volcano would erupt and I’d have to apologize to everyone.” Mark says, causing me to laugh.
Mark joins in on my laughter, his mood lightening.
“Oh yes, I can imagine what you’d say: “My bad everyone, it’s my fault the volcano blew up.”” I say, doing a bad imitation of his voice.
Mark cracks up more, because it’s something he’d very well say.
We spend some more time talking, myself doing my best to get Mark to laugh, getting his mind off of his van getting vandalised. Mark had to leave after an hour, him seeming almost reluctant to do so.
“I guess I’ll be seeing you, Y/N.” He says as we both stand up from my porch.
“Yeah.” I say, reluctantly giving him Chica’s leash, silently wishing he didn’t have to leave.
He takes the leash from me, our fingers brushing against each other and setting off butterflies flying in my stomach.
“Thanks for cheering me up, Y/N. You’re the best.” He says with a small smile.
“What are best friends for?” I only say to him with a matching smile.
My eyes go wide in surprise when he leans down and presses a kiss to my cheek.
“See ya, Y/N.” He says, stepping off my porch and beginning to walk back home with Chica.
“See ya.” I say to him, my cheeks pink from the unexpected affection.
I retreat back into my house when I lose sight of him down the street and I lock my door. My fingers reach up and touch the spot he had kissed, smiling like a fool. I turn around and proceed to do my chores and the rest of my other agendas for the day, a spring in my step, already looking forward to when I can hang out with Mark again.
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Marion_Baggins_42 on Chapter 1 Wed 15 May 2024 09:56PM UTC
Last Edited Thu 16 May 2024 10:06AM UTC
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Lollipops_and_Landmines on Chapter 4 Thu 19 May 2022 03:30AM UTC
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silverhalloween on Chapter 4 Mon 23 May 2022 06:34PM UTC
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Lollipops_and_Landmines on Chapter 6 Thu 02 Jun 2022 02:25AM UTC
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Lollipops_and_Landmines on Chapter 8 Wed 15 Jun 2022 10:35PM UTC
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Marion_Baggins_42 on Chapter 9 Sat 15 Jun 2024 04:34AM UTC
Last Edited Sat 15 Jun 2024 11:22AM UTC
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