Chapter Text
Dibs’ breath came in short, frightened gasps as he ran. He’d rarely been this panicked before- then again, he’d rarely been successfully kidnapped before, either! What was this guy’s deal, anyway? Just because Dibs was the prince of San Fransokyo and the only ruler available and probably one of the most important people alive right now-
“Oh,” Dibs wheezed as he rounded a corner. “Yeah. It’s probably ransom again.” Ransom or not, the man knew he had to get out of there fast, before his kidnapper decided that he was too much trouble to keep alive. He liked his blood where it was, thank you very much.
It had been a great evening! Prince Dibs had been throwing a ball for the people of San Fransokyo (with the help of his advisor, Alistair, who knew how to run a kingdom much better than he did.) There was food, there were drinks, there were beautiful men and handsome women. Everything was going great… until the robots had attacked the dance.
Alistair had told him to run, which he had, but then he’d gotten distracted by one of the robots coming after him, so he’d ducked into a closet and gotten stuck for an hour or two. Alistair eventually freed him, of course, after all the chaos was over, and Dibs had decided that he needed some fresh air. He’d gone for a walk in his gardens, just enjoying the calm night and the glittering stars-
And then something had been pressed over his mouth from behind and he’d woken up in an underwater lab.
“YOU CAN’T HIDE.”
Dibs yelped, flinching at the sudden noise. It was the kidnapper, it had to be, talking to him through cleverly hidden speakers.
‘I HAVE EYES EVERYWHERE,” the voice told him. “I WILL FIND YOU, AND YOU WILL FACE THE CONSEQUENCES.”
“Excuse me,” Dibs retorted, trying (and probably failing) to hide his fear. “I’m not the kidnapper here!”
The voice didn’t answer, and Dibs had a brief, shining moment of hope-
Crash!!
-and the lights went off, and he tripped.
“Owww,” he moaned after a moment, gingerly picking himself up off the floor. He paused. “Darn it.” There was glass everywhere, from the painful feel of it, and he’d evidently knocked over a table or something.
He glanced around, straining his eyes to see something- anything- “Aaaagh!!”
-anything except those two glowing green eyes!!
When Dibs hadn’t immediately been eaten or grabbed, he began to relax. He gingerly reached towards the glowing dots- hoping against hope that he wouldn’t meet teeth or claws or whatever crazy person dragged him down here in the first place-
“Oh.”
Dibs brought the slim metal object closer to his face. He squinted. It looked like some sort of science-y headband, complete with goggles or something. Didn’t all the spy movies say green meant night vision?
Dibs put the headband on and was greeted with his surroundings once more. Everything was tinted green, but at least he could see. He looked down, and immediately wished he hadn’t.
There was indeed glass everywhere. Thankfully he hadn’t been hurt too badly by the sharp pieces, but he’d definitely need a bandage or two when he got out of here. Among the shards scattered across the floor were bits of something that looked like it had once been a purse, some intact beakers and vials- and a puddle of goopy pink stuff that was really definitely not supposed to be mixing with his blood.
“Oh, gross,” he whined, trying frantically to shake it off of him, “this is really really gross!” The pink stuff was sticking to him . It was doing something to his hand. “Agh! Ow, this kinda hurts- huh!?”
He stared in horror at his hand- or rather, where his hand used to be. Instead of his hand, what Dibs now had on the end of his arm was like something out of a horror movie. It was pink and goopy and opaque, and it was spreading.
The next few minutes were absolutely horrifying. It was dizzying, and disorienting, and so, so painful, and then everything just… stopped.
Dibs lay there on the floor for what felt like ages. Was he dead? He didn't feel much pain anymore- not much of anything, really- and he could see pretty well even though it had been dark last he checked. Also, he didn’t think he was breathing.
“Oh my god,” he gasped, starting to shake. “Oh my god I’m not breathing?!”
Wait, he could breathe, he discovered, gulping in deep breaths of air- it tasted stale and for some reason he could feel it everywhere- but it didn’t seem like he needed to. That was a little worrying, but he could afford to set that… issue… aside for after he escaped. Alistair was smart; he could help.
Next order of business- getting to his feet (which he couldn’t feel. That was definitely an issue.) He took a deep breath, shuddering at the familiar-yet-so-so-strange sensation, and rose.
He had legs. He definitely had legs. (Gooey, gelatinous ones.) He was standing on them, but he hadn’t gotten up. Not like usual, anyway; one moment he’d been splattered slumped on the floor, the next he was just- upright.
“Okay,” he managed, “this is completely normal and not at all concerning.”
He took a step- and promptly toppled forward to splat land on the floor once more. “Darn it!” He sighed, peeling his upper body off the floor. “This can’t get much worse.”
“Ah, there you are.”
No, it could. It could get much worse.
Dibs shrieked, hurling himself backwards as fast as he could. He didn’t stop to think about getting to his feet and running, he just acted on instinct and suddenly he was against the wall, staring in fear at the tall, thin man across from him.
The man stepped forward, examining him. Dibs hated it. “Who are you?!”
The man tilted his head, but didn’t answer. Instead he just frowned thoughtfully and continued advancing.
Dibs glanced around. The room he’d run into had no windows and only one exit, which the man was currently blocking. He was trapped. “What do you want from me?”
The man didn’t answer. Instead, he pulled out something- it looked uncomfortably like a weapon- and pointed it at Dibs.
Dibs panicked. “No!!” He thrust his arms towards the man, and was shocked and more than a little horrified to find himself shooting a blob of (his?) pink slime at him, it pinned the hand with the weapon in it to the wall. Well, he wasn’t going to let this opportunity go! He dove forward, sliding under his kidnapper’s legs and surging into the hallway. “Sorry,” Dibs called back out of habit. Wait. He’d been kidnapped, of course he wasn’t sorry!
Unfortunately, he didn’t get far before something struck the back of his body. It was cold, and he was forced to stop as he found himself literally frozen to the ground. “No! No, no, no-”
“You’re quite strong, you know,” the kidnapper said from behind him. He sounded irritated, and as he walked around Dibs he saw with alarm that the entire right side of his face was glowing purple. “You’re almost more trouble than you’re worth.”
Dibs’ eyes widened. Oh no, he knew it, he was about to be killed-
“You’ll be quite useful.”
What?
The man was fiddling with the weapon. “Not like you are now, of course, you’re far too… erratic. I’ll have to wipe the slate clean.” He pointed the weapon at Dibs once again-
No no no-
He opened his eyes. He was in some sort of bedroom, though for the life of him he couldn’t remember how he’d gotten there. He oozed his way out of the bed and onto the floor, then exited into the hallway. “Hello?”
There was no answer, so he slowly made his way down the hall until he found what looked like a kitchen. There in front of the sink stood a tall, thin man with a red streak in his hair. He turned and smiled. “Oh good, you’re awake.”
“I am?” He said. “Um, sorry, but where am I? Who are you?”
The man frowned. “Oh dear. The trauma from your… accident in my lab must have affected you harder than I thought.”
“Accident?”
“Yes,” the man said. “Accident. It seems you’ve lost your memory, but never mind that now-”
“Wait, but who even are you?”
The man looked surprised, then smiled. “Why, I’m your Uncle Obake, of course!”