Work Text:
It felt like the whole world came crumbling down around Evillustrator…which was exactly what was happening. Buildings shake, fall, and spill across the ground with Akumas running for their lives; screaming, yelling, and fighting to keep their whole world from being destroyed right before their very eyes. Of course, nothing hits the ground because they aren’t simply being destroyed and laying to waste.
No…
Because it was Evillustrator’s fault.
Watching as horror appeared on the first ten’s faces as they become helpless when Evillustrator destroys his own drawing pad. A thousand little pieces shattered into the void that came rushing back around them and it felt so right…and hurt so bad. Like a piece of himself had just been taken and crushed.
Evillustrator ignores the cries and questions and curses as he walks into the void without another thought towards any of them.
Surprise, surprise but Akumas are cruel beings. Creatures are created out of negative emotions and wants that aren’t easy to gain. They were created for a task and were unable to fulfil that task. Evillustrator never felt much like the others; having completed his main task but not any secondary ones.
He stops – surrounded by nothing but void with no end in sight and the weightless free falling but still having stable ground underneath his feet. It brings him back to when he first arrived here. Just as empty but he was alone; the First Ten were lounging around but none of them really tried to talk to him just looked at him in pity.
Making him feel small and helpless.
So, it draws a floor that later makes up the first building in Anti-Paris. It shocked them and no matter how high Dark Cupid flies, he always kept a keen eye on that spot. The laughter and chatter were strange and got a bit too loud at a point. It wasn’t bad – making Evillustrator feel nice and useful – but also very confusing. Evillustrator never understood why they reacted like that…or why they treated him far differently than any other Akuma, even Puppeteer and she’s the first child Akuma that was created.
Over the last couple of months, Evillustrator worked hard for Anti-Paris. Fulfil every request, every tiny object, and build the feeling of being useful. Then it came crashing down around him one night when Evillustrator found himself passing out after the meeting with Anti-bug and Vanisher. Lying there and only being able to stare at his drawing pad, alone.
Just a useless puppet for their needs and putting him away in a box until the next time.
They talk about how they are friends but it never felt like it…
Evillustrator lets out a huge sigh and sits on the ground with his legs crisscrossed.
“Eve?”
He refused to look behind him when the sound of Lady Wifi’s voice was heard. Evillustrator just wants to curl into himself and be shallow by the void but that’s not how things work here. Because none of them are creatures of negative emotions and unattainable wants; they are people with hopes and dreams and realizing that they are so much more than what Hawkmoth made them for.
“Yeah?” Evillustrator calls out and can’t help but jump when suddenly Bubbler comes crashing out of nowhere and wraps his arms around him while Lady Wifi stands on the other of him. Evillustrator pushes Bubbler off and forces himself away from the two. “What do you want?”
“To apologize,” Bubbler said. “Mostly because we never realized what we have been doing to you.”
Lady Wifi looks tired and almost scared. Number Eight out of the First Ten which is nothing compared to Bubbler being the second Akuma after Stone Heart. “We were angry when you erased our world and I admit that the idea of dragging you back did come up but we can’t force you to draw for us.” Their leader looks around the void as if she’s seeing Anti-Paris in all of its glory. “You made this world out of wanting something that’s hard for the rest of us and if have the right to be angry with us.”
Evillustrator looks beyond them to where the rest of the Akumas are hanging around. Realizing that he never went that far away from them. The First Ten – save for Bubbler and Lady Wifi – are distracting everyone from what had happened. He’s still mad and still hates them for the suffering that they caused him but…
“Do you have my drawing pad?” Evillustrator asks and is surprised when Lady Wifi hands it to him. “I’m not looking for an apology just that I want to be friends for real.”
The two follow him back to the other Akumas and as Evillustrator walks, a path appears beneath his feet and then a set of steps and a very familiar building. Many were shocked and unsure; all of them are used to the feeling of things being given and taken away with the snap of one’s fingers.
“We would like that as well,” Bubbler said, placing a hand on Evillustrator’s shoulder. “And maybe the next time you’re upset with us, please don’t take it out on Anti-Paris.”
Evillustrator wants to joke that he makes no promises but the look of horror on their faces and the pure joy of having something other than void outweighs that. Sure, he’s still mad and probably will be for a while but they aren’t what Hawkmoth made them as; more than just negative emotions. They can be so much more than that…and Evillustrator wants to be more than that.
“The name’s Evillustrator, I can create things, what about you?”
It got a laugh out of Lady Wifi but she shakes his hand. “Lady Wifi, the name’s self-explanatory. It’s nice to meet you, Eve.” It’s nice to have a proper chance to introduce one another after so long of things being very one-sided.
