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"Now I'm going to ask you this, one last time. WHERE. IS. ALAN", The grey stick figure snapped as he shoved the picture of an all too familiar cursor into The Chosen One's face. They had been doing this same song and dance for days now. Victim would enter, rough the black stick figure up for a few minutes, then interrogate him on the whereabouts of his most hated enemy. Yet The Chosen One never relents. He never gives in. Never gives Victim the information he wants to hear, it infuriates him to no end. Does this nuisance not understand who is in control here? Does he not understand that Victim has the power? That he is in no position to keep resisting?
Yet the stick figure just shakes his head, look as defiant as always. Even in his bound position. Even with the countless bruises from their little "sessions", The Chosen One remains as resistant as always. Victim lets out a sigh.
"I don't understand why you're so insistent on protecting him. Don't you see how easy it would be if you just gave me the information I wanted? We could skip over the fighting, you could give me my answer, and you can be on your merry way", He said, arms folded behind his back, facing away from his prisoner.
"I think you mean 'torture'. Fighting is generally an act done between two parties of equal strength to see who comes out the victor. And I'd hardly call this an equal battle", The Chosen One retorted. Gritting his teeth, Victim turned back to the other stick, not even attempting to hide his irritation.
"Perhaps you are right. After all, I am the one with the power advantage", He replied, a hint of pride in his tone. Chosen, much to his annoyance, only chuckled.
"You call your minions giving you cheats a 'power advantage'? I would've squashed you a million times over by now had it not been for them", The black stick figure pointed out. Victim seethed, fists clenching as he stalked his way up to Chosen, form towering over his.
"You have some nerve talking to me like that while you're bound and beaten"
"And you have nerve thinking I'd surrender to you just because you roughed me up a little. Let me make something perfectly clear to you Victim", Leaning forward in his chair slightly, the red eyes of The Chosen One shone into Victim's as he leveled him with a cold glare.
"I'm not scared of you"
Letting out a growl, Victim threw a punch directly at the other stick figure, connecting cleanly with his jaw and causing blood to spill out of his mouth. Grabbing his chin and forcing Chosen to face him, he bared his teeth as he spoke in a low growl.
"You good for nothing parasite. You think you're so much better than me don't you? Because what? You have powers I could only dream of possessing? Is that what this is?", He spat.
"I never said I was better than you. I'm just stating the obvious", The Chosen One bit back, still showing no fear. Victim snarled as he released him. Taking a moment to compose himself, the grey stick figure returned to his professional demeanor as he spoke once more.
"This could be so much easier for you Chosen. You could just tell me where Alan is, I can let you go, and that's that"
"Do you really expect me to believe that?", Chosen asked, raising an unamused brow. Victim returned it with a curious expression of his own.
"What reason would I have for keeping you here after I've gotten what I wanted?"
"If you really just wanted to talk, you wouldn't have send your little cronies after me. You wouldn't have tried to beat me into submission the moment the two of us met. Clearly, you're not here for a friendly conversation. You want something from me, something more than just Alan. So no, I don't believe you'll just release me because everything you've done up until this point has proven otherwise"
Victim was silent. Truthfully, he didn't have a strong retort to that statement. Chosen was right. He had no intentions of simply releasing the stick figure after he was done with him. He just wished the other was too stupid to realize that. And judging by the black stick figure's knowing expression, he knew full well that he had been right on the money.
"What is your goal here Victim? Why are you doing all of this?", Chosen asked, his tone was low, tired, curious. Victim scoffed.
"Isn't it obvious? I want revenge", He stated, matter-of-factly.
"And how do you plan on getting this revenge?", The other stick pressed.
"Well, once I find where he is, I'll destroy everything he holds dear, just like he did me"
"Oh so you're just gonna break out of the internet and into the real world to give him the beating of a lifetime huh?"
Victim narrowed his eyes. He didn't like Chosen's tone of voice, it's as if he was mocking him, which he very well may have been.
"I'll find a way", He answered vaguely.
"Oh so you have no idea then?", The black stick figure retorted, Victim's eye twitched.
"That's not what I said"
"Sure as hell sounded like it"
Victim could feel his blood boil. How dare this insolent little program question him. How DARE he assume that Victim hadn't already come up with a full proof plan to get his revenge! Oh how badly he wanted to end The Chosen One's miserable existence, and perhaps if he wasn't so crucial to said plan, he would've.
"Look, Victim", Chosen said after a moment, his tone losing its mocking edge, replaced by something that almost sounded like pity.
"I don't know what your whole history with Alan is, but it's obvious that he hurt you in some way, and believe me when I say I know the feeling", His expression shifted into that of a frown, eyes averting from Victim's.
"I was in your position once. I was angry, really angry. I wanted Alan dead so badly, I wanted to destroy everything he had. And for awhile... I thought I did", His mouth formed into a thin line, looking as if he was recalling something from ages past.
"But looking back... I realize that, no amount of revenge or destruction could truly be enough to heal the wounds inflicted on me. And Alan... well it barely even affected him. He just got a new computer and that was that. It made me realize how useless all of this anger was. That it was all just... meaningless. That I could never make Alan hurt the same way he hurt me because... in the end. He's a real person, and we're just programs", Letting out a sigh, Chosen looked back to Victim, who had been dead silent throughout his entire monologue.
"Victim, you have a lot of potential. You've done amazing things. Created technology that even the greatest stick figures could only dream of making. You could be doing so much more, yet you choose to pursue a goal that you'll never be able to achieve. You're basing your entire existence around another person when you could be using that time to figure out who you want to be"
There was a brief pause, a moment for Victim to take in everything Chosen was saying, then he continued.
"It took me a long time to realize who I wanted to be. Perhaps it's time you do the same"
As Chosen finished his monologue, Victim was left standing in complete silence. His expression was unreadable, making it impossible to decipher his thoughts. He looked neither angry or sad. Depressed or infuriated. He just stared. After what felt like hours of silence, he finally spoke up.
"I think we're done here", And in that moment, what little hope shone in Chosen's eyes dissipated as they twisted into an expression of disappointment.
"Yeah, I guess we are"
Victim didn't dare look back at the other stick figure as he walked out of the room. Didn't dare think about the way Chosen looked at him, as if for a solid second, he had faith that Victim would hear his words, and then, how it all washed away in a fraction of a second once the grey stick figure returned it only with indifference.
For The Chosen One knew nothing of Victim. Knew nothing of what he was fighting for. Sure he may act like it, but he didn't. His fate was his own, not Alan's. He was sure of that.
He knew who he was. He knew why he was here.
He was a victim.
A victim, that was going to make his oppressor burn.