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The phight was heating up. With only a few minutes left on the clock, both teams were speeding up the pace and battling as hard as they could. Bullets flew, swords slashed, and chaos reigned through the arena. Medkit tried his best to keep up, healing his teammates and fending off any stray foes with what little attack power he had. He was tired, and it had been a while since he had done so much physical activity, but phights were easy money, and Medkit could use some extra.
He rubbed his temples, seeing Scythe get wounded again and rushing over to her with his gear clutched in his left hand. As reckless as she could be, she had impeccable aim, and he had to ensure she’d survive until the end of the round if he wanted to gain any profit from this endeavor. As Medkit ran over to the southern woman, he felt the familiar heat of a sharp weapon closing in near his neck.
“TRAITOR APPREHENDED. DO NOT RESIST, OR YOU WILL BE EXECUTED.”
The healer carefully turned, pointing his gun at the robot. He recognized the model as one of Blackrock’s robots, designed by a certain person sometime after the incident. “Out of all the rounds for him to be in. What does Subspace want from me?”
“INFORMATION WILL BE SHARED SOON. DO NOT RESIST, OR YOU WILL BE EXECUTED.”
“Do you just say that at the end of every sentence?”
“AFFIRMATIVE. DO NOT RESIST, OR YOU WILL BE EXECUTED”
Medkit sighed. Biograft’s weapon was at his throat, and any wrong move would sever his head from his body. He had no idea what Subspace had planned for him, and he was sure the swiftness of decapitation would be less painful than whatever Subspace had up his sleeve. However, he couldn’t help but admit that curiosity was overtaking him. Besides, whatever damage Subspace inflicted on him would be healed at the end of the round. The Flipside always healed every phighter at the end of the rounds.
Well, always was an overstatement. It was more like 70% of the time.
“I’ll go along with your plan, Biograft.”
“AFFIRMATIVE. FOLLOW ME AS I LEAD YOU TO SUBSPACE. CREATOR WILL INSTRUCT YOU FROM THERE. DO NOT RESIST-”
“Or I will be executed. I know.”
As Biograft began to lead Medkit away from the discord of the match, Medkit looked over to Scythe and noticed Vine Staff approaching her, saying hello and preparing her healing magic. Medkit smirked a little. Guess having two healers on a team really could help in certain situations.
“KEEP UP WITH MY PACE OR YOU WILL BE EXECUTED.”
“Illumina, you’re annoying. Please don’t tell me I have to listen to you for much longer.”
“CREATOR IS NEAR. HE WILL TAKE IT FROM THERE.”
“Got it. Can we hurry this up?”
“I AM TRYING TO MAKE THIS AS QUICK AS POSSIBLE. YOU ARE THE ONE SLOWING ME DOWN.”
The two continued to move away from the other phighters, approaching a more secluded area of the map. Medkit’s suspicions grew increasingly as Biograft continued to separate them from the crowd. The clinician only hoped that whatever Subspace had in store for him wasn’t too slow and painful.
Speaking of Subspace, the two finally reached him. He sat on a nearby ledge, checking his nails intently as he waited. A beat passed before Biograft spoke up to notify the pink-horned demon of their presence.”
“I HAVE ESCORTED THE TRAITOR TO YOU. I SHALL NOW RETREAT TO THE PHIGHT AS YOU INSTRUCTED, CREATOR.”
Subspace looked up and smiled beneath his mask, clasping his hands together. “Excellent work, my invention! You’ve done well. Run along now!”
The robot obliged, beelining towards the other phighters with computerized precision. As Biograft disappeared, Subspace’s attention turned towards Medkit, his eyes narrowing sinisterly.
“As for you, Medkit…I have a special request.”
The doctor braced himself for the worst. He knew enough about the confines of the other man’s mind to know that it worked in strange, macabre ways. He couldn’t imagine what he had planned for him, especially if he didn’t even want a Biograft to watch. At the very least, whatever torture Subspace had planned for him would excuse him from constantly having to heal everyone.
Subspace giggled. “Dance with me!”
Medkit’s poker face broke as confusion clouded it. Sure, he used to practice a bit of waltzing back at Blackrock, sometimes including Subspace in his endeavors, but those days were far behind him. He only picked it up as a hobby to distract himself from the constant weight of his work as a scientist. He was surprised the Blackrockian even remembered those small moments.
“Excuse me?” Medkit responded.
“You heard me! Let’s dance!”
Medkit thought for a moment. Something felt… off about the request. Subspace had him in an extremely vulnerable position. He could easily capture or kill him right now, and everyone would be none the wiser. Out of all things, why would the other man want a simple dance ? Wouldn’t he be rewarded heavily by Blackrock if he turned him in?
Subspace’s eyes narrowed further. “Well? Do you accept?”
Medkit blinked a few times before taking a deep breath. If Subspace wanted to torture him, wouldn’t he have done it already? What if, for once in his life, he was being truthful? Medkit doubted it, but what did he have to lose? He’d probably get killed if he went back to the phight anyway, considering he was an easy-to-target support.
“Fine. But this doesn’t mean we’re close again.”
“Of course not! I’m not foolish, Meddy!” Subspace hopped off the ledge, approaching Medkit and leaning in towards him with a smile. “I just want a moment of the past back! You understand, right?”
Medkit stayed silent, backing up from the other demon so that they weren’t so close. He let out a soft sigh, stretching a bit before trying to jog his memory on the proper moves for his preferred dance. He wondered how the pink-horned demon was going to follow along since he had never learned the accompanying steps for this specific one. Subspace faced the teal-horned demon, his smile still plastered on, as Medkit’s train of thought chugged along. Finally remembering what he had to do, he approached Subspace again, grabbing his hand and beginning to dance.
Medkit ran through the steps in his mind as they swayed; he was quite rusty, tripping over his feet and missing some steps. Subspace giggled at the other man’s mistakes, earning him quite a few eye-rolls. As time went on, the clinician became more confident, his awkwardness evaporating and his pace becoming more and more bold. He began humming the song that usually went along with this particular waltz, making Subspace flash what seemed like a genuine smile.
“I remember always hearing that song when you practiced, Meddy! Never knew this is the dance that went along with it!”
Medkit smiled back, blushing as he turned away. “Yeah. Even I got tired of this song at one point.”
“Oh, I never got tired of it! Reminded me of you, and it still does!”
The two slowed down as the dance finished and the last steps played out, staring each other in the eye. Medkit glanced down at Subspace’s scarred lips for a second before making eye contact again, deciding against the rapid thought that had flashed through his head. He backed away, awkwardly rubbing the back of his head.
“I…should get back to the phight, and you should too. How long did you wait for me anyway? I didn’t see you at all during the start of the round.”
“Pretty long! It took Biograft forever to find you! I practically fell asleep!” Subspace laughed, leaning on the ledge near him. “Sooooo, are you-”
“This was a one-time thing, Subspace. It’s forever over between us.”
The other man’s gaze softened for a moment, a bit of sorrow filling his eyes before it snapped back to normal. “I know! Goodbye for now, Meddy!”
Medkit smiled ever-so-slightly, waving goodbye. “Bye, Subspace.”