Chapter Text
"H..ows my approval rating?"
"Oh my god."
"I'm not talking to you.."
That was the last thing he heard before the pain fully set in and he lost consciousness for good.
It took 2 days for Vox to wake up after his botched takeover attempt. His screen was cracked right down his right eye, causing him to squeeze his eyes shut the second they were opened from the nauseating doubling and colourful bands across his vision. After a few seconds to just wake up a massive sickness fell over him. Oh shit. His body. He couldn't feel anything below his head and if it wasn't for the fact he didn't have a stomach right now he's sure he'd be throwing up. He's had his head replaced and consciousness transferred before sure but that was always after he was put to sleep. This felt truly horrific. His mind screamed at him to open his eyes, move, do anything but he couldn't and it was adding to his massive headache. He felt completely weak and vulnerable and he hated it so much.
Eventually his left eye opened with a few blinks. Darkness stared back at him as his eyes ajusted to the light. From what he could see he was surely somewhere in his own towers, electric blue zigzags in the shape of several 'V's lined the walls and the rough white pillow placed under him was one from the many sofas plastered around. Boxes, cardboard and plastic lined the walls, metal shelving being full of random stacks of paper and discarded products.
Why on earth had he been left in an empty dark storage room?
That reminded him, the other V's. Valentino and Velvette.. God they must be so mad at him. I mean he couldn't exactly blame them? He did litterally try to blow them and everyone else up, including himself. He thinks back to that moment. He felt so stupid. How could he have let Alastor do this? He litterally had him contractually under him for fucks sake! The thought of him alone made his eyebrows form an angry expression on his face. He almost killed himself for what??
What was worse is Vox still wished it had worked! It WOULD'VE been worth it to wipe the smile of Alastors face. At that point he knew he was screwed either way. Knew his plan crumbled the second he pointed that weapon at his own city. At least he would've got something out of it if he had succeeded in killing Alastor, Himself and every other useless fucker in the blast range. Atleast if he died he wouldn't have had to watch as his own team turned on him. He wouldn't have had to feel Valentino rip his head straight from his neck in several sickening pops. Atleast he wouldn't have had to sit here on the dirty floor watching as everything he built all crumbled to nothing as that dumb Princess and her little Angel friend actually convinced everyone to hold hands and sing together like it was a children's book. If he had just died then he wouldn't be here right now bodyless and actually *scared* for what might come. The part of him that wished it had all just ended there and the part of him that housed his massive ego were fighting and he was pretty sure his ego wasn't winning.
He felt something wet across his screen, Panic setting in until he realised it was his own stupid tears. He couldn't believe he was actually crying over this. A few odd tears turned to a sea of salty water as his breathing picked up and the fans on the side of his head started buzzing, trying to cool him off. He was an overlord, practically a king, he shouldn't be behaving so pathetic. But he couldn't stop no matter how much he tried. His panic progressed until he felt like he was choking even though he didn't have any lungs. The taste of his own tears trickling into his mouth made him feel even more sick as he hadn't eaten or drank in several days and the shame of starting having an actual panic attack made him want to slam his screen into a wall. After a few slow minutes Vox felt his consciousness slip away as he passed out once again.
______________
He woke back up a few hours later, surprisingly feeling less sick as he got used to his lack of body. Still he flinched at the memory of how it felt for all feeling towards his body to fade away as the pain became a dark nothingness, forcefully disconnected from him.
That room gave him too much time with his thoughts.
He wondered when Valentino or Velvette would make their way here, break the news of how awful everything had become now after his little breakdown. That time never came and it was eating him alive. Obviously they'd be mad but how mad? Would an apology cut it ?? Probably not. They're going to be seething with him for months.
He eventually recognised exactly where he was after more time than he'd like to admit. A storage closet that connected one of Val's studios to the garage units on the ground floor. He really was discarded away like this. Fuck they didn't even check up on him once and it had been 5 days by this point. The heavy security in the form of a fingerprint scanner and a fancy lock only added to his uneasy feeling.
His energy was very slowly coming back to him. Occasionally he'd test, throwing a few weak sparks from his antenna. As he couldn't move he could only see what was directly infront of him but from the eye that wasn't smashed up he could see an old model powered down security camera. He knew it was a bad idea to try traverse through it. Not only did he not know if he had enough power to do so normally but he also didn't know if the old thing was even still connected to the buildings power system. If he failed it could not only drain his energy back to nothing but it could also really mess up stuff internally if his parts get stuck as static too long and melt together. He knew this but honestly he felt that wouldn't be as bad as sitting here doing nothing.
He breathed in as far as he could (not much considering it had nowhere to go) and zapped into the camera, searching for an entry point into the rest of the building. It felt somewhat nice to be formless and unconstricted like this after days of being ststionary. After pulling himself through some old wires with a stumble he managed to connect to the power.Thankfully he didn't really need to expend any energy from here since he knew the network here like the back of his hand and could easily glide across radiowaves and devices. The first thing he does is search for a camera. He pears into many rooms, it appears that the company is atleast afloat, the staff seemed more uncoordinated than usual but that was fine. He couldn't tell if he was glad about that or somewhat upset it's running in his absence.
Eventually he finds Velvette in one of her many fashion studios. She's wrapping up taking photos of some models to post online. Vox feels weird. Not for spying on his coworkers of course, he does that all the time. But just weird seeing either of them after what happened. Velvette looks more tired than usual, her eyes were droopy and despite her makeup you could tell she had been struggling to sleep. Her usual cruel scrutiny on her employees is replaced by aggressive sarcasm instead. They must be struggling hard right now.
After a few minutes the shoot finishes and Velvette wraps a fluffy coat around her shoulders before leaving. He follows her around using the cameras, as she makes her way to Valentinos side of the building, one she usually doesn't visit all that often. She gets in the elevator and goes straight past the floor with the bulk of his studios and instead goes to his personal floor. Vox gets a bad feeling in his chest. Whatever this is about it must be important. Velvettes lips are pressed into a small scowl as she glares at any staff that might get in her way as she walks. Eventually she stands outside Vals main office before briefly knocking. After a few seconds the door slowly glides open.
Vox finds himself inside one of the many monitors on a desk in the corner. From here he can see Valentino sulking on a couch, 2 of his arms folded over themselves as he gives Velvette a sour look. She rolls her eyes at him before sitting down next to him. The room was painted in a soft pink light, canvases lined in neat rows covered every wall, most of which had been painted by Val himself. The space wasn't that large but it was definitely lived in. Valentinos spaces tended to have much more personality and life than Vox's which he could appreciate.
"Val we can't keep avoiding this much longer. The public are asking questions and your attempts at dodging them aren't working."
Val dramatically places his head into his other two hands, his antenna drooping sadly. He mumbles through his fingers
"What do you want me to do about it? It's not my fault Vox went psycho, I don't keep him on a leash y'know."
That stung a little. Especially since Vox was the one keeping Val from going mental most of the time. Why were they talking about him like he's a little kid?
"Oh for fucks sake. He's the CEO! Everything's litterally got his name on it! We've got to do something"
What? What where they even talking about..? Obviously VoxTech has his name in it..its his company. Sure it might be bad right now but his image will probably be fine with time right?? Besides they don't get a say in that.
"What? The Vees? Both our names start with V too you know..?"
Valentino turns his head to face Velvette, his hand smushing his cheek up making him sound like a grumpy toddler. He looked genuinely puzzled which only added to Velvettes anger.
"VOXTech. I mean! I mean fuck you can't just keep denying you even know him in interviews..! Obviously we know him you fucking melt!"
Vox feels ill again. What does that imply.. they're not. There's no way they're cutting him out right. They can't. He built this company. He built THEM. How could they even consider it. His anger builds and he accidentally let's a spark fly from the monitors camera but neither of the other two overlords notice.
"Are you saying..we change our name ? But.." Conflicted, Val stares off at the fluffy white rug under them.
Velvette interrupts him "But what? We already agreed on this. He's out of commission and his image is totally fucked. Not to mention HE TRIED TO FUCKIN KILL US. We're cutting ties."
Valentino looks conflicted, his eyes darting away and out the window behind him for a split second. He breathes in before finally sitting up straight..well kinda. He tends to hunch over around Vox and Velvette, especially Velvette since he's so tall.
"I know.." He practically whines. Vox always noticed that Valentino always had more of a permanent accent when he wasn't around rather than desperately attempting to force it back. Probably to avoid him commenting on it. "What are we even gonna do with him.. he's probably woken up by now you know.."
Velvette cringes at the thought "shit..I don't know. Especially since you insisted on dragging back his dead body. So gross."
Vox fought to the urge to vomit himself out of the screen. He wanted to scream but he knew he couldn't even if he tried. His speakers aren't built for that and his vocal chords were currently out of commission. Speaking of. What the hell did she mean by dragging his body back? They have it somewhere?? What are they doing with it. A shiver runs through him. He decides he can't stay here anymore. He might aswell try to find it. He can't believe he's currently looking for his own severed body. He scans several cameras at once, shuddering as the added cameras drain more of his energy.
This is definitely a one way trip.
He thought as he looked and came to the horrible realisation that if they change the company name the majority of his soul contracts will break. He'll have nothing. He won't even be considered an overlord anymore. Most of them specify work at Voxtech. If "Voxtech" turns into something else then that will break. Val and Vel can just change the conditions of the deal, Vox can't do that in his state. He'll probably be without significant power for a while even if he does get out of this. Even if he does leave V tower and never look back.
Eventually his eyes land on it. His body layed out on a coffee table in a secure plain white warehouse. He looks just as he did when he was defeated but worse. His new suit was torn to shreds and it looked as though he was dragged by his arms considering his wrists amd shoulders were bruised a deep purple. The sight of the hole in his neck made him recoil. Blood stained his entire neck and chest, wires left to dangle off the edges of the table. He looked like a corpse. And he didn't want to even consider the idea he technically was one. His shirt was torn down the front from where Velvette kicked him and the blood pooling under the table suggested his back was fucked.
He knew reconnecting to that thing was going to hurt. Probably worse than actual torture. But what options did he have? Atleast the wires hooked up to his limbs were providing his body with something to stop it litterally decaying.
He pointed the camera next to his body on the table and used up the rest of his power to eject himself from the camera as hard as possible so he doesn't just fall flat on the floor. He does manage to land face up on the table but the impact causes the crack on his screen that was steadily healing to shatter again, glass pieces falling out and hitting the floor with a clink.
Contrary to popular belief vox actually could feel his TV screen and head. But he wishes he couldn't right now. It hurt like picking at an open wound and he was once again blind in one eye. He composed himself as best as possible before using one of the small wires in his head to search around for his body. Staring up at the clinical white ceiling lamp further added to the scuffed nature of all this. Obviously several parts connected his head to his neck but this was the main one. Atleast with this he could move his body again as the nerves connect.
He eventually finds the other end to the wire and plugs them together, blood oozing between them. Then all his nerves hit him at once. The pain didn't even hit yet. It was just the pure sensory overload that nearly caused him to short circuit.
He's lucky his throats shredded or he's pretty sure he'd be screaming right now. He fights the wave of overstimulation and quickly raises his now suddenly shaking hands to frantically snap some more wires together, clicking and the bubbling of his own insides echo around the room. It's not a clean job and leaves him with a wonky grotesque looking neck but he's just glad to be able to move again.
He jolts forwards, body now in once piece and falls ass first off the table. He doubles over on the floor and mutes himself so his speakers don't explode. It kills. Every wound on his body was now being processed and he was half tempted to rip his own head off this time. He eventually made an attempt to pull himself off the floor, using his knee to slowly lift himself up. His screen flickered between the agony on his face and colourful bars. Sparks flew from his neck and made a sizzling sound as they flew through the air. He stumbled as soon as he got up, his claws digging against the table he was previously layed against. Tears threatened to poor down his screen but he'd already humiliated himself enough recently. He wouldn't allow it. With a swift hand movement he could pull up contracts.
Vox wasn't usually one to drain the energy from the souls he owned..he found it pathetic. But right now if he didn't he was going to pass out. His wounds started healing just enough so they weren't actively bleeding and vox could turn around to sit on the table.
He resisted the urge to cough as blood seeped between the cracks in his throat. He needed to get out. Adrenaline washed over his body as he realised how fucked he'd be if he was caught. If they were going to throw him out the company they probably wouldn't be too thrilled about him pulling himself back together without them realising, and by the tone of Valentinos voice earlier it seemed they were actually considering killing him for good already anyway.
Atleast the Adrenaline numbed the pain somewhat as he stood up, the weight not immediately making him collapse like before. He tiptoed towards the door and gave the handle a light pull. Locked.
His busted up wrists burned from the contact but he still forced his hand up to the scanner next to the door. The blue screen took a second before the door clicked unlocked. Thank god they hadn't removed his fingerprints from the scanners yet.
He slowly slid the door open, peaking outside to double check nobody was there. Warmer air hit him in the face and made him shiver.. the room must've been kept cold to preserve him. Thankfully his screen was dulled and unable to return to full brightness so he could theoretically sneak around. Who was he kidding actually? He knew how secure this place was. He needed another plan.
Vox's living space was 4 floors up from here and the closest elevator was further away than he'd like but he needed to get there. Hidden away in his bedroom was a backup battery that he kept hidden even from his coworkers. Using that he could theoretically power himself up enough to leave through cameras. However he couldn't just wander around outside. If he was caught out there it was highly likely sinners would absolutely rip him to shreds and he didn't have easy access to the entire city like he does to vee Tower so he'd be expending energy to travel like that. If he did it for too long he'd risk passing out.
Still this was his only option so he walked on. He was too recognisable he realised. If any staff saw him that were owned by the other two he'd be dead meat. He quietly sent out a signal to a close employee of his, one who's soul wasn't torn between the vees. After waiting a few minutes she showed up looking absolutely terrified. Not only at the risk of being torn apart by the vees for very clearly helping out vox who they'd cut ties with, but also because of Vox's appearance right now. It was probably weird to see him like this rather than high and mighty. Injured and cornered overlords were the most dangerous and unhinged sinners in hell. He looked completely unhinged and vox pretended to not notice he wince as she glanced at the state his neck was in.
He put a shaking finger to his mouth, telling her to be quiet before lightly grabbing at the edges of her long coat, making her flinch slightly. She realised what he was trying to say and took her coat off, handing it to him. She was taller than him and the coat would likely be very big on him which was perfect, he just hoped the hood would fit over his head. Vox grabbed the coat and slowly draped it over his body, attempting to not open any wounds from the movement. It draped over his entire body and hid his features, the sleeves being long enough to hide his distinct blue claws. He offered her a rather unhinged smile before signaling her to leave, which she did.
He knew that eventually she'd snitch. Yes he owned her soul but not for long and it wasn't worth risking it. So he needed to hurry. The hood did infact go over his head. It looked very dumb obviously but hopefully it's enough to not draw any attention as the dark blue makes him seem like one of his employees, background noise.
His heart felt like it was going to pound out of his chest after each step, peaking around corners made his skin crawl and worst of all he felt so ashamed. What was he doing sneaking around his own building, weak and scared of coming across his own damn staff. Occasionally people walked past him and he kept his head down and ducked into nearby rooms or other corridors so they couldn't get a good look at him. He's just lucky most of his employees are tired zombies who don't have the energy for observation skills.
Once he made it to the elevator he clicked the button before stepping quite a bit away. Once the doors opened and thankfully nobody was inside, He climbed in and pressed the button to take him up to the top, overriding the system with another hand scan so it doesn't open on the doors up.
His floor looked quiet. Too quiet. The lights had been switched off, leaving only the glow from his many aquariums to light up the area. Dust was gathering on furniture and he hated it.
He hated all of it. He suppressed his own anger to stop himself from doing something stupid and stared into an aquarium with mini lemon sharks in to cool his mind off. Poor things probably haven't been fed.
After practically dragging his legs across the floorboards he finally made it to his room. Finally he could leave this place. He didn't even take a second to say goodbye, he couldn't risk it. He pried his eyes away from his belongings and straight to the discreet safe tucked under his main desk. He hobbled over to crouch down and pulled it out, the dust gathering made his lungs burn and he coughed, more blood spilling from his mouth. He gritted his teeth and dusted off the top of it. As he tapped the box it lit up, illuminating his surroundings. It suddenly went from a dark grey to a brilliant display of blue light pulsating through the grooves in the edges.
He slowly typed in the code, being careful to not mess it up.
'815124783377515'
He pulled out the battery aswell as a pistol with 3 Holy bullets already loaded. He didn't know why he'd need to use it but he knew he'd probably need it.