Work Text:
Spoke breathed in, a drum pounding in his head. He shifted, his legs kicking into blankets. That was strange, it didn't feel like his bed back at the Null End base.
He blinked his bright white eyes open to see a darkened room. The lights were out, an iron door across from him. His tail flicked as his half closed eyes searched the room for something. Anything.
He didn't know where he was.
The totem of Null swirled in his chest when his unease filled him. Where was he.. he.. he couldn't be here. No, no, no, where was Null? Where was his commander? Why was he here by himself?
His breathing picked up, the young voidling trying to raise his arm up. His body felt heavy like steel as if someone gave him weakness. He also heard a clank of metal hitting the ground once he lowered his arm.
Spoke's lungs heaved for air as he panicked, his tail thrashing against the ground. The rainbow bands on his wrists and legs glowed brighter in his panic.
“N-Null?” He said, his voice stuttery, raspy and quiet. The totem pulsed in his chest at the word but he didn't see any warriors. Guards. Builders. No one. He knew they heard the command, that's how the totem worked. Echoed his commands into their heads at unimaginable distances.
There was no one here though.
“Jumper?” Spoke called out a little louder, his voice strained and exhausted. He adjusted his position against the dark stone and found the shackles clamped to the wall. What the hell..
What happened..? He couldn't remember.. his head was pounding too loudly to make sense of anything.
“Mapicc.. where am I? Null–” his void hands moved to his head, the totem pulsing a second time at the word. “Null. Come.. come here..” he rasped, coughing into his elbow.
Spoke's hands started to shake, it was quiet.. too quiet. He couldn't be alone.. no, no, no, he couldn't be alone again. He always has someone with him.. he couldn't– no, no, he couldn't be alone. The void was loud. Too loud to think through.
“M–Minute? Minute please..” Spoke’s voice cracked, the small whispers of the void leaking through his ears.
The older voidling raised him, took care of him, taught him how to tune them out and now he can't.. focus.. he didn't want to be alone. He couldn't be alone anymore.
Memories of Mapicc and Jumper flashed in his mind, ones from the Hunger Games with them both. His nights with BAT, sitting together under the stars, letting a few laughs through to release the tension from the tough days.
His talks with Ash when Spoke was in the Mafia. “One day you'll have your own Mafia.” He remembered him saying. He didn't want to be like Ash..
Was he like Ash..?
The voices got louder, Spoke curling up against the wall. A broken prince far away from his empire. Far away from anyone to help him calm down, faster breaths leaving him.
He felt like.. he couldn't breathe..
“Hey.”
Spoke’s eyes darted towards the entrance, finding a tall silhouette in front of the iron door. One that bore tall wings, a priceless suit, a rose Spoke knew all too well in his coat pocket above his heart. Tall horns, a mace at his side attached to a belt.
Bright white eyes. Just like him.
Hope grew in his chest, his lungs burning from the lack of air. “M–Minute..” he rasped, his hand raised up and reached out for him. “Minute please..”
The taller voidling stood there for a few moments, as if thinking before moving to kneel down in front of him. The dragon took Spoke’s hand and put his own on top. “Just breathe. Remember how I taught you? Those.. voices mean nothing. Just the void.” Minute responded calmly. Just his voice managed to calm Spoke down considerably.
The smaller voidling closed his eyes, taking his time to breathe in and out. Both his breaths and his hands shook but he eventually calmed down enough to speak properly.
He kept his hand on Minute’s refusing to let go. He didn't want to let go and have the voices come back.
The pulse in his chest and jumpstart of his previous thoughts made him remember what he had to do.
Spoke looked up at Minute with serious eyes. “How.. how did I get here.” He asked. Minute looked down at him, his face hard to read. He stared at Spoke as if peering into his soul.
“How did I get here.” Spoke demanded, his hand moving to his chest to feel the totem pulse. Minute’s face turned sad as he sighed, his wings twitching behind him. “I.. I knocked you out when you attacked the smaller village with Null. Brought you here.” The taller voidling said with full honesty.
Spoke glared at him, his eyes twitching. “Why did you do that?! Minute, take these off now or Null–”
“Or Null will what Spoke? No one other than us are here. They can't seem to find you.” Minute responded, not with malice. It was with.. care? Spoke could hear the cracks in his voice, the way his face changed.
He didn't want him anywhere near Null.
The pulse in his chest woke him back up, the smaller voidling’s gaze returning to a glare. The rainbow bands and stripes glowed faintly in the room as he opened his mouth. “Null.” Spoke said, noticing the loud beat in his heart. They should've heard that command, they should know where he is–
“Null, Null, Null–” Spoke kept repeating, hoping for Underscore to break down that door. Expecting for them to come to his aid.
Nothing.
“Spoke.. you.. you don't need them. You don't need an army, okay? You are only 17, let.. let me help you.” Minute squeezed his hand.
Spoke wanted that. He wanted things to go back to normal, like when he was younger. Before all the stuff with Jamato, he stayed with Minute. The older voidling helped him, cared for him. They were family.
Spoke remembered the nights under the stars, the times where Minute taught him how to cook, the moments where he would read stories to him before he slept. They were cherished in his heart.. even though his motives have changed.
Purgatory changed him. Everyone was against him; the guards, the prisoners, Mapicc.. Jumper..
Jamato.
He pulled his hand away from Minute’s. “I don't need.. your help. I want my army back.” Spoke mumbled, his thin void tail swishing weakly. “You need separation. That totem isn't doing you any good–”
“I don't.. need you anymore.” Spoke cut Minute off, another pulse going through his chest. “I don't.. I don't NEED YOU. I don't need you anymore.” Spoke repeated, his white eyes moving away from Minute’s. He couldn't look at him right now.
“Spoke–”
“I don't need you, I don't need Jumper, I don't need Mapicc.” Spoke started to giggle crazily, his eyes sparkling with tears. They slipped down his face as he laughed.
“I- I don't need Jamato. I don't need anybody!” he giggled, tears streaming down his face.
Minute looked pained at Spoke's sight. His wings drooped to the stone ground, the taller voidling sighing with sorrow. Even that small noise made Spoke’s heart shatter a little more.
He didn't need to care about Minute anymore.
He.. he has his army.
“Null– please.” Spoke half laughed half cried, trying to sound normal around Minute. Back to the person that didn't care.
“Spoke.. Spoke. Listen to me. I.. I was always here.. why didn't you come to see me? You knew where I was–”
“You were never there for me, stop acting like you were!” Spoke snapped, his head buzzing with small voices and old memories. He immediately felt guilty for saying those words but it faded away rather quickly.
All he needed was his army. That's all he needed now.
The room was silent, Minute just staring at Spoke with broken eyes. Shattered eyes, ones that made the smaller voidling’s heart twist. Twist and turn, filling up with a bottomless pit.
Purgatory really took everything away from him.
Minute stood up in front of the delirious Spoke who started giggling again with half sobs. “No one cares or ever did care.” Spoke’s voice cracked, his tail curling around his leg.
Minute took the small rose out of his pocket and kneeled back down in front of Spoke, taking his hand again. He opened it, placing the flower in Spoke’s palm carefully. The small voidling looked down at it, ignoring the metal shackle on his arm and stared at the gorgeous silk petals.
He remembered picking out new roses for Minute when he was younger. It only made him cry more, the voidling trying to turn them into laughs.
“I've always cared for you.” Minute said with a broken voice, holding Spoke’s hands with both of his own, mostly trying to show his sincerity. His kindness.
His love.
Spoke opened his mouth but couldn't say a word, he just stared at the flower in his hands.
“I've always cared, Spoke, I was always here for you. Please.. please let me help.”
Spoke couldn't halt the tears leaving his eyes, but stopped trying to laugh it off. He crumbled in the small dark room, folding in on himself as much as he could with the metal on his wrists.
He sobbed, small ugly ones as his mind replayed moments of Purgatory. Of BAT. Of The Mafia. Spoke felt Minute take the shackles off one by one before, listening to them as they clanked against the ground.
He then pulled Spoke into a hug. Minute pulled him away from the wall and hugged him, his wings drooping but also embracing him, covering Spoke's sides like walls. He wanted Spoke to see that he still cared. That he could protect him.
Spoke didn't move from his spot, curling into Minute’s chest and listened to his heart beat. He couldn't hear much of his own anymore because of the totem in his chest but Minute’s.. his was steady. Unrelenting. Calm.
He listened to it, his nerves dying down slowly. His breaths were stuttery but the urge to call for Null was fading.
Minute..
He did care.
Why did he ever think he didn't? Of course.. he wasn't there when he was stuck in Purgatory. When he needed him most, but he was here now. Minute’s hug was solid, comforting. Like a weighted blanket, like one he used to use.
Spoke’s breaths hitched but he kept his head pressed to his heart.
Thump. Thump.
It was normal. Steady and grounding.
The totem pulsed in Spoke’s chest.
He opened his half closed eyes, noticing Minute was rubbing his back. Spoke moved his hand to Minute’s side, finding a small blade hilt there. He stayed still, trying not to alert the older of his plan.
He.. he needed to do this..
He pulled out the blade from Minute’s belt and held it to his neck. The tall voidling froze, his eyes moving to Spoke as he sat up, standing in front of him. “I'm.. I'm sorry–” Spoke's voice cracked. He was trying to get it under control, but the look on Minute’s face only made it hurt more.
“Spoke, don't–”
“I need to do this.” His voice wavered, turning slowly towards the entrance. The small blade he kept trained on Minute’s neck until he walked out the door. Spoke locked it behind him, whining quietly at the sight of the broken dragon.
“I'm sory, im sorri, I'm sorry..” his voice slurred, more tears coming to his eyes as he smiled.
“I'm sorry.”
Spoke gripped the small blade, running away from the door and back to the pull of Null.