Chapter Text
Hums filled the empty, echoing, halls of Urbanshade’s Blacksite facility. A monster of a man, a mismatched jumble of fish and human, 10 feet long from head to tail, sharper teeth than you could picture and claws to match, slithered through the empty areas. Sebastian Solace, wrongfully convicted murderer, turned either more or less than human, depending on who you ask.
A door slid open, and the stench of death stung his nostrils. A part of him was excited by the scent, causing his mouth to water a little. But that part was easily brushed off as he entered the room.
“Ooh, what do we have here?” He approached the body propped up against the wall, it's guts torn out across its lap. The teeth patterns and the foam at the corner of its mouth were easy to recognize as he started searching through the expendables's pockets. “You should wait a bit longer. That one likes to take its time.” he chuckles to himself, finally finding something of intrest. “Well what have we here?~”
From the expendable's pocket he removed an odd remote. It looked nearly identical to the toy remote that summons the imaginary friend, and he would have easily mistaken the two. If it wernt for the distinct green coloring in place of the red. He hadn't ever seen anything quite like It, how many files could he get for it?..
Well, the only way to know is to understand it. “Just don't be annoying..” he pressed the button, then looked around.
There was no new friend, nothing of interest. seemingly nothing at all. Not for a moment at least. Suddenly there was a sound behind him, and quickly he turned to see it. There was a man, or a man-like thing, entirely green and wearing a suit and bow tie. Mr. Lopee ..
“Wait, you're not supposed to -” the man bolted at him, making Sebastian jolt backwards to escape as the distorting face came closer. But before he could get far he was practically on top of him. Then Sebastian was falling.
“ This will be fun. ” Came a spine chilling voice as everything went black.
~~~~~~~~~~
Michael was running through the halls of his pizzeria. The air was hot, and if he had lungs it would be suffocating. Flames roared in his ears, along with metallic screams of his family.
Need to get out, escape ESCAPE!!! His mind begged. He was never meant to stay, he never agreed to stay! If he wasn't concentrating on escaping, he would curse Henry out at the top of his lungs. He was supposed to be free , not burnt !
Mike ran into the thick metal doors that acted as their front door. He shoved against them, trying to bash through, but the rattling he could hear proved them to be chained closed. And he without his bolt cutters.
There were no windows, an odd choice as a restaurant but perfect design as a cage. As a trap .
“ Mi-mi-mi chael …”
He turned, seeing Scraptreap stumbling into the party room. His suit was on fire, melting the felt and foam even deeper into his body.
“ Father ..” he stated with a bite in his voice.
Then the two men just stood there for a time, staring each other down.. until finally William made his move. He shuffled forward, limping and staggering in a mock of a run, before finally his legs gave out, making him fall to the floor with a heavy metal clang and a raspy, glitched, wheeze of pain.
Mike, in reaction, let out his own wheeze, this one full of bitter laughter. ”Heh heh.. look at us.. look at you .. I can't believe I was ever scared of you..” he took a slow breath, feeling the smoke fill where his lungs were supposed to be. He walked slowly over to the plastic ball pit and sat on its edge, looking around at the burning room. “There's no way out.. there was supposed to be but Henry…”
His words trailed off, only to be replaced with Williams. “ He.. bet-bet-betray-yed.. you…” there was a wheeze, sounding almost like a gasp. “As.. h-he-he did… me…”
Mike tisked . “You betrayed him first. You deserve it, I don't, im-”
“ a monst-st-ster. A murder-er-erer … just.. like.. me ..” Mike was silent at that, allowing William to continue. “ Did he… ever… for-for-forgive yo-ou?...”
His jaw clenched as he bit his tongue, the word burning it more than the closing in flames would. No.. Evan never forgave him. Hate corrupted his little brother until the very end… “That doesn't matter, not anymore..” he finally said. “This is our tomb. And this is where we shall remain.. As they say, a family that dies together- AH FUCK!!”
Mike screams as something suddenly grabs the back of his shirt, tugging him back into the pit. He struggles and fights, but the balls are like quicksand. Sucking him deeper and deeper, farther than should be possible, until eventually not even light could reach him.
~~~~~~~~~~
“It's okay Curly. You're going to be okay.”
Curly's breaths came quick and ragged, wheezing against his burnt throat as his eye bore into the face of his old friend. Jimmy had his hand pressed against the glass, looking at him with almost dazed eyes, preferable compared to the desperate madness that lit them the past couple days.
“You always had my back.” He wished he hadn't . “I ended up hurting you even though I was trying to save us.” You only tried to save yourself! “But now you'll survive.” Jimmy continued, unaware of Curly's thoughts. “It's like you said, together we can fix anything.”
No, no they can't . Daisuke, Swansea, Anya.. they're all dead, there was no fixing that. there was no fixing the people he was responsible for protecting.. why did he have to get sentimental… there's protocol for a reason .
“I'm just glad I got to be your friend and co-pilot, captain. No one can hurt you now.” An ironic promise from the only one who's been making this nightmare worse. “We fixed it. … I … fixed it.”
You ate my leg! He wanted to scream, but all that came out was a raspy wheeze. Jimmy took a step back from the cryopod, then walked over to the controls. He can hear the machine prepare to start up.
Then a loud bang and flash, fallowed by meat hitting the ground..
Jimmy, the last of his crew, the worst mistake of his life.. gone.
Curly was officially alone now..
His burning body shuttered, and finally the man wept. Tears were slow coming, the duct shriveled up but not sealed, as he cried out in raspy sobs that shook his body. Pain rocketed through with every movement, but he deserved it. If he had just done what he was meant to, if he had just taken responsibility.. they would have been on their way home by now.
Daisuke would be back to his poor unassuming mother, Swansea would be with his kids, one step closer to retirement, and grumbling the whole way there, Anya would be damaged but she would still have a chance at a normal life, at her degree...
But no. He had to put Jimmy first.. he had to be so selfish… so foolish..
His ragged breaths began to come out in puffs of fog, and the cold jabbed at his injuries like a million tiny needles. Why couldn't he just die.. it would be a mercy over all of this.. why was he the lone survivor?..
Curly lay back against the seat, and wished for eyelids so he could pretend this would just be a nice nap. However, to his surprise darkness did come, followed by the sensation of plummeting through air.
Perhaps the landing would fix this.
____________________
Sebastian cursed as he landed hard onto the floor, his tail piling on top of him. As he tried to untangle himself, he looked around searching for danger. Light burned his eyes, making him hiss and blink away from it. It was too bright.
Then suddenly, the light was gone. Well, not gone, but dimmed, allowing his eyes an easier time to adjust.
“ My sincerest apologies, ” a voice boomed from nearby as Sebastian continued his efforts of blinking the spots from his vision, “ I forgot, you may not be used to sunlight anymore. Don't you worry, you'll adjust. ”
“Sunlight?” What the hell was this freak talking about?
Finally his vision cleared, and he could look around the new room. It was an office, or a study, something like that. Bookshelves made of dark wood lined the walls, almost overflowing with literature, only broken up by filing cabinets. The walls had a similarly colored trim that would go up to about the hip of any average sized human, with green floral wallpaper stretching up to the high ceiling. The floor below him was once again dark wood, but in front of him was a desk. It looked expensive, and was sat on a large green rug with two comfortable looking chairs nearest him and one far more important chair on the other side. Behind the desk was a massive window, covered in a curtain, and in front of the curtain was a man as green as his decor.
Mr. Lopee.
“You.. where am I? What did you do? I'm not an expendable, I wasn't being left behind by anyone.”
The man chuckled and walked over to the desk before him. “ You are in my office. We have some matters to discuss .”
Sebastian gulped, trying not to show any fear, but feeling hesitance and caution grip at him. This guy was for the most part a mystery. He was the reason he had to give the expendables files when they die. The reason they could come back at all, though he doubts anyone outside the facility ever noticed that fact. He punished stragglers, before throwing right back to the front of the pack no matter how far. He may have seen his file, but still Mr.Lopee is a mystery and a danger ..
He chuckled again. “ Don't give me that look, Solace. You are safe here. I promise you, no harm will befall you by my hand. ”
Sebastian tisked. “Tell that to my burning retinas.” He shouldn't sass this thing, but it slipped out before he could think any better.
“ An oversight. Now, you have questions, ” he sits behind the desk, gesturing for Sebastian to approach, “ this is the time to ask them .”
The mutant swallowed thickly, but came slowly closer. “Where am i?..”
“ A realm of my own making. Someplace entirely peaceful, compared to where you came from. ”
His brows furrowed. “Of your own making.. just how strong are you?..”
A grin spread over the man's gaunt face, nearly splitting it in two. “ Far more powerful than you or anyone in that silly little facility could ever know. ”
He felt as though ice water had been dumped on him, part of Sebastian wanted to call bullshit, he didn't want to believe this man who looked some what normal other than his coloring is some reality warping being. But something deep deep inside him stirred, telling him to believe the warning of that smile. His instincts were screaming at him to trust the danger in the words. If he wanted to survive.
The grin shrank back down to a calm smile, as the man crossed his hands on the desk. “ No need to fear, as I said you will not be harmed here. Now, there are some details I do need to go over with you for your future in this world, however long that will be. ”
~~~~~~~~~~
Mike landed on his back, a groan ripping itself from him as a dull ache thumped through his body. His eyes slid open, and he found himself staring up at a white ceiling, some simple but elegant carvings poking out of the surface.
“ Ah, hello Michael. ” Mike bolted up, quickly looking around for the source of the strange voice. There, directly in front of him, was a man sat at a desk. His hands were clasped and his form was shadowed by sunlight, though it was dim enough that he could still make out some features. His face was gaunt and thin, eyes a shining green, a hat was placed on his head, hiding if there was any hair or not, and he wore a three piece suit with a bow tie. And he was green from head to toe. “ It's a pleasure to finally meet you. ”
His voice was stuck for a moment, unable to escape his throat as confusion and hesitance gripped it. Then finally he whispered out “who are you?..”
The man smiled. “ You may call me Mr. Lopee. ” He gestures to the two chairs in front of the desk. “ Come, sit. We have much to discuss. ”
He was hesitant. This guy was strange, and in his experience strange equated to dangerous, something he was none too keen to get too close to. But, at the same time.. if this man is dangerous then disobeying may end in the same outcome, if not worse. Following directions for now might prolong the inevitable enough for him to figure out what the hell was going on.
Mike sat in the chair on the left, then scooted it back about an inch. It wasn't enough to make much difference if the man were to attack, but it sent a message, one he quickly responded to. “ You have no need to worry, you shall not be harmed in my presence. That much I can guarantee. ”
“No disrespect, but I hope you understand I don't entirely trust you yet.”
Mr. Lopee nodded slowly. “ Of course, I expected as much when you were chosen. ”
That got Mike to tense. “Chosen? Chosen for what? Where am i?”
“ You are in a world of my own creation. And simply put you were just chosen to come here, nothing more nothing less. ”
Mike was taken aback at that. “Your own- what the hell are you, God ?”
He chuckles. “ Oh, no no no, I'm nothing quite that controversial. I am just an entity capable of such a feat. In fact, I am from a different dimension all together. I got trapped for quite a while in the world I lived in just before coming here, but with a few pushes and nudges, I was able to lead events into allowing us to meet here. ”
Mike didn't understand most of that, other than the not being God part. Which was good, if God exists he might not like Mike much. “Okay.. uh, then what am i doing here?..”
The entity grins. “ I needed some new entertainment. ”
~~~~~~~~~~
Curly landed on some plush carpet, certainly not as hard as he could have, but it still sent a burning pain over his entire body. He shivered and trembled, cold and heat warring against his surface.
A wheeze pushed through his throat as he slowly looked around. He was in a very well decorated office, entirely different from any of the rooms on the tulpar.
He heard footsteps come up behind him, and before he could crane his head up to look at who it might be, he was suddenly scooped bridal style into someone's arms. His immediate thoughts and memories of Jimmy doing exactly this to carry him around in his recent bouts of insanity made fear crash through his mind and his new shorter stump ache. He began to struggle, ignoring the pain that came from the action, desperate to escape his old friend as raspy wheezes and cries pulled themselves from his throat.
“ That's enough, R̵̜͚̳̐͛̏Ẽ̴̹̹Ḻ̷͈̠̑̈̚A̵̲͗X̴̮̾̉͗ .”
Suddenly, almost against his will, Curly's mind calmed. His fright clearing to allow him to think and realize the man holding him wasn't Jimmy, he didn't even look human.. thin features And glowing eyes that matched his green skin. Nothing like he's ever seen before.
Though it had felt like minutes, only seconds passed before he was being lowered in a chair to the right of an expensive looking desk. The being then circled around and sat across from him, hands folded professionally on its surface. It reminded him slightly of the debriefing meetings he would have to attend before a delivery. Who would have thought he'd ever be missing those days?..
“ Now, I'm sure you have many questions, but seeing as how you do not yet have a way to speak, I will just explain things and hope I cover all the bases. ” He cleared his throat. “ It's a pleasure to meet you, Captain Curly, my name is Mr. Lopee. I'm a being from a different dimension, and currently we are in another reality which I have created, purely for my own enjoyment. You will not be harmed here by me, that is the one guarantee I can make. ”
Thats.. assuring , he supposed.. still, confusion and questions stired through his mind. Honestly, different dimensions? Beings that can create entire realities? Yeah, sure, there have always been theories about different universes, but for it to be real.. it felt impossible… and yet…
“ Now, I'm sure you're wondering why you, or why I am doing this. Well, a being like me gets bored, and after so long in the same place, entertaining myself with the same cycles, once I had the chance at something new I took it. That's what brings us here. I'm interested in seeing how those so damaged and ripped from the safety of society react suddenly thrown back in, especially in the company of those equally as damaged. ” He gestures around himself. “ And thus, you shall be attending Lopee University, for the foreseeable future. ”
If Curly could blink, he would. Several times just for that one statement. University. Like, college? As in school?? He's been dragged from his universe to go back to college? In his current state?? Curly looked down at his body, covered in burns, old bandages, and missing both legs and hands. His hospital gown stained irreparably with blood and fluids, its amazing he hasn't died from infection already. Even if I wanted to , he thought to himself, How could I go back to school without hands? Without a voice..
Catching onto his concerns of his body as the man's singular eye stared down at himself, Mr. Lopee straightened up. “ In addition, seeing as you are at significantly more of a.. disadvantage, compared to your future classmates, you will of course be provided with assistance. Free hospital visits, burn care, viable pain relief. Eventually, once you're well healed, you'll be provided with prosthetics, skin grafts, etcetera. I can't make you appear the very same as you used to, but I am able to help you. ”
That struck Curly like an ax in the head. He could get skin.. and limbs. Actual help .. and all he'd have to do is go along with this college thing.. Almost immediately he tried to agree, his mouth opening but wheezing attempts at words were all that came out.
Mr. Lopee lifted a hand, stopping his painful vocalizations. “ No need to beg, or whatever it is you are trying to say. It is, as you humans tend to say, no biggy. ” Curly nodded slowly, teeth clicking softly as his mouth closed. “ Now then, you will of course have roomates- ”
Startled, Curly falls into a coughing fit.