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One’s words stabbed him
Black Hole couldn’t believe it. The person who caused the anomaly in the sky and all of today’s trouble decided to come face to face with him. Not only that, but this algebralien had the guts of telling him to get out of its way.
“Yours?! What-?!”
Before he could protest, a sudden wave of colors and stars covered his full vision. He could barely look at the cold eyes of this scum, as she restrained him from moving. Something saturated him, like when Four held him and brought him to Earth. He wanted it to stop. He wanted to leave. All he wanted was to be let go, but something brought him back; that thing stung like a thousand knives.
And then, he wasn’t in Goiky anymore.
One disappeared. The hotel disappeared. Everything he knew was out of sight and he found himself in a suffocating room.
“Uh- HELLO?!”
Despite the knot in Black Hole’s stomach that threatened to make him throw up, he had to cough to clear his voice. It got strained too quickly, since he hadn’t shouted since, well, forever?!
The room surrounded him with sickening blues and yellows. Scattered books filled the floor, all while an eerie and too bright orange couch welcomed him. Based on the untidy presentation and the gashed sofa, whoever lived here ーwho most likely was the same person that brought him here in the first placeー clearly didn’t have a good day. Not like he was doing any better either. He didn’t exactly find endearment and satisfaction in being taken away from the crack in the sky now that it meant trouble for his world.
He had to get out. He had to get back to Goiky, back to his teammates! Marker, Fanny, Tree- Was Tree okay? Was everyone on his team okay? What if they needed him? He should have followed his best friend’s request. Why was he so stubborn?! He should have moved away from them when he had a chance, and now he’s been stuck for Dear Universe knows how long. Why was he so slow for those things? Questions drove him into a whirlpool he couldn’t get out of. Panic and guilt soured him; his whole body trembling, his legs getting weaker, his breath getting faster. He had to get out! The rift… it hurt him. Not that many things had the ability to do that. So if something unalive like it does him so much damage, then who knows what the algebralien would dare to do with him... He didn’t want to know.
“How- how do I get out!? Think Black Hole, think!”
As he analysed his surroundings in a desperate search for something that could help him, his eyes landed on the bookshelf that covered one of the walls. He wondered how it didn’t get affected after whatever happened inside the cramped room. It looked solemn, standing intact and tall above him. An urge to pull it down made his hands tingle. Maybe he could find a solution there, and if he didn’t, he’d leave whatever mess he caused for One to be cleaned. After holding it onto his accretion disk, he moved both arms to the opposite corner of the room and heard an abrupt crash. Couch, table, everything got dragged by the bigger furniture and he witnessed how everything shattered in front of his eyes. Dust covered the zone of impact.
That was great. Greater than he’s ever felt by destroying things.
Under normal circumstances he’d feel more than guilty, but this space didn’t deserve a single bit of his guilt.
Books of all types flew towards his accretion disk, soared over the air and fell gracefully on the floor. The strange moon-shaped lamp that framed his artwork also drove him insane. The irritating yellow made his surroundings even stranger and more petrifying. He planned to destroy it, but as he was gonna put his hands on it, something refrained him.
Why was he doing this?
This “justified destruction” was meant to give him an escape route. But if it made him stay on the same spot, then why was he doing this?
He should have held back, at least just this once. He lied to Liy. He felt horrible, bitter even. He lied to his former teammate, who was he kidding? He lied, therefore he’s a bad person. Or even worse, a killing machine.
A monster.
Maybe he is a monster. Would One use that against him? He had a hunch she would do it anyway.
He flew away from the lamp and curled himself on the floor, where a sofa once existed instead of its broken pieces behind him. He chose to ignore the chaos he caused just because he felt nervous. He should have thought better before doing… well, anything. He couldn’t count a single solid thing that caused him to be here. Every single choice he took piled up in his mind, racing thoughts making his shiver and almost whimper.
He wanted to get out. He wanted this place to be gone, so why did he care so much about what he broke?
This whole place had to burn and not come back or exist again in any way. He just couldn’t let it happen. He destroyed the entire universe in his nightmare, so why not do it with One’s spot? Who was going to die at the end of the day if he sucked this whole place up?
He got up. He didn’t want to, but he still did. He didn’t want his body to shake and give him weird sensations just for existing, but it still did.
Rubbish and broken furniture swayed around his body to his will, eventually being sucked up and lost.
For whatever reason, he didn’t want to. But the need to find a place safer than here burnt inside his chest and gave him the strength he needed to keep going. Wall decorations peeled away, books got sent away from him at high speeds, and anything that didn’t disappear became an empty company to his accretion disk, increasing its speed as he got bigger.
But when the whole room was about to be sucked, a familiar figure appeared in the middle of the room and in front of him.
Fanny.
Shocked, he stopped his plan abruptly and shrunk himself to his regular size. Everything fell with robust thuds. Even Black Hole himself landed back on the floor, though more carefully than the debris. Eyes wide open, he wanted to make sure he was truly seeing his friend.
“Black Hole?”
Fanny stared at him in a blend of disbelief and uneasiness. For the first time since he got here, he actually wanted to do something. He wanted to hug her… but for whatever reason, he didn’t.
“Black Hole!”
Her presence overwhelmed him. It was Fanny who stood right in front of him. Fanny and no one else. Just her, without traps.
And he sobbed.
His face barely covered with both hands, the room echoed with noisy cries and desperate gasps for air.
“Black Hole, what happened?!”
After her failed attempt at reasoning, she hesitantly tried to hug him. To her contact, Black Hole clung onto her like he never did, pressing his whole body onto her and praying his mind wasn’t playing tricks on him right now. He wouldn’t forgive himself if he was hugging a shapeshifter and the real Fanny was in danger.
Fanny, on the other hand, tried thinking of something that she could say to soothe him. Hell, she didn’t know if he was hurt in the first place! She only stayed in silence as he sobbed and whimpered onto her arms. As she cradled him with all the strength she had, she gently rubbed his back and tried drying away the abundant tears with her other hand, thumbing them away as carefully as she could.
“It’s okay, I’m here,” Fanny avowed once both leaned away.
“How…” Black Hole pulled out a tired sigh. “How can I know it’s you?” He demanded, his voice barely a whisper and still mournful.
“Well, uhm…”
A thoughtful silence surrounded them both. As she observed the chaos that enclosed them, she kept searching for any potential memory that bonded them both. While she did, she wondered how much One could mimic from her; what could Fanny say that One could say as well. It left her disarmed and the possibilities vanished away from her grasp.
“Does it work if I say I hate scams?”
He just tilted his head to the side, oblivious to her words.
“I mean, if I said I hate scams, and it wasn’t me, it’d be a scam.”
Unluckily for her, her awkward explanation didn’t work to convince him.
“Okay fine, I guess I should try telling you what’s going on,” she huffed in defeat.
Black Hole’s heart thumped inside his chest and all through his body. He crawled away from her as fast as he could, trying to huddle himself up as he did.
“No no- wait! Ugh, I hate misunderstandings! Black Hole, it’s me, Fanny. I don’t have any power, see?” She shook her hand to prove her point, simpleton and powerless. “You’re here because One wants something from you. I’m here because I-”
All the words she planned to say stayed stuck on her throat. Nothing she could say to make him understand. Well, not like anything else came out of her mouth either. As she organized her thoughts, she saw him vulnerable; she heard his weak yet frightened pleas to spare him. She saw his chest and whole upper body heave to the rhythm of his struggling breathing, and she realized she owed him an explanation.
“You’ve seen One? She’s a manipulator. She makes deals in exchange for things,” Fanny pulled slowly out of her mouth, and slightly surprised that she could talk about it out loud. “I… made a deal with her,” she confessed.
“With her? Uht- Why?!”
“So I could get my stupid mouth back. You see, I tried to tell you guys about it, but I didn’t find the words, or no one cared, or things like that. It was a barrier, and I knew she was doing it. And I hate it! I know I should have done more when I had the chance. It might be too late.”
Everything sunk inside Black Hole. Many times he had to swallow his full thoughts, or otherwise any pathetic pained noise.
“They’ll most likely tell you about it. Whatever she says or does, don’t sign in.”
Silence filled them again, but this time it wrenched all of him. The fact his teammate was at risk because of One made him boil with rage. But at the same time, it made him weak. The whole situation soaked him with fear, unable to find any word for the turmoil of emotions that bothered him.
“Though, with all this mess, I’m not sure if she came up to you yet or not,” she chuckled, discontent.
He remembered the disarray he caused. For a split second, he forgot the nervousness that lingered in the back of his mind over a potential exit.
“I did that,” he admitted. “Sorry-”
“Don’t be! They kidnapped you and left you here, and maybe they’ll make you sign one of her hateful deals. It’s the least you can do.”
She sat back down next to him and gave him a side hug, making sure he could rest his head on her shoulder.
“That’s the problem,” he opened up, fragility seeping in his voice. “I don’t know what to do anymore.”
“We’ll get out of here and fix everything One did, safe and sound,” Fanny assured.
Black Hole could only chuckle sadly, suppressing a wail.
“It’s okay if you wanna cry, by the way. You’ve been through a lot, it’s fine,” she reassured. “Just know that we’re together in this. For the pact?”
“For the pact,” he choked out.
Despite their height difference, he snuggled up even closer to her. He had to be thankful that at least he had her. Even in this turmoil, he had someone to rely on. Someone who understood. He wrapped both arms around her, as if this bonding moment was going to be their last memory together before their eventual doom. The yellow illumination still made him sick, but now the sickness got overpowered by the warmth of both bodies glued to each other.
Fanny, on the other hand, found relief in reuniting with a familiar face. Despite being upset at Black Hole’s absence at the game, she isolated herself with something One-related as well, so she couldn’t complain. Maybe both owed time like this to each other.
Maybe they would talk about everything later, but for now they could enjoy being close after chaos let loose. Both needed a break today.