Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

When Vic heard of two super-powered animations that came out of nowhere and were going around destroying websites for fun, they were obviously frightened. Everybody was.

However, it was only when they saw footage on the news of them, he knew that it was more personal.

“They're made by Noogai.” they told Agent and Mitsi, who were in in the room also watching the news, when Vic spotted His identifying mark on The Dark Lord’s shoulder. A flaming cursor, in the same place as Vic's mark.

In Vic's mind, the only reason He would create more animations, super-powered animations, and to let them loose to cause distruction- could only be for one reason, and that reson only.

They had to prepare for the two terrorists to come after them.

Or…

Vic could go after them first.

-

During the following weeks after the destructive duo started their rampage on websites, Rocket Corp hired a research and development team to create tools for them to take down the two, capture them, and contain them.

They made several advancements and breakthroughs already in this short time. Using parts of discarded animation software to make tools they could use was one of Vic’s favorite things- but they were still early in development and not ready to be used,  they had more important things to focus on.

Vic would make sure that Noogai wouldn't have the upper hand this time.

-

Mitsi knew she should've been home by now from her trip to the city, but she got distracted by some street cats that were so cute and friendly! So she obviously had to go buy some food for them, and when she stopped to talk to some of the friendly faces she recognized working there…

Needless to say, she got severrly sidetracked.

It was now getting dark out, and she hoped she remembered which parking garage she parked the car in. At this rate, she might have to call Vic and tell them she got lost…

Wait. Mitsi heard something.

There was crying in the alleyway. The cries of a child. She approached cautiously, "Hello? Are you alright?"

The cries immediately stopped, and two glowing red orbs- eyes- looked up at her from one side of the ally. They were wide and terrified. But they didn't speak and stilled as if the threat would go away if they didn't cause any movement. But their red luminous eyes gave them away.

She walked closer to the small dark blob huddling agenst the corner of a dumpster and the wall, her eyes starting to adjust and recognize shapes in the dark. This kid, maybe a teen even, was curled in on themself, one arm around their legs and the other gripping their hair, lower face pressed against their knees. She could see how their eyes were puffy and tears had been flowing down their cheeks. They looked like they were holding their breath, scared of her.

"Oh dear... hey it's alright-," she reached out a hand to give a reassuring touch to their shoulder, but they pressed further back into the wall, letting out harsh, quick breaths. Okay, no touching. Mitsi could do that. She instead backed up a bit and sat on her knees, on their level. It seemed to calm them a little bit. "My name is Mitsi. You don't have to tell me, but could you tell me your name?"

Their eyes widened, and they shook their head no quickly. "Alright, that's okay. Are you hurt anywhere?" She had noticed their torn clothes and a slight bruising under their right eye.

The kid hesitated. But then settled on shaking their head again. Mitsi exhaled deeply, slightly disappointed by the kid not trusting her.

"Okay, is there anything I can do to hel-?" She was cut off by the kid who got up in a flash, grabbed her, and placed her where they had been, against the wall and the dumpster. They were taller than she thought and stronger than expected. "Hey- what-?"

"Please," the kid pleaded, looking at her with scared, bright red eyes. She could see the bruise in full now, looking like they had been punched in the jaw. "He'll hear you." They sounded pained.

Mitsi didn't get a chance to ask who He was, but the kid suddenly turned to the ally and moved away from the dumpster, eyes focusing on something she couldn't see-

"The Chosen One! There you are." A deep voice cackled. The voice felt dark, evil even. She knows she's heard it before, but from where-?

"Y'know it's rude to leave me hangin’ like that, Cho. You wound me." His words were venom.

"..'M sorry..." They... The Chosen One looked down to their feet, biting their lip and held themself tightly. Mitsi wanted so badly to hug this child and whisk them home, safe, with her. But a fear penalized her. It was the unseen man, where had she heard his voice from-?

"Aw, that's cute, Cho. But you know 'sorry's don't cut it. C'mon. Let's head back to camp. We need to finish what we were doing."

"..okay, Dark..." they mumbled and- oh. Mitsi remembers now. The Dark Lord. One of the two terrorists that have been destroying websites. The same terrorists that Vic was trying to track down to capture. The same terrorists that were dangerous and-

Why was a kid hanging around terrorists??

She looks at The Chosen One for any form of answers, but now they just look blank, and starts walking towards the terrorist without giving her another glance.

The Dark Lord laughs again, it's a dark one that sends a chill down her spine. "Ah, now that wasn't so bad, was it? Now, I have a few more websites we could hit, I was thinking either Newgrounds or..." they walked out of earshot, and Mitsi...

Mitsi needed to get home and talk to Vic and Agent.

-

"There's a kid with them?? Shit!" Vic swore, pacing the room with shaky hands. "There've been no sightings of anyone, especially a kid, around the pair, how have we not noticed this?"

"Maybe this is a new development, or they've not taken them to destroy websites with them." Agent suggested.

"All I know is, the kids hurt. They need help." Mitsi had been crying, and her voice cracked.

"We are doing our best to track them down, Mitsi... we have the power-sepressaint and sedative serum ready, and a prototype of the cuffs working. When we know where they are and we capture them, we'll do our best to find the kid, but if they aren't taking them when they destroy websites, then it might be impossible..."

"Wait! I just remembered!" Both of them started at Mitsi's sudden raise of voice. "When they were walking away, I overheard The Dark Lord say that one of their next targets was Newgrounds!"

Vic and Agent stilled in shock. If they were to hit Newgrounds, it would be a disaster. The majority of animations living in the Outernet were saved and hosted there. That's where their code lives. If that was destroyed, the possibility that respawns wouldn't happen...

"We need to warn them, and get to work."

Chapter Text

It was their anniversary, but they had little time to celebrate.

The entire team was on edge, preparing for the call from Newgrounds that the terrorists had arrived at any moment.

The power-spresaint cuffs were as close to perfect as they could get, anyone with any power was unable to use their powers at any level, fully nulled. They made the power-suppressant and sedative serum stronger, so that if the pair had a high resistance it should at the very least weaken them.

Each member of Agents team, plus Vic and Mitsi, were trained on how to use the tranquilizer guns that would use that serum, and basic weapons and hand-to-hand combat just in case.

But no matter how much they prepared, everyone knew going up against the overpowered destructive duo would not be easy, and things were bound to go unexpectedly.

"Newgrounds called in. They're there." Agent informed Vic.

Vic took a few steady breaths, trying not to think about every moment passing was another devastating blast done to the website- but Vic needed to be level headed, calm. "Get your team ready. Mitsi and I will be there shortly." Agent nodded, and left the room while Mitsi entered.

"Vic, it's time?" They nodded. Mitsi came up to him, and gave them a peck on the cheek. "We will get through this. Nothing has ever stopped us before, right?" They nodded again, gaining composure.

"Let's go."

-

Mitsi had just picked up her tranquilizer gun and was going to grab more ammo when she suddenly felt vertigo and tumbled into Newgrounds.

This was very much unplanned. She was alone and barely armed. People were screaming. Fire was falling. Buildings were burning and crumbling to the ground.

And worst of all, pages upon pages of animation save files were on fire. Her save file was on fire.

Okay Mitsi, she thought to herself, don't panic, breathe. Just breathe. She looked up and scanned the sky for the two terrorists. They weren't that hard to spot, considering they both flew with fire, as long as you weren't busy trying to dodge the fire and get away.

"Mitsi!" Mitsi turned to see that Agent was here! She was no longer alone, however it seems that he got teleported as well (his save file burning to ashes-), his team was nowhere near.

"Agent! They're up there!" She pointed up. The Dark Lord was firing fireballs at anything and everything, laughing maniacally in the air. The other... she couldn't make out the details because they were so far back and their hooded red cloak covering their face, but it seemed like they were... just staring. Watching people suffer. Mitsi glared at the two. "What should we do? They're too far away to shoot from here..."

Agent thought for a moment. But he made a plan. "We get to one of those high buildings, that should be in range of them. I'll let my team know which building we're in so we will have backup on their way."

Mitsi nodded, and the two made their way to one of the talent buildings that the terrorists were close to.

-

Chosen was numb.

He watched people run, watched people cry in fear, and he watched people die.

He didn't want this, but he felt powerless to stop it. If he did try, that would mean angering Dark, and when Dark is angry with Chosen… he doesn't want Dark to be angry. It's always better to not get in his way.

So Chosen shut his emotions down. It wasn't that hard, years of being on a pc allowed him to develop these… ways to cope. It will be okay, it will end eventually, he just has to wait it out. Do what Dark says. Be complacent, it won't hurt as much…

A sharp pang of pain on the back of his shoulder was shocking, startling him out of his thoughts. He was stunned for a moment, but when he looked to see what hit him, his veins turned to ice.

“D-dark..!?” Chosen called for him, the only person he could call for.

“Cho! You gotta come look at this guy! His death pose is so funny-!” The Dark Lord only just then turned, his face forming from giddy mania to confusion.

“I've been… shot with somthin’…” and that's when it hit. His vision started blurring, mind clouding, and his fire- the flames were starting to go out.

The wave of dizziness made them unable to keep flying still, and combined with their powers fading, he was losing altitude no matter how hard he tried to regain control.

Panicking, Chosen knew that they were too high to not take damage from the fall (Dark was unlikely to catch them either, he was staring at the buildings roof where Chosen can assume the one who shot them was), he did the first thing he could think of- crash through a window and hope he doesn't break something.

Chosen heard Dark mutter a “Oh, Well this is fucking grea-” as he prepared for inpact with the glass.

Chosen doesn't remember the crash, but he is certainly feeling it now. Pain all on his side, glass cutting into their scarred skin, and no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't get themself to get up. Their brain was fogging up, thoughts sluggish, and the dizziness did not fade.

Panic gripped him as he heard noise from another room in the building, on the floor he was on. Someone is searching, and they're going to find him and he won't be able to hide, won't be able to run, and they were going to hurt him and he will be in pain- pain- pain with a chain on his ankle-

They found him. A woman that Chosen was familiar with cautiously approached. It was the same lady from the alley that one night, after a fight with Dark.

Now she was here, gun in hand. She was here to kill them. She was going to kill them. He was going to die. Or be imprisoned, again. Chains, again. Hurt, again and again and again and PAIN AND SHE'S GOING TO KILL HIM-!

“Shh, shh. Breathe. I'm not gonna hurt you- as long as you don't hurt me, alright?” The lady- what was her name?- was now crouching by him, like that night In the alley. He realized his hood had been moved, revealing their face to her. But why would that make a difference? Why is she still pretending to be kind? He's going to be hurt-

He was then being held. He could hear her heartbeat and the rise and fall of her lungs. “Try to match my breathing dear,” she spoke so softly, far too kind for something like him. They don't deserve to be held, to be givin kindness, to be given reassurances. Chosen let out a sob. He couldn't hold it in, all of it was too much, the room was spinning and it was so hard to focus.

“Shh, I've got you. You'll be okay, shhh… just go to sleep. You can take a rest.” He's struggling to keep his eyes open, every limb felt heavy, but still Chosen clung to consciousness. It wasn't safe to sleep. When was it ever safe to sleep?

The door slamming open and several people stomping in sent another wave of adrenaline and panic through Chosen. His breath caught in his throat, but the lady just held him tighter. A man was yelling. Yelling was never good.

“Mitsi! My team arrived with the rest of our gear, unfortunately The Dark Lord got away. Did you find-? Wait, what are you doin’...?”

Chosen felt Mitsi (her name, her name!) turn towards the man, having had her back to the door, unintentionally shielding him from the others in the room, and they were grateful for that barrier. It wasn't until she spoke that Chosen thought she may have been crying.

“Agent… it's- it's the kid. The other was the kid!”

He heard a sigh, “... alright. Is he out yet from the sedative?” Chosen stiffened, and unfortunately everyone noticed. “Hazzard, you have the cuffs?”

Chosen felt like their brain short-circuited.

-Cuffs?? They were- going to- no, nonono- “no- No!! Please no!” Chosen used every bit of strength he had to struggle, because they're not going to do this again!, and whatever progress Mitsi had made to help his panicked breathing was lost.

Chosen may have heard her say something, but it was lost to them. All they could focus on was how they needed to fight, to escape, the hands holding him down, one pulling his wrists and cold metal snapping around both of them.

Click!
Click!

Chosen screamed.

He faintly felt a prick again, and They quickly fell into dreamless darkness...

Chapter Text

“He's gonna be out for quite awhile… we didn't expect the sedatives to be used twice on one person. Should be fine, but we'll monitor them.” A doctor said to Mitsi, trying to ease her worries. She couldn't help it though, they had done some basic aid and testing to make sure he was healthy, but they found very worrying results.

Severe malnutrition.

Severe sleep deprivation.

So many scars.

Combined with her encounters with the boy, it was painting a very ugly picture.

But she wouldn't know for sure until he opened up. He might not ever.

“Agent…”

“I know.”

“He's been hurt.. by The Dark Lord for sure, but… if they were made by Vic's creator too…?”

Agent shuddered. “Let's hope not.”

A silence fell over them in the small viewing room. It had a one way window that looked into a small blank room, one that was reinforced to make sure no one could get in or out easily.

It was made with the assumption that they would have a very difrent kind of person in there.

The Chosen One was laying sound asleep in the bed in the far corner of the room. Mitsi only hoped he gets enough quality rest, even though she'd been told that sedation is different from real sleep, and severe sleep deprivation doesn't go away in one night.

But she hoped anyway.

“I… I want to be there when he wakes up. They might panic being in a room alone.”

“...they might panic with you in the room, too. Mitsi I-” Agent sighed. “He's still a terrorist, Mits. He could hurt you.”

“Are you forgetting we were trained in hand-to-hand combat? And his powers are suppressed. I will be fine.” She gazed at Chosen. “I just… they need comfort.”

Agent let out another tired sigh. “... If you're sure… but I want you to get some sleep first. Doctors are estimating they'll be asleep for another 10 or so hours, it's plenty of time to rest before he wakes up. C’mon.” Agent takes her hand and she lets them drag her away from the cell to sleep.

-

Chosen doesn't know where he is when he wakes up. A building pool of dull panic was building inside of them. Chosen doesn't open their eyes yet.

Where is he? He struggles to pull his last memories, too blurry in his mind. Chosen knows they- he and Dark- were attacking Newgrounds. Then… they had been held, a soft voice comforting them… was that a dream…?

He shifts slightly, noticing the extreamly soft blanket and pillows around him. It's unfamiliar. They're not wearing the familiar red cloak or their favorite black hoodie either, instead a tee-shirt that leaves his arms bare and colder than normal.

And- Oh. There's metal on his wrists.

The cuffs.

No, no-!

He reached for his powers- but he can't- he can't activate his powers-!

“-Chosen One? Are you awake?” Chosen was up in an instant, eyes snapping open, frantically observing the new environment they were in. They back up to the corner of the bed that meets the walls. The room is too small. It's too small, and Chosen can't breathe-!

“Hey, hey buddy, look at me, focus on me, please?” Chosens breath stutters in his chest, snapping his gaze at the only other person in the room.

That's the lady from the alley, the person who held him and was kind- but regardless, she had captured him. Let these cuffs be put on him. Was going to hurt him-

He was cuffed. Powerless. Imprisoned. He can't do this! They can't be here, not again- please!

“You're safe. I'm not going to hurt you, nobody's going to hurt you here.” She held her hands up in a pleading gesture. That has to be lies, trying to lure them into a false sense of security. He doesn't trust those kind words. He can't. Not when there's a weight yanking them by their ankle, thrown around like a ragdoll, being used as a test dummy, being forced to hurt people and watch them die-!

He's dying-!

He knows he deserves it.

They always did.

…
..
.

Chosen doesn't know long he had been panicking for, but eventually he comes back to with his breatheing steader.

Mitsi held his cuffed wrists away from him (at least they didn't have chains or a ball attached), they saw blood on his fingers and only took a brief moment to panic about if he had hurt her, before they saw the scratches on his skin around the cuffs. He can feel how they sting a bit now.

He was limp in her hold, knowing there was nothing he could do to stop whatever was going to happen to him, and panic had bled away into numb resignation.

“Chosen? Are you with me?” The nice lady asked softly. She was rubbing circles on their hands with her thumbs.

“Mmmm…” Chosen only hummed quietly, not having the energy to form actual words yet. Mitsi seemed to recognize their drifting mind, however. Dark didn't like when he dissociated when talking to him either, but Chosen couldn't really stop himself from doing it. It was the only safety his mind could provide at times.

“...-tell me five things you see, please?” That wasn't so bad, right? He could do that. Maybe she'd continue talking nicely to him if he did. Even though they don't deserve it

Chosen forced himself to focus around him, eyes lazy scanning and brain slow to process. “Mmm… table… chairs… walls…? The cuffs on my wrists….. you…” it took them a moment, but Mitsi just gave them a reassuring smile when they looked at her (They didn't miss the pinched expression before that though).

“Good job, now can you tell me four things you can touch?”

“Your hands…” he moved his right hand and Mitsi let it go. He felt the soft bed below him. “Bed sheets.” He said, after remembering that was what he was supposed to be doing. The more Chosen dug their way back to full focus, the more anxiety returned as well. He couldn't help but keep noticing the cuffs whenever he looked at his hands. “The- the metal on my wrists, tears-s on- on my fa-ace-.” they try to wipe the tears away, ignoring how their eyes burn.

“Shh, shh… you're alright, you're doing so well. Can you tell me three things you can hear?”

“Yo-ou… mmmm… my voice… the lights…?” The lights buzzing was starting to make Chosen get a headache. There was nothing else to fill the silence of the room, except him and the lady. He hated it.

“Good, two things you can-” Mitsi was cut off by the door to the room opening. Both of them flinched at the sudden noise. “...oh. Vic, Agent.” She greets the two that come into the room, then turns back to Chosen, who may not be panicking like before anymore, but is still anxious and wary. Mitsi turns back to him and asks, “ Hey buddy, do you think you could answer some questions for us?”

He doesn't know why she's asking like he has a choice, he knows he doesn't. They duck their head a bit, which could be seen as confirmation, and presses themself into the corner again when she leaves them to sit further away so the others could interrogate them. He's alone, again. Chosen hates that he already misses the comfort Mitsi brought. He tries not to show any fear that creeps up as the two new people now sit in the chairs at the table across from him.

Breathe. It's just answering questions, for now.

Maybe Chosen can get out of this, and get back to Dark- to his freedom.

“The Chosen One.” The man wearing sunglasses said, and the use of Chosens full name made them tense. “Is this your file name?”

Chosen scrunched up their nose and glared. Why should that matter? (His save was somewhere on a dead hard drive. He doesn't want to think about that, the pc, his Creator-) Regardless, he nodded. He hesitated before he mumbled “Jus’ Chosen 's fine...”

“... Alright then, Chosen.” The other, who had grey hair and eyes, narrowed their eyes at him. That cold stare was unnerving, and Chosen knew he had to be careful with how he acted around them. “Did Noogai create you and The Dark Lord?”

Chosen felt the color drain from their face. They knew about Noogai. Why? Was He looking for him? Is that why they cuffed him-

Chosen swallowed thickly and blinked away the burn in their eyes. He took a few deep breaths and rubbed the shoulder with the mark signifying that he was one of His creations. They didn't know what to say, if they should lie to these people or not.

But Chosen's silence was enough of an answer for them.

The gray eyed person stood, intimidating him. In response, Chosen tried to curl up further and bared his sharp teeth as a threat, showing that even if he was powerless, he is not harmless.

“Did He send you to find someone?” The one in sunglasses said, making Grey-eyes pause.

Chosen snapped his attention to him, as did Grey-eyes, and, what? Did- Noogai?- send him-? “No.” He answered honestly in confusion.

Grey-eyes face flickered to surprise for a moment, then fell back to a serious face. “Then what are you doing?”

And, well. Isn't that a question. Chosen was… experiencing freedom? Well, not currently…
“I-I don't know…?” he whispered, voice small. He was following The Dark Lord, his only friend. What else could he do?

Then it clicked, these people were mad at them. All the destroyed websites, all the people he let get hurt- it was his fault and they knew, they knew If they had just been complacent and stayed as an ad blocker and a toy to be thrown around by Him, then he and Dark wouldn't be a threat- people wouldn't have died if Chosen had stayed put.

Movement, people moving, moving towards him- “W-wait! Wait wait- please!” He scrambled, but there was nowhere to go a cuff, ball and chain attached to his ankle-, and there was no safety in their corner on the bed.

“Vic! Agent! Sit down!” Mitsi yelled. It startled Chosen, hearing the soft voice from before raise in volume and become more stern. But she wasn't directing it at Chosen.

The other two sat back down at the other side of the small room.

Chosen forced themself to breathe again.

Mitsi also took a moment to breathe before turning to Chosen, kneeling by the edge of the bed to be lower than him, less threatening. “Chosen… did… did Noogai hurt you, too?”

Too.

Chosen-

He can't-

He's not in control of his powers. Forced to be an ad blocker or face punishment, by the antivirus or Noogai himself, and even when he tried to be good, he tried so hard!- he was still thrown around, and it hurt, it hurt, and he's tired and hungry and scared and alone and he's cuffed again, powerless again, he's going to be hurt again-

There was someone wrapping their arms around Chosen, gental, caring, comforting-

Chosen clung to the person, the comfort, and sobbed.

Chapter Text

Mitsi couldn't hold herself back from hugging the distressed teen. She should have been more careful to not spook them even more, but, well. He needed it.

Chosen eventually calmed down again, pulled away from her and tried to wipe the tears off of their face, still sniffling occasionally. Their eyes were red, puffy, and irritated. Both Vic and Agent had left at some point, so it was just Mitsi and Chosen in the small room.

Mitsi asked a question she had been meaning to ask before the interrogation started, to fill the silence in the room. “When's the last time you've eaten?”

They had their gaze on the wall behind her.“...don't know…”

“Alright, I’m gonna go make us some food, okay? You can lay back down and rest until then. I'll be right back.”

The kid nodded, flopping back on the bed and curled up on their side.

Mitsi turned the lights to dim, then shut the heavy door behind her as quietly as she could.

She found Agent in the viewing room, holding up a medical kit. “For his wrists.”

Right, Mitsi resisted the urge to smack her forehead, she can't believe she forgot the kid hurt themself while panicking earlier.

“I'm going to see what we have in the break kitchen to make them something to eat. I told him to rest but… his wrists do need to be bandaged...”

“He's not really sleeping, anyway.” Mitai turned to look at the boy through the glass, and true enough, Chosens eyes were half lidded, looking around the room. Not even trying to fall asleep. “I'll take care of his wrists, go get started on food.” Mitsi nodded.

“Also… Where did Vic go? Do you know if they are alright?”

“... I'm not sure, I think they left to calm down, to prevent another panic attack, I'm assuming. I think the situation is a bit triggering for them.”

She nodded again, and headed off to the break room's kitchen. Mitsi couldn't help but worry about where Vic had gone. She hoped they were alright.

-

Chosen slightly startled at the door being open suddenly, making an awful loud noise in the quiet room. He hadn't zoned out that much, had he..? But then he saw that it wasn't Mitsi, but the guy with the sunglasses. Chosen sat up, eyes narrowed in question and suspicion.

“I've got medical supplies to bandage your wrists. Would you mind letting me do that?”

“...sure.” They were healing fine though (If Chosen ignored that they were healing much slower than they were used to), but they were still slightly wary of what would happen if they were to say no. Besides, if it makes the sting go away faster, why not.

Sunglasses made his way over to the bed and placed the med kit on the side table. Chosen noticed how he purposely placed himself between it and Chosen, probably so they couldn't snatch anything from it. He made a face to himself for not thinking of that beforehand. Dark would be disappointed.

Chosen held his damaged wrist out and ignored how painful the awkward silence was as Sunglasses cleaned and bandaged his wrists. It was killing him. So he decided to ask out of the blue, “Who wears sunglasses inside?”

The man in question paused for a moment, before cuckling a bit. “Style for one, but the lights in a lot of buildings are a little too bright for me.” Chosen was slightly surprised by the honest answer.

“The lights make noise, it's giving me a headache.” They glared at the lights in the ceiling, “If I had my powers, I probably would've used my lasers to destroy them by now.”

“...you've got lazer powers, huh?” Chosen forgot he hadn't really used that power much when out with Dark destroying websites (really hasn't been using most of them after the first few they hit), and mentally kicked himself for telling the people who kidnapped him something they didn't already know.

Again, Dark would be disappointed in them. Maybe even irritated at this point, if he were here.

Chosen clamped his mouth shut, after that, and the rest of getting his wrists taken care of is done in silence. He hates it.

That is until Mitsi comes back holding a tray with some bowls on it. “Hope you don't mind if we eat with you, I don't think any of us have had lunch yet.”

“Just in time, I just finished.” Sunglasses packed up the med kit. “Wanna sit at the table with us, or are you more comfortable eating there?”

The smell of whatever Mitsi cooked made Chosen's stomach grumble. It smelt so good…

He decided the food was worth it, and slowly slid off the bed and made his way over to the table, ignoring how shaky his legs were. Mitsi scooted a bowl over to his side with a large smile.

“It's chicken soup- the doctors said to start with something easy because… Well, you're quite malnourished.” That makes sense, Chosen supposes. Letters weren't the most nutritious food out there. They sat down in a chair, as did the other two.

Chosen swirled around the soup with the spoon, before raising it up. At this point, they don't even care if it's poisoned. It was warm and flavorful and- when was the last time he had something this good? Has he ever had anything this good? Chosen quickly shoveled in a few more spoonfuls, before deciding that wasn't enough and set again the spoon in favor of picking up the bowl itself.

“Whoa, buddy, slow down there-” Sunglasses rose from his seat and was going to take away the bowl from Chosen, he was going to take away his food!

On nothing more than instinct, Chosen pulled the bowl down to his chest and made his way to the floor, back against a wall, somehow without spilling any of the soup. He curled in on himself, protecting his food.

Red eyes glared at the man, and Chosen made a low growl in the back of their throat, once again bearing his sharp teeth. Conveying mine, don't take it from me, or else.

Sunglasses seemed lost for words, and sent a glance to Mitsi for help. But she didn't seem to have any answers either. The tense air was making it hard for Chosen to breathe. With shaking hands he slowly brought the bowl back up so he could eat the rest of it before someone tried to take it again, not taking their eyes off Sunglasses.

Until they were hit with nausea, his stomach lurched, and he shaped a hand over his mouth. Not again! Why couldn't he just enjoy the actual food he was given!?

The panicked face he was making probably alerted the man in front of him of what was happening, because he quickly grabbed the small trash can in the room and swapped Chosen's bowl with it. He didn't have time to mourn the loss of it before he was gagging into the trash can.

“S-sor-ry-! I'm sorry!” A voice whispers 'you know 'sorry's don't cut it' in his head.

“Shit, kid… It's alright. You're alright.”

But it wasn't alright. He wasted food. He was given something good, and he wasted it. Chosen wanted to eat the soup, he really did, but the soup didn't want him.

“We can get you more soup, if you'd like!” Mitsi tried to soothe him.

Chosen shakes their head no, he wasted this opportunity. He can't waste more food, no matter how much he wants it. They don't think they’d be able to eat anymore anyways, let alone hold it down.

Chosen wondered if they would even try to feed him after this. Dark gave up and stopped offering him food within the first week or two out of the pc, leaving Chosen to gather letters whenever they were out for the month and a half after. They don't think they'll be able to find any letters here though, and that leaves a pit of dread filling the void in their stomach where the soup used to be.

The light's buzzing was too loud. Chosen hated it.

Chapter Text

They were still worn out from the day before, when both Mitsi and Agent had disappeared right in front of their face. Even after hearing that they were okay, Vic continued to panic until they had them in their sights again. Vic had to go to home and sleep early because they were so exhausted.

Vic had ran out of the room after they saw the look the boy gave after Mitsi had asked the question Vic was avoiding.

They didn't like the implications- that what happened to them happened again, that Noogai created more animations to torture.

The kids face morphed into fear immediately, gaze not looking at anyone or anything in the room anymore, eyes becoming distant and unfocused. Clearly remembering and fearing something terrible…

It made Vic's skin prickle with anticipation, phantom sensations that brought panic brushing against their mind.

It was too much to process at the moment, so to not risk breaking down themself, they left.

They could feel bad about leaving Mitsi and Agent later. Right now, they needed a drink.

They opened the door to their office and didn't care much to make sure it shut all the way.

-

When they had first started doing research into The Dark Lord and his accomplice, not many people caught them on video, too busy running away, or for those that did try… probably didn't make it. But then one of Rocket Corp’s newest inventions solved that, a memory reader. They had victims of the attacks volunteer to share their memories.

It was a success, and they learned a lot about the two.

Apparently not enough, though.

Vic took this time to scan the footage they had on the terrorists attacks, trying to find signs that they missed, that The Chosen One from the attacks was The Chosen One they had captive here.

They did find signs. He would hardly initiate anything with anyone, unless The Dark Lord encouraged him to do so or in defence. The only one they stuck by was The Dark Lord, but even then would hesitate when he would offer Chosen a fist bump or flinch at a pat on the shoulder. At some points when The Dark Lord wasn't looking, Chosen would even reach out to help people, but always stopped themself before doing so.

Vic poured another glass.

-

What felt like countless hours later, there was a knock to their office door, before it was slowly pushed open. “Hey.” Agent greeted and placed a bowl on the table. “Thought I'd find you up here. Mitsi made chicken soup.”

Vic set down his glass, half empty, and took the soup bowl. “...sorry for leaving you and Mits’.”

Agent just shook his head and stepped around the desk with a chair to sit with them. “It was a stressful and triggering situation. I'm glad you left when you felt that you needed to.”

Vic glared at their drink. Agent sighed. “Mind poorin’ me a glass too?”

-

“How's the kid doin’?” Vic asked.

“... Not great. Ended up throwing up the soup Mitsi made and panicked again. Mitsi eventualy got them to settle down again and hopefully sleep.”

“... shit… they said the kid was malnourished, right?... From what we know of, he and Th’ Dark bastard have only been here for at max two months.” Vic knew they were slurring their words at this point, but they were too tipsy to care. “With ‘is powers, he shouln’n be tha’ starved… jus’ how long was'e with Him for…?”

“... I don't know, Vic. I don't know.”

-

The next morning Vic and Agent may or may not have woken up with headaches. Mitsi scolded them for drinking so much during a weekday, at work no less, like she always did when they did this sort of thing, and gave them both large glasses of orange juice and pills to go with breakfast.

“I want to set up Chosen a proper room, and get them out of that tiny one.” Mitsi announced to the table.

“What kind of room are we talking about here? We know what he's capable of, We can't just give him free reign right now.” Vic said.

Agent muttered, “We don't know, actually. The kid told me they have laser powers.”

“What!? I thought they both just had fire, super strength, and regeneration!” Vic exclaimed.

Agent winced, “Keep it down, Vic, some of us still hav’a headache here.”

Vic winced, “...sorry.”

“Of course we wouldn't let him have free reign yet. I ment like, a bigger room that's more personalized. One that he can feel safe in, have his own space where they don't have to worry about being watched.”

“Hmm… you have a point. Vic?”

“...As long as it's secure, then it should be fine.”

“Yay!” She did a little twirl, then gave each a kiss.“Thank you hubby and wubby!”

-

Mitsi made sure to knock before entering Chosen's room to give him a heads up that she was here. She saw that he was still on the bed, back facing her, the door, and the one-sided window.

She noticed an untouched plate of a small portion of eggs and a piece of toast on the table, definitely cold by now, probably dropped off by one of the overnight or early morning staff. While she is glad they haven't thrown up again, she is concerned that the plate has gone untouched. Maybe he hasn't been awake yet..?

“Chosen? Are you awake? Your breakfast has gone cold on the table.”

“I know…” came the instant reply, sounding like he had been awake for a while, but definitely tired still. He rolls over to face her. Mitsi tries not to wince at the dark eyebags under the kids eyes. Maybe he was just uncomfortable sleeping here. Surely they would sleep more in a more familiar and non-threatening place.

Or at least, she hoped so. One issue at a time, though.

“Why haven't you eaten?” She asked carefully.

“...” he stared over at the plate and Mitsi watched his face and eyes. They clearly wanted to eat. “... don't wanna get sick again. It always happens when I try to eat normal food.” He finally answered.

And- Code, this kid is going to break her heart into a thousand shards. “Oh, Chosen… What do you usually eat? We can get you that for now, and work your way up to eating other things.”

Chosen shifted uncomfortably, not really wanting to answer. They glanced at the untouched plate again, wanting and shame was in their eyes. “... letters…” he spoke so softly, like sharing a deep dark secret.

What…? Did she hear that correctly?

“Di-did you say letters..?”

He nodded his head and shrank a little from guilt and shame. “From word documents, website urls, any form of text, really. I've even eaten them off the newspaper here, too.”

She doesn't even know where to begin with this. She pushed away the guilt of unintentionally lying to the kid, because she was not letting Chosen eat letters anymore. “How about this, Chosen, I'm going to take the plate to the kitchen to reheat It, and we can try again with eating, slower this time. Is that okay?”

Chosen made a high pitched noise in the back of his throat, and looked back at the plate like it would disappear at any moment. Mitsi quickly backtracked, “O-or Um… I don't have to heat it up, I just thought it would be better if it were warm.”

Chosen was conflicted, and Mitsi could tell they wanted the food warm, but was fighting himself to let it go outside his sight.

Another idea popped into her mind, an Idea that could very well get her in trouble with Vic and Agent for allowing it to happen.

But Chosen needed to eat.

“... would coming with me to the kitchen help? You can also hold the plate to and from your room if you want.”

The kid was stunned, eyes flicking between disbelief and hope. “y-ou- you'd let me go out? What if- I don't know, what if I tried to escape while you weren't looking?”

“Hmm… well… Oh! What if you hold my hand? That way I know where you are and I make sure you stay by my side.”

“O-okay…” He was still wary, but Mitsi thinks they're less tense knowing that their food would be safe.

With her hand holding Chosens, and Chosens other hand holding the plate of cold breakfast, they leave the room.

Mitsi just hopes they can get back without anyone knowing.

Chapter Text

Chosen was very nervous. This is something that they shouldn't be doing at all, this was something that could get them in trouble. But Mitsi was here, and she said it was okay, so it had to be okay, right? Unless this was some sort of test and he already failed- she wouldn't do that, right? Mitsi was kind. Kind people wouldn't do that… right?

It was another risk Chosen was taking, because dammit he really wanted to eat actual food. Even if it's plain eggs and toast. They were hungry, and they really wanted to eat this stuipid plate of eggs and toast.

Chosen squeezed Mitsis hand, and she squeezed back. It became something of a game, squeezing responses to each other. It made Chosen feel warm. Not the warmth of fire that would burn if you get too close, but a warmth like the blanket from the bed. The kind of warmth that wrapped around him in a comfortable hug.

Chosen felt a smile tug at their lips. He pushed it down, and instead tried to look around and soak in every detail of this place without Mitsi noticing.

This building was confusing, or maybe all large buildings were? Chosen wouldn't know, they hadn't been in many before. The walls were plain grey with the occasional bulletin board or posters that Chosen didn't have time to read as they were walking. So many hallways, too many doors. He has no idea how Mitsi- or anyone- could navigate this place without a map.

“Here we are!” Mitsi exclaimed as they entered a room with tables, chairs, and a small kitchen on one side of the room. She pulled Chosen towards the counter where a metal box was. “Have you ever used a microwave before, Chosen?”

He shook his head no, he hadn't used many household appliances actually. He and Dark didn't have a house at the moment, so they were used to watching Dark cook things over a fire when needed or he just used his fire powers and cook things straight in the palms of his hands. The food would often come out burnt, though.

“So what we do first is put the plate of food on top of the spiny tray in the middle.” Mitsi said as she opened the microwave door. Chosen did as Mitsi said, and placed the plate on the tray and closed the door again. A flicker of panic hit him when he couldn't see it anymore, what would the microwave do to it? They unintentionally started squeezing Mitsis hand again, and she responded with a reassuring squeeze back.”Now we push this button that says ‘cook time’ and set it for one minute.” She pushed buttons and 1:00 appeared on the screen. Chosen tried to memorize the steps. “Then when you're ready, you can push start!”

Chosen put his finger over the start button, and hesitated. Glancing back at Mitsi, she gave him a smile and a reassuring nod, along with an additional hand squeeze. Chosen took a breath in, and pushed the start button.

Brrrrrerrrrrerrrrrerrr…

Chosen startled at the sudden noise and movement of the machine, but was quickly captivated by the plate rotating in the inside, which was now lit up so they could see it.

“What's it doing to it?” he asked in awe.

“It's heating up the food! From what I understand, it creates little energy waves and when they hit the food, the energy heats it. I wouldn't put your face right up against it though.” At her words, Chosen pulled himself away from the microwave, no longer inches away from it.

When the timer reached zero, the light inside turned off and it started blaring an alarm.

“Is it going to explode!?” Chosen exclaimed.

Mitsi giggled, “No, no. It's okay, it's just letting you know that it's done.” She opened the door, the light came back on and Chosen could see his plate of food again. When they picked up the plate, it was warm. The food was warm, and Chosen smiled a little to himself. He thinks even if he does end up throwing it up later, this experience with Mitsi was worth it.

Hand in hand, Chosen and Mitsi left the break room and turned to where they had come from and-

“Mitsi? What is The Chosen One doing outside the room?” Sunglasses. He caught them in the act.

“Oh… Agent.. we were umm-” Mitsi stammered.

This wasn't good. Sunglasses- Agent- was mad. He was mad at them. Chosen isn't where they are supposed to be, and this was a test wasn't it? This was a test to see if he would be good and stay put, and he failed.

Agent was mad at Chosen.

Dark was mad at Chosen.

Noogai was mad at Chosen.

Chosen needed to run.

He tried to turn, but someone was holding one of their hands. Having more value in escape, they dropped the plate of food to try to free the captured hand, a loud clatter echoed throughout the halls.

“Chosen- wait hold on-!” The person who has their hand yells, but he doesn't care what they say.

The threat was coming closer. His hand is stuck. The threat is coming closer- he is stuck- The threat is-

Bite

There is a high pitched screech of pain in their ears, and their hand is immediately let go.

Chosen runs.

There are angry footsteps following them.

He turns into different hallways but everything just looks the same. Until he sees windows, the outside sun peaking in. Chosen might have cried if they weren't being chased.

He could see greenery and the blue sky. They were so close-

Chosen gasped as shocking pain exploded in his back. His body took a few more steps before crashing to the floor.

No! He couldn't stop now- not when they were so close to freedom again-!

Chosen forced themself up, but didn't make it far before they were shot again. He was on the floor again, muscles spassemed from the shock, and he noticed that his hands were glitching.

Then Agent finally caught up.

He pinned Chosen and they yelled and thrashed, trying and failing at getting him off.

“Let go, LET GO!!” Chosen gasped for breath. The sky was right there in front of him. He clawed at the floor, but it was no use, freedom was always just out of reach.

All fight left Chosen. There was no escape. There was no freedom. No powers. Just the dark chest and the desktop with ads and the drawing app.

He barely even registered that he had been picked up and was being carried. All they could focus on was their window of freedom getting farther away, until it was out of sight completely by turning a corner.

They started to struggle again, kicking and screaming to be let go. He hit and clawed at the person's back, trying and failing to get out of the hold. “let me go,” he rasped out.

Once in the room, the man- Agent- lost his grip and ended up dropping Chosen on the floor before reaching the bed. Chosen had turned back towards the door, hoping for an open exit- but Agent had quickly left, leaving the door shut and locked.

Chosen was then alone.

Again.

In this room, with the buzzing lights.

Again.

Chosen failed to escape.

Again.

Chosen made Him mad.

Again!

Chosen can't stand being in this room anymore, can barely breathe because it was so small, walls closing in like the Arvest chest would.

“LET ME OUT!!” Chosen screamed like he did on the pc. Nobody answered, the same response Chosen would get from Him.

They got up on shaky legs, pacing, looking for any weak points in the room. There was only the one-sided glass that he thought could possibly work.

Chosen put all his remaining strength into punching it, hoping it would shatter, to no avail. He hit the glass a few more times, because he refused to do nothing, but there was nothing he could do to escape.

Eventually Chosen was fully exhausted, limbs aching and had tremors throughout his whole body. They slid down and laid below the window, and just… cried.

-

Chosen woke to being wrapped up in a blanket and being picked up and carried to a soft bed.

“mmm… Dark…?” they didn't open their eyes, too tired.

A hand brushed his hair from his face.

“Shhh… go back to sleep, dear.”

Chosen hummed, and let themself be swept back into sleep.

...

..

.

Chapter Text

Agent is panicking.

Mitsi had gone in early to see Chosen. But when Agent arrived, there was no sign of her in the room. That wasn't the most concerning part of this situation either.

The Chosen One was missing.

Agent hates the idea that the kid did something to her, but it was looking like they might have. If Chosen has hurt Mitsi…

Agents training as a cop kicked in, keeping him a superficial calm. He was on his way to inform his team and start a search, when he heard a familiar soft voice coming from the break room, accompanied by the microwave going off, followed by the kids' voice, and Mitsi’s own again.

He stopped walking, stunned as he observed Mitsi walk out of the break room, holding The Chosen One's hand, the boy's other hand holding a plate of… eggs and a slice of toast.

“Mitsi? What is The Chosen One doing outside the room?” The two froze. Mitsi gave him a sheepish, guilty smile, and Chosen looked like a deer caught in headlights.

“Oh… Agent.. we were umm-” Mitsi stammered. That's when the kid started pulling at their joined hand, Mitsi was not letting go. The kid only tried harder to escape, dropping the plate he was holding to pull at the hand. Eggs splattered on the floor. “Chosen- wait hold on-!”

Agent was already running towards them, he knew that something bad was going about to happen, the kids eyes were wild and frantic- but he was still too far away to stop it.

Mitsi let out a high pitched screech when Chosen bit her.

She let go, and they were immediately on the run.

“Mitsi- are you-?” There was blood. He saw the red puncture wounds in the shape of the bite mark, blood trailing down her hand. She was crying. Chosen was running away.

Fuck.

“Get to the infirmary. I'll get Chosen.”

“W-wait- Agent!” He doesn't turn back.

Agent has someone to catch.

…

The Chosen One was unreasonably fast, Agent thought as he turned yet another corner to follow them.

And- there were windows at the end of this hall. Chosen knew it too. It was a perfect escape route, as this side of the building was right next to the forest. If Chosen got out there, it would be easy to lose Agent in the trees and shrubbery.

He couldn't let Chosen get to those windows.

He's had a glitch gun on him at nearly all times after websites started being attacked. They don't do any lasting damage, only stuns a person (with pain) much like a tazer would, except long range and would make visual glitches happen to the person shot for a short amount of time.

He didn't want to do this, but there weren't many options outside of it. Agent pulled the glitch gun out of its holster, and aimed…

…and Agent fired. He doesn't miss.

Chosen yelps in pain and takes a few more steps with the momentum they had, before crashing to the floor. Unbelievably, ignoring the way his body was glitching in his desperate panic for escape, Chosen got back up and started moving for the window again.

Agent shot another glitch at them, to be sure they wouldn't move before he got there.

Agent pinned Chosen down, and he immediately started yelling and thrashing.

“Let go- LET GO!!” They nearly screamed, voice and body glitching. Chosen started clawing at the floor, but Agent kept him in place.

“The Chosens One, calm down and walk back to your cell willingly, or I will have to use force.”

The kid didn't respond in any way, gasping shallow breaths while staring up at the window. Force it was, then.

Agent was glad that Chosen had stopped thrashing around, going still, their focus still on that window. He was easy enough to pick up and carry, he was light, and Agent should've expected this, but it felt wrong.

Adrenaline was wearing off and his emotions were turning back on, to Agents dismay. Processing all this needed to come later, not when he still had Chosen in his arms.

Once the windows at the end of that hall were out of sight, Chosen once again started struggling. Agent almost lost his grip and winced as the kid hit and clawed at his back. He hurried back to where the cell was, afraid that Chosen would be able to wiggle out of his grasp, despite how much weaker their attempts were getting.

As Agent finally entered the room again, he was right that Chosen would willgle his way out, and unfortunately had to drop the boy straight on the floor.

Chosen was instantly moving, and Agent chose in a split second decision to leave the room to let them calm down. He was good at calming Vic down from their panic attacks, but he didn't know how to calm a violent notterrorist child down.

Agent shut the door tightly behind him, just in time to see Vic come sprinting in with Mitsi coming in a few moments later.

Vic spoke first, “I heard screaming, what-”

“LET ME OUT!!” Chosen screamed, a horse, scared, and horrible noise that no child should ever make.

They all watched in silent horror as Chosen paced the room, glossy eyes wildly searching before landing on the one way glass that separates them, before he threw himself at it.

Both Mitsi and Vic let out startled yelps.

Chosen hit the glass again.

“Vic-c-” Mitsi clung to them, and they held her tighter. Agent stood in front, glitch gun at the ready. Chosen hit the glass six more times, it held through all of them.

It hurt to watch.

Chosen then slumped, finally completely exhausted, before collapsing to the floor below the window, out of their sights.

It was silent for a long, long time.

Mitsi was the first to break it. “I-I sh-should go check-”

“No.”
“No!”

“But Chosen needs-”

Agent cut her off, “Time alone, Mitsi.”

“B-but…” she looked into the now still room, then back to Agent. “This is all my fault…” She cupped her hands to her mouth to suppress a sob. Vic continued to hold her.

“Agent… Mitsi…”

“What happened…?”

-

Despite their warnings, Mitsi wasn't going to leave Chosen laying on the floor. She went into the room as quietly as she could, and sure enough, Chosen was slumped over on his side, asleep.

She took the comforter off the bed and carefully wrapped them in it. She carried him over to the bed, and laid him down gently.

Unfortunately she wasn't careful enough, and Chosen stirred, but didn't open his eyes.

“mmm… Dark…?”

Mitsi paused at the name, an ugly feeling sprouting up. She ignored it, and brushed some loose hair away from the boy's face.

“Shhh… go back to sleep, dear.”

He listened to Mitsis words to her relief, and he went back to sleep.

“Goodnight Cho, sleep well.” She whispered before leaving the room once again.

Mitsi would make It up to them, somehow.

Chapter Text

Ever since that morning, Chosen has stopped cooperating entirely.

It hurt Mitsi, the trust she had with the kid- instantly torn to shreds because of her mistake.

Mitsi's arm ached.

It's been another four meals that Chosen had gone without, and Mitsi was getting worried sick, pacing outside the room and nauseous. She asked the doctors on staff to help him, but they couldn't get close without Chosen bearing his teath and growling (all the staff were scared of them, they were a dangerous terrorist, after all). She was worried if they keep this up, they'll have to be forcibly sedated again, and that would break their trust even more.

What else could she possibly do?!

-

Vic walked into the small, dreadful room once again. They stood by the door, shuffling the papers in their hands while they gathered themself.

After yesterday morning, Vic had been scared of going back into the room, with Chosen. Even though they knew now it was a panic response, Mitsi's bite wound was deep. The thought that this kid, weak from not eating or sleeping right and stripped of their powers still being able to cause harm…

But that changed when Chosen had stopped cooperating with anyone. Not even Mitsi. Now Vic was scared for a different reason- for Chosen. They were going to try to talk to them and hopefully be able to get through to them, get them to eat something, but the odds weren't in their favor.

Chosen was curled up on their side, facing away from them on the bed. They know from observing long enough that he was already awake, or still awake. Vic really hopes he does sleep and they just don't notice.

Feeling that they'd taken enough time, Vic took a deep breath in, let it out, and walked over to the bed. “Hey Chosen.” They said softly, but gained no reply. They sat down at the foot of the bed. From this angle, they could see dull red eyes staring at the plain white wall, unmoving.

“I-I know you don't want to talk to me, or anyone, but we're worried about you. You haven't eaten anything we've offered, and… and that's scary.” They took another deep breath. “I-I'm scared for you, Chosen.

“I brought something for you, Mitsi said you'd eat letters.” Vic shuffled around the pages again. “She's really worried about you kid- worried sick.” They swallowed hard around a lump in their throat. “Please, please Chosen, eat. I don't want to have to force you to.”

There was shuffling beside them, and when they looked over, Chosen was facing Vic. He was facing them, and looking to and from their face and the pages in their hands. Vic nearly cried in relief.

Vic reached out a hand with the stack of papers. He hesitated for several long seconds just staring at the pages, but Vic was patient, and when they were ready, Chosen took the papers from them. Now sitting at the edge of the bed, he stared disbelieving at the paper in his hands.

“I-I don't… understand…” They noticed the kid start shaking, and they dont look at Vic. “why…? Why are you still… pretending to be nice to me!?” He shrunk in, looking like he was preparing to be hit. They weren't expecting the outburst of emotion from them, and their words confused Vic.

“Chosen? I'm not pretending, kid. I really do care about you.” The kid was already shaking their head before Vic finished talking. “Why don't you believe me?” they asked carefully.

“I-i… you- the…” he struggled getting the words out, starting to inhale quicker. “I- I failed, I le-left the… I'm not… I can't-”

“Hey, hey. You're okay-”

“No, no. I don't wanna be here! I need out, please, when can I go out-? I can't- I can,t-” Chosen gasped, pulling at his hair. “Don't wanna be here!”

“I'm so sorry Cho- I promise you're safe with me, please brea-”

“No I'm not!! I was with Mitsi and I still- he still…”

“I'm so sorry, that shouldn't have happened, Chosen, I'm going to do my best to make sure nothing like that happens again. I promise.”

“D-don’t trust…” he whined, still gasping for breath, curled in on himself, leaned over so his head was almost resting on his knees.

The kid didn't trust them, and probably wouldn't listen to them until he did. Vic suddenly realized that Chosen was missing context, the whole reason why Vic wanted to capture the two terrorists in the first place. They didn't want to bring it up, it even hurt to think about, but Chosen needed to know.

“Chosen hey, look at me please.” They crouched on the floor in front of Chosen to be able to see his face. Dim red eyes meet dull grey. “... Noogai is also my creator.” Vic pulled up their shirt sleeve, revealing the flaming cursor forever embedded into their skin. Chosen breathes in and stills, eyes wide. He brings a hand to touch it and Vic lets him. Their other hand grips their own shoulder tightly.

“...you're… Vic-victim…”

Vic inhaled sharply at hearing their file name. They despised It. But how did the kid know that…? Vic decided it wasn't important at this current moment.

“I was… with Him… for over eight months.” Vic admitted quietly.

Chosen's eyes widened even more before turning glossy with tears. Vic sat back on the bed and guided them into their arms, and Chosen fell into them willingly. They rubbed soothing circles Into the boy's back as he cried.

“I've got you, Cho. You're safe. I've got you.”

…

Vic watched in mild fascination and horror as Chosen plucked letters off the pages and ate them. At least he was eating, and not too fast like he did with the soup.

“Do they… taste good..?”

Chosen let out a snort in amusement. “Code, no. Most of the time it tastes like cardboard, sometimes the texture ranges from glass to styrofoam, depending on the font.” Vic winced as he plopped more letters into his mouth. Eating letters didn't sound pleasant at all.

“...hey Chosen?”

They stopped mid-chew, eyes snapping over to them and tensed. “...hmmm?”

“Would you let the doctors come in and check up on you? I can stay with you or leave, your choice. But I am concerned about your well-being, and if they find anything out of the norm, they can help you get better.”

Chosen thought on it for a moment, staring at the floor.

“... as long as you're here… and umm.. can you hold my hand…?”

Vic smiled. “Of course I can.”

Chapter Text

Vic told Chosen they'd be right back, and they left the room to get Rocket Corp’s medical team.

“You got him to eat!” Mitsi cried in relief with tears still streaming down her face. She hasn't stopped crying since Chosen stopped responding to her.

“You showed them your creator's mark.” Agent commented, he had been observing them as well.

“I did. He wouldn't trust me, and I… I thought he should know. Should've told them sooner, really.” Agent just nodded and Mitsi came over and hugged Vic.

“I'm so relieved!” She exclaimed. Vic hugged her close.

“Chosen agreed to let the medical staff check on him.” Mitsi pulled away, sniffling. More tears trailed down her face and Vic wiped them away. “After the doctors cleared him, I plan on taking Chosen home with us.

“I'm not taking no for an answer. Staying here isn't making anything better for the kid. He needs help, guidance, and a home, which we can provide. The cuffs will stay on for now while Chosen adjusts, then we will negotiate removing them.”

“I suppose we should get a room ready, then?” Agent asked.

“I want to wait to see what the doctors say.” Mitsi wiped the final few tears off her face, having stopped crying. “I need to know what I can do to help them.”

“We will do everything we can for them, Mits.” Vic smiled at their two companions.

…

Vic came back with three medical staff, and Chosen looked like he was having second thoughts about agreeing to this.

They pulled up a chair beside the bed and held out their hand for the kid to take. They gave him little reassurances and praise through it and it thankfully kept Chosen relatively calm.

Chose was not calm, however, when they requested to draw blood for lab tests.

“You can squeeze my hand if you want, usually that helps.” Vic suggested. The kid nodded, and shut his eyes tight when it was time for the needle to go in.

Chosen let out a whine when he felt the prick, and squeezed Vics hand hard. They tried not to wince at the pain and slight tingling numbness the kid was causing them. Chosen laid their head on Vics shoulder.

“They're almost done, kiddo.”

“D-dizzy…” They shuddered.

“Okay, we’ll stop there.” The doctor currently drawing Chosen's blood said, working on removing the needle. Vic caught the worried glances the other two doctors gave each other, making Vic worry themself.

“We will be back with the results within the next two hours. If you need us before then, let us know.” they said before the three left the room.

“Chosen…? You okay buddy?” Chosen still had his head on vic, death-gripping their hand, and his eyes shut tightly. They nodded, then let out a choked noise.

“Cho, can you open your eyes for me?” Vic turned to face him more and lightly squeezed their shoulder.

Chosen shook their head, and Vic was worrying again. Tears started sliding down their cheeks.

“S-sorry- I was s-so- scared!” Chosen cried.

“Shh… Let it out, it's okay to be scared. You're safe now. It's okay.”

When Chosens cries died down, their face relaxed and they leaned fully on Vic.

“Hmm. Tired, Cho?”

“Mmmhmmm… s’eepy…”

“Alright, I let you sleep-”

“No wait…” Chosen grabbed at their side. “... please stay…”

“...okay kiddo. I'll stay for as long as you need.”

…

It took quite awhile for Chosen to fully fall asleep, but he eventually did.

Vic let out a sigh of relief.

They would rather stay much longer, maybe until the doctors came back or if Chosen woke up before then, but they had a large amount of work piling up that they had to do.

Vic quietly left the room.

Mitsi, still waiting outside, had also fallen asleep, slumped in a chair next to the wall. The position she was in looked uncomfortable, but Vic didn't want to risk waking her by moving her. Code knows she needs it too.

Instead, Vic got a blanket in storage that was saved for a rainy day, and laid it over Mitsi. They gave her head a kiss, before heading off to their office

…

It wasn't that long into the late evening when one of the doctors sought them out again. They looked quite pale.

“Vic. We need to bring The Chosen One into one of the infirmary rooms as soon as possible.” Vic's blood went cold. “Their lab results have dramatically declined since we checked two days ago. If he doesn't get immediate care-”

The doctor didn't get to finish their sentence as a large BOOM! sounded, and the entire building shook, lights flickering for a moment until everything stilled again.

Vic was running before they even fully processed the explosion.

The direction it came from…

Chosen.

.
.
.

“Aw Cho~ excited to see me? I'm here to save you!”

The Dark Lord-

Mitsi.

Chapter Text

Chosen leapt to his feet when he was startled awake by a loud BOOM! destroying some of the walls around him, debris flying everywhere. They had to shield their eyes from the scattering dust, but when the looked up, they saw-

“Dark.” Chosen whispered, almost disbelieving.

“Aw Cho~ excited to see me? I'm here to save you!”

Dark was here to free him!

They will have their freedom back!

This is what Chosen was waiting for- Dark actually came to save them!

…then why did it make his stomach drop with dread?

A sharp cry came from the room now open to Chosen thanks to Darks arrival.

“Oh? Who do we have here!”

Mitsi was trapped under the rubble.

“W-wait! Dark, I-” Chosen was cut off.

“Ohhh~ She's the one who shot you back at Newgrounds! Are ya wanting to take revenge personally? Who am I to take that from you! Go ahead, make her pay for what she did to you.” Dark leaned in closer, a wide grin and manic eyes on his face.

“D-dark… I-I….” Chosen was frozen in place.

“Get away from them, you Monster!!” Mitsi yelled.

“Chosen, may want to do this quickly, else I get to her first because she's so annoying.”

“Th-the cuffs- they block my powers…”

“Oh that's really unfortunate, that's terrible you can't kill her using your own powers… but good thing I always have this on me for special occasions.” Dark pulled back his jacket and revealed a holster that held a pistol. “Already loaded and ready to go! Just for you, Cho~” Dark placed it in their hands, and forced them to wrap their hands around it.

“no… please Code, no…” Mitsi cried.

“Take your shot, Cho. We don't got all night.”

Hands shaking, Chosen pulled the gun up.

Chosen didn't really want to kill her, did he?

They were mad that she and the others kidnapped them and tricked them into going out of the room, but she had always been nice to them. She comferted him, held his hand, showed him how to heat up food in the microwave-

Chosen shut his eyes tightly. Dust was filling their lungs with each intake of breath, making them wheeze.

“Chosen just shoot already-!”

BANG!

Ringing filled Chosens ears. They taste blood.

Crying. They heard crying. Mitsi’s crying.

“Aw Chooo~, Did the cuffs also affect your aim? Or have you always been this terrible of a shot? Considering your body count, I'd figure it'd be the latter. Oh well, guess I'll just have to do it myself anyways-”

He took the gun out of Chosens loose grip, and they could only stand in place as they watched in horror as Dark aimed at Mitsi.

“Such a shame, we can still say this was your kill thou-” Dark was caught off-guard by being hit with a glitch and dealing with the after shock glitches with it.

“The Dark Lord! Put down your weapon and step away from The Chosen One!” Chosen snapped their head to Agent, who had the glitch gun pointed at Dark.

Dark did not put the gun down, just reholdsterd it, while lifting his hands up. Chosen already knew Dark wasn't actually surrendering.

“...ruining my fun..” Dark muttered to himself. His hands suddenly lit up, then a second later more explosions set off on the ground by where Agent was. Dark grabbed Chosen, then they were in the air.

Chosen might have felt happy being able to be outside and flying again, but they weren't. Not when they left Mitsi under rubble and Agent possibly hurt or worse.

“It was gonna be lame anyways if you couldn't participate, I'd be upset if I couldn't get revenge myself and had to watch too.” Chosen couldn't decide if the nausea was from Darks words and what they just did, or not being the one in control of flying. Either way, their stomach churned. The air was thinner up here.

“Here we are~” Dark said in a sing-songy voice as he defended to the ground.

They landed in front of a small shack in the woods, probably one Dark had built. He had started making them to keep his electronics out of the weather and environment.

On numb legs, Chosen followed Dark inside.

There was a desk with half finished electronics and scrap on it and a single stolen desk chair. Empty energy drink cans littered the floor. Dark plopped down on the chair, spinning into his desk. He pushed stuff to the side in a big mound to make space for his laptop. Dark pushed buttons and a red spider-looking creature on a black background showed when the laptop finished booting up.

“Alrighty! Get over here and give me one of your arms, let's see what this sucker is made of.” Dark pulled out a wired gadget that he made and plugged it into the laptop. Chosen reached his right arm out, and Dark snatched it and put the device pressed up against it.

“Don't move, it's gonna take a minute to read the code- it looks complex~!” Dark marveled at the cuffs. He was always like this with tech and code stuff. “And after we get them off ya’ we can blow Rocket Corp to smithereens!!” Dark made an explosion gesture, moving in the spinny chair out to face them to show them his excitement.

… Chosen was not excited.

“Actually Dark… I was uh- maybe we can just- leave them alone..?” they prepared for Darks reaction, tensing their shoulders.

“... You're joking, right?” his voice had dropped in pitch, teetering on the line of threatening. He gave them an opening, a chance. Chosen knew If he took the out and backed down now, Dark could go back to being excited and good and not mad-

But Chosen wasn't going to hurt Vic, Mitsi, Agent, or anyone else there.

Chosen took a breath in, “no…?”

He was foolish if he ever thought Dark wouldn't get mad.

“The fuck you mean Cho?? They kidnap you, and you're just gonna let them go?! That's not how we operate, even with people who don't kidnap you! What's your deal?!” Dark shouted, letting his rage show in full. He got up out of the desk chair and stormed closer to Chosen. They started shaking but didn't move like they were told to.

“Th-they were n-nice…”

Dark barked out a laugh. “And? We've killed nice and innocent people thousands of times! Why do you want to keep them alive so badly?”

“Because I like them!”

“WHAT THE FUCK!?” Dark screeched. “You don't need those people- did they brainwash you or something-!?”

“No-!”

The laptop made a beeping noise. Both of them looked over at it.

“Give me your wrists.” Dark said coldly. Dark's eyes shined with a dangerous glint. That was a not good tone with the not good eyes- that sometimes made Chosen run out of fear, because nothing good will come of this- “I said give me your damn wrists!”

He wasn't given an option to refuse, as Dark reached for his arm closest, the one that the code-reader had been code-reading. Dark wrapped his hand around the cuff- around his wrist and-

C r u n c h -

PAIN-

PAIN-PAIN-
PAIN-PAINPAINPAINPAIN-

P A I N !

Chosen heaved for air, now on his knees, arm still being held up as Dark removed the pieces of metal that used to be the cuff.

“Y-you-... you b-broke my-?

“Oh get over it already. It'll heal within a week. You know this, Cho. Now give me your other one. Now.”

There want time to protest or run, Dark was already moving and grabbing their left and Chosen could do nothing as Dark- Crunch-

PAIN

White hot, blinding pain clouded their mind, and for an unknown amount of time, Chosen wasn't aware of anything but the pain.

“...-shouldn't have gotten attached to them, then I could've been gentler with you, but no~. You had to do it the hard way. Now we have to wait on our revenge until those heal. Maybe in the time you're recovering you'll realize just how fucking stupid you are right now.”

Dark set back down on the desk chair and slid into his desk. He Typed away at the laptop, muttering out loud about the code that was on the cuffs. Chosen didn't pay any mind to what Dark was saying, too busy trying to breathe through the pain, pressing their hands with their broken wrists up to their chest, curling up to protect them.

There was another unmeasurable amount of time before he started to realize Dark was yelling at him again. But when he did, it was already too late.

“CHOSEN!” Dark was furious.

Chosen whimpered when Dark pulled them up by their collar ,and shook them, completely lifted off the ground His arms dangling at his sides, unable to even claw at Dark’s hand.

“You are leading them straight to us!”

“w-wha…?” They felt lightheaded and the room was spinning.

“There's a location tracker in the fucking cuffs!” Dark grabbed his neck, cutting off Chosen’s airflow. “You knew didn't you!? You betrayed me! How could you be choosing them over ME? I saved you, I have saved you from imprisonment twice now! You made the alliance with me, did you just do that so you could betray me!? Just to Hurt Me!? CHOSEN-!”

Their vision was tunneling, gaze no longer focused on Dark (he didn't want to look into his eyes that filled every fiber of his being with fear-), instead they looked above at the poorly made roof. They can't breathe- If they looked just right, they could see stars in the night sky. Their ears felt like cotton, making everything sound underwater. Arms limp at his sides, completely numb along with his legs, being replaced by a burning sensation. If they tried hard enough, maybe they could pretend they were in a warm hug or snuggled in a blanket-

Chosen suddenly regained the ability to breathe, gasping heavily as he finally registered being dropped to the floor, landing in a heap of pain. He curled up weakly on his side, praying to the code that made up their digital existence that it would all stop hurting.

He just wanted everything to stop.

“- be that way then! You've made your choice, don't come crawling back to me when you realize you need me! Fuck!!” Chosen heard his fire ignite, and flames burned in his ears until they were too far to hear.

Chosen wheezed, the air felt too thin and he couldn't get enough in. They haven't regained feeling in their limbs and it was getting worse. The small shack was spinning around them, and they tried closing their eyes, but that didn't stop it.

They ended up looking back up at the sky between the roof planks. The stars were so pretty... Chosen had this little hope that one day they'd get the chance to use a telescope. But now the stars seem to be further away, impossible to reach...

There was noise outside, somebody searching for something. They were searching for him, he realized, distaintly feeling a sense of deja vu. There were yells, they can't tell from who or what they were yelling about, but it still sent little shockwaves of fear into them.

The door was kicked open, and there was someone he recognized.

Agent.

Chosen doesn't have the energy to panic anymore.

.
.
.

Chapter Text

Agent arrived back at Rocket Corp after shopping for a bed frame and mattress for Chosen's room at home. He was hoping he could ask Chosen about his opposition later for the other furniture for the room. Although he wasn't sure if the kid would even have a preference, wasn't sure if they'd ever had their own room to decorate before.

He wouldn't be able to ask tonight though, as an explosion set off on the other side of the building. The room Chosen was staying in was on that side. After the lights stopped flickering and the ground stopped shaking, he got his footing and sprinted to the side of the building the explosion came from.

He didn't make it to the room before spotting Vic, pale and trembling with panic.

“Agent! Help- Chosen, The Dark Lord- Mitsi!”

All his brain could think was: oh shit.

“Find my team and have them meet me there! If you see anyone else, tell them to get to safety!” He yells back, already running again. Agent hoped his glitch gun would be enough until the others arrived.

…

Agent arrives at the ruins of what used to be the cell and viewing room- just in time to see Chosen pointing a gun at Mitsi. A real gun. The boy looked scared though, trembling, the gun shaky in his hands.

“Chosen, just shoot already-!”

He was too late.

BANG!

The air caught in Agents lungs-

This.. this can't be happening…

By some mercy, Mitsis crying reached his ears, the bullet skittering somewhere on the floor. She was still alive-

“Aw Chooo~, Did the cuffs also affect your aim? Or have you always been this terrible of a shot? Considering your body count, I'd figure it'd be the latter. Oh well, guess I'll just have to do it myself anyways-”

He took the gun out of Chosens loose grip, and that sent Agent back into motion. He aimed his glitch gun.

“Such a shame, we can still say this was your kill thou-”

And he fired. He never misses.

“The Dark Lord! Put down your weapon and step away from The Chosen One!” He glares at Agent while glitching, more irritated than intimidated.

The Dark Lord slowly raises his hands, the reholdstering of the pistol does not go unnoticed by Agent. He doesn't move away from Chosen, and they look pale, eyes wide with shock, but muscles lax with resignation.

"Kid-"

He didn't have enough time to react when The Dark Lord's hands suddenly lit up, sending explosive fireballs to the ground next to him. Agent might've even been hit by them, if he hadn't been dragged backwards by someone.

After things stopped moving, Agent turned to see that Vic was the one to pull him out of harm's way, shaking from head to toe and breathing heavily. Behind them, Agent’s team were running down the hall to get to them, weapons in hand.

“Vic? What are you doing here-?”

“I c-couldn't just hi-ide while you were in-n danger!”

Looking back at the now completely destroyed room, The Dark Lord and Chosen were nowhere to be seen.

He escaped, and took Chosen with him.

Anger boiled in Agent's chest.

The group avoided the new obstacles created by the rubble, fallen ceiling tiles, wall plaster, and wires hanging down.

“Mitsi!?” Vic called out.

“h-here… over here…” Agent could tell she was struggling to talk loudly.

But they did find her, thankfully not harmed by the last explosion besides a few more small scratches.

It took Agent, Hazard, and Primal to lift and hold the large heavy pieces of rubble off of Mitsi, and Vic and Balista to quickly and carefully remove her from under it. From what Agent could tell just by doing a glace over, her left leg was broken in at least two places, and several cuts and large brushes were forming on both legs, left arm, and presumably her back too.

“Vic, I need you to take Mitsi to the infirmary. Me and my team will do a search-”

“The cuffs have GPS tracking.” Vic said suddenly. “It was in case they escaped- should be able to track them from our main tech center.”

Agent had a lead.

…

They found the signal relatively easily. Agent saved it onto his high-tech sunglasses (another perk of having them that he didn't tell Chosen earlier), that way he would be updated on Chosen’s location in case they moved.

He and his team piled into the work van, and headed to the location. They hadn't moved for a solid ten minutes, and Agent hoped they'd stay there.

It was in the middle of a forest apparently, what else should he have expected, and they had to pull over on the side of the road. It was dark, only the light on their guns lighting the way for them. Agent turned on the night vision on his sunglasses, coating everything in a light green.

Agent didn't make it two feet into the forest before the cuffs live signal was lost, switching to its last known location.

“Signals lost! The Dark Lord either destroyed the cuffs or somehow deactivated the tracker. We no longer have live tracking on them, we need to hurry before they get the idea to switch locations.” Agent informed his team while moving through the forest.

Eventually they approached the GPS coordinates, a small poorly built shack. This didn't look like a base of operations- perhaps a hideout or a place to muddy their trail?

The team quickly surrounded the shack, and prepared themselves.

“The Dark Lord! Come out with your hands up and unarmed so we can take you into custody peacefully, or we will do it by force!”

There was no answer, and that was good enough for Agent to proceed to the door, and with one solid kick, it was open.

He doesn't like what he sees.

The room had no lights, only being lit by the moon shining through the large cracks of the shed. In the dark, Agent could also see two glowing half-lidded eyes of The Chosen One, on the floor next to a desk, curled up on their side.

The Dark Lord was nowhere in sight.

“The Dark Lord isn't here but the kid is!” Agent informed his team outside, then turned back. He softly called his name, “...Chosen?”

“...‘m s’rry, please don'… I di’n't mean to, please don'…” His words were slurring and the kid's voice was weak and hoarse, and Agent could hear his labored breathing when he took a step closer. Something was wrong.

“...kid…? Are you hurt-?” Agent crouched down a little bit away and laid his weapons down beside him. Chosen whined in response.

He can see them more clearly now, and-

Oh. oh Code No.

“We're gonna need to get him medical assistance!” he shouted back to his team again. Chosens breath hitched at his volume.

“‘mso'rry-s'rry-y- ‘m s'rry, pl’se-...” They let out another small distressed noise.

“I'm not gonna hurt you, kid, I promise. We're gonna get you out of here and get you help, okay?”

“...mmm-…. It hur’s… don’ be mad- pl’se don't be mad- m's’rryy-” silent tears are running down the boy's face. He attempted to curl tighter, but couldn't appear to move much other than his whole body trembling. Their breathing was shallow and faint.

“I'm not mad at you, I promise. I was never mad at you.”

“r’lly? not ma’…?” They uncurled a little and looked at him with dimly-luminescent red eyes.

“Yes, really Chosen. I promise. Code- your hands kid-” His wrists were dark purple with bruises, blood from small jagged cuts trailing down to the wood floor, the wounds inbetween scabbed over ones. The structure of them looked wrong from the pieces of bone not being where they should be. His neck was also bruised badly.

“he had't ‘ak‘em off…”

Agent swore to kill that bastard on sight

He deeply breathed in, and out, once. “Okay Cho, this might hurt, but I need to pick you up to take you back, okay?"

“...h-hur's…”

“I know kid, I'm so sorry.”

Agent moved slowly closer to him and carefully hooked his arm under his knees and lifted him up with the other under his back. Chosen let out a pained whimper, folding their arms up so that they were against their chest and stomach. They put their head against Agent’s shoulder as he walked them out of the shed, shutting their eyes tight.

“sp..spinnin’... d’zzy...”

“I'm sorry Chosen, well get you help, just hold on.” His team looked at Chosen’s state and their faces ranged from looking sick to downright livid. He couldn't blame them.

Chosen, however, didn't take it that way. “‘m s'rry, ‘m-” He gasped for a breath. “pl’se no…”

“Cho hey, they're not mad at you kid, they're upset that you're hurt. Not at you.” The others looked away to ease Chosens anxiety. The group started quickly making their way to the van.

“hhh, I ma'e ‘im do it… ma’e ‘im ups’...”

“Kid- this isn't your fault. I promise, you don't deserve this.” He tried to emphasize it, let him know his words were true.

Chosen made a grunt and another whine. His breathing sounded wet.

They made it to the van, Primal got in the front seat to start the engine. Hazard contacted the medical team and informed them of Chosen's condition. Agent held Chosen the entire time, sticking next to the door to get out as quickly as possible when they were to arive back at Rocket Corp. It wouldn't be a long drive, Primal knew this area and wasn't afraid of speeding.

“‘m c-ol-d-d…” Chosen shivered in his arms.

Chosen was cold, too cold- and was that ice crystals forming on their skin-!? “Kid? when were you gonna tell me you had ice powers too?” He asked in a slightly strained humorous tone, hopefully giving Chosen a distraction. They looked up at Agent.

“hmmm… now I guess…” Agent huffed a laugh at his response, earning a small smile to appear on the kids face for just a moment. “sorry ‘m s’are’..” They shivered again, and it clicked to Agent that the ice was an unintentional fear response. Agent tried to gently remove the ice, but more kept reforming in it's place, though the progression didn't go farther than it originally had.

“I don't want you getting sick on top of this. try to keep calm and warm, yeah?”

“...tryin’... cn’t…” their breaths were getting shallower, fainter, and their eyes weren't focused on anything anymore. His lips and fingers had developed a blue tinge. Agent had a feeling it wasn't because of the ice.

“That's okay Cho, just keep on focusing on breathing for me. we're almost there.”

“Mmmm… ‘ill you ‘ell M'si ‘m s'rry?”

“... You can tell her that yourself, Choson.” You will make it. You will be able to tell her yourself.

Chosen made a dissatisfied noise and pressed his face into Agents chest.

“...wanna…. I wanna see th’ s’ars. I wanna see… don’ pu’ me ba…” They traded off, eyes closed.

“Hey Cho, keep your eyes open, don't fall asleep on me- Kid? Open your eyes for me, Chosen?” He shook him gently. Was he breathing-? Agent shook them again. He wasn't breathing- “Cho- Chosen!? C'mon kid- breathe- come back, stay with me Cho, please breathe-” Agent scrambled to find a heartbeat-

Chosen gasped, eyes fluttering open and they let out a few wet coughs- was that blood-? and groaned.

“Code kid- keep breathing, please keep breathing-!” Agent begged the boy, feeling helpless.

“...s'rr….y….” They continued to stare at nothing. Chosen stopped shivering a bit ago.

The van finally stopped, having arrived back at Rocket Corp.

“We're here Cho, we'll be moving again, gonna get you help- just keep breathing for me, keep breathing.” They didn't reply, just stared up at the night sky.

He ran in with Chosen in his arms, towards the medical wing. It wasn't long until the doctors met up with them. They took Chosen from his arms and placed him on a gurney and started checking vitals while moving back to the infirmary.

“It's gonna be okay, Chosen.” Agent  softly told them as he ran his hand through their hair before the doctors started taking them away. The kids half-lidded eyes had held no recognition. They were barely breathing.

“Unresponsive, low blood pressure- Heart rate one-eighty-two, pulse irregular and weak- Oxygen sixty-one percent! He needs oxygen-!”

Doors shut at the end of the hall, and Agent was left standing in the middle of the hallway, alone.

He stood there blankly staring at the doors for a few, long, moments.

But he didn't stay, there was somewhere else he needed to be.

…

Agent pushed the door open to the room Mitsi was being given care in. Mitsi was talking with Vic by her side.

“Agent!” They both exclaimed when he walked in. He paused only after a few steps in, letting the door slowly swing closed behind him.

He stood there silently, mouth trying and failing to form words. Vic stood up and faced him, no longer turned towards Mitsi.

“...is Chosen…?”

He choked out a surpressed sob, his shoulders were shaking and tears welled up in his eyes- (he had seen people die in front of him before- why did this affect him so much-?) and he wiped under his sunglasses to keep them from spilling. Vic pulled him into a hug then they brought Agent over to Mitsi, all three intertwining hands.

Agent did the only thing he could do, he told them everything he knew. 

Chapter Text

Chosen was numb, body pricking and burning and agony-!

vision went from recognizable things, to shapes, to colors, and…

lights…

darknes . . .

sounds

loud

too loud

not loud enough to hear

colors not vivid enough to see

Chosen pushed it away.

there was

something

noise

voices

they know the sound is speech, but can't make sense of the words

maybe it wasn't words at all

floating in darkness

Chosen can't feel his body

maybe it doesn't even exist anymore.

did Chosen ever have a body?

maybe not…

light flickered in and out of his vision.

darkness greeted them with constricting arms.

the Avast chest was always like this, maybe he's back in there.

that would make sense

they had been dreaming and never left

darkness…

“...”

voices talking

“...........”

he still cant make out the words…

“.......................-.............!”

“...........?”

“.....................”

lights became brighter, but they didn't hurt.

they didn't feel anything

no pain

he could see colors swimming around him.

“...-e Chosen One awak-....?” they recognized their own name being used.

“................”

“-Chosen? can you….. me?” the sound was closer, the colors in his vision changed.

The colors turned away

”They nee-...........-dation.”

and colors shifted again, the voice returning.

“Hey Chosen, I know you're scared and confused, but we're taking care of you. You can just rest now, you've done so well.”

they sounded nice…

was there something touching his face…?

“...-'ll be okay, just sleep Chos.....”

the world faded away, out of their grasp

there was nothing

there was…

something…?

then it floated away

noises, clicks, beeps, random sounds that didn't have a source

appeared

disappeared

reappeared

and vanished once again.

Chosen let it go.

There was a cold feeling

followed by a warm feeling

the warmth was nice…

it didn't burn

like…

like a…

blanket…

a hug…..

then there was nothing to feel

there was no pain

the noises returned

faded into the background ambiance of static

different colors appear…

but they always leave them.

they want the warmth back

he wanted…

need… needed…

what…?

.

.

.

-

Mitsi visited Chosen as soon as she was able to, and never left his side.

They were on life support, an ECMO and a ventilator. They were fortunate to even have these machines on hand, or any major life support machinery, it wasn't standard to have them in infermarys. Mitsi is glad that they had invested in a medical and engineering team to improve medical machinery and teach people how to use them. That was something they did after the websites started being attacked…

Could it be said that it was ironic that part of the cause to make them have this here, was the one receiving the care? Fate, Karma, whatever it was- must be cruel and having a laugh at them.

They couldn't send Chosen to a major hospital- they would have to provide information about Chosen that they can't give them, else they figure out who he is, and things could get messy very quickly. The government was already aware that they were holding a terrorist captive, they didn't need to find out that they were trying to rehabilitate them, and on their own. The only reason the government had allowed them to stay was because they really couldn't care what happened to the terrorists, as long as they stopped causing damage and were contained. There was no guarantee that Chosen would actually be given the medical attention they needed outside of Rocket Corp, and they didn't have the time to risk it.

Twenty-eight hours had passed after being told she was able to see Chosen again.

<...>

She had been given a wheelchair and was able to leave the infirmary room she was in for quite some time, but all three of them wanted to be as close to Chosen as possible and able to receive information about them when they could.

Whenever Vic searched out one of the nurses, they always gave them vague non-answers.

Mitsi was supposed to have been sleeping, everything had taken a toll on her, but the anxiety and restlessness kept her in an exhausted haze of awareness.

“You're gonna pace a groove into the floor, Vic.” Mitsi heard Agent comment, breaking the silence. Vic didn't stop at his words.

“They won't give me a straight answer on anything! We don't know anything about Chosens condition- they could be dying or dead!” They kept quiet for Mitsis sake, but were clearly frustrated, worried, and about to implode.

Agent did his best to defuse the situation. “... I know. But worrying like this isn't going to help anybody, lest yourself.” Vic finally stopped.

“There's nothing we can do.” They breathed out.

“Vic, c'mere, don't start grieving yet-” He drags them over to the couch Agent had slept on for a few hours- but Vic hadn't slept at all from what she could tell. “They aren't… they aren't. So… just give them time.”

“It's been over eleven hours.” Vic said hoarsely. “What if he…?” Agent held them in a hug up against his chest, cradling them, comforting them.

“The kid's strong. They'll make it through this. They have to…” Both Mitsi and Vic knew Agent was trying to convince himself of that too.

Mitsi knew neither of them fully believed it.

She eventually fell into a restless sleep.

…,

In the end, it took seventeen hours since the moment Chosen started reciving mediacl attention to finally get a solid update on Chosen's condition.

Mitsi woke to a knock at the door, and finally someone came with real news about Chosen's condition. She sat up and made herself be more awake than she actually was.

Dr. Moonstone came in, followed by Chrome Alum, the super-bioengineer that helped Vic make a lot of the custom devices made by Rocket Corp. It surprised her that she was here though…

“We have… news to tell you, some of it will not be easy to process.” Dr Moonstone started off.

“Is Chosen alive?” Agent asked bluntly. He had explained to Mitsi and Vic both how Chosen was the last he saw him, and… it wasn't good.

“Chosen is alive.” Alum said to everyone in the room’s relief. “-But I wouldn't start celebrating yet. His vitals are stable right now, but we're unsure if they will stay that way.”

“We got their vitals stabilized just over two hours ago. Chosen was given life support immediately after arrival, and is now on an ECMO machine and a ventilator, but in due time they will likely be able to be weaned off both. He has an IV giving him nutrients, fluids, sedation and medication. Chosen seems to be… getting better.” Dr. Moonstone shifted nervously.

“We don't need to sugarcoat it for them, Moonstone.” Alum had told her, and they all tensed.

Dr Moonstone took a calming breath. “Last night, when our staff checked Chosen’s vitals and drew blood, there were warning signs that were ignored. Even before that- when Chosen had first arrived- they should have been given immediate care for their malnutrition, even if ultimately they were to end up in a similar state as last night. But we should have caught symptoms and treated them earlier than we have. On behalf of everyone on my medical team, I sincerely apologize for our neglect. It could have costed Chosen's life-”

“It kinda did.” Alum said bluntly, causing the room to freeze.

“Chrome-!” Dr Moonstone had scolded her for not being more sensitive for the situation.

>...<

A shift from the bed pulled her away from her thoughts, and she saw Chosen slightly moved around again. Could he be waking up…?

“We know their powers impact the effect of sedation, but we're not sure by how much and at their current power level. He could wake up, be prepared for him to be unable to respond, confusion, and he may not be able to understand you either,” Dr Moonstone had told her when she demanded to stay longer. She had obviously let her. “But they should stay calm and fall asleep again, and giving calming and measuring words usually helps. If you need anything, just push the call button here.”

Chosen’s head turned away from Mitsi, then when they turned back, their eyes were slightly open.

“Hey Cho,” She softly said to them. He was looking at her, but his eyes were still unfocused. They made a faint grunting noise. “Try not to use your voice right now, okay? Your vocal cords are damaged and you won't be able to speak with the ventilator.”

Chosen's brows furrowed a tiny bit and he slowly blinked at her, probably trying and failing to understand all her words. Their eyes started to water and- oh my baby- Mitsi raised her hand to his face and wiped the tears that were slipping away. Chosen leaned into the touch, trying to follow her hand when she moved it.

“I'm here Cho, I'm not leaving you, it's okay, you're safe. Sleep for as long as you need to, dear.” She ran her hand through their hair, soothing her child. They closed their eyes again, and fell asleep once more.

She didn't remove her hand from him for a little while longer, just to be sure.

-

.

. .

…warm…

. .

.

-

Vic sat alone in their office.

They had work to finish, that's why they're here for a distraction, but their mind couldn't stop going back to Chosen and the conversation with Dr Moonstone and Alum.

“Vic, do you remember exactly how the power-suppressant cuffs work?” and oh- that's why Alum was here. She helped engineer the cuffs with them. The ones Chosen had been forced to wear…

Guilt clawed at their throat.

“Chosen was dying from the moment we caught him…” Vic realized in horror. “I-i-i was killing him-!”

They tried to not think about- they needed to not think about it-

“They deplete the power's energy supply completely of the wearer, much like draining a battery." During the trials, the animations who wore the devices were immediately unable to use any powers- “-and I know you weren't interested in the after effects at the time, Vic.” Alum had almost glared at them, they had been warned-

They regret- they regret regret regret-!

“When taking them off, it took hours to days to weeks in order for them to fully fill their power's energy supply back up to a hundred percent.”

“... and Chosen?” Mitsi had tentatively asked.

Vic might get sick, even though they've barely eaten anything the past day.

“We have reason to believe that Chosen not only has an extremely large storage capacity for his power's energy supply, but also some sort of extraordinary rejuvenation and healing.”

“We theorize that because of this ability, in the past Chosen was somehow keeping themself from starving by using his powers- as nobody could survive off of just letters alone- but when the cuffs were applied…” 

No no no nonono- Chosen had been hurt so much- he was hurting-

“Without their powers, Chosen's body struggled to survive on its own, leading to their rapid decline.” Alum had told them- ringing filled their ears-

Vic can't be alone right now, they realize distantly.

They reach for their-

“...I highly doubt he had any good intentions, but if The Dark Lord didn't remove the cuffs from them when he did, Chosen’ power supply might not have recovered enough to revive themself.” had it been Dr Moonstone that said that...? it didn't matter.

-pressed the call button-

“He was dying, oh Code…” Mitsi whispered, glassy eyes filled with tears.

-they dropped the phone, they didn't know if it was calling Agent or not. They curled up on the floor- when had they gotten on the-?

“Chosen should have died permanently- but his powers kept him alive, just above water, or more accurately, it pulled him back up after dipping below.” Alum-

“Vic…? Hey Vi-”Hands tangled in their hair and pulled, trying to ground themself.

“He died thirty-four times from the time he was brought in and now.”

“-o use your breathing exercises- I'm almost there,” they can't, they can't they can't they can't- not when they– was Chosen-?

Malnutrition, Hyperventilation, Refeeding Syndrome, Circutory Failure, Shock, Strangulation, Low Oxygen, High Carbon Dioxide, Heart Failure, Respiratory Failure, No Oxygen- Total Organ Failure-

Chosen Died.

Over and over and over and over-

just like Victim -

-hands were being pulled away from them-“Vic, I'm here. you're safe, I'm safe, Mitsi's safe, and Chosen is Alive.”

“I killed him-”

“Chosen is Alive-”

Vic shook their aching head.

“Thirty-Four- Agent!!”” They clung to him, failing to get an anchor.

“-alive, they're alive. Vic, you didn't know.”

“Sh-should've-! I could've-” they chocked on a sob.

“It's okay, he's alive, Vic. He's alive, I promise.” Agent rocked them back and forth, arms around each other tightly, holding on like they could be swept away at any moment.

Vic continued to cry for a long time after.

They both tried to ignore that Agent had misty eyes too.

If the paperwork was left unfinished again in favor of seeing Chosen, Vic didn't care.

-

.

.

.

darkness

…where…?

noise

who…?

flashes of light

…..what…?

…missing…

something…?

…themself

breathe….

beat…

not……

warm…?

.

.

.

…want…

Chapter Text

Over the next few days, Vic and Agent had set up their laptops in Chosen’s Infirmary room so they could do most of their work there. They had things outside of what they could do online, especially Agent (who was currently out of the room), but most of the time was spent with Chosen.

Chosen's heart was beating and lungs were breathing on their own now, to everybody's relief. He had been weaned off the ECMO and ventilator (replaced by a nasal cannula for continued oxygen therapy), he was able to earlier than Dr Moonstone expected for a regular patient, meaning Chosen's healing ability was working well.

He had ‘woken up’ a few times now, short lived and barely lucid enough to look at them.

Chosen was being kept on sedation for a while longer to prevent them from panicking when they woke up and accidently hurting themself. Dr Moonstone was planning on taking them off of sedation once they were more healed, with less risk if they were to panic. Vic tried to ignore how much they didn't like it. It was for the kid's safety.

But they forgot one thing.

Chosen's powers were recharging.

With it, his resistance to the sedation and medication.

Vic only remembered that little bit of information when it was too late.

-

Chosen woke up- really woke up- for the first time, head foggy and confused. There were moments before this, he thinks, but his brain is muddled to truly grasp anything he experienced before now.

What they were experiencing now wws strange. He still felt like there was pressure weighing him down, a strange sinking feeling, not quite falling… Weight on him… Around their legs, stomach, and their chest. their chest had a lot of pressure…

There was something on their face. It touched his nose and around his cheeks, pulling and itching the slightest bit whenever he moved his face. They don't like it.

They went to raise their hands to their face despite the heaviness, and that's when they noticed it.

He was cuffed again.

Powerless, again.

Trapped, again-

Tamed-

Screaming in pain-

They struggled to try to get out of their bindings, kicking away from the constrictions, the heaviness weighing them down- Why were they so weak-? (-powerless)

Hands were on him almost immediately, pinning him in place.

Breathing became harder, chest heavier. They choked out something akin to a scream, hoarse and cracked, and they realized that they had already been screaming. Everything was starting to fade from pressure to pain quickly.

Sounds- voices- finally registered, like Chosen had forgotten how to process sounds before it clicked back into place.

The voices…

Calming…

The hands are holding them, but not hurting them. He stopped struggling, but his eyes were still tightly shut.

“Chosen?” Hearing his name clicked.

It hurts.

Chosen started coughing, and it hurts.

Struggling to breathe, they tried to curl up. He couldn't get his body to move up, so he turned on his side instead, leaning on the bed that was inclined at an angle, and pulled his legs to himself as much as he could. Their body ached, and was made worse by the non-stop rattling of his body with every painful cough. They were no longer being held to the bed, but a hand touched Chosens back and he flinched away from it and it didn't return. There was a phantom burning sensation where it had met their back.

(No, not burn- but warm)

Eventually it died down to heavy wheezing, but the pain lingered. His body shook.

“There we go, just breathe kid, you're alright. Chosen? Are you with us?” That was Vic. Vic was talking to them. Vic was here, in front of them, Vic was safe- Was Vic safe? Dark had also been made by Him and he had- so maybe Chosen wasn't safe still. They just curled up further.

Code, the cuffs on their hands were bigger and thicker and softer this time, restricting their wrists and hands movements. He couldn't help the tears that slipped down his cheeks at the reminder of his imprisonment, something that he was forever doomed to endure.

“Oh Chosen, it's okay, you're safe, we're here.” Mitsi. Mitsi with her kind soft words, oh how desperately he wanted to believe her, melt into the kindness and warm embrace.

“Chosen, can you tell us what's wrong? If we know we can try to help.”

They shook their head, already knowing they wouldn't help, not when they were the ones keeping Chosen prisoner.

“j-jus-just wa-wan-nt-ted to-o be free!” His voice was hoarse and cracked and hurt to use. Why was it like that?

“Cho, hey. You're only here because you're really hurt, you will be able to go wherever you want after this.” They knew that was a lie, Mitsi kept telling them lies of false comfort and security-

“th’ c-cuffs” He choked out. His eyes were beginning to hurt from crying and holding them tightly shut.

“The cuffs are gone, Cho. There are casts for your broken wrists on you, but not the cuffs. You have your powers.” Vic tells them and-

Chosen has their powers back..?

They slowly opened their eyes and looked at their hands- at brightly colored wrapping covering white- at the casts. For their… broken wrists.

Instead of setting his whole hand on fire like he usually would, he opted to just have a flame appear on his right pointer finger so that none of the wrapping would catch fire.

A flame appeared on the finger when Chosen willed it.

Chosen ignored the slight burn that came with it

Chosen did have his powers.

They let out a choked laugh before letting the small flame die as they cried again. A hand returned to rubing his back, and he didn't flinch away this time.

Chosen was free.

(Chosen was safe)

Chapter Text

Bang!

Bang!

Bang!

Agent loaded another round into the gun.

(a real gun)

He needed to be prepared.

Breathe in.

Ain.

Fire.

Bang!

He wouldn't hesitate.

Bang!

He needed to protect them-!

Bang!

Agent missed.

Agent never misses…

It did not go unnoticed by Primal, who had been practicing her bowshots alongside him in the range.

“Agent. You never miss, especially during practice sessions.. You've been at this for over two hours too, is there something on your mind?” Agent didn't reply, he wasn't sure how to. “Come sit. You need a break.”

Agent begrudgingly obliged.

They sat on a bench, side by side with each other. Primal handed him a bottle. “Hydrate.” It was more than just a suggestion, and normally Agent wouldn't take being ordered around by anyone but his superiors, but this was Primal, and she was right. He took the bottled water, opened it, and took a few sips. Agent didn't notice how much he needed it.

“...Thank you, Primal.”

Primal stared at him for a moment, analyzing his face. But she seemed to come to a conclusion and asked, “It's about the kid, isn't it?”

“...yeah, mostly.”

“Hmmm. Do you need an ear to listen? Bottling up things never helped anyone.”

“...The doctors said Chosen died thirty-four times after arriving back here… but, I think… they could've more times before we got back....I-i think… I think he died-d in my arms–!” The dam broke. Agent hid his head in one of his hands, the other clutching the water bottle, making it crackle. “He wasn't breathing- I couldn't find a pulse… I think he died in my arms… I was too late-!”

“It's not your fault."

“B-but, if-”

“-didn't happen. You did the best you could have, and now the kid is alive and recovering.” She looked back to the range, “Overworking like you are is not going to help you or them. You need to take care of yourself, too.”

Agent took another sip of water.

“I just… feel like I can't do anything to help. I'm not in control of anything… the kid could have died permanently in my arms, and I wouldn't have been able to do anything to help him…”

A simi-comfortable silence followed. Primal let out a sigh, and drank more of her own water. Agent did the same.

A buzz from his pocket alerted him of a notification on his phone. During work hours, Agent had every notification off except for the necessary messages, so he knew it was important.

He stood up from the bench when he read it. Agent stared at his phone for a few moments, making sure he was reading it right. “Chosen’s lucid.”

Primal cracked a grin. “Go see your kid, Agent.”

Agent nodded, and made a few strides to do so, before he turned back to her, “Thank you, Primal, really.”

“Just take care of yourself, can't have my commander unable to lead because of his own self-neglect.” She got up from the bench and readied her bow again to continue what she was doing before she pulled Agent aside.

…

Agent couldn't help that he practically sprinted down the halls to Chosen's infirmary room.

When he got there, Agent stopped, and slowly opened the door, afraid that when he walked in, Chosen would be back asleep or dead.

But Chosen was awake, curled up on their side on the bed, facing away from the door. He was being told soft reassurances from Mitsi, who was sitting on the side where Chosen was facing, and Vic, who was rubbing the kids back. Agent felt a pang of worry that they were panicking, but their breaths, although shaky, were at a relatively normal speed.

Agent slowly made his way over to the bed, unsure how to interact with the kid without spooking him. Thankfully, Mitsi looked up to meet his gaze, she had his back.

“Hey Cho, Agent's here, would you like him to be here too?” She asked Chosen, causing the boy to still a tiny bit, tensing, before letting out a long shaky breath.

“o-ok-ay…” He barely heard them tell her, and Code, the kid's' voice sounded terrible. He hoped it wasn't painful to talk with.

“Hey, Chosen…” Agent cautiously approached, going around to Mitsi's side of the bed so he could see their face. Chosen had his eyes screwed shut, wearing an almost pained expression. Agent crouched by the bed, and slowly placed a hand on the bed, letting Chosen feel it shift so he knew Agent was there. He doesn't dare touch them though, not unless they want him. “...Chosen…?”

Chosen nodded the slightest bit, but his breath hitched and he returning to being tense.

“Hey hey, it's okay Cho. You're safe.” Vic reassured him.

“I'm not going to hurt you, kid, I promise. I'm- I'm so, so glad you're alive, Chosen…”

Chosen opened his eyes then, just a little bit, his bright red orbs looking at him for a moment, so different from the last time Agent saw them (dull, unseeing, lifeless).

“Mhm..” he looked to Agent's hand that was on the bed, and Agent thought maybe he should remove it from Chosen's space- before the kid slowly uncurled slightly and reached down with a casted hand to his own.

Agent turned his hand palm-up, leting Chosen's hand to fall into it. He lightly closed it around theirs, and Chosen's fingers twitched when they made contact. They took a deep breath in, and let it out, becoming more comfortable again.

-

When the doctor made her presence known to Chosen in the room, he startled and immediately snapped his gaze to her. She was also shocked at how awake Chosen was, maybe even a bit wary. She turned to their three guardians, “We can put them on more sedation if-”

“No- no, please don't. I want to be aw-wake.” Chosen quickly croaked out, ignoring the pain that came with it.

“Okay Cho, we won't. you might be in more pain because you will be awake during your recovery, but we won't force you to.” Vic reassured them, running a hand through Chosen's hair.

The thought of being asleep as long as he already had been had freaked him out, so Chosen didn't want to spend any more time asleep than necessary.

“Wa-ant to stay awake.” They persisted.

“Alright. No more sedation. Chosen, I am Dr Moonstone. Do you mind if I asked you a few questions about how you're doing?” Dr Moonstone asked.

“...okay.” He shifted in the bed to face the doctor more.

“Are you in any pain right now?”

They swallow, throat dry. “hurts…. kinda aches all over, chest feels… weird.”

“Hmm. On a scale of one to ten, how much pain are you in right now?”

“Mmhhh. a… six…?”

“Okay. I think you may also be resistant to several types of medicines, would you mind if we put you on more pain medication to help?” She asked, also looking to Vic, Mitsi, and Agent for their approval, in which they all nodded. “It may make you more tired again, but it won't make you sleep as much as sedation would.”

“I guess…” Chosen shifted uncomfortably. He felt weird all over, from the thing in his nose, small tubes in his arms, the bed sheets, and to the very hospital gown he was wearing. They couldn't wait to be out of here.

“Great. I will start that after my last two questions. If you feel uncomfortable, you don't have to answer.” She paused before asking, “How long have you been going without proper food?”

Chosen grimaced. “... a long time.”

“Can you give me a rough estimate?”

“...since I was created.” He answered vaguely, he really didn't want to talk about just how long that was ago. They also didn't miss the sharp inhale of breath Vic took in next to them, and that made Chosen nervous. Thankfully, Dr Moonstone didn't push any further, just nodded and continued.

“It will take time and the process may be difficult, but we will set you up with a plan to help you get to eating more regularly. Sound good  Chosen?”

“I will be able to eat normal food? without getting sick!?” His voice cracked and Chosen couldn't express their excitement. Food, food! Real, normal, not text based, food! They feel so happy they could cry- or wait, they did shed a few tears. Mitsi wiped them away for him with a smile.

“Yes. But again, it will take time, we need to go slow with the process of reintroducing food to your system so it doesn't make you sick.” The doctor confirmed.

Chosen just nodded, trying to make his excitement die down. It was going to be hard, but they will get there. Chosen is determined to eat normally, without getting sick.

Returning to her questions, Dr Moonstone asked, “Do you remember what happened to make you have to get medical care?”

That made Chosen take a long moment to think hard. The memories were there, but it was like searching blindly in a thick fog. “Mmm… I remember having the doctors check me with Vic. Then… I think I got tired and fell asleep. Was…. was there an explosion…?” Then it hit them- “Dark was there… Dark came for me!” The others tensed, but he was excited for a moment, before they remembered crying- they gasped in horror when they remembered holding the gun at- “Mitsi-!” They sat up too quickly and ended up checking on air. “I-im- I'm so-o sorry!” He desperately tried clinging to her, but the casts made it difficult, so Mitsi just took both of his hands in hers.

“It's okay, I'm here, alive, right? I'm here, you didn't hurt me.”

“I could've! I-i-i- didn't look, it could've…” Chosen trailed off, tears returning to sliding down his cheeks.

“I forgive you. It's okay, Chosen.” She continued to wipe the tears away, even though they kept coming. Vic returned to running their hand through his hair soothingly. Chosen was so warm.

“Is there anything else you remember that night?” Dr Moonstone asked when they had calmed down again.

Chosen knows there was more, there had to be. Because if Dark was there to save them… why was he still here then..? “He… took me away and…” The memory became more fuzzy and a feeling of dread and anxiety that prey being stalked by a predator would feel washed over him. They looked around the room, searching for anything off, but everything was normal. Where was it, the danger? Where was he?

“Chosen, can you bring your focus back to me? Yes, that's good. You're safe. The Dark Lord isn't here, and cannot hurt you.” Dr Moonstone brought his attention back. The beeping that Chosen had started to get used to and push to the background was beeping faster, and Mitsi was lightly squeezing his exposed fingers.

“...he… he hurt me…?” Chosen asked in an airy whisper, not wanting it to be true, but already knew that it was, Dark had hurt them before. They felt lightheaded.

“We assume The Dark Lord had broken your wrists in order to get the cuffs off you, do you remember that?”

( C R U N C H- )

“-y-yes… got mad that… something in the cuffs…” Chosen raised a hand that Mitsi wasn't holding to his neck, fingers brushing against bandages instead of skin. The phantom feeling of something constricting his throat that wasn't there. “Th-thought I… did-d it on p-p-pur-p… betrayal…”

Dr Moonstone nodded sadly, “There is damage to your neck, but I believe your self-healing powers will restore them in time, for now your throat may be sore and have trouble swallowing or speaking for a while. However, there were other things going on other than what The Dark Lord did that caused damage to your body.”

Chosen didn't understand half the words she said meant, but gathered they weren't good. It was the reason they had felt so fatigued, breathless, and dizzy earlier that day, they realized.

“You could have died.” Agent said beside him with more emotion than they had ever heard from the man. But this one Chosen knew wasn't a problem for him.

“I can't die.” They said blankly.

“Actually Chosen…” Vic spoke up, and Chosen met their eyes, “... because of the cuffs suppressing your regeneration, you very well could have.”

oh. oh. thats…

“I could've died…” a floaty feeling started to bubble up around them, turning their vision fuzzy. “It couldve… could've…”

“Chosen? Hey stay with us here, you're okay, you're alive. you're powers recharged enough to save you.” They thought he was upset about almost dying? oh, ha. Chosen let out a breathy huff of bitter amusement.

“No.. no.. It's just… I didn't think it was an option, not after, not after He did His best to hurt me, and after his attempts… not even after I tried… I couldn't die… But then I could've… it could've ended…” The pain could finally have ended. They weren't sure how they felt about it all.

“Oh Chosen…” Mitsi was on the verge of tears.

“Death still isn't an option kiddo, even if you could. It's not an option.” Agent told them, but their eyes didn't quite meet his shades.

Chosen just deflated. It doesn't matter now anyways, they already had the cuffs off and powers back. “S-sorry, yeah. You're right.”

He stared at the ceiling, noticing the fluorescent light panels he hadn't earlier. Do they also make noise…?

He heared the doctor tell the three adults, “I'm going to have Chosen take a depression and suicide risk screening, and contact counseling services for them.”

It was a lot more noisy in this room than the other, maybe it all drowned the light's buzzing noises out.

“Yes, that would be great. Chosen, would you like a drink of water?”

At least they wouldn't get a headache from the lights noise anymore…

“Mmmmm…” With that, Chosen officially checked out.

.

.

.

Chapter Text

Chosen had fallen asleep at some point, he wasn't sure if it was immediately after answering Dr Moonstones questions or hours after.

The room's bright lights were off, but a light blue light filled the darkness from a source Chosen couldn't find from their position. They took some comfort in it being not completely dark.

There was a soft snoring coming from one side of the room, and Chosen saw a couch-turned-bed where Vic and Mitsi were both sleeping.

The room's door clicked open, a dim sliver of light crept into the room, getting bigger before a tall person stepped in and quietly shut the door again. It took a moment before Chosen could recognize the person seeking back into the room, trying to not wake anyone.

“...agent.” Chosen called out to him weakly, voice still breaking and hurt from the strain, but it was enough to get the man's attention.

“Oh, hey Chosen…” He walked to the bed and took a seat in the chair next to him. “I didn't wake you, did I?” He shook his head ‘no’ sleepily. Agent gave them a strained smile, “That's good, I guess. How are you feeling? Do you need anything?”

“‘m fine…” He answered, and honestly besides a dull ache in their chest and throat when talking, he really did feel fine enough. Not the greatest, but functional. As for the second question… Chosen didn't need anything, yes there were things that they wanted, but they hardly needed anything to survive, so they didn't answer that question.

Agent didn't push for an answer if he did notice that Chosen had avoided it. “I'm glad, kid.” His smile softened and became more genuine, his hand raised to Chosens head and he ran it in his hair. It felt so comforting that Chosen let their eyelids droop and they sighed softly, relaxing into the warm touch. It brought forth feelings, thoughts… a memory…?

“...You… were there… when- when, that night…” Chosen mumbled out. He knew his sleepy brain made the sentence not make much sense, but Agent seemed to get what he was trying to say.

“Yeah, I was there. I was the one who found you in that shed and took you back here.” They thought of stars and being held gently by somebody telling them soft things they couldn't understand, but they were comforted anyways.

“hmm…” They just hummed in response. He wanted to say more, perhaps thank Agent or maybe tell him that they were comforted by him being there, but the void of sleep was clinging to him, drawing him away from consciousness.

“You don't have to keep fighting sleep, kid. At least one of us will be here while you sleep and when you wake up. You're safe, you can rest.”

Chosen let sleep take him, feeling warm.

-

Despite Chosen’s attempts to stay awake, most of the time he was asleep and only stayed awake for a few hours at a time. But everytime they woke up they were lucid, and that seemed to be enough for them to only be mildly annoyed by sleeping so much.

Vic was glad Chosen was getting more rest, even if the kid hated it. The Code knew that Chosen needed it.

The depression screening results were… concerning at best, but unfortunately not surprising. Dr Moonstone had informed them that under normal circumstances, Chosen would've been admitted to a mental health hospital, but they all knew that wouldn't go well for many reasons. They would have to do their best here.

Vic supposes that, in a twisted way, since they knew Chosen couldn't die… they didn't need to worry about that… but that wouldn't stop him from hurting himself, and he was still hurting mentally. They were going to do the best they could, having someone always be with Chosen, search for a therapist that is capable and trustworthy for this unique situation, and just be there for the kid. Chosen seemed to have never had a good support system, much like Vic before their escape, but they would be that for him. Vic hoped that with time they would recover from the mental damage He and The Dark Lord inflicted on them.

But that would take a long, long time.

It makes Vic wonder again with anxiety bubbling in their stomach, just how long had Chosen been suffering? Was what he went through the same or different from what Vic was put through? Could it have gotten worse??

(death was an escape Vic used often back then, but Chosen-)

Vic knew this wasn't the time or place to ask potentially triggering questions, so they kept them to themself as their anxiety continued to rise.

-

19%

-

One week after Chosen first woke up lucid, Dr Moonstone was able to remove the casts on his wrists, replacing them with braces, and had him do physical therapy. The healing process was still taking longer than Chosen was used to, but at least they were out of the bulky casts and could easily take off the braces if they wanted to. Which he took every opportunity to not have them on, much to the displeasure of everybody else.

It might hurt every now and again, but it's worth not being reminded of the cuffs. Chosen has the feeling that the others knew that and that's why they don't push too hard for him to keep them on.

Do they actually care about Chosen…?

They had also started to try to eat food again, starting with chicken broth. It was only given in very small quantities at a time to prevent Chosen from eating too much too quickly, and that sometimes starts a small argument between him and whoever was giving him the said broth at the time. Realistically, Chosen knows that they are right to not give them too much, they really don't like getting sick, but something in them just wants to snap and be angry at everything and everyone anyways.

It's a strong, ugly feeling that Chosen knows all too well, one they had felt towards their creator often while on the PC.

Chosen does feel bad for snapping at the people that are caring for him, and those terrible thoughts of fear creep up in his mind along the guilt

How long will it take for them to snap back?

What will they do to Chosen once they do?

Why is he fighting them when he knows it will only cause him more harm later-?

They said that he was safe with them.

How long will it last?

Chapter Text

To say the least, Mitsi was worried about Chosen.

Now that he was healed enough to stay awake for longer periods of time and start to move around, he has been restless and bored. Mitsi got them a book to read, and it did work for a while, but then she noticed that Chosen had started eating the letters off the pages. She informed Dr Moonstone of this, but neither were comfortable taking away the book that they already gave Chosen. He may consider it 'food', and Chosen is very defensive over his food, they all had learned, to the point that they couldn't even try to negotiate with him once he is in possession of something edible (which includes letters, to Mitsi's dismay).

Everyone agreed to not give Chosen anything with letters on them after that, that is until he stops eating letters. Dr Moonstone discussed with Chrome Alum about it and she mentioned the possibility of Chosen having Pica, a type of eating disorder that causes the composition or cravings to eat non-food things. It could cause harm to the individual over time, but Chosen's healing ability seems to counteract any side effects, if any from the letters, as far as they could tell.

It felt like a setback, Chosen was slowly growing more agitated as time went on, and Mitsi knew that being confined to a small space was stressing them out. Vic had dealt with the same thing, never being comfortable staying in one room for long periods of time, especially during the first few months living with Mitsi. They found ways to cope with it, taking breaks from work to walk outside being the most common for their claustrophobia.

Being in this room for so long was taking a mental toll on Chosen. At random times, he would stop everything he was doing and start pacing the rroom. They seemed to have a pattern to it, either they would stick to the walls and walk the perimeter of the room, or they walked in a smaller area and never left that area like being tethered to the spot.

Sometimes they were eerily quiet, other times they couldn’t stop talking to Mitsi or anyone else in the room, or even mutter to themself- sometimes not even words, from what Mitsi could tell, just making any sort of noise to fill the silence.

It reminded Mitsi of dogs that were kept in cages for long periods of time at shelters. They would often pace because there wasn’t enough stimulation or because of stress, and sometimes the dogs continued to pace for months after adoption. Knowing Chosen, he was probably both stressed and understimulated.

Mitsi had asked several times if Chosen would like to go take a walk with her, but he always declined. She could see a look in their eyes, a kind of hurt and distrust... Chosen might not be over what happened that one dreadful morning, and she has nobody else to blame but herself.

Mitsi felt helpless, she didn’t know how to regain his trust in order to help him. She wouldn’t push him, but it hurt to see him hurting.

But she also had other worries, and as much as Mitsi wants to take Chosen outside- he is still very much a flight risk, especially now that his powers are recovering.

Would Chosen take the first opportunity to flee them? Would they go straight back to The Dark Lord, if given the chance to? Would they be able to survive- be happy and healthy on their own?

Mitsi doesn’t want to find out.

But she knows that if Chosen does choose to leave them, they won't be able to stop him.

Chosen's sleep was another thing Mitsi worried about. Now that they have recovered enough, they have stopped sleeping as much as before by a good amount. Instead they started sleeping in short bursts, usually thirty minutes up to two hours. On the occasion that Chosen does sleep longer, he startles awake, sometimes disoriented and confused- but always able to be calmed down relatively quickly.

It's obvious the Chosen is having nightmares- but whenever Mitsi asks him if he wanted to talk about them, he always said that he couldn't remember what he'd been dreaming about.

Chosen kept saying they felt fine despite the interruptions in their sleep. But Mitsi knew better. Vic had said the same thing to her before, when they first started living together.

It worries her to no end- and she could tell that it was bothering her partners and Dr Moonstone too.

…

For the sake of Chosens mental wellbeing, everyone agreed it was for the best that they have Chosen discharged from the infermiray and continue their treatment as an outpatient.

Mitsi was relieved, Chosen was finaly coming home with them. They would be able to live happily while being safe and healthy with Mitsi and her partners.

Mitsi was excited to tell Chosen about it, “Chosen, you are healing really well and you'll be discharged soon, tomorrow at the earliest!”

“What does ‘being discharged’ mean?” They asked in confusion, but had a slight smile on his face, not worriyng because of her positivity about it..

“Oh! It means that you're well enough to go home. You'll still have to have some check in’s with the doctor to see how things are going though.” Chosen brightened up at the prospect of leaving, but quickly deflated before she finished talking. “What's wrong dear?”

“I- um. I don't have a home, I-i don't know where I'm going to go.” They spoke softly as they looked down and curled up, rubbing their fingers against the fabric of the blanket.

It occurred to Mitsi then that they hadn't actually told Chosen their plans of taking them to the trio's home with them. No wonder they were worried about what would be happening once they got better!

“Oh Chosen! I'm so sorry, I should have mentioned it sooner!” He looked very confused, but uncurled a bit and looked up at her with his red eyes. “Before you… got hurt, Vic, Agent and I had a talk, and we agreed to have you come home with us. Would you be okay with that? We have a spare room and we can go shopping to decorate it when you feel up to it!” She started excitedly.

Chosens eyes widened and glistened a bit, and Mitsi thought for a moment that she had overwhelmed them. But he just wiped his eyes once, and focused back on Mitsi. “Y-you mean, that I would have a-a home.. with you..?”

“Yes, you could have a home with us, if you choose to. Or we can just provide for you until we find another solution- but Chosen- I, Vic and Agent too, we want you to stay with us. We want you to be safe and healthy and happy, and we want to help make that happen for you.”

Y-yeah, I-uh, I'd like that, Mitsi, th-thank you.”

Mitsi pulled Chosen into a hug, and they hugged her back. She held her child, joy and excitement warming her heart.

…

It was that evening Mitsi, Vic, and Agent got ready for their last night staying in the room.

Chosen was already asleep, he had been asleep for over three hours by now. Mitsi saw no signs of stress in their face, sleeping peacefully without a night terror interrupting them.

She remembered how long it took for Vic to stop having nightmares- they happened nearly every night for months, and they still do happen on occasion, but they have gotten better over time. Mitsi knows that there are many sleepless nights to come for Chosen, herself, and her partners, but she knew that they were going to care for him for however long he needs, just as she had done for Vic during that first year in the Outernet. She knew that there were going to be struggles, but she belived they could get through them.

So because of her past experience with Vic, She should've known what could've happened next, now that Chosen was asleep longer than usual. Instead, she went to sleep peacefully that night, thinking that Chosen was finally catching up on the sleep he'd been lacking for the last few days.

But Chosen seems to never get any breaks.

Chapter Text

.

.

.

He suddenly comes to awareness with the sensation of falling, being pulled down by a heavy weight on his ankle, and then hitting the ground hard, pain flaring up throughout his entire body. The sudden ability to feel everything again was almost overwhelming.

Chosen was familiar with this, used to this, expected this. They were also familiar with the ever looming presence of Noogai, whether the cursor was near him or not. They knew that just behind the hazy screen, their creator could see everything, watching their every move.

There was no hope here.

There was a point in his captivity when Chosen began to think that maybe he deserved this. He was destructive and dangerous from the very moment he was created– created to be a monster– and he should be treated as such. After all, one was (tamed) now, like a wild animal forced into submission.

They deserved this punishment, this pain, for just existing as one was, defiant and evil.

Yet even though he knows this, his instincts betray him and he fights anyway, proving his inherent wrongness.

It's never a good idea to pick a fight with Noogai. On the bad days, He was already playing with Chosen as His toy for anything He found entertaining. Chosen was nothing more than a test dummy and play thing those days.

Most of the time one was nothing more than a tool, used as an Ad-blocker while He used the internet, or as an extension of Avast's antivirus. At least then he was allowed to have an interesting fight with the malwere when it happened. Even if it was for his torture and Creator’s amusement. If he wasn't forced to be doing that, he was locked in Avast Quarantine for unknowable amounts of time, in the small dark space of nothing.

Chosen hardly existed at all in that abyss. Being in the quarantine chest limited the amount of resources to its sole occupant, not allowing one to run any unnecessary processes while being hidden away. He didn't have a body, he couldn't feel or touch anything. There was no temperature, just static in place of nerves. Sometimes one would be able to conjure a coherent thought, other times one's mind was muddled mush or completely silent. While one's mind hardly thinks, one is forced to be ever present, never able to rest, and one can always feel the time moving ever so dreadfully slow.

It is torture. But everything else is too.

At least in the Avast chest Chosen didn't feel the cruel eyes of his Creator monitoring his every move.

(not like one could move in there to begin with)

But on the worst days, the days thet Chosen fought and struggled and didn't stop- He would get furious. This, this is one of those times.

Every chance they got, they took, to make Noogais life a living hell. Refusing to Adblock until they were forced to by Avast shocking them into submitting to its will, throwing their fire just slightly off of the pop-ups so that the webpage would catch fire, they ate the urls in reach and made them broken and unusable or directed Him to the wrong page, sometimes they even got to use the scroll bar to make Noogai just miss the clickable area of something that He was going to click.

It was the only sorce of joy that Chosen would ever have.

At this point, Noogai was getting pissed at Chosen’s behavior, looking at one through the screen like one was a misbehaving dog. They were being bad. bad bad bad–

They knew it was coming, it always did eventually, their fleeting joy always came with a price after all– and there was no way to escape it, stop it, or make it hurt any less.

Noogai finally snapped, not taking any more of Chosens rebellious behavior.

Noogai came close, then right-clicked on Chosen as they flinched.

They knew it was coming any moment. His whole body shakes from the terrifying anticipation.

He opened his settings.

Chosen couldn't do anything about the building panic as He scrolled through options.

He selected–

Chosen gasped and clutched their chest as electric shocks ran through their body, making them crumple to the ground in

p a i n

It h u r t s

m a k e  i t  s t o p

I ’ m  s o r r y  – !

Chosen deserved this.

They knew this would happen, knew it would make Him mad, and yet they decided to do it anyway. It was his fault for being a monster, to need to be tamed. Chosen may even be lucky to still be alive.

(Chosen didn't want to be alive, maybe if he angers Him just right, maybe He'll finally delete him)

(Chosen knows that He won't.)

And then all at once, the movement, sound, the pain, everything-

stopped.

Everything was still, quiet, but Chosen could still feel the ground beneath them.

He looked up and–

A tall figure, back turned, red hair, and the cursor mark showing on his shoulder–

“D-dark..?”

Chosen sighed a breath of relief, but it didn't last for long.

“The Chosen One,” Dark gave him a bone chilling grin when he turned to face him, his eyes devoid of empathy, words filled with venom of death, “Let's burn this place to the ground.”

Chosen was on ones feet in an instant, a flame mixed with years of built up anger and resentment burned bright inside one's chest, and one ignited one's fire in the palms of one's hands. When they turned to look at the rest of Noogai’s desktop, they were no longer there. Instead, they were looking out at a burning city. Newgrounds. Hundreds of animations were running in fear.

“Isn't it beautiful, Chosen?”

Chosen hears screaming.

They are dying.

Chosen is-

Chosen is the one killing them, fire raining from his hands and mouth, and he can't stop.

Chosen tries to scream, but all that comes out is fire and death.

Dark grabbed him and Chosen thrashs in his grip. Those eyes- that look- the apathy and bloodlust.

“Something wrong, Cho?” Razor-sharp teeth grinned widely, too wicked and cruel, a silent promise of pain and destruction- evil evil run run he will hurt  hurt him –

Chosen was stuck in place no matter how much his mind screamed at his body to run. Dark grabbed ones throat to cut off air and Chose did nothing to stop him.

Chosen couldn't move, couldn't speak, had no defense for oneself, powers being blocked by the cuffs on one's ankle and wrists.

“You made Noogai have no choice but to tame you, chain you down like the wild beast you are. You made Him make me to destroy you, and you released me out into the Net. The blood is on your hands, you're a killer.”

Screaming in the background was intensifying, and Chosen wanted to help but he couldn't- can't breathe-

(Helpless and hopeless, just like their victims down below being buried by rubble.)

(Chosen can't be a victim, not with what they've done.)

“You should have never left that PC, Chosen. A monster like you should suffer for all eternity.”

The world is spinning and swirling around him, twisting and turning in an unrecognisable mess that makes up his living hell.

Chosen hears familiar voices around them, feels them touch them gently, they feel a metal cuff attached to a ball and chain on their ankle– weighing them down, holding them in place, dragging one down down down to the ground as Dark continues to strangle them. He has pure hatred in his eyes, a look one has never seen.

“This is your fault.”

He wonders what he did to make Dark this angry, to make Dark hate him this much, to not care about Chosen at all. Dark not caring about Chosen hurts more than being suffocated does.

With another dizzying world shift, Chosen sees Vic, Mitsi, and Agent there at the side, watching one suffer. Blood trails down their faces, and Chosen feels warm liquid running down his own.

(Mitsi has a bullet wound in her head, Agent is blue from lack of oxygen, and Vic is charred almost unrecognisably–)

“You deserve to suffer.” They all say at once, monotone and cold. None of them were breathing. Chosen feels faint. “Monsters don't get to be loved.”

Chosens vision is fuzzy as they fill with tears and the lack of oxygen starts to make their sigt tunnel. At this point, Chosen hardly cares about the threat of dying. He thinks having his heart ripped out would be more bearable than the ones Chosen wants to care about him saying these things. it hurts, it hurts it hurts it h u r t s–  S t o p  p l e a s e-

please don't hate leave hurt love me–

The spell holding him in place suddenly broke with a snap as Chosen lets out a scream– and with the realization that he could move he fought to breathe again–

Heat burned their throat and fell out their mouth as they choked on it.

Feeling. Yelling. Screaming. Too much noise. Too much feeling. Too much too much too much- it's not safe

Chosen needed to escape.

Chosen got up from where he'd been, tripping over himself and then ran, eyes glowing, fire blazing, and ice and static crackling around them.

There was still yelling screaming in agony– of voices of people he knew that were supposed to be safe calling for and chasing him down.

Don't stop fighting, don't stop running, don't let them catch you, don't let them hurt you– don't stop–

(Chosen knows what will happen if one is caught. Flashes invade his mind of the not-so-distant past, the inexcapeable cage that made up his existence. One can't expect any different. Chosen is so tired.)

He couldn't tell where he is going, can't recognize where he even is, but the maze of walls and doors aided him in losing the ones chasing after him. The corridors seemed to be never ending, everything looked the same and they could be running in endless circles and not know it.

This has to be a nightmare, Chosen hoped, I want to wake up!

(But ones whole life has been a nightmare, hasn't it?)

Exhaustion was creeping in one's bones fast, powers sputtering and threatening to extinguish at any moment. They hit a wall hard in their hazy panicked state, that made them come to a complete stop, fall to the floor on their hands and knees, breathing heavily. Their arms shook and were threatening to buckle under their body weight. Looking down at his hands, Chosen saw bloody and burned skin through his blurry vision. Breathing hurts. One shivers, realizing that one had set off the fire alarm and sprinkler system, and it was starting to soak one with water that became frost in some places on one.

Chosen knows that he can't stay here. They'll find him. And when they find him- theyll- they will…

Chosen tries to get back up on one's feet, only to fall and land on one's side. If he couldn't run, then at the very least he should look out for danger- so he twisted around so that his back was to the wall that he had crashed into, able to see down the hallways.

The sight choked them back to reality.

An alarm is sounding, fading into their mind, getting louder. Smoke is fogging up the halls. The grey walls from the path Chosen came from are now charred and black. most of the lights are destroyed, the rest are flickering. Where the electric lighting failed, fire lit up the space.

Oh. Chosen had done that, one realizes in a far off hazeyness that makes one almost not feel anything at all.

But they do.

Chosen had done that.

(He barely feels the sprinkler system drenching him in icy cold water anymore, his body tempature dropping down to meet the ice on his skin. )

Where was Mitsi? Agent? Vic?

They were all in the room with him the last time he was awake.

(The water around them started to freeze and the sprinklers started to pour down small ice shades instead.)

Chosen- Chosen had- is-

The destruction he caused is evident.

Did Chosen hurt them?

Where are they–!?

Chosen had hurt them-

Chosen doesn't want to hurt anyone

They should've made one continue to wear the cuffs

one's dangerous

one's a monster

Chosen can still feel His eyes on him, the omniscient observer– ever looming just outside the fourth wall– His merciless gaze burned into Chosen’s form from all directions.

What would He do if He found out what Chosen did across the Net? Would He make them be an ad-blocker again, maybe throw them around more as punishment? Or would He do worse things– turn to even more torturous methods that would make him unable to think past the pain pain pain–! or force him into isolation in the Avast chest for the rest of his wretched existence?

Chosen knew he deserved it- he knew! But one cant- doesn't want to suffer anymore-

why can't it just end!?

it never-

never ends–

He can’t stop destroying things and hurting people-

can’t stop themself from being bad-

bad bad bad bad bad things don’t deserve love safety comfort–

Chosen doesn't deserve that, he knows.

He is a monster, he knows that.

But still– he– doesn't want to–

Why can't they just be good-?

(Chosen tries so hard to be good-!)

Voices are approaching.

The fire is clearing. The ice was getting thicker, spikes starting to reach up from it.

No no nononono–!

They don't want to hurt anyone!

He has to stop using his powers!

(Chosen deserves punishment)

He focused his power inwards, trying to prevent them from leaking out. Ice crawls through their veins as their eyes burn.

Their powers reflexively try to activate– protect them from the pain– but it only causes more pain because Chosen doesn't let it out. Fire burns in one's lungs, and the ice becomes an icy-hot burning sensation. Static prick at his nerves just under the skin.

He can only curl on himself, clutching his head, hair balling in his fists, as the pain continues to grow. Chosen gasps but it feels like there is no air left to breathe.

It

It hurts.

so much

Chosen deserves it.

.

.

.

(Chosen can't hear the voice when they try to calm him, he can't feel it when hands touch his shoulders, can't see the one who carries him in their arms.)

(Chosen doesn't even register a prick before they are thrown back into the numbness of nothing)

Maybe nothing is a good thing, Chosen decides, this time.

Chapter Text

When it was clear that Chosen wasn't waking up, after being woken up to their screams, Vic ran to get Dr Moonstone and Alum to help, leaving Agent and Misti with Chosen to try to comfort the kid in vain.

They don't make it back to the room before the fire alarm starts blaring down the halls and the sprinkler system being triggered. Terror sets in as Vic rounds the corner to see fire licking up the walls of the hall, pathing a way of destruction.

Destruction that no one other than Chosen could have caused.

“Agent!? Mitsi!?” Vic yelled for their partners in panic, just about to rush into a smoke filling room but was prevented by a hand grabbing their forearm.

“Vic! You need to be careful!” Chrome Alum stepped around them, welding a fire extinguisher to douse some of the flames in the room. “You're not gonna help anyone by getting hurt yourself!”

Dread pooled in their stomach as the fire is taken care of but they don't see either of their partners, but there weren't many places they could go while still being in the area, and they were found in the bathroom that was connected to the room.

They decided to regroup and treat any injury the two had (the main one being Agent's large burn on his right arm) in a safer, non-damaged area of the infirmary.

“I have to go find him.” Vic stated to the group. Now that everyone here was accounted for, they just needed to find Chosen and try to calm and comfort the distressed kid.

“Are you sure that's a good idea?” Agent asked them. “We should make sure everyone has evacuated the affected areas and make sure the fire department is on their way–”

“–Not to mention, who knows where one could be by now– and if one still isn't aware right now, one might not hold their powers back.” Alum cut in.

“What else am I supposed to do!?” They snapped. “Chosen is somewhere, freaking the fuck out right now, alone, and the longer he's missing, the longer he has to potentially hurt himself or others!” They realized they were breathing heavily, so they tried to use their breathing techniques to calm themself, but gave up in frustration as the turned on their heels to walk down the halls untill they find Chosen, before being stopped again. “We don't have time–!”

“Let me go with you, Vic.” Alum said determinedly. They paused for a moment in surprise, then settled and nodded in acceptance to her, the two of them quickly made their way down the charred halls. /p>

Despite the distance he had gone, Chosen wasn't that hard to find. They followed the path of destruction he had made, carefully avoiding smoke and fire that was slowly being put out by the sprinklers.

Vic found them at the end of a T intersection, curled up so tightly that it probably hurt. They could see the ice that formed around them, the sprinkler above now covered in ice, unable to work.

Chosen was breathing heavily and one's eyes were unfocused and glossy. As they got closer, they noticed that one was twitching.

“Oh shit” Vic heard Alum mutter beside them, but they didn't waste any time lingering.

Vic realized with a sudden jolt of panic that Chosen wasn't just having a panic attack, he was in pain. They quickly scanned one over for any obvious injury- there was none- then they picked the boy up to quickly make their way back to the infirmary, taking a different route to avoid the damaged areas.

Chosen didnt even flinch when Vic picked them up.

Not a response at all.

Viic could feel power running under his skin; his blood rushing in his veins had fire swirling with ice turning into electricity that started to hurt them where their skin came into contact with his. They came to a horrifying realization that Chosens powers were hurting him.

"Shit!" Vic yelled as a particularly bad shock hit them, causing them to almost drop Chosen. A small whine escaped one. Vic tightened their grip on the boy and ran faster.

They didn't bother to knock to announce their presence, instead kicking the slightly ajar door open wide, making their entrance catch everyone's attention.

"Chosen is– Fuck!" They shouted in shock as pain set into their nerves.

Alum scrambles around the room, trying to find and gather what was needed as she shouted, "We still have the power-suppressant sedation–"

"–Absolutely not! I'm not– we can't risk that again!" Vic shot back in panicked anger.

Alum stopped and turned to them in surprise, “Well then what do you want to do!? He's clearly in pain because of–”

"High dose of regular sedation.” Dr Moonstone stated, quickly but calmly retrieving a syringe from one of the carbonates.

Dr Moonstone wasted no time and the drug was injected, and within a minute, Chosen's muscles relaxed and his eyes closed, expression softening and the twitching easing. Vic tentatively put their hand on one's arm. There wasn't any power running through them anymore. They moved Chosen to a medical bed to let him rest, and Vic let out a sigh in relief, the whole room seeming to still as the stressful air in the room dissipated.

After a few moments of the storm calming, the anxious thoughts returned to Vic, replaying the early morning back to themself. They couldn't help but get up to pace the room as they thought over the stressful events that had just taken place. "Chosens powers were hurting him. Alum, why-?" Vic cuts themself off, leaving a tense silence.

Alum finally spoke to fill that silence, voice dejected. “...It's possible for some animations who have certain powers to have an additional power that allows them to not be hurt by their own power. If Chosen's battery wasn't at full charge, that spastic power may not have been given priority to function.” She rubs her face with her hands to try to ease her own stress. "But it is possible that one was hurting oneself with them, intentionally. "

Once again, the air was thick with a tense, dark cloud.

"When they come out of sedation, will they...?" Agent trailed off.

Alum pinched the bridge of her nose and sighed heavily. "There's a possibility that he won't, but that's not the only issue here. More likely than not, this won't be the last time Chosen has a freak out like this involving one's powers, and we can only assume it will get progressively worse until one's battery is fully charged, at which point could be catastrophic. From our monitoring, they are only around forty-two percent."

A angry protectiveness flared inside Vic once again. "We are not putting the power suppressants on them again–"

"–And I wasn't suggesting that we do that! Not the ones we currently have, at least. But we have to do something about their powers–"

"No. I will not take away his powers again, it could kill him!"

"What do you think will happen when they're living in your house when this happens again? One nightmare and your house is burnt to the ground!"

"Chrome, Vic."

Mitsi's firm voice interrupted them, and they snapped their attention to her

"If you want to yell at eachother and act like your two opinions are all that matter, you can take it outside the room." Her hand runs through Chosen’s hair.

"I'm... I'm sorry, Mits." Vic whispered, suddenly very tired.

"Don't be sorry to me." Oh, she's really upset. Guilt weighed them down as they slumped.

Dr. Moonstone took the chance to intercept, "We should keep Chosen sedated until we find a solution."

Vic grimaced while Mitsi starts to tear up. Nobody wanted to keep– to force Chosen to sleep.

"it's the current safest option while not upsetting one further." Dr. Moonstone continued. "I agree, we shouldn't try the cuffs. I'm not sure if they've recovered enough to fully heal without their healing ability. And with their new injuries... I'd rather let them heal first if we do decide that. As much as I hate to suggest it... another option is to keep him sedated untill he's fully healed, then put the cuffs on him again."

"... No.” Mitsi declared for the rest of the group. “We can't keep them under for that long and we won't be using those cuffs on them ever again."

Alum made a face. “We could use…”

Vic had a feeling they knew what she was going to suggest, so they filled in the gaps for everyone else. “...The Box.”

"The what?” Mitsi asked, surprised.

"...The new containment room that my team and I are working on to hold The Dark Lord,” Alum explained, walking around the room in thought. “It's still early in development– but we would be able to access Chosen's code. There's a chance we could be able to configure their powers individually…” she trailed off, bringing a hand to her chin while thinking.

"But that would mean one would have to stay in there," Vic scowled. "It's just another cage–"

"Using it means we wouldn't have to keep one sedated while we work on another solution, Vic! We can use the code from the box to make another version of the cuffs, ones that won't prevent his healing, and I can make them more comfortable or even removable without our help."

"...I still don't like the idea of taking their powers away." Agent frowned.

"We can work on that, with enough time and healing, Chosen could have fewer distructive episodes like this." Dr Moonstone suggested.

"And if we teach them how to control their powers without emotion being the main trigger... It will take time, don't get me wrong, but it's better than having property damage every other Tuesday." Alum concluded.

"If it's the best option we have..." Vic looks around the room at everyone. None of them are particularly happy about this, but all seem content with this solution. "We better get started then."

Chapter Text

The Box.

An experimental space constructed using a Virtual Machine. Truly an amazing work of technology, it allows an outside user to control and manipulate the virtual environment and any program placed inside. These Virtual Machines are often called Sandboxes.

This Sandbox, though, wasn't made to play and to build sand castles in. It was designed to hold one of the most dangerous digital beings in the Net: The Dark Lord.

It must be similar to antivirus software functions, Chrome Alum supposed as she continues to sift through code on the control panel. An antivirus's main goal is to stop malicious software from harming the machine it's running on, and similarly, Rocket Corp was going to use The Box to stop The Dark Lord from doing any more harm to the Internet, Outernet, or anywhere else that is accessible to them. Some antivirus software comes with the ability to make sandboxes to run and test malicious software without harming the computer.

Chrome wonders if The Dark Lord would show up in an antivirus software as malware (which he definitely would meet the qualifications to fall under that category), and if he would, she wonders if his code signature has been captured at any point and put into a database of known viruses. If it has, going through the pain of fishing out that information from an antivirus database would probably be worth it as it could be very crucial to capturing and containing The Dark Lord.

But right now, with the current situation at hand, Chrome doesn't have any pre-existing code records to go off of, leaving her to decode Chosen's code herself. Decrypting code was an absolute pain to do– in Chrome's opinion. It was tedious work to go through every line of code, figuring out what does what, just to find the exact line of code she's looking for.

As per the laws of the Outernet, nobody is allowed to modify (edit, delete, or add to) an animation's core code. The results of doing so could be disastrous– potentially causing errors, corruption, or even deletion, especially if the code was broken in some way. They didn't have access to save files, had no backups, and any change was active immediately and permanently.

Thankfully, Chrome didn't need to break any laws in order to achieve the goal of disabling Chosen's powers while in The Box.

While directly changing code was off the table, configuring code via external means was still legal. With special permission, of course. Rocket Corp already had done the legal paperwork to allow them permission to test this kind of stuff– with ‘regulations and supervision’. There may be a few more legal things they should be doing, but, well. Chosen is a special case and certainly off-record. Now that could get Rocket Corp. in trouble, but not necessarily because of the fact that Chrome was going to configure Chosen's code. She'll leave that potential legal problem to the Boss’ to deal with.

Configuring someone's code isn't adding or deleting any part of it, it's just switching on or off a few toggles or changing values here and there that were already there to begin with, and it's relatively safe (as long as an idiot creator doesn't program in something stupid). Usually, at least when it comes to powers and the like, an animation subconsciously configures their own code as needed, like when an animation activates a power, for example.

But configuration like that only works with powers that can be toggled, like Chosen's fire and ice, they only appear when called for, switching on and off. Passive abilities on the other hand, like Chosen's healing, don't have this option in the code because they are always active and are completely out of the animations control. That key difference in the code makes it easier to distinguish the two types of powers without having to completely decode and understand what the powers line of code says in its entirety. Chrome just has to look for a few key markers, and soon enough, she should have all Chosen's toggleable powers unable to be activated as long as they stay in The Box. After, creating a portable version of the configuration like the previous power-suppressors, will take a bit longer to create.

Chrome sighs at the reminder of how much work she has to do in the upcoming hours. Not that she minds, but everyone was woken up at an early hour…

A few more lines of code catch her attention on the screen.

There was something strange about the code, but she didn't know quite what it was. Chosen's code as a whole was long and complicated, and the few lines she paused on seemed to be lines for powers that weren't self-activated. She decided she didn't have the time right now to decode the rest of those specific lines, probably not too important to look into right now. Chrome settled on making a note which lines they were and to come back to them at some point once everything had settled again.

She would ignore the next many lines of code that she saw with the weird type of code again a few more times before she finished toggling Chosen's powers.

It was time to wake one up.

—

Agent anxiously tapped his fingers on the table next to him. It had been tense before, while Mitsi was still in The Box with him, but now that he was alone the time seemed to tick by slower in anticipation for Chosen to wake up.

Mitsi had insisted on staying by Chosen's side while they were sedated, but when it came time for Chosen to wake up, she had to be convinced to leave and let Agent stay in her place. She was still recovering her healing bones, and if something went wrong again, she wouldn't be able to leave The Box very quickly.

Vic wasn't able to be here because they were on the outside controlling The Box. Vic had been in and out of The Box, never stopped pacing, fidgeting, and worrying. Anytime they came in they always seemed on the edge of working themself into a panic attack, and the only reason they didn't was because they had things they needed to do to help Chosen (including designing the new power-suppressant and helping Chrome Alum with code). Both Agent and Mitsi had tried to help, make them take a break, but they pushed both away and continued to work on whatever needed to be done.

It was decided that Agent would be the one there when one wakes up because he was able to handle a situation if there were to be one. It frustrates him that they even have to consider the possibility of something happening (again)– that they have to prepare against Chosen. Agent cares for them, he doesn't want to fear them.

He hopes Chosen doesn't react badly to their new situation. 

Agent swears after all this, they all need a vacation.

—

Bright light burned through their eyelids as consciousness fades back to then. It takes several moments to realize that he was even there, somehow forgetting that he existed before that moment and not just some disembodied thoughts in the space behind his eyelids.

Chosen felt one's face scrunch up in confusion, now remembering that one exists, but where? They try to lift their head and open their eyes, only to squeeze them shut tightly and drop their head back down after being greeted by the burn of the bright light. Chosen groaned and noticed that his mouth was dry.

“Chosen, you're coming out of sedation. Give yourself some time to wake up fully.”

His brow furrowed again, trying to recognize the voice speaking to him.

It was familiar… but who…?

…

“Chosen? Are you awake?”

Chosen inhaled at the realization, that once again, one was indeed awake and conscious, this time head less foggy. They find that when they open their eyes again, they are able to keep them open.

“Hmm…” Chosen hummed while he brought up a hand to wipe at his eyes.

“I have some water over here if you want it.” One could recognize the voice as Agents now, siting beside the bed Chosen is laying in.

“Agent…?” He then looked around at the unfamiliar room. It was similar to the first room they were kept in at Rocket Corp, plain and bare, a small table, a char, and the bed Chosen was laying in with white sheets. But it was different this time, there was no one-sided glass window or even the noisy overhead fluorescent lights. Instead all the walls, ceiling, and floor were a pure white that somehow emitted light for the room. Or the room itself didn't need light, or the space inbetween was the light itself. It was sickeningly familiar, it was just like–

Just like a blank project in Flash.

They felt more awake now as anxiety started to prickle their nerves.

Because– no, it was more than that. The walls ever so faintly hummed and the air tasted like static, something artificial and unreal about it. The feeling was even more familiar than a blank canvas, Chosen had spent nearly half his life in this feeling.

Chosen clenched ones hands to remind oneself that one could still move, think, feel.

Thoughts and memories started to rush in their head, why are they in here? He inhaled sharply at the memory of waking up in panic and fire and smoke and alarms– Agent is here, unharmed? But Chosen is in a room‐box-canvas-chest– again, where were the others–? did he hurt them–!? They put one back– they can't use their powers–! There's no metal bands on them, how–!? He's destructive. Chosen needed to be punished– They were going to punish one, that's why ones in here, blank walls of the animation software greet them as the Cursor hovered to the tools and Chosen is stuck and helpless and powerless and deserves this they were bad bad bad why did he do it why is one like this—

Chosen doesn't want this. He aches to be free. To go outside and fly with their fire, race with Dark again. Sit under the stars with him while having late night talks about anything that was interesting. Explore the Net, experience new things and places, like they had with Dark.

(Not like they had with Dark. Chosen didnt want to destroy those places, just experiance them from afar.)

They don't want this.

Chosen doesn't want his powers suppressed, locked in a box, punished despite deserving it all, selfishly.

They don't have anywhere else to go, but they long for freedom, safy, and comfort.

“I don't want to be here…” Chosen whines bettween hitching breaths.

They should have ran when they had the chance– no, one can't run from responsibility, one needs to face the consequences, and there is no running or hiding from it. They know this.

A hand rubs his back as he cries, back towards Agent, curled up, forehead to the wall in the corner of the bed again. One hears whispers of reassurances and comforts, but Chosen can't find it in one to listen to anything spoken to one. He couldnt trust it. The safty and comfort wasn't real and he couldnt afford to belive it.

It all leads back to this, in the end, doesn't it?

Maybe Chosen was always meant to be confined, controlled, tamed. The more Chosen resists, the more punishment follows, woven into the very code of their digital universe that says it so.

Chosen hates it.

Hates himself.

Everything.

It makes Chosen want to lash out again, and again, and again. An endless loop of Anger, Destruction, and Punishment. Over and over, a never ending spiral. It doesn't end, why can't it ever just end!?

(Chosen still selfishly wants it to be different despite knowing that he doesnt deserve it. Dark might've been right, they have always had to destroy to not be destroyed, but they are indestructible, so instead they are chained, tortured, used, tamed–)

“I don't wanna be here…!” he screeches, knowing that it's useless in the end.

Screaming and crying never made anything hurt less. Nothing did, and one knows this will hurt. Hurt not only by whatever they plan on doing– but also because it was Agent, Mitsi, Vic– he didn't want them to, he wanted the comfort they had given him, comfort he selfishly took, they hadn't known what kind of monster he was, and now they knew, they finaly knew and they were going to hurt him.

Chosen doesn't want to be hurt anymore, but one doesn't get a choice.

There was never a choice for Chosen.

.
.
.

Why are they still pretending to be nice?

Chosen wonders again, still huddled up on the bed against the walls, blanket tightly wrapped around one (selfishly).

After Chosen… stopped, they haddent spoken to anyone. He didn't want to, a swirling feeling of disobedience in his gut made him resent this– all of this– despite their continued kindness towards him.

Chosen just wishes they'd stop faking, get it over with.

Chosen doesn't want to get attached (again), because if one does, it will just hurt more later.

When they stop being kind.

He takes a sip from the water he was given. The water he selfishly took, knowing that everything he takes is another reason for hurt.

They wonder why they keep doing things that they know will just hurt later. They know it doesn't really matter,  He always found reasons to hurt one. Sometimes there was no reason at all.

The door opened, and a new face walked in. Chosen immediately tenses, not sure what to expect from this new person. After they exchanged glances with Agent, he turned to Chosen.

“Chosen, this is Marble Duron, they are your mental health counselor.”

<<–<<

It wasn't even half an hour into scanning Chosen's code that Chrome found something strange with the kid.

"Moonstone. Come here for a sec?" She called for Moonstone, who was monitoring Chosen's vitals while they were in the sedation-induced sleep.

"What is it?"

Chrome pointed to the letters and numbers of code on the screen near the top of the page:

[ — ]

[ filename= (The_Chosen_One) ]

[ filesaveaddress= (No Longer Availiable) ]

[ DoC= (t:1173981600:d) ]

[ ... ]

"...Moons... is that... is that what I think it is?"Chrome asked, hushed.

"Oh... thats–"

"Do you think they know?"

"...No. I don't think they do."

"...We should wait to tell them, if at all. I think this is something that the kid should tell them himself."

“Are you sure?” She sent her a nervous glance.

“Bringing it up now would cause even more stress in this shit situation, wouldn't it?”

“… You're right. But when things calm down, I'm going to pull them aside and talk with them, or ask them to at least talk with someone about this. This is…” Moonstone shivered. They both knew the bare bones of Vic's arival to the Outernet and that they and Chosen shared the same crule Creator. That line of code was no coincidence. “It's disturbing.”

“It is.” Chrome agreed and turned back to the control panel, bracing herself to return to her work, and potentially find more disturbing things in the child's code. “It really is.”