A/N: HELLOS EVERYONE! I'M BAAACK!! WAHOO! This was scribbled in a notebook on a seven hour flight so if it seems a little insane, that's probably the blueberry muffin talking. A you will see, it's about Mandarin's slowly increasing insanity and torture inside the HOOP prison. Sort of mirrored by my own insanity sitting in economy class.
Disclaimer: I do not own anything at all mentioned inside this fic. Doi.
From the Other Side
There is only one clear window in his cell. He can see the space outside, knowing that he is far from home, floating in a sky of emptiness.
He hears voices. They speak softly to him. They taunt him, tease his every thought. The torment him with their constant presence. It was torture, and he could not even thrash something to vent his rage. Surely he will go mad in this place, surely!
What do the stars look like from the other side, Mandarin? they ask. Is that all you can see now, the stars? Oh, we didn't know. They laugh, filled with contemptuous glee. How awful it must be, how awful it is. How does the light fall on the other side, Mandarin? How are the shadows cast? Can you even see the light from this side?
The world outside this one window is dark, with only a few blurry points of light as distant suns. The HOOP was drifting farther and constantly farther from his former home. This was his home now, this unbearable prison. The planet would no longer accept him, never again would it welcome him onto its surface.
Foolish little monkey. You cannot see light. What sort of deal did you make? It seems you lost out, Mandarin. Fool. You were cheated.
And then they laugh again.
Do the birds call each other here? The voices grow stronger in volume and force, burning his mind with their words. Do the children sing? Is the sky blue and pink at sunset? Ohhoho, all you can see now are the stars; isn't that so, Mandarin?
There is no soft earth and grass, only the odd sensation of movement through what Mandarin once thought were the heavens. When he was young, yes. A dome of new discovery and opportunity. Yes, long ago, that was it. Now he sees nothing but blackness and misery.
There is no rich smell of flowers on the trees and of summer's ripening fruits; no smell at all but of the chemicals that coat the walls of his enclosure. And no sound except his slow breathing and the voices, always talking.
What do the walls feel like here? Do they annoy you? the voices tempt, layering the sounds so that it does not leave his head. Go ahead, get up. You need the exercise anyway. Are the walls annoying you, dear friend? Go on, walk forwards. They mock you, don't they? And inanimate objects with no tongues too! Oh, the shame of it. You hate them. They imprison you. It's simply awful, isn't it? Just awful. A little further, monkey; you want to get close, don't you? Do as you wish. There is no one here.
"It is certain. I have gone mad." Then Mandarin lifts up his arm, and obeys the voices for the first time. They cackle in the way a child does when he wins an object over another. How do such wicked voices obtain the sound of youth? And they keep talking.
You drove your friends away, Mandarin. You left your home, the journey you are on now is your own doing. How does it feel to be on the other side, Mandarin? To be the bad guy, the one that good always foils? How does it feel to be on the other side?
He stops hammering the wall with his fists. A squat, red prison robot walks into his holding chamber and knocks on the safety door between the prisoner and the open section of the chamber. "Resistance is futile. Stop it." it grinds out, the voice of machinery making the prisoner scowl.
Look out at the stars a final time, Mandarin.
The robot warden enters through the safety door, administering the syringe as was its job.
Sweet dreams, Mandarin.
And he won't be waking up for quite a while. :) Reviews? They make me happy. It's the school holidays, I just got back from an overseas trip and I'd like to hear from some people! I can't spend all my time annoying my mum, can I?