Infection Part 1- Power

This story is based on some awesome Entity fanart that a Tumblr user Lizzyintime made. Her art Tumblr is Lizdrawseverything.

These characters are not mine and I made no money from this. I'm just a simple fangirl.

Warning: This is a dark story. It will not have a happy ending.

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Contrary to popular belief, The Entity did not die or disappear entirely when Linkara vanquished it. Due to unforeseen circumstances of The Plot Hole warping time and space, The Entity merely escaped into the dark chasm of the anomaly. It waited for what seemed like an eternity which might have been only a second. Time and space were funny that way. Eventually, it had a visitor, the "body" of that weird Indian kid, Ma-Ti, that had hung around one of Linkara's friends.

The Entity was pleased when this happened. Through the inconsistencies of The Plot Hole, it could see that the reviewers it had previously entrapped were travelling closer to it. Then he would have his revenge on Linkara. It still wanted to absorb all existence, but unlike Vyce, the comic book reviewer had defeated him. In all it's travels, The Entity had never met a being that got even close to figuring out, let alone defeat what he was. It infuriated the being. It wanted to watch Linkara suffer.

But… The damned Nostalgia Critic had to sacrifice himself and save his friends and chose to remain in the Plot Hole. The Entity tried its hardest to make Critic's life hell, even creating a purgatory-like world. Eventually the Critic broke free and escaped, but it wasn't without consequences. The Entity had broken Critic enough to seep into the Critic's insecurities and escape with him. It would slowly infect him to the point that no matter what anyone did, the Critic and anyone else it infected, it would be impossible to cure.

—-

"Critic….Critic….CRITIC…DOUG!"

The shouting of Critic's real name snapped him out of his thoughts and he looked up to see That Other Guy, Malcolm and Rachel look at him worriedly. Critic closed his eyes and sighed. "I zoned out again, didn't I?"

"Critic, maybe you should go see a doctor? You've been zoning out a lot lately. The review can be put on hold. I'm sure everyone would be happy with just a bonus from one of the DVD's in the meantime. Even the trolls are becoming worried." That Other Guy put his hand on his brother's shoulder. "And I'm sure we could bribe Guy or Bum to do something if that's not good enough."

"I'm fine. The Plot Hole took a lot out of me. I was so gung-ho to work again that I never really took a break after getting out. It's just catching up with me. A few good night's rest and I'll be good as new." Critic gave a half smile and began to walk out of the room. "Just put up whatever you want. I'm taking a nap."

—-

Critic waited until he was in his room with the door locked until he slowly lifted up his sleeve to reveal striped patches of static staining his skin. He shivered as one of the patches crawled around his pinkie finger. He had been fine for a few weeks after escaping The Plot Hole, but in the last week, he had been unable to sleep without a static-y voice whispering horrible and dark things about his friends. The patches had began only a few days ago and were rapidly growing on his body.

"YOU KNOW YOU CAN'T FIGHT IT CRITIC. THE LAST PERSON I POSSESSED WAS THAT IDIOT FRIEND OF LINKARA'S AND NO ONE SUSPECTED ME FOR A YEAR. I'VE BECOME A LOT STRONGER SINCE THEN. QUIT RESISTING."

"Shut Up! Shut up! Shut up! Get out of my body!" Critic grabbed his head and fell to his knees, trying to block the much louder voice in his head.

"AS THAT ONE RACE SAYS ON THE INFURIATING SHOW LINKARA WATCHES, RESISTANCE IS FUTILE. I'VE BEEN INFECTING YOU FOR MONTHS NOW, SLOWLY SEEPING MY WAY INTO EVERY PART OF YOUR BEING. NOT EVEN LINKARA CAN DEFEAT ME NOW. I AM THE ENTITY AND MY VOICE WILL BE HEARD THIS TIME."

"Th-the Entity… But why…how…?" Critic choked out a sob as the back of one of his eyes began throbbing. The cold creeping feeling of the static sent shivers through the man.

"I WANT LINKARA TO SUFFER. I WANT HIM TO FEEL HELPLESS AS ALL HIS FRIENDS BECOME HIS ENEMIES. THIS TIME, LINKARA WON'T HAVE THE HELP OF HIS FRIENDS TO STOP ME UNTIL IT'S WAY TOO LATE. I WILL TAKE OVER HIS BODY AND RAVAGE THIS WORLD, LIKE I'VE DONE TO SO MANY OTHER WORLDS.

YOU WILL BE THE FIRST OF MY INFECTED FOLLOWED BY SPOONY. WITH THE BOTH OF YOU, I'LL HAVE THE UPPER HAND IN CONFRONTING LINKARA. HE WON'T HURT HIS FRIENDS SO EASILY. YOU'LL CONTACT AND MEET WITH SPOONY SHORTLY AFTER I TAKE YOU OVER."

Critic chuckled as a violent shiver ran across his back. "Heh, you can't get to Spoony. He left our dysfunctional little family while I was gone as did others. Not that I blame them. The physical and emotional stress I gave to all of them should have made all of them leave long ago. It was a wonder they stuck around as long as they did. But for whatever reason, Spoony won't come here without a good reason. He's got enough sense to know something is wrong."

"THAT'S WHY YOU'LL BE FLYING TO ARIZONA TO MEET HIM. I WANT HIM INFECTED AS FAST AS POSSIBLE. HE'S THE CLOSEST TO LINKARA AND HE'LL KNOW THE BEST WAY TO AVOID BEING DETECTED UNTIL WE'RE READY TO CONFRONT HIM. NOW QUIT RESISTING CRITIC."

The pounding in Critic's head and the shivers as the static across Critic's body began to increase and soon Critic could hear a loud screaming in the room. It took a moment to realize it was coming from him. An excruciating flash of pain resonated in his brain and Critic fell to the floor, unconscious.

—-

"Guys! He's coming around! Critic, can you hear me?"

Critic opened his eyes slowly and made out Rachel's worried face staring at him. He smirked a bit and grabbed her warm hand with his cold one. "I'm fine Rachel. Don't worry. Everything's going to be alright now."

"That's good. You had us worried for a minute bro." That Other Guy came into view and helped Critic sit up.

Critic glanced around the room and saw that not only was Rachel, Malcolm and his older brother was there, but also Bum and Guy. He smirked. "I know I've been a bit difficult to work with, but I assure you, I'll get help. I know what my problem was and I know how to deal with it. Now if you excuse me, I think I'll go take a nice long drive to clear my head."

Despite many protests, the other occupants of the room finally let Critic stand up. He made sure to physically touch each one in order for The Entity to infect them and waited until each had been taken over. It took far less time for their transformations than his own. It was perfect to know when he confronted Spoony. The man was quick on his feet and in his head. Critic knew he'd have far less time to infect Spoony than the others.

"You all know what to do. Act like we do every day but don't forget to spread ourselves to the rest of our crew that live here."

As he walked outside and got in his car, he dialed a number on his cell phone. "Yes, I need one ticket on the next flight to Phoenix, Arizona."