Demencia stared at him blankly.
"Uhh, no he isn't." she said. "If he was, I'd already know about it. I know everything there is to know about Black Hat."
"Apparently not," Dr. Flug said weakly. Oh God he felt like he just got run over by a truck with snow treads. Actually no, that would probably hurt less than getting beaten with a cane by Black Hat.
Dr. Flug figured Black Hat might be mad about him going through his things without permission (as if he would ever give him permission even if he asked), but he hadn't expected him to beat him within an inch of his life over flipping through his old family photos.
"Shut up, nerd." Demencia said. She sounded...serious…"I know everything about Black Hat. I was his stalker for seven years before I came here, damn it!"
"How old are you?" Dr. Flug wondered out loud. She looked to be in the late teens-early twenties range, but then again she'd looked like that ever since he'd met her. And that was...damn, it had to have been years at this point.
Come to think of it, how old was he?
Demencia ignored him. "I know his height. His exact weight down to the milligrams. I know how much of that weight is his clothes. I know the number of shoe bills in his drawers. I know his underwear size. I know the shampoo he uses-"
"He has hair?"
"See! You didn't even know that!" Demencia said loudly. She stalked close to the injured doctor, accentuating her words with each step.
"I know his favorite meals. I know his most despised movies. I know when he's sleeping and I know the things he's dreaming. I. Know. His. Scent." She was right next to the bed now, staring daggers at the mad scientists broken body. The mad scientist who was now trying really hard to think of what exactly Black Hat smelled like and how often Demencia had sniffed him and his clothes to be able to say that with such conviction. For some reason, the scent that came to him was burning paper. Weird.
"You're really going to lay there and spout some crap about a twin I somehow don't know about?"
"I was gonna show ya," Flug mumbled out. "They were cute pictures."
"Wait, pictures? What pictures?" Demencia leaned over Flug's aching body intently.
Flug didn't answer right away. He'd found the button to send morphine through the IV drip in his arm and he was just holding it down. Damn that felt good. Demencia slapped him a few times before he was focused enough to reply.
"Hey! Hey! Don't go saying stuff like that and then leave me hanging nerd! What pictures are you talking about!?"
"Black Hat. As a kid."
"As a WHAT?!" Demencia screamed. Ow, that hurt.
"Be quiet." Dr. Flug said, trying to raise a hand to cover her mouth. "You see what he did to me."
Demencia started talking in stage whispers. "You found Black Hat's baby book?!"
"Pretty much."
"And didn't show me?"
"I was gonna."
"Well, why didn't ya!?"
"Kinda got beaten to a pulp before I got the chance." Flug said sarcastically.
"Well, where is it?!" She said excitedly. "I just know Black Hat was adorable!"
"He was, actually." Dr. Flug said with a goofy smile Demencia couldn't see. "He and his brother were just adorbs."
Demencia got serious again at the mention of Black Hat's supposed sibling. Even doped up he could tell his co-worker was greatly disturbed by the fact that there was information on her beloved Black Hat that even she wasn't privy to.
"So, you saw a photo of...them?"
"MmmHmm." Dr. Flug hummed. "Boss was all little in this cute red turtleneck and shorts. And he had on the cutest little boots. Still had his hat. It looked kinda big for him, though."
Demencia grinned dreamily, picturing her love as a tiny creature that had yet to grow into his fancy headwear. She sobered up as she asked her next question. "And his...twin brother?"
"Uh, he had a white hat. And white overalls. And cute little white boots with bows on them."
"And you're not just saying crazy things from the goofy-juice?" That was Demencia's colloquial term for pain medicine. The kind that made people act silly, a bit like Dr. Flug was now. He should probably stop flooding his system with morphine at some point.
Ehh, give it another minute.
"Nope." Flug said with a pop at the "p" sound.
"Well, where is it?" Demencia picked the thin man up by this shoulders. He'd probably be in agonizing pain if not for the drugs. "It you're just spouting crap I'm gonna finish what the boss started."
"I dunno." Flug said. "I had the book in my hands, boss showed up, and then I was here."
"So Black Hat has it?"
"I guess?"
"Ok, then Imma go see it for myself!" She declared, dropping the man down on the cot without a care in the world as to what that might do. It earned a small grunt from him.
"Have fun." He called out. "Try not to die."
"If he didn't kill you, there's no way he'll kill me!" She yelled back as she ran out of the doors to the laboratory.
Now that was a question for the ages. Why hadn't Black Hat killed him? It wasn't as if Dr. Flug couldn't be replaced. Black Hat had threaten to do it many times over the years, albeit not recently. He was no stranger to beating Flug either, but he really hadn't hurt him to this extent in a while. As willing as he was to do Flug harm, he still needed (well, needed might be too strong a word. Wanted, more like) Flug to build machines of chaos and destruction for his company.
As Dr. Flug looked himself over again, he wondered how long it'd be until he was up and working again. Hopefully not too long, or Black Hat would just get pissed at him again for doing nothing when he was supposed to be working.
Which would be his own damn fault, not that Flug was ever going to say so.
Dr. Flug tapped the morphine button a few more times, glad that 5.0.5. had had the sense to leave him with it, and drifted off into a medically induced nap.
Black Hat had locked himself in his office ever since that little "incident" a few hours ago.
He was only just now beginning to calm himself. He focused hard on keeping his breathing steady. A bit of the tension coursing through his faux muscles had begun to dissipate. He was no longer feeling as enraged as he had before.
He imagined his happy place; an active war zone filled with child soldiers, having orders barked at them by cruel men who would whip the disobedient slaves who failed in their duties. Not killing them, not while they could still move. Could still aim and shoot. Only once they had outlived their usefulness could they die.
Black Hat felt a semi-relaxed smile spread across his face. He took a deep breath as the mental image of the whip was raised above a particularly emancipated young boy, releasing it slowly as he pictured it being brought down and splitting the skin, how the blood sprayed over the faces of the other children frozen in their horror as yet another of their peers was silenced. How they would now have to compensate for his loss, lest they share his fate. How the despair permeated their very bone marrow. Delicious.
Ahhhh, he felt such peace holding that gruesome scene in his head.
He tried to keep it with him, but the source of his anger clawed its way back to the forefront of his mind like scavengers through a corpse.
His...brother…
He hated him. Didn't even want to acknowledge his existence. So much as thinking his name made him clench his fists and jaw in rage. It made him see red, more intensely than any incompetent wanna-be villain could ever hope to.
Why? Well, that was his business now wasn't it?
And for those reasons, he preferred to put his insufferable brother out of mind. He thought he had destroyed every reminder of his existence that he had, he thought he had burned every photo or piece of writing that so much as hinted at the fact that Black Hat had a (the word sent disdainful shivers down his spine the side of railroad spikes) twin.
Apparently, he'd missed one.
And that wretched excuse of a scientist of his had found it.
How dare he go through Black Hat's things! After he had been so generous as to allow him entrance to his personal library! Allowed him to browse his literary treasures and find a small sliver of peace within its near-endless walls.
Black Hat really hadn't minded Flug in there before. Sure, the miserable wretch could lose himself in the pages of a book or just plain get lost in the winding bookcases of the place, but Black Hat knew he was the sort of person who would treat his collection with care and respect, and saw no harm in letting him browse where he liked.
It wasn't as if there was anything important in there.
Except, apparently, there was.
Black Hat hadn't thought about his brother (Hades, just thinking of that made him want to throw up) for centuries now. Why couldn't it have been millenia? Why couldn't it have been eons? Why not for the rest of his life of scum and villainy? Why hadn't he been allowed to simply forget the fact that he was not alone in this world? He'd prefer it so much more if he was. That was how he liked to live his life, as if he was utterly solitary in this universe. Like there was no one else like him. No one else similar to him in any way.
No one as strong as him.
His ground his teeth so hard they shattered, sending enamel and other toothy bits flying. No matter, he simply regenerated his teeth. And then shattered those.
Flug wasn't going to be allowed back in the library after this. Not ever. Black Hat had already forgotten one thing he'd hidden in there that he didn't want to be reminded of, he wasn't going to risk the pathetic bag-wearing human find something else he'd locked away to be swallowed by dust and decay.
So, it was probably for the best that he close off that part of the manor. Since Flug wouldn't be going in, and he rarely went in himself anymore these days, there was no reason not to simply lock the doors and pretend that it too had never existed.
Black Hat forced himself to relax. So, Flug had found out that Black Hat had a...you know. He had been adequately punished and was having his library privileges revoked permanently, so now was the time to go assess the damage and see how far back Black Hat had put himself with his little outburst.
Because much like the child from Black Hat's imagination, Dr. Flug Slys was not allowed to die until he was of no more use to Black Hat. And as much as it irked the eldritch to admit, the doctor was still useful for the time being.
He stood up from his lush armchair, straightened his tie and coat, and took another deep breath. He should probably tell Flug to immediately forget what it was he found in the library, if he knew what was good for him he'd do it without question. Perhaps he should have Flug devise an amnesia serum, so that he actually would forget what it was he saw. Maybe he should just forget that there was ever a library in the manor at all.
Nah, let him remember. That way he'll be forever crushed at the loss of his one sanctuary within these iron walls. The thought of the poor scientists despair and misery wafting through the air bringing a smile to Black Hat's face.
For roughly two seconds before Demencia was banging on his door like it owed her money.
"Black Hat! Black Hat! I know you're in there my sweet Bombon!"
Ugh, he was most certainly not her "bombon". This day was already terrible, all he wanted was to end it on a high note by bringing more suffering to his unfortunate scientist. Was that really so much to ask?
He was about to slam the heavy double doors open, hopefully hitting his erratic fangirl in the face, when she froze him in his tracks.
"Where's that picture Flug found!?"
Fuck.
Dr. Flug awoke to a wet nose sniffing his bagged face. He knew it was wet because it was making the paper all soggy. Well, that can be only one of the three other inhabitants of this house.
Flug, with some difficulty, slipped his hands out of their melted ice pack shields and lightly stroked the soft blue fur of his creation. This produced a few happy coos from the bear, rumbling deep in his ursine throat.
"Mmmmm, hey there Fives." He said through a dry throat and parched lips. "You did a good job patching up your papi."
"Bawwoooo," The living Care-Bear happily vocalized. Not that Dr. Flug had intended for him to be so friendly and loving, but he couldn't say he regretted it. Some (most) days it felt like this failed experiment was his only friend in this horrid place.
Dr. Flug sat up, although it hurt. He probably needed much more work than the bear could provide, what with his paws and lack of medical knowledge. But he had tried and he did his best and as far as Flug was concerned that was all he needed.
He continued stroking and playing with the soft fur, still amazed after all this time (how long has it been?) at just how soft and comforting the bear's fur felt. He wished he'd had a teddy bear like this growing up. Maybe then, he wouldn't have felt so alone and afraid. Just feeling the soft hairs against the skin of his ungloved hands made him feel content. Even in this place.
Which was something he was going to need more often, now that the library was being taken from him.
"Bawww?" His creation looked up at him with a concerned expression.
"Ah, it's nothing, Fives." The doctor said with a wave of his hand. "I'm just a little sad because I don't get to go in the library anymore."
"Baw?"
"I, uh, I found something secret, I guess. So now jefecito doesn't want me in there." Flug had to wonder, though, why precisely was Black Hat making the library off-limits? Was it because he overstepped his boundaries, or were there more hidden secrets Black Hat had stashed in the library's winding wings that he didn't want to risk Flug coming across like he had his secret sibling?
"Bawww?" The sweet 5.0.5. asked, as he pulled out a thin album from under the cot Dr. Flug was laid out on.
Flug's heart stopped for a second. Literally, the heart rate monitor flatlined for a good second or two, scaring a few more years off of the doctor and his creation. Good God how were any of them still alive in here?
"5...5.0.5….where did you get that?" He asked in a small voice once his heart remembered that it kind of needed to keep beating.
5.0.5. motioned to his creator's hands and mimicked holding something against his chest tightly. Flug had had it with him when Black Hat threw him back into the lab. In his rage, Black Hat forgot to actually take the thing that he had gotten so mad about.
And Demencia...had just gone...to ask him about it…
Oh boy.
Dr. Flug flipped through the photo album madly, searching desperately for that picture of Black Hat and his twin brother. He thought it was somewhere near the back, but he couldn't be sure. He was just barely skimming the pictures for the two of them, hoping he didn't flip past it in his frenzied state.
A crash ran out through the manor.
Then a screech.
Of something that was most definitely not human.
Which was moving fast and probably coming right for him.
Must find it must find it must find it must find it-
There it was!
Dr. Flug carefully removed the picture from the album and hid it under his pillow. Yeah, not very original but he was half-naked and covered in bandages. Hiding the evidence on his person wasn't very feasible. He put the album on his lap and laid back down as the nonchalant invalid he was supposed to be.
He could make out Demencia's screaming, nearly overtaken by what must've been Black Hat chasing her down. Apparently Black Hat didn't want anyone, not even his biggest fan, to know he was a twin. What, was he scared she'd like his brother better and go obsess over HIM?
Dr. Flug chuckled a bit. As if Black Hat cared at all about Demencia or her thoughts. Or his…
Demencia herself came crashing through one of the air vents (oh come on Flug just fixed that last...week?) and landed perfectly on her feet. Well, she did have superhuman strength, agility, reflexes, and healing. A 30 ft drop was probably nothing to her.
Her eyes locked on Flug, and the book on his lap.
"Is that it?!" She yelled. Flug flinched at the volume of her voice. Did she have to be so loud? Black Hat was going to-
Black Hat then materialized in the lab, staring daggers at Demencia and looking at Flug with absolute loathing. 5.0.5. hid behind one of the experimentation tubes, not wanting to be in the line of fire for whatever was coming.
Flug picked the photo album up with shaking hands and held it out in front of him. He hoped his demonic employer would take it without causing him anymore harm. Or ask him about that one particular picture that had landed him in this mess. Oh God just the thought of being found out! Like it wasn't enough for Flug to just find the damn thing, he had to try and hide it from Black Hat as well!
If Black Hat wasn't mad enough to kill him before, surely he would be now!
Said villain snatched the photo album out of his scientists hands at the speed of sound. He clenched it so tight that he left finger imprints in the binding.
"Never speak of this again." He said, leaving as easily as he had come.
Demencia blinked, surprised that that was all he did. Then turned her attention towards Flug.
"You pathetic worm!" She screamed. "You had it all along?!"
"I didn't-"
"All that talk about how cute Lil' Blackie was and you don't even let me see him!? What the hell kind of coworker are you!? You suck Flug!"
"Demencia plea-"
"Don't you 'Demencia plea-' me!" The reptilian girl said, marching towards him angrily. "How dare you tell me about Black Hat's adorable little kid pics and then give them away?!"
Technically he didn't, but Flug didn't say that. Instead he reached under his pillow as Demencia drew nearer.
"I can make it up to you."
"Oh yeah? How do you plan on doing that, you miserable...you!"
"Maybe like this?" Flug pulled out the picture.
Demencia's jaw dropped. So hard that Dr. Flug thought for a second it was going to hit the floor and crack it. Her mouth was so wide he was tempted to see if he could fit his head into it. Her eyes sparkled as she gazed on the young version of her love preserved in the image. She plucked it out of the doctors fingers and held it up to her face like it would disappear if she wasn't holding on to it.
"Oh...Em...Gee!" She shrieked. "He's so perfect! He's just perfect! He's so precious and adorable and cute and OH MY GAWK he's so perfect! I just want to hold him and squeeze him and give him lots of love and evil cuddles and SQUEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!"
Flug waited in vain for her to calm down. If this kept up, Black Hat was going to come right back and murder them both. This was it, the horror of fangirling.
"And, his little twinsies!" She hugged the photo to her chest. " He's so cute! I mean, Black Hat's obviously the cuter one, and is probably the hotter one now that they're all grown up, but he's not so bad. He's not as huggable, but the two of them are just so...AWWWWWWWWWW!"
Dr. Flug was sure he saw heart emojis in her eyes.
She gazed at the photo again, and the revelation seemed to slowly dawn on her. There had been something about Black Hat she hadn't known about. There were things about Black Hat that even his most devoted fan (stalker) couldn't find out about. If Black Hat could keep something as huge as a secret twin brother under wraps, who knew what else there was that she didn't know?
Demencia's look turned sombre. She prided herself on being the leading expert on Black Hat. She was his self-proclaimed Number One Fan, who aced every trivia game with a perfect score and was the only one insane enough to actual fall even harder for him after meeting him. All the other so-called devotees had died of fright when they realized the sort of monster they were idolizing, but not Demencia. Demencia looked into the abyss that was Black Hat and blew it a kiss.
Then ran for cover, as demonic entities from other dimensions don't take kindly to displays of affection. But no matter what hellish form Black Hat took and no matter how many times Demencia herself fled in terror, self-preservation winning out, she always came right back for more.
"So, he's a twin after all." She finally said, slumping down in the chair next to Flug. 5.0.5. came out of hiding to console her, even after all the pranks and mean spirited things she'd done to him just because he wasn't evil like her or Black Hat. Or even like Flug. He had, after all, been the mind behind most of the fiendish devices littering the lab and wreaking havoc on the world outside of Hatsville.
"And I didn't know." She said, allowing the bear to bring her into a warm embrace. "I didn't know about it at all. What else is there I don't know about him?"
"I'm sorry Demencia." Dr. Flug said. What else could he say?
"I love him," She whimpered. "I love him so much."
"I know you do."
"And everything I ever knew about him just made me love him more. Like I can't do anything but love him. But this? This hurts. How could I not have known? Me, his biggest fan?"
"Demencia, I don't think anyone besides us knows." Dr. Flug said. "I mean, we're the closest people to him in the world. You most of all."
"Awwwwoo," 5.0.5. cooed in agreement. He knew how much Demencia loved Black Hat and how much he mattered to her. Which was a bit sad when everyone knew she didn't matter to him at all.
Demencia sniffled a little bit. Dr. Flug hoped that they'd made her feel a little better. She wiped her eyes on her arm warmer and pushed 5.0.5. back a bit.
"Black Hat's gonna be pissed when he realizes I took that." Dr. Flug said. "And that I showed you."
"Heh heh, yeah. You're gonna die. For sure this time."
"Hey, you will too. We can get killed by Black Hat together!" Dr. Flug said with faux enthusiasm. He really didn't want to die over his bosses old family photos.
"Baw?" 5.0.5. asked. Damn, he forgot about 5.0.5. Flug couldn't die and just leave him here all alone! He wasn't sure if Black Hat would keep such kind and peaceful entity around just to save on actually hiring someone else to clean his big-ass Manor.
"Don't worry Fives, we aren't going anywhere." Dr. Flug said, reaching out to give his friend a reassuring pat on his head. The little flower perked up happily.
Demencia wiped her nose on her arm warmer (ok, that's just gross) and stood up. She still had the picture clutched tight in her arm, although not enough to damage it. She'd never destroy something with Black Hat's image on it.
"I'm going to borrow this." She announced in a shaky voice. Like she was still on the verge of tears but trying to keep it together. "I'm going to borrow this, cuz there's something I need to do now."
"Oh, uh, ok Demencia." Dr. Flug said, surprised. Well, he wasn't so much surprised that she wanted to keep it, if only for a little while before Black Hat realized it was gone and came back down to torture it out of Flug. But what was it she was going to do with it?
"I'll come back when I'm done, ok?"
"Uh, ok?" Come back? Was she leaving? She couldn't leave. That ankle monitor would shock her if she left the Hatsville city limits without permission, making her pretty limited in terms of places she could flee to. Not to mention the fact that it had a tracking chip in it, meaning no where she went was ever truly out of Black Hat's reach. Wherever she was, he could find her.
But, Demencia hardly ever thought these things through. If Black Hat asked, Flug had no idea where she or that picture was. It was the technical truth, just not the entire truth. Dr. Flug just hoped she had enough sense in her nearly empty head to know what she was doing. He could only do so much to protect her.
With that Demencia nodded and walked swiftly out of the laboratory, keeping the picture of the two little demons close to her heart. Leaving Dr. Flug and 5.0.5. to wonder what it was she was up to and why she was so uncharacteristically serious about it.
