A/N: There's some torture in this chapter as well as thoughts of suicide. Please know your limits and take care of yourself.

Blinking in the unfiltered light from the single lightbulb above him, Negaduck found himself sitting in a cold metal chair. His limbs were secured to each leg by rough corded rope and he pulled at them for only a moment before giving up. Not only were they too tight to allow any sort of movement, but his knee was still busted and ached every time he jostled his leg. It was best to move as little as possible.

He glanced around the room to see if he could recognize anything.

And what a blast from the fucking past this was.

He was in the same room used by the Negaverse mafia to "interrogate" their targets. The Black Room. Reserved for betrayers and liars, the room was for those destined to die.

Negaduck had been brought here as a young boy, when Leon, his grandfather, had wanted to show him the "family business." Leon had been grooming him to be the next Don of Darkness, but Negaduck had never wanted to be apart of the mafia. They completed all their business behind closed doors and Negaduck had always been more of the "in broad daylight" sort of mallard. Why hide the fact that he was a villain when he was so damn good at it?

As a final attempt to show Negaduck that he could have both worlds — the under the radar menace and the brutal chaos — Leon had brought him to the Black Room.

Where Stellar had been in the middle of an interrogation with a recently discovered spy.

Negaduck had a pretty strong stomach.

But seeing this poor bastard tested that. He was restrained in a dentist's chair with hot wax slowly dripping on him from the ceiling, scalding his skin as it made contact. A goon was standing nearby, holding a few thin wooden spikes, the rest of which were embedded in the ends of the spy's fingers. Stellar was lingering in the background, shadows clinging to his suit as if too afraid to swallow him whole.

After a few seconds, Stellar reached for a cooled patch of wax. He picked at the ends and calmly asked, "Where's the meet location?"

The spy whimpered but didn't say anything. Stellar sighed, disappointed, as he yanked the wax away, tearing the spy's feathers off in the process. The spy cried out, tugging at his restraints, but still said nothing.

Stellar tossed the ball of wax and feathers away, disgust clear on his face. "Who are you working for?"

The spy collapsed back into the chair, whining as more wax dripped onto his face.

"Once you give us a name, we'll stop," Stellar said matter of factly.

The spy just breathed deeply and screwed his eyes shut.

Stellar shrugged. "Then this is your own fault." He nodded to the goon who grinned and shoved another spike into the spy's next available fingertip. The spy screamed and tried to yank his hand free, but the restraints held. Stellar was smiling, a look of satisfaction on his face as he glanced toward the doorway to his guests.

His smile faded when he saw Negaduck.

Eyes flashing, Stellar glared at Leon. "He doesn't deserve to be down here."

"Thought the boy would want to see the different opportunities this job has," Leon said, a hand resting between Negaduck's shoulders and gently pushing him into the room.

Stellar sneered, not even hiding his disdain as he peered down at Negaduck. "If you insist..." He flicked his eyes up to Leon, who nodded.

"I do."

Stellar straightened, easily double Leon's height, and gave a swift nod. The lines around his beak deepened as he withheld his frown of disapproval and he grabbed Negaduck's arm, yanking him over to the chair. "Watch closely, Drakey," he ground out. "Perhaps you'll finally learn something."

The Black Room had been the first place Negaduck had blown to kingdom come when he'd taken over the Negaverse.

And yet, despite all his efforts, Negaduck was back here.

Where the dentist's chair was bolted to the floor. Where the glass cabinet along the far wall held poisons and deadly chemicals. Where the toolbox with power tools in the drawers stretched out on the opposite end. Where the surgeon's table with medical paraphernalia was poised next to the chair.

The click of dress shoes on the concrete was the only warning Negaduck received before the door to the Black Room swung open, Stellar's lanky frame outlined in the doorway. The younger mallard didn't have his fedora to peer out from under, which was a shame, but he still managed to make his glare murderous.

"Honestly, Drakey," Stellar said with a roll of his eyes as he came into the room. "Does that method of menace work on anyone?"

Negaduck knew better than to argue. It was better to let Stellar do all the talking so he couldn't twist Negaduck's words to his own needs.

Pulling a wheeled table over to the chair Negaduck was tied to, Stellar placed a paper bag on top of it and reached inside. He maintained eye contact with Negaduck as he pulled out a jar from the bag. Negaduck couldn't make out the label to prepare for whatever his father had planned, but he kept his face blank and didn't flinch when Stellar whipped off the lid and tossed it onto the table with a clatter.

Stellar scooped out a generous amount of white cream from the jar and stepped closer to Negaduck.

And no matter how hard he tried to remain unconcerned, Negaduck still jerked away.

Stellar grinned. "Relax, boy. This is for your own good."

Which was a lie he'd heard before. Everything Stellar inflicted on him was "for his own good."

He took deep breaths as Stellar walked around to the back of the chair. His heart was racing; the pounding hadn't been this intense since he was a boy.

If only there was a timeline. A schedule that Negaduck could study to see when, exactly, he'd kick the bucket. That way he would definitively know how many days he'd have to suffer before the end.

Negaduck jerked when he felt something cool spread over his arms, the chair scraping loudly across the concrete.

Stellar clicked his tongue in disapproval. "It's burn salve, you idiot. You burned away half your costume and the top layer of skin in that little blast."

Shaking his head, Negaduck bit back his sarcastic comment. There had been nothing little about that explosion.

He hated to admit it, but the cream did soothe his burns. Took away some of the heat and calmed the throbbing.

Stellar massaged the salve into Negaduck's arms fully before walking back around. His eyes zeroed in on the jar as he screwed the cap back on. "Says it should be reapplied every few hours." He glanced down at Negaduck. "We'll likely be seeing more of each other until you're completely healed."

Stellar set the jar back on the table and reached into the paper bag once more, pulling out gauze, cotton balls, medical tape, scissors, and rubbing alcohol.

"I will say," Stellar said, wheeling over a stool and sitting atop it. "It is much easier to pick up groceries in this universe." He wheeled close to Negaduck, long fingers skimming over his face. "No other people to contend with. And no need to pay for anything."

Negaduck grit his teeth, keeping his eyes locked on his father. But he didn't move his head, which he took some pride in.

Stellar withdrew his hand, looking at Negaduck as if he was a petulant child. "I am helping you, idiot boy." He reached over to the table, dabbing a cotton ball with the alcohol. "I could leave you alone. Let you contract some disease from all these injuries." He brought the ball up to Negaduck's face, rubbing it along his cheek. It stung upon contact; he must have gotten a cut during his escape from the blast.

"But I am willing to extend a helping hand," Stellar continued, eyes focused on the cut. He tossed the cotton ball, stained red with blood, onto the floor and sat back, pulling the gauze into his lap and cutting a small strip. He pulled off two small strips of the medical tape and secured the gauze to Negaduck's cheek, smoothing the tape in place with strong sure fingers.

"I need you at full strength to get us back to the Prime Universe."

Negaduck scoffed. "In your dreams, old man."

Stellar cupped Negaduck's face in his hands, his eyes dark as he stared at his son. "I hope, for your sake, that you'll cooperate." He turned Negaduck's head to look behind him. At the Black Room. "I can make you do what I want."

Pulling Negaduck's head back around to the front, Stellar studied him. "I don't want to be pushed to those limits, Drakey." He caressed Negaduck's cheek with his thumb. "But it all depends on you. You get to decide how you'll give me the information; willingly or under force."

Stellar released Negaduck and leaned back, dabbing more alcohol onto a cotton ball.

Negaduck squared his jaw and looked his father in the eye. "Good luck."

Stellar laughed. "I have no need for your luck."

Each morning I get up I die a little

Can barely stand on my feet

Take a look in the mirror and cry

Lord, what you doing to me?

I spent all my years believing you

But I just can't get no relief, Lord

I work hard every day of my life

I work till I ache in my bones

At the end of the day

I take home my hard earned pay all on my own

I go down on my knees and I start to pray

Till the tears run down from my eyes, Lord

Time became irrelevant in the Black Room.

Weeks, days, hours became things of the past.

All Negaduck was aware of were two things: when Stellar was in the room and when he wasn't.

Those times when Stellar wasn't there, Negaduck got to rest. Fell into a fitful sleep if the day had been more mild.

The days that were more intense, Negaduck would try to ease the pain away. Adjust to what he'd endured and prepare for the next time Stellar would come into the room.

The times when Stellar was there….

Negaduck tried to not give away his thoughts. Or say anything. But he wasn't always successful.

Stellar pulled out bottles from the glass cabinet. Brought out tools from the toolbox. Brandished his surgical items. Used all the skills he'd collected over the course of his long life.

Negaduck had always sympathized with the spy from all those years ago. When things got bad, he would think, "At least I'm not him."

He didn't think that anymore.

Every day

I try and I try and I try

But everybody wants to put me down

They say I'm going crazy

They say I got a lot of water in my brain

Got no common sense, I got nobody left to believe in

Got no feel, I got no rhythm

I just keep losing my beat

I'm okay, I'm all right

I ain't gonna face no defeat

I just gotta get out of this prison cell

One day I'm gonna be free, Lord

The door slammed open, Negaduck wincing as his head pounded in protest at the loud noise. But he didn't have time to recover, long boney fingers wrapping around his neck an instant later, cutting off his air. He loosed a choked cough in the otherwise quiet room.

"You startle so easily, Drakey," Stellar said in his deep baritone. His sharp features swam in Negaduck's spotted vision. "Have you had time to consider my offer?"

Even if the fingers weren't wrapped around his gullet, choking the air out of him, Negaduck wouldn't have answered.

Stellar must have sensed that because he snarled, tightening his hold on Negaduck's throat. "I'm getting tired of your stubbornness, boy!"

Just as suddenly as the fingers had appeared, they released their hold. Stellar stroked his son's face as Negaduck gasped down air. "Aren't you tired, Drakey?"

So tired. Everything in him was crying out in exhaustion.

"You don't have to build the bridge back to the Prime Universe," Stellar said softly, his fingers still caressing Negaduck's face tenderly. If such a word could be attributed to Stellar. "You can tell me how to build it. I'll do all the work. And then you can be alone."

Stellar leaned closer, fingers gentle as they cupped Negaduck's cheek. "I would do that for you, Drakey. I'd let you go."

Negaduck turned his head, blinking blearily at Stellar. The older mallard almost looked soft in the low lighting and amidst Negaduck's blurry vision.

Stellar smiled. "You'd like that, wouldn't you, Drakey?"

He would.

"To be released."

That would be nice.

"And I would do it."

That sounded like another lie, but even if it was, Negaduck wouldn't be around much longer to find out.

"Just tell me how to get back."

There was the problem.

Negaduck closed his eyes as he released a shaky breath. When he opened his eyes again, Stellar was right there in front of him with an expectant expression on his face.

"Go to hell," Negaduck spat, marveling at how graveled his voice sounded.

Stellar's expression immediately darkened, his fingers clawing down Negaduck's cheek. Standing at his full height, he peered down at Negaduck with fury written in the long lines in his brow. "Want to know something about the body, Drakey? It can adjust to practically anything over time. It's extraordinarily resilient. But you know what it can't adjust to? An abrupt change."

He withdrew something and Negaduck heard a loud bang before his left shoulder exploded in an inferno of pain. His vision whitened and his lungs seized, not letting him draw breath to release the scream that was stuck in his throat.

His weary muscles tensed as he tried to curl in on himself, to protect the newly wounded area, but he was still tied down. His wrists and ankles burned, rubbed raw from the restraints, but it was nothing to the pain in his shoulder.

Negaduck was vaguely aware of movement around the chair, but didn't think much of it until he was curled on his side, his hand coming up to grip onto his shoulder.

Just as he realized he'd been untethered since he was able to curl up on his side, and that was a bad sign, hands grabbed ahold and yanked him off the dentist chair. Shoved him down onto the unforgiving concrete floor.

Negaduck grunted as he came in contact with the ground, vision spotted with blood and feathers.

No.

It wasn't his vision.

It was the floor.

Littered with pieces of himself from the sessions with Stellar.

He shifted, trying to move into any position that didn't wreak havoc on his shoulder, and caught sight of his palm, stained red with fresh blood.

Stellar had shot him point blank in the shoulder.

Bastard.

Wait.

Where was Stellar?

He glanced up and saw his father looming over him.

"See, Drakey?" he said, a wild gleam in his eye as he brandished a rope in front of Negaduck's face. "Sudden pain. The brain can't handle it. It's too abrupt a change."

His boney hands reached down, grabbing Negaduck's blistered and scabbed wrists, forcing them above his head. Negaduck cried out as the bullet in his shoulder tore at his muscles with this new angle, his arm an inferno of agony.

Which, suddenly, became so much worse as his arms were tugged.

Up and away.

He screamed. His throat was already raw, but the pain was too much to hold in.

The fire was all consuming. He was sure his shoulder was about to be ripped from its socket and he didn't think that was such a bad thing with how furiously it hurt.

Slowly, the world came back into semi-focus. Stellar stood beneath him, a pleased expression on his face.

Beneath him?

Negaduck blinked, taking in his surroundings.

Still in the Black Room.

But he was floating in the middle of it.

Glancing up and wincing when his shoulder protested, Negaduck saw his hands tied together with the rope Stellar had been holding. And the other end was attached to something in the ceiling.

Stellar had strung him up by his injured shoulder in the middle of the room.

He met Stellar's eyes, who was grinning.

"Perhaps, in a few hours, you'll have changed your mind." Stellar reached up and tapped Negaduck on his bad shoulder, causing him to release an involuntary cry.

With a chuckle, Stellar straightened his suit jacket and left the room, closing the door with a finite snap.

Negaduck sighed, whimpering when his shoulder was jostled.

But there was no way to not jostle it when he was being held aloft by the damn thing.

He tried to maneuver so his right shoulder was holding most of his weight, groaning as his bad one burned and throbbed, blood streaming down his side. The red rivulets streamed down the yellow tatters of what remained of his suit, dripping down to create a puddle on the floor.

If he was lucky, Stellar would have hit a major artery and Negaduck would bleed out before this new wound reached a state of infection.

But Negaduck had never considered himself lucky.

He didn't try to struggle against the rope. Didn't move his fingers to encourage blood flow. The sooner his arms went numb, the better.

Then he wouldn't feel the pull and burning in his shoulder.

Dropping his head to his chest, Negaduck closed his eyes and prayed for unconsciousness or, even better, death.

A/N: I think I'm back to a semi-normal schedule now, so I'm hoping to update this once a week like I normally do. Thanks for sticking with this so far! I'll see you all, hopefully, next week. ~RS