Disclaimer: If I owned Victorious...this would be one dark show...
A/N: Between constantly writing (or trying to write) Break, school, other stuff, and writer's block, this chapter has been on hold for a bit. Mostly because I couldn't figure it out. But thanks to IJ, it's done.
Enjoy.
Chapter 2
Wasteland, 2022
The bar is noisy, despite the occupants' fear of Tori. Things are almost normal here, as if Los Angeles isn't a leveled city around them. Most of the people in the bar used to be the nicest people anyone could ever know; now they're the worst creatures to ever come across. Terror creates monsters of men, fear etched into their minds and the very depths of their souls, transforming them into spineless cowards.
At a table in the farthest, darkest corner sits the awkward man, drink in hand, watching his surroundings. There was a time where he'd never be seen in a place such as this, when things were going pretty well for him. He had something to live for, even though his life was dominated by a talking puppet, but still…He was never full of regret and despair as he is now.
He sits on the edge of his bed, Rex on his lap, the two of them arguing about what happened earlier that day, how Tori had completely lost her mind. Their discussion is interrupted by a scream downstairs and Robbie rushes to the living room, prepared to incapacitate the object of his mother's terror. However, when he finds his mother, he notices Tori a few feet away, scythe in hand. "Leave her alone!" he shouts, false confidence in his words, and she knows he's afraid.
She smirks and angles the blade toward Robbie and Rex. Something bites his hand and he looks down in shock. Rex, his lifeless puppet, is just that, lifeless. There's an ominous sense in the room now, something that itches Robbie like a rash. His mother is staring at Rex in shock and fear, but before Robbie can figure out why, Rex jumps off of his arm. "I'm done with you, puppet boy." Robbie's dumbstruck, frozen in fear at the possibility of his puppet coming to life. The living puppet snatches a knife and spins around toward his previous taxi, slashing at Robbie. The boy's arms snap up to block his face and he screams in pain as the blade slices through his arm, cutting neatly through skin and bone. "You can't control me now!" Rex shouts, gloating of his victory.
Robbie tries to rid the knife, but Rex slashes again, this time catching him across the stomach. Between the gushing from his stump of an arm and the gash across his belly, he's losing too much blood, his vision blurred, his brain fuzzy and light. The last thing he hears before the world goes black is the sound of his mother's horrified, bloody scream as Rex swings the blade through her throat.
He's waiting for his targets to walk through the door, knowing they'll arrive shortly. This isn't his first visit; he knows Trina and Andre come here often. As if on cue, the door opens and the duo enters the bar, both of them glancing around for a table. Andre's eyes find Robbie's and the two of them move in his direction, passing a table of drunkards playing poker. The familiar weirdo sits at that table, managing to keep a bar brawl from breaking out.
Trina sits between the two men, her eyes fixed on the table in front of her, and Robbie can tell something's off but he doesn't say anything. He never says anything, no matter what he sees. Andre glances at him, nervous, but it's Trina who speaks. "We have to do something about Tori, Robbie. We can't go through this anymore and letting her live is just going to make things worse. She'll eventually want to expand her 'empire' and take over other places and that's too many lives that will be lost that should be left alone."
She has a point, but there's no way to stop Tori in this lifetime. She's immortal, Death personified, a shadow among people. With no way to defeat her, Tori is the invincible, the bringer of their doom. Andre shakes his head. "There has to be some way to stop her."
Robbie shrugs and looks to Trina, who's deep in thought. Of all the people in the world, including Andre and Cat, she knows Tori better than anyone alive. "The only weapon against her doesn't exist anymore and even mentioning that will piss off Tori more than anything." She glances around the bar and sighs. "How many of these people will end up dead tomorrow? Next week? Next month?"
Andre reaches out and touches her arm. "Trina, calm down. We'll think of something."
Trina can't calm down. There are so many reasons why she hates her sister; Tori is the cause of their parents' death all those years ago, of Andre's and Cat's and Beck's and Robbie's parents. She's the reason for Robbie's missing arm, for the deaths of thousands of people.
"Tori, calm down! It isn't your fault. It isn't anyone's fault that this happened," Trina tries, but her sister is too far gone to listen to her. Their parents are trying to stop her from destroying the chapel, but there's nothing that can be done. Their daughter has become someone else entirely. Trina knows she's wrong in what she did here, but Tori's been unstable for days.
Tori smirks, an ominous glow in her eyes, and before Trina can stop her, the chapel is shrouded in darkness. The older Vega girl hears screams, the echoes making it impossible to determine from where. A hand closes around her throat and suddenly her sister's face is inches from hers. "I really should kill you," she snarls and it impales Trina's soul like an ice pick. Tori's eyes are crimson, dark as blood, something that Trina will never forget.
"What are we supposed to do, Andre? Do we sit around and wait for Tori to get tired of us and kill all of us too? God only knows she wants to."
Andre nods and glances at Robbie. "Do you have any ideas?" The silent man shakes his head, unable to contribute to their thoughts. "Damn it. There has to be some way to end this. We can't keep living like this, always cowering under Tori's power."
GRIM
Tori paces the living room, the notebook in her hand, the words bouncing in her mind. Andre and Trina are planning ways to stop her, to kill her, and she can't let that happen. They might not have an answer yet…but what if they do? Then what will she do? She stops pacing and hands the notebook to Robbie, whose eyes are dark and empty. She reaches out to touch his shoulder and he flinches. Her hand drops. He fears her enough; she doesn't need to continue her control over him. "Go and get some rest." He nods and exits through the front door, leaving Tori alone to her thoughts. She crosses the living room and climbs the stairs to her bedroom, slamming the door open. Damn it! Trina and Andre can't defeat her; why is she worried? Do they actually have a chance?
"You've really let yourself go, haven't you?" Her eyes snap to her headboard, where a pale girl with dark hair sits, twirling scissors. "What in the hell happened to you, Vega? Ending lives, planning to end lives, trying to be so goddamn immortal…Did I miss something?"