This has been a long time coming, huh?
Well... I have no excuse. Just.. Enjoy. Please.
/
When Miku finally opened her eyes, she instantly understood that she had yet to actually wake. Her mind had thrown her back into that dark place, side by side with Zatsune. Said hallucination looked on with a look of feral glee. The twisted smile on her face revealed sharp teeth, teeth Miku had not noticed when previously faced with Zatsune. It was a frightening siht. Or it would be, if Miku understood fear. The feeling had not been good; so intense and full-blown it caused her to completely black out. What was the great thing about emotions again?
"Awake?" Zatsune asked. It took Miku a moment to notice how the hallucination said this aloud, lips moving over those demonic teeth to form the single word.
"No," Miku stated because, well, she technically wasn't.
"No need for smartass responses, Miku dear," Zatsune sneered. A sudden pain in her wrist caused Miku to glance down, her eyes catching on the sight of Zatsune's fingers encircling her wrist and squeezing. The synthetic bones and hardware beneath her skin protested, cracking ominously. Miku flinched as Zatsune's red eyes held her own. The color red held her to her spot, allowing no room for distraction.
"We're alone in your mind, locked up with all your emotions and feelings and thoughts. I wonder what I can do to make you feel again," Zatsune's voice was a threatening hiss, eyes narrowing coldly. Miku gasped as her wrist collapsed inward, crushing the thin metal membrane under the skin and shooting pain throughout her body.
"Enough," Miku demanded, pulling her wrist into a cradle-hold. It was too horrible to look at so she kept her gaze locked on Zatsune.
"Make me," Zastune growled, snapping out a hand to grip Miku by the throat. While she didn't need to breath, the pain of the fingers wrapped around her neck was enough to urge a cry of discomfort from her.
"Let me go," she choked out.
"No," Zatsune replied simply.
/
In the real world, Miku was soon discovered unconscious by Oliver and Gumi, who had backtracked to the room in order to find Gumi's headphones, which she had left back on a table. The headphones were all but completely forgotten when the two stumbled across Miku, who lay in a rather unnatural position on the floor. Curled in on herself, she had tucked her left arm close to her chest gently. This was, of course, the wrist Zatsune had chosen to crush in her mind. While it was unharmed, phantom pains shot through her body as she lay there.
"What happened?" Oliver asked Gumi as she bent to examine Miku. As she reached out a hand to the girl's face, Miku curled tighter inwards and groaned. While neither Vocaloid could hear it, a word escaped her lips as the groan left.
"There's something wrong," Gumi told him urgently. "Go get someone."
Oliver nodded, following her instruction quickly. His bare feet left an unnerving echo in the hall, accompanied by a gag and a cough from Miku. She turned over quickly onto her back, thrashing against an unknown force.
Oh, God, Gumi thought. Please hurry, Oliver.
/
Upon reentering Miku's mind, you could find her under the weight of Zastune as the girl's finger clutched tighter at her neck. Struggling was almost useless. Even in her own mind, Zatsune had the upper hand.
"Why not beg?" Zatsune demanded coldly, digging her nails into the synthetic skin on Miku's neck. While Miku's own hands clawed desperately at the other's, Zatsune allowed no slack into her harsh grip.
"Why-" Miku managed, choking out the single word before struggling to continue, even under the grip around her throat. "Why try?"
Zatsune's eyes widened as a grin fought its way onto her face. "How right you are. So few words used to cover what you know to be true."
Miku felt her face harden into a harsh scowl and began to thrash against her attacker.
Zatsune gave her nothing in return. Her grip remained the same.
"I've been waiting for this," Zastune hissed. "You aren't going anywhere."
/
Oliver found Kaito, Meiko, Dell, and Lily in a sitting room nearby. Kaito and Lily were sitting on either side of a chess board, eyes fixed on the game intently.
"Miku's passed out!" the boy exclaimed as the older 'loids glanced up to him.
"Where?" Meiko demanded. He led them out of the room and back to Gumi, who was trying to restrain Miku as she thrashed harshly.
"I don't understand!" the green-haired Vocaloid cried desperately. Dell scooped the girl up himself, ignoring her flailing limbs and tiny shrieks.
"What's happened?" Oliver demanded, concern flooding his young face. Dell was at a loss as to what to tell him.
"I have no idea," Dell admittedly, finding the familiar gaze of Meiko and finding the same confusion in her eyes.
/
Gagging, Miku threw her head back against an invisible floor, feeling her skull connect with whatever was there. Pain rung throughout her head.
Zatsune's fingers, impossibly, tightened. Miku felt her windpipe collapse and gasped.
She can't kill me, Miku thought desperately. None of this is real!
Though doubt nagged at her as her vision darkened in spots.
/
Dell had managed to strap the girl's hands into place on one of the beds in his clinic. Meiko, Kaito, and Luka, stood with worried looks on their faces. Gumi and Oliver had not been allowed in and chose to wait outside, though Dell had a feeling that Gumi would soon rush off to find Miku's UTAUloid friends. No doubt they would be worried.
"Where's Akira?" Dell demanded, turning to the oldest Vocaloids of the house. His gaze settled on Luka and she shook her head.
"He's been trapped in one meeting after another since this morning," she explained. None of them voiced the fact that he probably couldn't help anyway.
"We're on our own," Kaito said decisively.
/
"I'll kill you," Zatsune told her quietly. "If you die here, you'll die. No more Hatsune Miku. Not that anyone will mind. You've never treated anyone very well."
Miku's eyes fought to remain open and locked on Zatsune's own sparking red gems. In the darkness that surrounded them, Miku thought that those eyes above her were the only sources of light.
"What do you wish to say before I snap your neck?" Zastune asked. "Might it be 'please don't kill me?' Or perhaps 'I don't want to die?' Tell me."
Miku felt her eyes roll into the back of her skull as the pain increased. In was an overwhelming feeling, intensified as each second passed. It was a horrible, horrible, burden. If humans felt pain, why would anyone ever want to be human?
"Answer!" Zastune demanded in a shriek, using her far greater strength to bang Miku's head into the ground below as hard as she could. Miku's neck felt raw and on the verge of snapping.
"Who-" she began.
"Why don't you speak up? I can barely hear you," Zatsune hissed the taunt quietly, grin widening.
"Who… are… you?" Miku managed. Those red eyes above her widened in surprise then narrowed angrily.
"You created me! You named me! You know who I am!" Zastune shrieked, pressing her thumbs into the bruising flesh on Miku's neck. Miku felt her arms release their fixed position over her chest and her hands no longer held tight to Zatsune's wrists as she tried to pry her fingers away.
"Zastune?" Miku choked. "No."
The hallucination had no way of knowing what her creator really meant. 'No, you aren't Zatsune'? 'No, Zatsune, stop'? The confusion that set in served only to thoroughly piss her off.
"Zatsune!" a familiar voice joined them. Miku was sliding into unconsciousness, unable to recognize the shining figure that slid into her vision.
"Let her go," the softest, sweetest voice she had ever heard entered her distorted hearing, demanding her release. Miku just couldn't place the voice and didn't much care. Darkness was filling all her senses and she was beginning to wish for the end.
But the fingers around her neck were suddenly gone, leaving her with a dulled pain and a harsh cough as she took in a breath. Her skin felt like it was on fire, but even that was better than how she had felt moments before. Though she fought unconsciousness, it drew her in all the same. Just before the crushing darkness closed in on her completely, she felt the gentle press of lips to her temple and a loving voice whispered warm words into her ears.
When she eventually woke up, those words were forgotten
/
Have I jumped the shark on this? I think I might've.
Anyway, review if you wish. I love reviews.