This is an idea I've had for a while that kept bugging me. So here you all go!
Pain.
If fifteen-year-old Lee Ginseng had to describe his life in one word, it would be just that: pain.
He had been experimented on, though the word "experiment" isn't quite accurate. Experiments have rhyme and reason to them, some sort of thirst for knowledge. Experiments are an attempt to find the true nature of the subject. No, what they had put him through was nothing but mindless torture.
It had started at the age of five, when the men in white came. When they arrived at the door of his home, his mother looked so, so terrified. She begged and pleaded with the men not to take her child, his father joining as well. Lee didn't know why his mom and dad got on their hands and knees crying before these men, but looking back on it, he wished the men had simply left in peace.
But life, Lee remembered, was hardly fair. He learned that the hard way after what had transpired in the next few moments after. The men had grabbed him, lifting him off the ground. Out of sheer instinct, he kicked and screamed, calling for his parents. He didn't know where these men were taking him, but he had no desire to leave his home without his parents. His father grabbed the man holding him by the wrist, his grip like a vice. But then it happened.
A loud bang. Lee could only watch as his father slumped to the floor, blood pooling around his head. He heard his mother scream. The men were yelling, but Lee was in shock, not knowing what was going on. The young boy's mind was brought back to reality by another bang.
He slowly turned his eyes to look at the now deceased form of his mother. His shock grew more and more. What was happening? Who were these men? Why did his mom and dad suddenly go quiet? But most importantly, where were these men taking him?
All of these questions swirled in the young boy's head, overwhelming his brain. With nothing else he could do, Lee simply passed out in shock.
When Lee next awoke, he found himself in some sort of stone room. It was dark, but he could make out metal bars on the far end of the room. He briefly wondered where he was before the events that brought him here resurfaced.
His mom and dad were gone. Deep down, he instinctively knew this. Lee wondered why they took him. Why him of all people? He wasn't special. His parents weren't special. He was by all means average, maybe even a bit below that.
Slowly, he stood up, walking towards the bars. His legs were still a bit shaky, a result of not being used in a while. How long was he asleep? Hours? Days? He couldn't tell as there were no windows. As he looked out of his cell, he could see something.
Five circles, connected by lines in a cross formation.
Lee didn't have time to ponder what this meant as he heard something from his left.
A door opened and a tall man walked through, pulling a chair up and sitting down in front of his cell.
The man introduced himself as a "Dr. Vegapunk" whatever that meant. Lee didn't know what to make of this strange man, so he stayed pressed against the wall farthest from him. Vegapunk sighed, expecting this sort of reaction. Honestly, what were those high and mighty morons thinking giving him such a young child!? Reaching into his coat pocket, he produced a chocolate bar and set it on the ground.
"I'm sorry." He spoke, his tone somber. "I didn't want this to happen. I don't know what those idiots were thinking!"
Lee stared up at the man. He was very tall, far taller than the young boy, but he could see it written all over the scientist's face. It was a look of true sadness and regret. Lee decided that the man before him wasn't dangerous, and slowly got up to walk towards him.
"It's okay. You weren't there." He reached a hand through the bars, his arm just barely long enough to reach the doctor's pants. He rubbed Vegapunk's leg much in the way his own mother would rub his head to reassure him. It appeared to work somewhat as Vegapunk's face relaxed a bit.
"You're pretty smart for your age. What's your name, kid?" Vegapunk sat down on the floor, now at eye level.
"Lee Ginseng! I'm gonna be known all over the world someday!" He repeated the line he would always tell his parents.
"The world, eh?" Vegapunk mused with a soft smile on his features. "The world's a pretty big place. You really think you can do it?"
"I know I can!" Lee puffed out his chest with pride. He sure had a lot of gusto for his size, Vegapunk thought.
"I'd love to see it." Was his response.
A month had passed since Lee was captured. Vegapunk would stop by his cell every day to check up on him. The kind doctor would show him many different fantastical inventions, and the boy would be in awe at every single one. They had grown close, their bond deepening by the day. But one day, something different happened.
When Vegapunk had shown up for his usual visit, he looked more somber than he normally did.
"Vega!" Lee ran towards him, before noticing the downtrodden expression he wore. "Vega? Are you sad?"
"No, Lee. Just tired. My bosses are working me to the bone." He sat on the ground. He didn't want to hurt Lee in the slightest, the boy had already suffered enough at the hands of the government. But orders were orders, he just hoped that Lee would forgive him.
"Vega?" Lee tilted his head in confusion. Vegapunk hadn't brought any cool stuff to show him today, which he took as a sign that something wasn't quite right.
"I'm fine, kid..." Taking a deep breath, he pulled a small vial of dark blue liquid from his coat pocket. "I need you to drink this... okay?"
Lee eyed the odd concoction curiously. It looked to be safe enough, and Vegapunk had never wronged him before so it must be okay. Slowly grabbing the vial, he quickly drank it. The liquid tasted faintly of blueberry.
Vegapunk meanwhile had shut his eyes tightly. The last few hundred times he had tried this particular mixture, it had always resulted in the needless loss of life. Whether it be from violent convulsions, cardiac arrest, or in some cases even violently exploding into nothing more than a pile of blood and organs, the doctor had seen many, many ways for subjects to expire from this damned thing.
Yet... the horrific sounds of rending flesh or piercing screams of pain never came. Slowly, the doctor dared to open his eyes.
Lee sat there, no worse for wear. "What's wrong, Vega?" He asked curiously. "Are you tired?"
Slowly, Vegapunk smiled, seeing that this experiment had finally succeeded. "I'm better than ever, kid." He spoke, his smile growing wider. He was glad the young boy hadn't perished at his hands like the many others before him. The only question now was, did the elixir have the desired effects?
Lee sat on the floor, crossing his legs. He stared at his hands, seemingly in bewilderment. "Vega? I feel weird." The boy rocked back and forth in place, trying to remain conscious. "It's scary..."
"Don't worry, Lee. That should only be temporary." Vegapunk reassured him, a hand on his shoulder.
"Temporary..." Lee's eyes suddenly shot wide open as he wrapped his arms around himself. Vegapunk could only watch in horror as the young boy screamed. However, these weren't screams of pain. No, it sounded much more akin to extreme exertion than anything else.
Suddenly, Lee's flesh began to seemingly morph, his body shifting into a variety of monstrous shapes! In all of his years, Vegapunk had never seen anything quite like this. But he hardly had time to think as a gigantic mass of gelatinous flesh erupted from Lee's back, taking on the form of hundreds of different heads and limbs, each belonging to a different creature, and each seeming to writhe or scream in agony. Several of these limbs belonged to nothing that had ever been discovered in nature, seemingly just made of many different animal parts thrown into one like some sort of eldritch horror.
Lee, begging for help, reached towards Vegapunk, which caused the mass to reach towards him as well. The man could only stare up at the mass of writhing flesh that loomed over him in shock. Tears streamed down his cheeks as drops of blood fell onto his face. He wanted to move, he wanted desperately to run away, but his body would not respond to him. The shock slowly cleared from his mind as he tore his eyes away from the horrific thing in front of him, and looked towards Lee, the boy he had broken. The reality of the situation had finally sunk in.
Oh God, what had he done!?
Without a second thought, he ran towards the boy and pulled him into a tight embrace, muttering a thousand apologies as he did.
Lee looked at the man who had been so kind to him. With what strength he could muster, he rubbed the kind doctor's back in reassurance.
"I'm sorry this happened, Lee. I didn't want this at all." Vegapunk sobbed, a pistol pointed towards the back of the oblivious boy's head.
"I know, Vega. I can tell."
He pulled the trigger.
