A/N sorry this took so long, we're just finishing up school so finals and projects and me finally getting over depression and some personal shit and... yeah. I'm feeling way better lately than I have for the past three months. It feels awesome to not want to die anymore and actually feel good and confidant about myself again. Well, enough of my bullshit. Y'all want chapters so have at them. I don't own Homestuck!
The Ψiioniic paced around his high-security block, his head killing him again. It'd become a regular weekly occurrence and he wasn't sure how much more he could take. He wasn't allowed out of the wing anymore. Hell, he wasn't allowed out of his block without an enormous group of armed escorts.
His eyes flashed and he groaned in pain. He fell to the floor clutching at his head as another wave of pressure rolled through his eyes and he screamed in pain.
"You bathtardth are killing me!"
He knew they could hear him. They could always hear him. He banged a hand on the ground as another wave of pain ran through his head, "Let me out! Make it thtop! Make it thtop!"
His eyes flashed again and he screeched as the wall in front of him burned and singed black. He collapsed on the floor against the recuperacoon in the corner of the block.
"Do you like watching me thuffer!? Jutht let me go or let me die!"
He clawed at his head and pulled at his hair, "I'm not crathy! I'm not inthane. I wathn't crathy until you ath'holeth brought me here! Do you like watching me die!? Do you get thome thort of thick pleathure from thith!? Jutht fucking kill me!"
He hugged his knees to his chest as yellow tears leaked down his face.
"Jutht kill me."
He sat there holding his knees, mumbling to himself and rocking back and forth on the balls of his feet.
"I jutht want to go home."
He stopped shaking and sat deadly still and silent for half a second before scooting himself over to the door and letting loose a display of red and blue flashing lights against the metal door.
"Let me out!"
The metal of the door began to melt away at the heat of the blue and red force. A hole slowly widened in the door and he ducked out, sprinting down the hallway. A red and blue field surrounded him as he made a run for the exit. He needed out, and he needed out now.
He ran down the stairs and into a corridor. He stopped and spun around searching for an exit. He could hear footsteps running down the hall behind him as he made a dash for the nearest door.
He burst into a large block filled with hundreds of trolls simply talking and enjoying what little free time they had. Men, women, and androgynes all looked up from what they were doing backing away from the scene. He ran through the crowd searching for any sort of exit, stopping when he came face to face with a wall.
The Ψiioniic whipped around and growled as the Imperial escorts surrounded him. His eyes flared dangerously as they cornered him. He snarled at them like a wild animal as he let loose an explosion of psionics and the escorts surrounding him burned to a crisp. He stared coldly at the surrounding spectators, making quick eye contact with a few of them. So many people who'd had their lives ripped from them.
His face seemed to soften as he looked from person to person. It had been nearly three sweeps since he'd seen a living soul that didn't simply see him as a rabid beast. On the contrary, these people seemed to be, for the most part, in awe.
From somewhere in the crowd someone clapped their hands, breaking the silence. The Ψiioniic looked to the sound and there stood a rather tall brownblood who continued to clap. The girl with wild hair next to him began to clap as well. More and more people joined in until a block full of applause echoed around the walls while a second group of escorts rushed in, armed this time.
The Ψiioniic looked up in fury, "Ha! Are you shitheadth going to finally kill me!? Go ahead! Thee if I care! Kill me, ath'holeth!"
There was a sharp pain in his arm and he looked down. Shit. That wasn't a bullet.
He looked back up and the world started to go blurry.
Suddenly he was on the floor and feet rushed towards him. His eyes fell closed and the only thought running through his head was, "Please god no."
Approximately three sweeps earlier, The Mutineer wandered through the recreational center of his assigned wing of the Cull Center. He sighed as he aimlessly meandered through the open space. He been there more than a perigee already and hadn't found a way to contact the Director. He paced up and down the side of the room, pulling at his hair when he bumped into someone. Someone with wild hair and familiar maroon eyes.
"Aradia! I told you not to look for me!"
The Director looked up at him and shrugged, "You're the moron who didn't come back."
"I got culled!"
She looked up at him unimpressed, "Your bad, then."
The Mutineer sighed in frustration, "This place sucks."
The Director nodded, "Yeah, that's why we've got to get the hell out, dweeb."
The Mutineer chuckled and picked her up to hug her before setting her back down and leaning in to peck her nose.
"I missed you."
She flicked his forehead, "I missed you too, dumb-butt."
He laughed and kissed the crown of her head before holding onto both of her hands and resting his own forehead against hers, "So how are we gonna get out, oh wise Director?"
The Director looked up at him with raised eyebrows, "You're expecting me to figure this shit out?"
The Mutineer chuckled and pecked her nose again, "Well, yeah. You've always been better at planning these sorts of things than me."
The Director bit her lip and looked up at him with a grimace, "In all honesty, I'm not sure how we're gonna get out of this one."
The Mutineer blinked, "You- but you- You always have a plan. You're The Director."
She looked up at him, "I have nothing to work with, no maps, no weapons, and no contact on the inside. Tav, we're on our own, and we're stuck."
The Mutineer looked down at her, confusion apparent on his face. He'd always known this was a possibility, getting culled, but it had always seemed unlikely. They… They were the good guys, bringing freedom to thousands across Beforus. They were the heroes. They got away even in the direst situations. They were the knights in shining armor, the noble thieves, the liberators, the do-gooders. They weren't the ones who lost in the end. They were the ones who got a happy ending.
"Wait- you- you mean we're not getting out?"
The Director chewed on her lower lip and nodded, "Unless we can find someone willing to help who's crazy strong or on the inside."
The Mutineer bit his lip as he took her hands, "At least we're together again."
She nodded and smiled up at him, "That we are."
He leaned down and kissed her forehead once more before whispering, "Pale for you."
She smiled and leaned up to kiss The Mutineer's cheek, "Pale for you, too."
Three sweeps later, The Signless shoved Crabdad's head through the doorway, "Stop being so fucking stubborn! You have to get out of here!"
The moon had just begun to set and if his lusus was going to get away and escape being killed and fed to the empress's custodian it had to be now while the sun still hadn't risen so that he might be able to find some shelter.
"Dad, get out the fucking door!"
He looked up at the sky fearfully as it began to grow brighter with the lethal Beforan sun peaking up the slightest bit on the horizon. The Signless desperately shoved at him as tears started to well up in his eyes, "Crabdad, please just get out."
He let go and kneeled on the floor next to him, "They're gonna kill you. You have to go."
The huge crustacean clicked his teeth together in worry as he laid a claw over The Signless's shoulders and held him close as The Signless finally broke down in his custodian's arms. He looked up as the sky lightened and he closed the front door to block out the deadly light dejectedly. He ran his hands over his custodian's back as he led him up the stairs to his block where he curled up in the corner. The Signless walked over and laid down next to his lusus, resting his head on Crabdad's back. He preferred to spend the last day with his custodian sleeping by his side.
He let the sound of clicking lull him to his last sleep in his own hive.
The next evening The Signless awoke to the sound of knocking on his door. He stood up slowly in a daze as he walked down the stairs. Everything seemed to be moving far too slowly, but yet suddenly he found himself at the bottom of the stairs, when had that happened?
He gripped the door handle as the scuttling of his lusus coming down the stairs sounded. He turned the handle and pulled the door open to be greeted by The Countess, a group of Escorts and a rather menacing and grumpy looking seadweller.
The Signless glared up at The Countess in some confused combination of rage, betrayal, hurt, and desperation.
"Don't bother visiting me, Countess."
He stepped out the door and past her, avoiding eye contact with The Countess as the escorts took ahold of each of his arms. The seadweller scoffed as he walked in the hive and a bright light flashed, followed by a pained screech. He exited the hive as if nothing had happened and began to walk away. The Signless felt his eyes grow hot and he growled before spitting at the troll who'd just killed his lusus, "You fucking bastard."
He glared at him as his throat began to tighten up and he let the escorts drag him away. He lowered his head as he was forced into the back of the transport vehicle alongside other culled trolls with broken faces and defeated eyes.
The Mutineer turned to The Director as an incredibly powerful yellowblood was dragged away.
"We need to get him out."
The Director looked up at him and furrowed her eyebrows, "There's no way that we can get him out of wherever he is. Not unless he can do… whatever he just did… again."
The Mutineer bit his lip in thought, "He could help so many people get out."
The Director nodded, "If we can get him out then we could free half the center. But there's only a few situations in which he would be let go, even for a little while."
The Mutineer nodded, "I hope the procedures here are the same as the other centers. If there's ever an evacuation we'll need to be quick to get people out. Him in particular. Imagine! He was probably in one of the highest security blocks! If he could break out of one of those, he could easily blast through the walls of the center no problem."
"If he's willing."
"Please, most people here would die for freedom."
The Director nodded, "I guess we'll just have to wait for some sort of emergency."
"But who knows how long that could be!?"
"We've been here for sweeps already, what's a few more?"
The Mutineer nodded with a sigh, "I suppose."
The Director grinned at him, "So we've finally got a plan then?'
The Mutineer quirked a smile in return, "Hell yeah, we do."