Although the first few hours of captivation hadn’t bothered the student enough to do more than pout a little over his cupcakes (that he really had put his heart and soul into, because he felt guilty for being rather useless to his team lately), roughly three or four hours in, the bright smiles and random animal facts started to die down. It was after another two or three hours that he really started to get restless and anxious, his hands nervously fidgeting with his skirt as he was starting to realize that the ladders in his tights, or the loss of his baked good, were the least of his worries. Eun Jae shifted on his spot on the edge of one of the hard beds, the bright and hopeful smile completely wiped off his features. “They can’t keep us in here that long, can they?” A sweater paw reached up to lightly tug at the collar around his neck. “My boyfriend will come get us soon.” He then added with a nod, as if he hadn’t already suggested the same thing a couple of times over the past few hours.
That was his last word before time went still. Just for a moment, like in the explosion of the previous tragedy, Robin felt a tickle starting in his fingertips that started to spread through his body as his eyes pleaded for his father as he felt something heavy and metallic around his neck. Eyes usually full of confidence and even a taint of arrogance were now fearful as they connected with his father’s through the crowd with an extended hand towards him. BUT IT WAS TOO LATE. The energy that would’ve helped him release himself was suddenly cut dryly by another electric shock that paralyzed him and with one last hit to the head, everything turned black.
He wakes up and everything hurts, his head is heavy and he can’t breathe properly. He doesn’t know where he is, but a bright light suddenly bothers his eyes and then a cold waterfall over his head. Robin leaped up, losing his balance almost immediately as he found himself only in underwear in a white room with nothing but a table and clothes on it, clothes that weren’t his, of course.
“What the----?”, he scoffed and coughed. His head was KILLING him and his body... his body felt unusually heavy. He stumbled around, but nothing could be seen, so he decided to approach the table.
“Prisoner 667, get dressed and a guard will walk you to your cell”.
The voice came from a little speaker above him and he couldn’t do more than glare towards it as he decided to get his cold aching body into the ridiculous clothing and almost immediately, someone got in to retrieve him. The uniform was slightly different, but the dove logo was easily recognizable. His heart dropped. Robin felt a sudden wave of uncertainty and FEAR that quickly sparkled in his eyes for the amusement of the guard.
“Not so bad now, huh?”, the man teased as he placed some special handcuffs around his hands that wouldn’t allow him to even move a finger.
“You got the fucking prisoner number wrong, asshole; what prisoner got 666? I want that one, are we allowed to exchange prisoner numbers like St. Valentine’s cards?”, Robin muttered with a smirk that just earned him another electric discharge from the collar, causing him to fall on his knees and still, whether this was his panic expressing in an odd way or actual amusement by the whole situation, the boy dropped another chuckle as he was rushed with the barrel of the rifle to stand up. “No sense of humor, got’cha”.
As they walked through the halls of the installation, Robin took mental note on the doors, cameras and guards patrolling, but as soon as they reached the prisoner’s pavilion, he wasn’t able to raise his head. He felt like a failure, like a newbie and the whole opposite of everything he should be according to his genes. Although he reacted to a squeaky voice... was that... Sunny? And he turned his head to confirm his suspicion. “Sunny!!”, he yelled, but yet another discharge shook his body and forced him to move forward reluctantly. How many mutants had been captured? How many of his friends were captured? Robin perked up his head and started looking around but there was no sign of Aerith, Aki or Go anywhere which on one side made him feel relieved, but on the other... he wondered if they were taken somewhere else.
Heavily, he dragged his feet until he was behind the impenetrable glass (?) door. There was nothing but a simple blanket and cold and hard excuse of a bed. The handcuffs were taken off and as soon as he attempted to instinctively release some power, a shock way higher than the previous ones hurt his body until he was laying on the floor in fetal position. Nothing could be heard inside, it was absolute solitude since he couldn’t see anything outside either, the glass door worked as a mirror from which he hid because he looked PATHETIC. Horribly disheveled and weak.
He was alone and powerless.
His body started trembling at the idea, he felt a copper taste in his tongue as tried to accept the idea that he was completely and utterly VULNERABLE. So many years of privileged safety were gone; once he thought of himself as unreachable, basically immortal! Ange and Silver Knight were his parents, who would ever dare to truly mess with him? Robin had never feel the emptiness of real separation and abandonment, he never had to really worry about his well-being or having enemies. The arrogance of privilege had swallowed him in the same way that swallowed the idiotic celebrities he criticized so much and he was like them. HE WAS NOTHING BUT THE CARCASS OF STUPID OVERPRICED PRIVILEGE.
Tears started streaming down his cheeks as he hugged his knees closer to his chest. He was horribly frightened and he didn’t know what to do. For the first time in his life he didn’t know what to do. Robin closed his eyes and tried to gather all that disorganized energy and focus it on one thought a time; mess could affect the mind and make you weak and so... he concentrated. Slowly, he managed to unwrap his body and crawl up to the bed where he sat with eyes open and facing his reflection. He had no powers and a very little chance to survive this according to the screams heard coming from one of the rooms. Robin couldn’t afford to lose himself to fear, even if his hands were currently shaking about it in complete panic to just consider the idea that he was nothing but a mere human right now, that he was COMMON. That was point one.
Point two: the collar. It sent shocks to his body upon a guards request or whenever he tried to activate his mutation, it was heavy and awfully uncomfortable; probably it was also the one that had him in this lethargic state of sickness that barely allowed him to move. Stay calm and save energy, Robin. That’s all he could do for now.
Point three: THIS WAS THE SECOND TIME. First it was that ridiculous little cult out of Crystalline’s territory, they were drugged and held captive. Robin had felt a huge impotence back then, but the fact that he let himself get captured again? UNFORGIVABLE. He had to get sure it wouldn’t happen again; he promised his friends safety and was easily taken down like an animal. Because they were animals. Animals and nothing else, according to the Doves. This was the second time he was facing this and it was EVEN WORSE. How did he let this happen, how did he even get captured? What was he even doing when that happened? He promised not to be that careless since the first time and he was doing an excellent job, so WHAT HAPPENED?
OH.
Point four: Betrayal. The rally was stupid, VERY STUPID, but while enraging and annoying, it was going in a peaceful way until some mutants decided to step in to protest as well. Chaos was soon settling in the whole event and while Robin intended to leave the scene BECAUSE IT WASN’T HIS BUSINESS, but screaming made him freeze in his steps. The heroic heart he shared with his mother made it impossible for him to be entirely neutral to the situation and with clenched teeth and damning himself, he rushed to aid those in trouble. Robin saved their lives, but there was no gratitude in their eyes, just the traditional fear and repulsion of the anti-mutants. They turned him in.
To think he had spent most of his life defending the innocent no matter the situation; of course, he always looked to aid himself first, but there was never a bully that got victory when he was around and to think he risked his life so many times for strangers, he got scars and a broken rib and the ONE time he decides to aid the lost souls because that’s the right thing to do, that ONE time... HE GETS ARRESTED AND THROWN INTO A CAGE.
BUT NO MORE.
No more helping the fallen, no more aiding those in need. His heart ached. No more secret aspirations of becoming a hero, no more good deeds and no more kindness. Humans were a stained race, humans and anyone against mutants. WHY SHOULD THEY DESERVE MERCY? Mutants hadn’t chosen to be born with their powers and yet, they were punished. They were reborn many times while entire human civilizations perished through the years; they didn’t deserve the Earth. Humans were always scared of mutants and had hunted them since the beginning of times and with good reason; but this time, the outcome would be different.
26/05/19
04:17 AM.
The measure of how long he’d been walking, or how deep into the base he now was, was unknown to him. The intimidating aura the metallic hallways seemed to exude to certain mutants was completely lost on him, though it was hard to blame him for his overconfidence judging by the way the very oxygen in the room seemed to shy away from his path. Lips stained with splatters of raw red from a recent kill, contrasting almost garishly against the porcelain skin and the chasm dark eyes, and knuckles bruised from knocking into a withering rib cage, the man clearly was making no effort to blend in or be subtle as he manoeuvred the lower level of the base. Had they desired their mercy, they ruined their chances when they chose to take the one person he loved more than himself.
Destruction haunted his resolute footsteps, a landscape of horror. Painted within the frame were the mangled bodies of enforcers that had crossed his path, each efficiently disposed of, the tearing in the walls from the altercation, revealing circuit boards and scurrying noises that probably belonged to rodents. Smears of red washed across the canvas. Blood everywhere, on the walls, on the floor, on his hands, on his tongue. It had been years since Lucien had gotten his own hands dirty, often leaving the busy work to his minions. Since Robin’s capture, the blood lust had been too strong to resist, however, and was unlikely to subside until he got his boy back. And he would, even if he had to turn the entire fortress into a graveyard.
It was one of the few times his face was completely drained of any humanity, no flickers of life visible across the smooth planes of his handsome face. Everything about him betrayed the darkness that wrapped around his heart like a sickness. Still he gave no notice, even to the similarly determined footsteps of his ex-wife and natural-born enemy, Silver Knight. His eyes were focused on the path ahead, only pausing to zero in on the face of each door, his brain frantic and thoughts dagger-sharp as each of his synapses seemed to shrilly demand, are we near him yet? Is this a step closer to making sure our Robin is safe.
Their son was here somewhere, waiting, and while Lucien tended to derive immature pleasure from making people wait, he had no patience for it this time. The only thing keeping him from going door to door and carrying out a base-wide slaughter was the risk of failing to reach the one cell that mattered most in time. Harriet had been the one to talk some sense into him. Otherwise he would have already stalked into the Mayor’s undeserved office and ripped out his throat. Robin would be proud to know how much self-restraint he has built up since their last meeting, he mused briefly, the thought replaced within seconds by something darker. Perhaps his son was counting on his mercilessness this time. Maybe he had been stupid to be swayed by his wife’s gentle reasoning.
Because even if they managed to ensure Robin’s safety, he would be damning the rest of the mutants within the base.
At that thought, the scarlet-tinged mouth twisted with clear disdain. He wondered what was worse, the fact she was right or the fact he didn’t have it within him to care. Though there were people he cared for within this cursed building, none of them amounted to Robin’s worth. For all his fantasies of himself as a benevolent leader, he was failing his team on that front.
It made the hairs at the nape of his neck stand at attention and caused that same exhilaration to turn into acid almost instantly after ward. In a drugged manner, his view consisting only of a series of doors and the sad fools guarding it, and the sound of their bones when they crushed under his grip. He thought instead of Robin when he was just a boy, still round-faced and wide-eyed and the way everything had seemed so vast and bright and possible.
The mayor was confirming all that he already knew. So long as humans were left in a relative position of power over mutant-kind, their futures would be in a constant state of jeopardy. Abruptly halting in his steps, he reached up to rub his temples, if only to eradicate any distracting thoughts of murder from his mind. “This hallway is clear,” He said, pushing at the arm of some young enforcer with the toe of his shoe, wondering how satisfying it would be to step over him as they moved ahead. “They’re not all dead,” He added, not wanting to see the look on Harriet’s face.
Because this right here was where they always disagreed. For all their chemistry and the depth of their romantic bond, he could never convince her of his methods. A part of him resentfully felt that his lover would understand him if she were like him. Harriet bravely donned a suit every day and fought alongside mutants for a cause she believed in, but when the sun set and she came home, she could always take the suit off and leave it to collect dust.
She had that choice to be human. To be saved.
Robin, his team, - others like them - they did not have that option.
Lowering his bloodstained hands, the tall male released a tired sigh. “According to your intel, he should be one floor up, correct? Due to his... threat level.” It was said bitterly. For what were mutants if not threats to all humans, whose inferior birth and refusal to revolve would always place them on the wrong side of history. “I will hurt every single creature that falls in our path,” He warned. “And you can’t stop me. But I can’t have you hating me either. Are we... At least for this mission, we’re on the same side, you and I. Correct?”
He raised his chin as he stared at her, the irony of waiting until after he head carelessly allowed her to witness a massacre carried out by the hands of the man she loved not lost on him. “If you’re agreed, let’s carry on. If not, you can wait here.” @oblame @chxoticpulse
