A Slave to the Bloodlust: Part 2
PART 1 Tumblr A03
Phantom shows Acid around his new home, aka the club where Phantom works / resides. Acid adjusts to his new life, while also getting introduced to some new (familiar?) faces.
word count: 5,209 words
OC INSERT / SELFSHIP WARNING. PURE CRINGE AHEAD.
Acid felt normal when he woke up.
His body didn’t hurt, he didn’t feel any weird demon shit in his veins. Had the wall he stared at not been completely foreign to him, he would have thought the events of the past night had been a nightmare or, worse, a hallucination. But he wasn’t in his bed, or his bedroom at all. The mattress under him was different, too comfortable to be his own. Sitting up, he took stock of the room again, having been too tired to do it last night.
His new room was very bland, probably was some sort of guest bedroom before he got there. The walls were a dark grey, and all the furniture in the room was made of a dark colored wood. Despite how empty the room was, everything was very fancy. Pricey, Acid could only assume. The room had no windows, though many lights lay scattered around. All but one of them was off, a lamp at Acid’s bedside table illuminating the room. The light it cast was warm, mimicking that of sunlight. No need for windows in… Where was Acid? Hell, he assumed, but he wasn’t sure.
Swinging his legs over the side of his bed, Acid was careful as he stood. He was ready to catch himself, prepared for his legs to give out under him. But that didn’t happen. Holding him up, his legs only felt stiff from sleep, just like the rest of his body did. Acid rubbed his eyes as he looked toward the door. Before he even had time to mentally debate if he should go out there, though, a knock startled him.
“You awake in there?” Phantom’s voice called from the other side of the door. So everything that had happened was real.
Acid stayed quiet, crossing the floor to open the door for him. There Phantom stood, a soft grin stuck to his face, as well as an arm full of clothing. “I just woke up.”
“Thought so. Mind if I come in?” Phantom held the clothes out for him. Moving from the doorway, Acid hung next to the door as he gestured for Phantom to come in. He took the offer with a smile.
“Those for me?” Acid closed the door behind him as Phantom stepped in. Turning from his glance around the room, Phantom looked back at Acid.
“It hasn’t changed yet?”
Though, as the words came out of Phantom’s mouth, Acid watched the room around him shift. Spreading from one corner of the room to the opposite wall, Acid watched the room morph before his eyes. As if by magic, the room changed to look like Acid’s bedroom back at home. Posters covered the walls, all his knick-knacks and collectibles in their places on his shelves. Rows of CDs and DVDs and books formed from the warping. Acid watched wide eyed, and saw the look of confusion on Phantom’s face shift to a laugh. “Never mind, there it is. Probabaly because you’ve been asleep.
“And, yeah, these are for you. You have the rest of your clothes in there, but I brought some new stuff that you’ll need for today, at least.” Phantom held out the small stack of clothes in his hands, containing what looked to be only a shirt and pants.
“What’s today?” Acid asked as he took the clothes from Phantom’s hands. It was a simple white button up and black dress pants, clothes he already had in his closet, but he could only guess these were somehow different.
Laying the clothes out on the bed, Acid looked over toward his jewelry drawer, then to his closet where his shoes were. Before he could truly think about accessorizing, though, Phantom broke his thought.
“Today, I’m gonna show you around. The club, the bar, the basement,” Phantom winked on that last word, knowing something about it that Acid would soon find out. “And I… I just need you to look plain today. Sorry, just for the tour. Can’t draw too many eyes too soon.”
“The hell does that mean?” Acid asked as Phantom walked back toward the door, question ignored. Opening the door, he stepped outside before calling back to him.
“Just, trust me. Once you’re ready, I’ll be waiting out here.” He closed the door, leaving Acid to process what he had just said.
Attempting to shake it out of his head, he slipped out of his old clothes. The mirror across the room caught his eye as he dropped his pants into the small pile of dirty clothes. He admired himself for a moment, truly feeling confident in himself. It made him smile. Finally, after so many years, he liked his body. He pulled on the pile of clothes Phantom had brought him and slipped on the most minimal of accessories, his every day wear. A necklace, a ring, and a couple bracelets. Even if he wanted to do more, he felt it was a bad idea, judging by what Phantom had said. Acid grabbed a pair of shoes, the most minimal yet fancy pair he had. After another glance in the mirror, a little makeup, and some hair gel, Acid decided he was ready to go.
Like he had said, Phantom was waiting outside his door, leaning against a wall staring at something in front of him. His hand was held out, something that looked like a hologram hovering above it. The way his fingers moved under the projection, it looked like some sort of magic he was casting. Acid didn’t get a good enough look at it before Phantom swiped it away. The way Phantom’s gaze lingered on Acid and ran over his body almost made him blush, but Acid managed to keep it together.
“Perfect, you look great. Come on.” Phantom stood up off the wall and began to walk down the hall, away from Acid’s room. Only a couple feet away, the hall made a sharp left turn, stopping Acid from seeing anything beyond it.
“So, this place is you… your club, I’ve gathered, Phantom?” Acid questioned as he fell into step behind him. He heard Phantom chuckle, sparing a glance at the man behind him. His cane and his shoes tapped against the floor as he walked, echoing off the walls of the otherwise quiet hall.
“Oh, oh yes. I’ve worked very hard over many years to craft this place.” But Phantom sounded uninterested as he spoke. Like the words he said were lines from a script he had read off more times than he could count.
Acid followed him around a corner, and the words he was about to say died in his throat. The hallway opened into a grand lobby. Everything sparkled, looking more expensive than all of his belongings combined. Phantom spared another glance back at him, a more smug look stuck on his face this time. “Well?”
“Holy shit…” Acid whispered under his breath, eyes wide as he looked around the room.
If this was any indication of what was to come… Acid started to feel out of place. He swallowed hard. Maybe this was a bad idea. Phantom continued walking, giving Acid barely a moment to take it all in. He realized they were heading toward a large set of double doors. Shut at the moment, Acid almost dreaded seeing what was behind them, fearing it was as extravagant as the lobby.
“Now, you probably won’t choose to be in here most nights but, since this is the main attraction, you still should see it.” Phantom turned to Acid as he spoke again, blindly pushing the double doors open.
The room inside was dark, Acid watching as light from the lobby spilled over the shapes in the room. It was a large area, Acid could tell before Phantom waved his hand. But as the lights blared to life with his movement, illuminating the rest of the room, once again Acid was taken off guard. A large club was laid out in front of him. It looked both grungy and expensive at the same time, like everyone who was anyone would enjoy being here. A large bar was on one wall, shelves stocked with every liquor you could think of, and a DJ station and two huge speakers were pressed against the back wall. The room also looked to be under construction, various tools and building materials laying around. There were holes in the walls, it looked like a lot of damage had been done in there. The walls were hard too look at, Acid couldn’t really tell what color they were. They looked dark and light at the same time, brown and bright pink all in the same second. Everything in the room felt off in a strange way, but he could only assume it was one of hell’s affects. Acid didn’t look at the room much, instead paying attention to Phantom as he spoke again. “This is where I spend most of my time, and it’s in one of the rare moments that its closed. Usually, it runs all day and night… Well, down here there’s not quite a day or night. So everyone parties at every time of day.”
As he spoke, Acid watched Phantom wave his hand again. The lights went off. Before he closed the door, Acid swore he could see figures moving in the darkness. It looked like they were working. He didn’t mention them.
“What happened in there?” Acid found himself asking as they walked off toward the opposite side of the lobby. They passed what looked to be front doors, but Acid couldn’t see outside of them. Phantom hesitated before speaking.
“A… situation. Someone got mad, we took care of it, but not before they did all that.” Phantom chose his words carefully, his voice dropping now. He spoke quietly, like there were people around that he didn’t want to hear that. But Acid didn’t see anyone around. In fact, they seemed to be more alone than Acid would have anticipated in a place like this. He pushed the thought from his mind as Phantom continued with the tour.
In front of them was a nice looking restaurant, though the food on many patron’s plates wildly differed from table to table. Some had typical fancy human food, some had some sort of alien slop. Many tables had a mix of both. The atmosphere was dark, moody. Reds accented the grey walls, bringing a pop of color to the place. It seemed to be lit only by candlelight, casting an eerie glow over everything around. But Phantom didn’t stop there, didn’t even spare it a word, instead following the wall of the room to a door off to the side.
Phantom held the door for Acid, ushering him in first. A hallway stretched out before them. The walls were dark, but the sterile lighting made sure it didn’t look dark. It wasn’t creepy, but Acid still felt his skin crawl. It was as if they had stepped into an entirely different building. Phantom stepped out in front of him, continuing to guide him through the halls. Though, their next stop was merely feet away. Instead of following the hall to the left, which Acid looked down to see more doors and more hallway, Phantom knocked on the wall to the right. As he did, Acid noticed a red shimmer from his cane, though he didn’t have time to question it as the wall in front of them disappeared, revealing yet more hallway. But this hallway wasn’t as well lit, the lights warmer but dimmer. It had the atmosphere of a dungeon. Phantom stepped inside, turning back to Acid with a smirk.
“You’re hesitating now?” He laughed, stretching a hand out toward Acid. Swallowing their fear, Acid took his hand and and followed after him. His skin was warm to the touch.
The shift in the air was immediate. This place, whatever the hallway was leading them to, was different than the rest of the club above them. Once again, as if they had completely changed locations. Despite this being hell, whatever was down here made a pit form in Acid’s stomach. Something was different.
Stepped out of the hallway into a room, Acid quickly realized why this place was different. The hallway opened up into a large, well lit room. This place was not expensive like the expansive club they had just been in. The walls looked grungy and dirty, like the unfinished basement of someone’s house. On the left wall was another bar, though this one wasn’t as fancy or decorated (or stocked) as the one he had previously seen. A darker theme covered this one, as well as a couple dark stains decorating the wooden top. Acid could only assume those were blood.
The blood stains weren’t the most jarring part of the room, as Acid’s eyes were drawn to the center piece next. A large, circular cage stretched from floor to ceiling, its diameter spanning about 15, maybe 20 feet. The floor inside the cage was simply a slab of concrete, suspiciously cleaner than Acid would have expected. The cage was worn down, looking like it had been used and torn at for many, many years. A handful of small spotlights around the outside of the cage, pointing all inside of it. Illuminating whatever went on inside.
Past the cage, a couple yard away against the far wall, was a small stage and standing area in front of it. A couple of lights shone down on it, though they were dimmer than the ones on the cage. Two figures moved around the stage, setting up for a show. Though, Phantom’s echoing footsteps as he approached the bar drew both of their attentions.
“Good evening, you two. Ready for tonight?” Phantom called as he reached under the bar, producing two glasses and a bottle of something. Motioning Acid over, Phantom set both glasses on the countertop. He followed, sparing a glance at the musicians. They both seemed familiar to him, but Acid couldn’t pin it. Maybe he was making it up, or maybe his brain was still foggy from his transformation. Absently, he cracked his knuckles. The veins in his hands began to glow a bright green under his skin as he sat at the bar.
Neither of the two on stage answered Phantom, continuing to set up. Rolling his eyes, he called over to them again, “It’s gonna be a big one, you know.”
In the corner of his eye Acid saw Phantom slide him one of the glasses, now filled with whatever alcohol had been in the bottle. It was clear, though seemed to shift colors depending on the way the light hit it, like an iridescent liquid. He inspected the glass for a moment longer before taking a sip. It was sour, but the perfect amount of sour. There was virtually no taste of alcohol present, just sweet and sour fruity flavors in perfect combination together. His preferred taste. Acid forced himself to set the glass down. knowing that could be dangerous.
“Yeah yeah, thanks Devo.” One called, not looking at Phantom as he spoke. The voice hit Acid immediately. It was Nate’s voice, though minor differences were present. Like Nate playing a character that spoke ever so slightly differently from himself. Not an accent, something smaller. The way he spoke, his cadence on certain words, how he accentuated his words. The other figure on stage glanced over at Acid and Phantom. Acid already had his suspicions of who this was judging by the unnatural aura around him, but seeing his face just proved him right; Darkiplier barely looked at Phantom, but offered Acid a nod before returning to the bass guitar in front of him. He must have muttered something at the Nate copy, as a couple seconds later he turned around, eyes trained on Acid.
Natemare now stared at him, a confused look on his face. He pried himself away from the stage and began to approach Acid and Phantom. “Who’s your friend?”
“Mare, I’d like you to meet my newest demon, Acid.” He hummed. Acid took another sip of his drink, limiting himself to a small amount of the booze. He didn’t want to get completely smashed, not just yet at least. Technically, he didn’t know these men all that well. And he was literally in hell. Mare looked him up and down, eyes narrowed as he inspected Acid. The look did not help Acid’s feelings of unease.
“You really did move on to experimenting, huh?” Mare laughed, the sound sharp as a knife as he spat it from his mouth. It was mocking, not in amusement but unhappy shock. And Acid realized it wasn’t at him, as he followed Mare’s gaze back to Phantom, who now wore a tight smile. He chuckled, but the sound was forced. That drew a real smile from Mare, who now turned to Acid once more. “Acid… Did you choose the name yourself or did it come with the… with whatever he did to you?”
“Why, choosing whether to insult it or not?” Acid took another small sip of their drink, a smile finding its way to his lips. Mare pressed his lips together, though they were still pulled into a smile. He didn’t answer. Acid assumed that was a yes. “I chose it.”
The veins in his hands had already dimmed when he glanced down. Apparently, the glow didn’t last all that long. In an attempt to show off, Acid cracked their neck, the sound loud in the otherwise quiet room. Mare’s eyes widened as he watched the man start to glow, the veins creeping from their neck to their face starting to glow a bright green. The sound drew Dark’s gaze as well. “Impressive.”
“Thank you, Mare,” Phantom hummed over the counter, smirking when Mare shot a glare in his direction. Acid saw their gaze’s connect, a look passing between the two of them as Phantom narrowed his eyes. Mare backed down, turning his eyes back to Acid.
“I recognize you, you knew Nate, right?” Mare hummed as he gave Acid another once over. Acid, mid sip of his drink, simply nodded. Admittedly, he didn’t know Nate all that well. Sure, they were friends and all, but before all of this they hadn’t spoken for some time. They had both been busy, preoccupied with life and other stuff. Mare’s face twitched, eyebrows furrowing together as he stared Acid down. He was silent for a moment. When he spoke again, his voice was lower, as if he were just talking to himself, “You… you were there.”
Seeing Acid raise an eyebrow, Mare seemed to realize he was staring and took a step back. “Sorry, I-”
“They do that, sometimes,” Phantom hummed, finishing Mare’s sentence. It earned him another glare, but Phantom didn’t acknowledge it this time. Silent for a moment, Mare looked between Phantom and Acid.
His eyes landed on Acid a moment later, “I think we should step away from him. He’s… interrupting us.”
Glancing at Phantom, Acid saw him narrow his eyes, but he didn’t object. So Acid followed Mare to the other corner of the room. Far from the stage, and far from Phantom. Acid noticed his repeated looks in their direction as he set up the bar. Phantom didn’t seem happy to be out of earshot.
“You were there that night when they filmed.” Mare’s words drew Acid back in. Mare was staring again, recognition behind his gaze this time.
Finally, Mare’s words made sense. Acid, or technically Kieran, had been there the night Nate was filming the Mangled music video. Natemare’s origins. Kieran had done Nate’s makeup that night. The dark eyeshadow, the blue-purple tear streaks. He wanted to match The Puppet’s look, with it’s creepy dark eyes and streaks down either side of it’s face.
Mare, in this form, seemed to have taken inspiration from that look. He wore less black eye shadow now, but just enough to make his eyes look almost sunken in. Instead of solid tear tracks like his original look, the blue eyeshadow looked now like it had been smeared from his eyes to about halfway down his cheeks. More wearable, casual version of the makeup Acid had done so many years ago. Acid also took note of Mare’s extra tattoos, his neck the most notably more inked location.
“You… helped make me. You were the first, and then his fans took it and… ran…” Mare’s voice got softer the more he spoke. He managed to tear his gaze away from Acid, eyes darting back and forth across the floor, slipping back into thought.
“So the fan’s brought you to life? Like… Like a…”
“A poltergeist, a spirit, a ghost? Yeah, kinda.” Mare shrugged as he took in a breath, running a hand through his hair, “Gave me a name, gave me power. I think I’m more of a glitch, though.”
Before Acid could press him any further, an echoey voice interrupted them, calling across the room from the stage, “Mare, can you stop yapping and get back over here?”
“Sorry, Dark, I’m comin’.” He called back, though hesitated as he looked at Acid again. The two locked eyes. A smirk spread on Mare’s face, “If… If you helped in making me, does that make it inappropriate if I call you hot as hell?”
Acid felt his face heat up, and wordlessly he watched Mare wink at him before heading back over to the stage. Stunned for a few seconds, Acid managed to shake it off as he started back over to the bar where Phantom stood. His eyes followed Acid the entire time, wiping off a glass that he wasn’t paying any attention to. Phantom almost seemed… upset. “What?”
“Don’t let him trick you, he’s a piece of shit,” Phantom muttered, setting the glass down next to some others. He picked another one up, despite the fact that it looked like it was already clean. “He’ll act all sweet and flirty, and then fuck you ove-”
“Phantom, what time is it?” Mare called from the stage. Rolling his eyes, Phantom slipped a pocket watch out of his breast pocket. Acid looked over and saw the stage fully set up, and now two more people stood up there with them. Acid didn’t recognize these two. Dark held a bass guitar, while Mare stood in front of a microphone. Of the other two figures, one sat behind the drum kit and the other held a rhythm guitar. Dark was tuning his bass, plucking some strings and twisting the knobs as he listened for the sound. Mare looked at Phantom expectantly.
“You’ve got 5 minutes until doors, folks.” Phantom announced to the room of the 6 of them as if he were talking to a crowd. Slipping his pocket watch away again, Phantom set his glass and rag down and stepped from behind the bar. He stood next to Acid, watching the figures on stage move around. Mare and the drummer were messing around on a laptop, making sure everything was set up and ready to go.
“Why did he call you Devo?” Acid watched him adjust his suit, smoothing out any wrinkles in the fabric as he did so. Phantom laughed, his gaze lingering on the cage in the center of the room as he spoke.
“That’s my demon name, short for Devokatos. No one really calls me it anymore, though. Except Mare. He likes trying to get a reaction out of me.” Phantom smiled down at Acid. Slipping his pocket watch out again, he kept it open as he spoke again. “It’s like if I were to call you Kieran. Still you, but not quite your name anymore, is it?”
Acid nodded silently, the words hanging heavy on his concious. That wasn’t him anymore, Phantom was right. He found himself staring at the center piece of the room again. The object of his curiousity. “You never explained this place. What’s with the cage?”
“You’ll see, my dearest.” Acid felt his heart leap. He didn’t look at Phantom again, trying to hide the way his face flushed at the nickname. Phantom chuckled beside him.
As Phantom approached the doors, the band began to play. It was background noise, setting the scene of the place as people began to filter in. Acid sat at the bar, watching as people found their spots. Some looked like they had been here before, and immediately took place at the front of the cage. Others looked around skeptically, meandering around with their eyes all over the place. They eventually found a place to stand, usually favoring the cage. Acid noticed almost everyone circle the cage or the bar, but a couple had their eyes on the band. Mare had picked a guitar up, strumming along with the rest of his bandmates.
Phantom took his place behind the counter again as people began to sit at the bar around Acid. Looking at these people closer, he could tell none of them were quite human. They all had some sort of inhumanity to them. Some more obviously than others. Wings and tails and horns adorned many of the patrons, and some where completely non human while others were more subtle. Acid felt like he stuck out amongst the group. He cracked his knuckles again, but only one hand would crack. He let it glow, showing himself off as he took another sip of his drink.
A hand on their arm caused Acid to jump. Phantom was grinning at him as he turned.
“Go, enjoy yourself. I’ll be here to take you back after all the fun is over,” Phantom hummed. He gestured out to the floor, where the cage and the stage was, with a grin. Like a parent telling their kid to go play on the playground.
Reluctantly, Acid stood. With drink still in hand, he found himself walking toward the stage. He still wasn’t sure what the cage was for, and he didn’t want to be all that close to it as the show started. He chose a spot near the band, where he could watch everyone trickle in. The room grew more and more crowded. He guessed nearly a hundred people filled the room before Mare’s voice broke through the music and chatter.
“Welcome back, freaks!” This earned a cheer. Mare paused, letting the noise die down before continuing. “Tonight, our cage has 5 rounds of fighters ready for your entertainment. And we have the soundtrack to their bloodshed queued up for you. If this is your first time joining us-” Mare spared at glance at Acid, and winked again “-don’t worry, you’ll catch on quick.”
It was a fighting cage. Acid felt his stomach leap. With nerves or excitement, he wasn’t sure.
“Up first, we have a newbie fight to start us off.” The music was slowly growing in volume as Mare spoke, leading up to something loud and fast. Mare held his phone in his hand, reading the names off it, “We have two first-timers, Crazy Eyes up against Scarlet Smite!”
As soon as Mare finished speaking, the music kicked up. The room grew loud, crowd roaring as two figures entered the cage. They circled each other as the band began to play.
As expected, the music was loud, heavy, and fast. It was a song he knew, fitting for demon cage fighting too. He watched the fighters pounce on each other. He didn’t know which fighter was which, but one of them was more demonic than the other. They had large horns atop their head as well as green skin. Their form was very feminine, the little clothing they wore showing it off. The other fighter looked more human, but was more buff. Acid didn’t have any guesses to which would win.
The fight was more gory than he expected. Back at home, Acid had watched wrestling a couple times with his friends. He knew it could get gross and bloody. But this fight was 100 times worse than any of that could ever hope to be. Apparently, what would kill humans didn’t even phase demons, as he watched one of the fighters punch a hole through the stomach of the other while their eye hung out of its socket. Wide eyed, Acid’s attention was captured as the demons went at it. Blood poured from both fighters and seeped into the concrete below them. Organs and skin and muscle littered the floor of the cage. Each howled in pain, but neither stopped or slowed down. The fight only lasted a couple minutes, though Acid felt like he was watching it in slow mo. In the end, the buff fighter crumbled to the ground, practically torn to shreds, leaving the green demon, though in bad shape, standing and pleased.
“Scarlet Smite takes the crown!” Phantom’s voice called now, the band continuing to play, and Acid looked over at the man just in time to watch him wave his hand. His fingers glowed red, and from where he stood Acid could see that the glass ball on the top of his cane was glowing red as well. The cage cleaned itself up, the blood and guts on the floor disappearing and Crazy Eyes’ unconscious body standing itself up again. Many of their wounds were healed, but some minor injured remained as they regained their awareness. They looked stunned, almost confused as their eyes darted around the cage. But slowly, their surroundings became familiar again, and they grinned as their opponent.
The two fighters shook hands and exited the cage just as the band’s song was ending. A crowd had separated off from the cage to enjoy the music. Acid stood off to the side of them, watching. Mare announced two more fighters, they entered the cage and the fight began again. Once again, the music kicked up and the two fighters began to tear at each other. Fighting through wounds humans wouldn’t survive, the crowd cheered for the especially gory bits.
Raising his cup to his lips, Acid found it empty. The alcohol was starting to kick in, making his body feel more lose and his brain ready to move.
“Fuck it.” Mumbling to himself, Acid knew he had to get adjusted to his new life here. Maybe Phantom was right in bringing him here on his first day. He scanned the crowd again. Setting his empty cup on the far end of the stage, Acid pushed his way through the crowd, entering the mosh pit that had opened.