#x!skizz

[gtwscratch]

Subject 013: Skizz Hoffmann

Skizz was actually so much fun to design! I loved drawing all his scars. I can’t wait to write him. :)

He was defiant and determined until the very end. o7

Only one Subject left, then we’re onto scientist ID cards. How’re we feeling about that, chat?

[cutthroatcarnival]

Man No More Than Animal (Made of Moral Chemicals)

What if…? What powers would be gained? Survival of the fittest…

This fic includes: human experimentation, blood/mentions of blood, graphic description, and dehumanization.

CHAPTER 2 ARRIVES!!!

*Slaps fic again* this bad boy can fit so much angst in it

For @gtwscratch, the creator of the Project X AU!

Title from: Laplace’s Angel (Hurt People? Hurt People!) by Will Wood

Read it on AO3!

Chapter 2: Project Guardian Angel

Skizz can’t remember the last time he saw the sky- he misses the stars, misses being able to witness the rotation of the Earth, seeing the sky be painted in delicate colors as time passes by. That is not a luxury anyone is privy to here. The blinding and haunting white of the walls, floors, and ceilings is the only constant companion. Skizz had another before. He misses Impulse. The glass walls that separate them, a cruel mockery of freedom, do not give him access to the sight of his best friend- Martyn had passed along the news that he had been moved to a high-security cell, one with no windows or outside view, one that could actually keep the teleporter contained.

The glass doesn’t help the mortification of sporting a blood-stained paper gown, the area around his shoulderblades- his bones and muscles felt wrong- carelessly torn open, revealing white bandages. They were treated as lesser than animals, given activities for enrichment, one of which sat untouched by the door of Skizz’s cell. Sue him, he was busy with his favorite pastime- wallowing in the pain of his injuries. He knew and heard what their captors called him, all cold and detached; failure, useless. Whatever they were trying to do to him continued to fail, and Skizz knew his body could only handle so much stress. He didn’t want to die here. He wanted to see the stars once more, see his best friend’s face and say goodbye- to him, to Tango, to Etho, to Gem, to Grian, to Scar, to them all. It wouldn’t be fair to any of them. He already never got to say goodbye to Mumbo.

A cruel grip on his wrist shocks Skizz back to awareness, his eyes gain focus and snap to the familiarly disgusting blue of the rubber glove on his skin, “Hey! What gives?!” He squawks, instinctively attempting to slip out of the tight grasp. Panic sets his nervous system alight- it can’t have already been the next day, why were they taking him away again? The squeak of tightening rubber flushed him of panic, instead drowning him in submissive fear. Releasing the tension in his body, Skizz moved towards the scientist closest to him, watching as his eyes gleamed with pleased cruelty. The man tugged on his arm, causing a ripple of pain to wash through him. Skizz stumbled with a gasp as he was dragged along to the medical room.

The overbearing vastness of the walls become a blur as he’s directed (read: dragged) through the compound towards the room that may end up being the last thing Skizz sees. If anyone ever found them, it’d be like a sick and twisted game of Clue when his body would be stumbled upon- the scientists in the operating room with a scalpel. Skizz huffs a short and humorless laugh, eyes flicking up to check if he’s been caught, not wanting to create a reason to be put through more agony.

A rough tug on his wrist makes Skizz stumble to a stop, greeted with the sight of a gleaming metal table. Unkind words direct him to climb onto the table, where the cold immediately sucks the little amount of warmth out of his body. Skizz can’t repress the shiver that runs through him.

“Lucky number 13, we’ve finally figured out how to make this work,” Skizz flinched as the cold metal of the table seeped through the thin gown into his chest, “if all goes well, the need for you to return to this room will become void.” The coldness seeping into him was not only from the table, but from the words flowing from the scientist’s lips- on one hand, he would never have to return to this cold, sterile, haunting room, but what was left for him on the other hand? Death? More experimentation? What were they going to do to him?

The clinical white of the room is overbearing and made brighter by the light that hangs above him like a guillotine, behaving as a mere spectator to the horrors committed behind heavy metal doors. The murmurs and mutters surrounding him become inaudible mush as the familiar clang of the scalpel leaving the metal tray echoes throughout the room. Skizz squeezes his eyes shut, teeth clenched hard enough to make his jaw click as biting metal makes contact with the barely healed wounds in his back. A familiar warmth spreads across his upper back, filling his nose with the tang of iron, yet it does nothing to ease the cold already inside his bones.

The sudden magma-hot pain that surges through his body tugs a scream from Skizz’s mouth, not quite loud enough to drown out the distinct noise of bones cracking. Bile climbs up his throat as agony rips up and down his back- the scientists are watching in glee just inside of his peripheral, surgical masks pulled below their chins. Skizz bites his tongue hard enough to draw blood as he feels a final large burst of pain erupt in his shoulder blades, nearly passing out from the severity.

“Our masterpiece…” Skizz blearily blinks as the scientists move closer to him, mouth tacky from blood and hanging open in panting breaths. What have they done to him? Why them? Why him?

Hands dig into his armpits as he’s lifted off the table, his body feels heavier than ever, nerves pinging with pain signals as they continue to shift him. As his feet make contact with the unforgiving tile floor, and the hands retreat from him, Skizz topples backwards, his balance terribly out of whack. The grips return to bring him upright and stay there, rubber uncomfortably resting against his skin.

“The added weight will be difficult to adapt to, but it will manage. Bring 13 back to its room, we’ll begin the training tomorrow,” the heavy doors of the operating room groan open as Skizz stumbles between the scientists holding him, “it has to get used to the wings first, after all. No point in causing strain on the new limbs, we only just got them to grow.” Horror curls its claws around Skizz’s lungs- not from his freshly grown limbs, but from the promise of what comes next. He doesn’t know if he’ll survive it.

[gtwscratch]

Did any of the subjects attitudes change after the incident/ skizz and mumbo's deaths?

For The Incident, Scar became a lot more reserved with his actions and now tries to attract as little attention as possible. Grian is much more closed off than he used to be, and the only one who’s managed to get past the barriers he’s put up is Gem.

After Skizz died, Impulse was consumed with grief. Knowing that his friend is dead hurts him more than anything the scientists could ever do to him. Throughout all the testing, he hears Skizz’s voice in his head urging him to keep going despite his lack of hope for escape.

[gtwscratch]

I have LOTs of questions!

So if Grian ca copy anyone’s powers, what happens when he copies pearls? Do wings just like sprout from his skin? That’s sounds really painful!

Whose power had the worst affect on the holder?

Can Gem and Grian talk to Mumbo and Skizz when projecting? (I can’t remember is that has already been asked)

Who has the “nicest” tests ?

Who has the worst?

Really love this au!

1.) For subjects’ whose powers rely on a limb that they had to grow, Grian’s body would only change to accommodate the new limbs. For example, if he were to use Pearl’s powers, he would in fact grow a set of wings, but he would not also have antennae sprouting from his head.

2.) I would say that Pearl, Etho, and Ren had the worst time with their manifestations. Pearl had to be restrained since she was thrashing around so much as her wings grew suddenly and painfully. Etho had a semi-random mutation, and while he handled it better than Pearl, it was still extremely painful to suddenly grow some new bones. And poor Ren shouldn’t even look like that. He’d already gone through the process of awakening his powers, but nooOOOoooOOOoo, the scientists weren’t happy that he could just turn into other people and tested his limits too harshly.

3.) I also can’t remember if that’s been asked, but yes! They can!

4.) Bdubs has the least-harsh tests since his powers rely the most on his physical wellbeing.

5.) I would say Skizz had the worst treatment during tests. They pushed him much, much too far to end up receiving nothing for their efforts.

I’m so glad you’re enjoying the AU!! And I’m sorry you’ve been waiting a while for your answers!

[gtwscratch]

Here's some fun "what ifs"!

What if Grian was hit by Scar instead of Skizz?

What if Ren looked at the camera instead of Martyn and he found out?

What if Cub saved Scar from being taken?

What if Lizzie was taken before Joel?

What if Gem had Grian's powers?

What if Pearl could fly out of the labs?

What if Etho gave Joel his hammer, saying he doesn't want to use it anymore?

What if Bdubs saw Cleo as a mother figure and wishes she could comfort him again?

What if Tango accidently caused a fire with his super speed?

What if Cleo could get Skizz and Mumbo to free the others?

What if Mumbo got a power?

What if Scar could break through the glass?

What if Impulse could visit Bdubs in their dreams?

What if Sausage found clues of Cubs work?

What if Joel had an argument with Etho after a particularly bad day?

What if Big B was allowed one free day to move wherever he wanted?

What if Jimmy was stuck being invisible?

What if Scott could turn into inanimate objects?

What if Skizz could speak to Impulse?

What if Martyn had a sonic scream instead of hearing?

WOW that’s a lot!! :DDD

1.) Oh, Skizz wasn’t hit by Scar. Skizz died during the scientists’ experiments on him.

2.) Assuming you mean if Martyn would have been taken regardless if he noticed his picture being taken, he would’ve been absolutely furious. Honestly? Might have caused a causality. He would rather be completely alone in the facility than have to suffer alongside Ren.

3.) Cub would have tried way harder to report Ex to the head of Lacuna Labs and the police. He hadn’t realized how serious Ex was, and he’d be damned if his efforts to protect his brother went to waste.

4.) Joel would’ve been just as worried as Lizzie was about him. Maybe he would’ve filed a missing persons report sooner.

5.) I don’t think things would change too much since Gem and Grian are in the same cell.

6.) If you mean if she could fly but was still captive, she’d feel waaay less claustrophobic and less like she was losing her mind. If you mean if she could fly and escape, she might not ever come back. What would people say if she approaches them, maniples and antennae and wings?

7.) Sadly, no one else can use the mace. It dematerializes when other people try to wield it (unless it’s Grian and he’s copying Etho’s power).

8.) Awww.. They certainly grew close in the short time they shared a cell.

9.) Luckily there are fire extinguishers and other items that are readily available to prevent major damage. And it would probably have happened during a test, so Tango would get no punishment or anything since they were testing the limits of his speed.

10.) Then she 100% would. If she could summon them past the walls of her cell, she would have gotten herself and as many people out of the facility as she could.

11.) He actually did before he died!

12.) Oh, he can. Scar is just too afraid of his own strength to utilize it.

13.) I’m not sure. I haven’t put any thought into if Impulse and Bdubs would have much of a relationship in this AU.

14.) Then he’d do everything he could to meet up with Cub and figure out where Pearl went. They’d work together with the others to figure out where they are.

15.) They’d stay pretty quiet, but they wouldn’t stay mad at each other for long. At the end of the day, they both know that the other isn’t actually mad at them.

16.) He would take as much advantage of it as he could. He’d take out security cameras as subtly as possible and hope the others figured out what he’d done.

17.) Oh, he would be so much worse mentally than he currently is. He’s constantly holding onto Lizzie or the thin blanket from his bed so that he can see that he’s touching something—so that he can see that he’s still there.

18.) He probably would have escaped a lot sooner.

19.) If Imoulse could hear him, then Skizz would let him know anything and everything that he saw. He’d let him know the perfect time to make a move, the fastest route to escape, all that jazz. And if they had to wait a while for an escape opportunity, then Skizz is feeding him words of encouragement and urging him to home on just a little bit longer.

20.) Many scientists would have gone deaf early on before they put a power suppression collar on him.

[gtwscratch]

Do you have any Skizz thoughts you can share with us?

Oh, Skizz.

Skizz, Skizz, Skizz.

I’ve had quite a few thoughts about him, actually. What I can share with you guys is that Skizz was by far the bravest and most optimistic of the bunch. Throughout all the tests and abuse he endured, he never let the scientists see that they got to him. He was strong, and resilient, and they hated him for it. And he loved that they hated him.

Skizz was strong up until the very end.

[gtwscratch]

“Where are you?”

“I’m so sorry…”

———————————

I had so much fun drawing this, you have no idea!

OHHHHH IT’S THE BOYS

OHHHH MY HEART

THIS IS SO GOOD, THANK YOU SO MUCH

I need to write more for my own sanity.

The issue is I don’t know where to go from chapter one. XDD

[gtwscratch]

I'm on a roll! Seven canons and three you like! I'm going to focus these more around patient relationships.

Joel doesn't like Scott because Scott is Mr. Optimistic

Even though his powers are subdued, Tango has extremely quick reflexes

Scar avoids any physical touch with Pearl or any other patients

Grian wakes up Gem before the scientists do to avoid her getting hurt

Etho is weirdly cold, a side effect of being part snow fox, so Joel gives him all the blankets

Skizz, in zombie form, recognizes impulse, but can't act upon it

Impulse's comfort person is Bdubs, but he is rarely brought in

Both Scott and Grian have an odd ability to sense Jimmy when he is invisible

If a comfort person is unavailable, they bring in Lizzie to threaten/calm down a patient

Jimmy has severe monophobia and Lizzie tries her best to help him

So excited for the next chapter! Can't wait to read it! ❤️

HELL YEAHHHH!!! I’m excited, about to go through these. XD

1.) Interesting take. Scott is absolutely not optimistic thought, haha. I think Joel might actually be one of the most optimistic subjects? He’s at least one of the most determined ones.

2.) Oooooh, maybe that could be canon. Maybe he really is just that fast. I’ll consider it. I know he’s still pretty hungry all the time despite the collar and cuffs.

3.) YUP! That’s SOOOOO canon. :)

4.) Awww! He absolutely would whenever he catches it.

5.) NDKEHDOEGDISB STOOOOOP HE SO WOULD DO THAT!!!!

6.) If zombie Skizz would ever come into contact with Imoulse, that would be 100% right.

7.) Idk honestly. I haven’t really paid too much attention to Bdubs and Impulse interacting in general aside from the Third Life betrayal and them being soulmates in Double Life. It’s not a bad idea, I just have to be sold on it.

8.) You know what? Sure. That’s canon now simply because I like it. :)

9.) Explain it to me. Why Lizzie specifically?

10.) Yup! :)