voidtreckernet | VIDEO-ish (cw: torture and murder)

VIDEO-ish (cw: torture and murder)

[Before the ICP flickers on, every passenger hears a resounding, deep voice thunder through every car in the train, carrying with it a deathly—if odd—proclamation:]

PENALTY GAME: HELL REVERSE!

[Moments later, every ICP turns on to reveal a figure shrouded in shadows, holding the unconscious body of Xue Yang with one hand as the Eye of Wdjat blazes on both of their foreheads. It's clear they're in the gaming car, but if anybody tries to enter from either end, they'll find the doors are impossibly locked.]

Passengers of the Voidtrecker Express, I hold in my hands an unrepentant murderer who slaughtered one of your very own: the victim being A-Qing, and the criminal being Xue Yang. While she has returned, this crime cannot go unpunished, and I have taken it upon myself to try and burn out the stain on his soul—or, at the very least, provide adequate agony for all of his victims, both on the train and off.

If you need to see proof of my justice...

Avert your eyes if you do not wish to see memories of the brutal death of a young woman in her prime.

[The screen flickers once again, this time showing A-Qing's murder, although it doesn't have any audio. ((OOC: Additional CW for graphic depictions of murder.))

When it returns to the interior of the Games Car, the shadowy figure is gone, but their voice and Xue Yang remain.]

I leave it to the council to dispense their own punishment, as meager as it may be.

Remember, passengers:

I am watching.

[The ICP clicks off, and the train is deadly quiet.]

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I know...

[He didn't want to go. He wanted to wrap himself around the two men he loved and forget what he had seen. But he knew he needed answers, if there were some to have, to ensure that those two men were safe from whatever was lurking on the train.

Gladio reached out and stroked fingers through Nocts hair and smiled softly.]

I'll be back before you wake.

[Before he could change his mind, he stood and left the cabin. First to wash his hand, then to get what he needed.]

[Prompto had slept through the whole thing. It might seem impossible but he'd managed it. Unfortunately it had still slipped through to reach his sub-conscience mind. Memories of a booming voice, revealing things he didn't know, showing him horror..

He whimpered in his sleep and his fist curled around a clump of sheets, tightening until his knuckles turned white.]

No... stop.

[He feels the moment he was falling from the train and watching in heartbreak and confusion at Noct's vanishing form. He jerked and cried out, but still didn't wake. Not on his own, at least.]

[Noct had nodded off a little, but once he heard Prompto's distressed voice, he woke up. He soother a hand over Prompto's hair, shushing him softly.]

Hey, Prom... It's okay... You're okay...

[He was quiet for a few moments after the reassurance but then his face scrunched up in distress again and he let out another sound, a cross between a sob and a gasp. He saw himself in one of those tubes, mindless and one among hundreds.

A flash of himself as a Magitek appeared in front of him, lashing out and- Prompto screamed. His eyes flew open, wide and terrified. Jerking back from Noct, not registering who he was or where they were. Scooting back though wasn't the best idea since this bed wasn't very big. He yelled again as he started to fall again- not really knowing it was literally only a foot maybe from the floor. The ICP pieces though wouldn't be fun to land on, but it wasn't like falling off a train.]

[Noct immediately grabbed Prompto and pulled him to his chest, holding him tight. He couldn't let Prompto get hurt, after all.]

It's me, Prom. It's Noct. You're okay. It's safe.

Noct?

[His voice thick with emotion could only make out that one word before he was wrapping his arms around Noct and holding him as tight as he could. A shudder went through him and try as he might to fight it, the sobs that followed were inevitable.]

[Noct rubbed Prompto's back and rocked him gently.]

Yeah, it's me. You were having a nightmare.

[It was a nightmare? Really? Just a nightmare. Nightmares couldn't hurt him. He wasn't in danger. Slowly, he started to calm down but he felt himself shaky and weak.]

Nightmares are stupid.

[He pouted and buried his face against Noct's neck.]

Yeah... Glad I was here, though. You could have gotten hurt.

[Noct just continued to pet Prompto, touches to let him know he was safe.]

Wanna talk about it?

[He drew back a little so he could see Noct's face. He was confused.]

Aren't we on the bottom bunk?

[He shook his head. But after maybe thirty seconds, he started talking anyway.]

I kept hearing this loud voice and screaming a- and um.. what if I'd been one of them? One of those soldiers? The Magitek..

[Noct nodded.]

Yeah, we are, but um... Well, look in the ground for yourself.

[He frowned, shaking his head. He hugged Prompto again.]

You aren't. You're Prompto. You're not a Magitek.

[Prompto's eyes widened and he slowly peered over his shoulder. He didn't know what he was about to see but his grip on Noct got tighter. He didn't get even half way before he was rolling back and burying his face against Noct again.]

I don't wanna look!

[Yes, he was being a big chicken and he was okay with that. Just make him a sign and he'll wear it. And being reminded he wasn't one of those guys, he found himself getting choked up again. He whimpered again.]

Where's Gladdy?

[Noct didn't push the subject. He simply held Prompto, trying to make him feel better.]

Had to leave for a bit. He'll be back.

[He sniffled.]

He had to leave? Why? Where did he go?

[Noct had totally called it right that Prompto would ask more questions than he had.]

[He hadn't been gone for that long really, an hour or two, long enough to realise that there were very few answers to be gotten. What he did do was grab hot chocolate, complete with marshmallows. Maybe they were awake. Maybe he'd have a mess to clean up later. It didn't much matter.

He held the two mugs in one hand as he fished out his ticket to let him into the cabin. As the door closed behind him, he caught sight of the mess that was the ICP and sighed heavily.]

Shit...

[There were a few bits on the floor he'd need to clean up but it could have been worse. He used the toe of his boot to brush bits across the room as he moved to set the two cups down. He hadn't noticed the other two were awake yet.]

[Prompto startled with a gasp when the door abruptly opened. His grip tightened around Noct but even just hearing the curse told him who was there. He took a shaky breath and sniffled, finally braving looking in Gladio's direction.

He cleared his throat and spoke in a pitiful voice.]

Glads? Where'd you go? [Sniffle.]

[He kicked a few more bits of machinery away and finally turned to the bunks on hearing Prompto's voice. Hadn't Noct told him? And why was Prompto awake in the first place?]

I just had to go check on things. Why're you two awake anyway?

[It was about then that he leaned down to peer at them, one arm leaning against the top bunk, and he frowned. Prompto had been crying...? What the hell had he walked in on? He moved to sit down on the edge of the bed, concern in his expression, his voice softening.]

What's going on...?

[He watched as Gladio came closer. He slowly sat up and found one of Noct's hands to hold. It was scooted nearer, wanting to be as close to the strong, comforting presence as he could. He started to feel self-conscious too as he had to muster the courage to confess why he was so out of sorts. He couldn't quite meet Gladio's eyes.]

I had a nightmare. There was a voice and them people were screaming and.. I don't know. Noct says there's something wrong with the floor.

Ah...

[Gladio sighed. He wished he'd not left now, though there was no way he could have predicted Prompto having a nightmare. What he could do was hold out an arm to his boyfriend, an offering for him to come closer if he wanted to.]

I'll clean the floor up. It's not that bad. Just some bits... I...

[Ever seen Gladio blush? Well this was damn close to it. His cheeks felt a touch warmer than usual and his smile was more than a little sheepish.]

I might have killed the ICP.

We aren’t going to ask him why, though.

[Noct knew that Prompto was probably going to have a lot of questions, but if Gladio didn’t want to anSwear, Noct would respect that. He had promised.]

What’s important is that I healed him and now he’s back.

[Prompto had opened his mouth, he was just about to speak when Noct's words stopped him. He looked at the dark haired boy with a reluctant, tiny whine before managing to pull himself back to just one question that he couldn't keep himself from asking anyway.]

Are you okay?

[He reached out to Gladio, looking worriedly for whatever injury Noct had had to heal.]

[Gladio cast Noct a grateful look and smiled. He probably would have told them, if Prompto didn't already look shaken up from his bad dream.

So when Prompto reached for him, he reached out to take the hand, and then gave him a gentle, but firm tug that pulled the blonde into his arms. Then he lifted his other hand to show him that all that was left of his little adventure with the ICP was a few fading marks. They hadn't been deep enough for the potion to not have worked on him.]

I'm alright, see? My hands fine, thanks to Noct.

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VIDEO-ish (cw: torture and murder)

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