Chapter Text
Black Hat stands next to Flug, examining you.
“Flug, you better hope that this experiment of your works…” he says coldly, glaring at Flug.
Your eyes dart from one villain to the other in rising panic.
“What’s going on? Where am I?” you ask desperately.
Black Hat’s cold eyes narrow slightly as he looks down at you.
“You’re at my home, as that idiot’s next test subject…” he then points at Flug with his cane.
You lock eyes with Flug, but can’t read his expression through his dark goggles.
“Test subject?” you ask, voice rising in panic.
Flug walks up to you, grabbing your chin and tilting your head from side to side as he examines you.
“That’s correct…” Flug says. “So please refrain from doing anything stupid…” he gives you a quick smile from under the goggles that doesn’t feel like a genuine one…
Your breath comes faster. You try to sit up or roll away from him. Flug grips your chin tighter.
“Stay still, damn it…” he mutters, holding tightly so that you can’t do anything against it.
Black Hat watches the little interaction with a slight smirk on his face. You lick your lips.
“Wh-what are you going to do?”
“What do you think I’m going to do, hm?” Flug says, leaning closer to your face as he tightens his grip on your chin. “I’m going to test some things on you, of course…”
Black Hat chuckles softly in the background. You look past Flug at Black Hat. His evil amusement sends chills down your spine. Black Hat notices you glance towards him and his smirk grows wider.
“Scared, are we?” Black Hat asks, walking a bit closer to Flug and you.
You gulp, pulling out of Flug’s grip in an effort to keep some distance between you and Black Hat. You don’t want him anywhere near you.
“Hm, good luck with that…” Flug mutters under his breath, before grabbing your shoulders and pulling you back to the same position.
Black Hat smirks as he comes closer, amused by your attempts to get away from the two of them. Flug is surprisingly strong. You freeze as his fingers dig into your shoulders.
“Please, don’t…”
“Oh, be quiet…” Flug mumbles, getting slightly annoyed with your begging.
“The more you resist, the more painful we will make this…” Black Hat says, leaning down so that he is just inches away from your nose, his smirk never leaving his face.
Black Hat is too close! Your brain is screaming at you to flee, but you’re too scared to move. You stare into his eye, trying to remember how to breathe. Black Hat chuckles, amused at your reaction.
“Oh, you look terrified…” he says, a sinister smirk appearing on his face. “Can’t say I hate it though…” Black Hat added to himself, glaring into my eyes.
They’re toying with you! And you can’t do anything to stop them…except, maybe you can stall for time by keeping them talking. You open your mouth, then swallow and try again.
“What are you testing?”
Flug and Black Hat glance at each other for a short moment.
“I suppose that there’s no harm in telling you…” Flug says as he loosens his grip on your shoulders.
“Well…we are going to be testing something new today…” Black Hat says, his eyes never leaving yours.
Black Hat’s gaze makes you feel like a mouse being hunted by a bird of prey. You shudder at the image.
“Something new?” I force myself to ask, though my voice is breathless with fear.
“Yes…” Black Hat nods, his eyes full of sadistic and evil intent. “It’s a new kind of liquid…”
Flug continues, “We don’t know what it will do, and we need to test it on someone… You just happen to be the available body today…”
Black Hat chuckles upon hearing this.
Available body? How did they get you? Why you? You wish you could remember how you got here, but it’s all black. You’re not even sure where here is. You look around the room to see what’s there. It’s a very large room that looks like a lab. All kinds of machines and strange liquids are scattered around the room. Black Hat and Flug seem to be watching you closely, almost as if waiting and anticipating your next reaction.
“C-can I see it? The…liquid you’re testing?” You’re not sure you want to, but can’t think of anything else to say.
“Oh, so you want to see it, huh…?” Black Hat says as he chuckles, a smirk appearing on his face again.
Flug glances at Black Hat for a moment, then at me.
“Sure, you can see it if you want…” Flug says as he walks over to a desk that is behind him, picking up a vial with a black liquid inside it.
Black, huh? At least it’s not oozie green or bloody. The room looks like a scientist’s lab. Maybe you can keep Flug distracted with more science questions.
“What’s your hypothesis for that? What do you think will happen?”
Flug seems to be very focused on answering your questions. Black Hat is just watching you and Flug from the side, a smirk still present on his face as he observes the interaction.
“Judging by the consistency, I predict that the liquid will have a hardening effect on your skin, making it feel more…tight.”
That doesn’t sound good. You try to keep him talking, instead of testing.
“And…how long do you think it will last?”
Flug takes a quick glance at the vial in his hand, examining the liquid.
“Well…I’m not completely sure about that. It really depends on the dose of the liquid…” Flug’s eyes glance over to Black Hat for a moment before looking back at you. “I suppose that the effect should last for a few days, maybe more…”
“And then I’ll go back to normal?” you ask hopefully.
Flug stares at me with a blank expression on his face for a moment.
“...Sure. You’ll just go back to normal in a few days…”
Black Hat can’t help but smirk at Flug’s ‘lie’. Flug doesn’t seem exactly sure of the truth about how long the effect would last… Black Hat’s smirk is not comforting. You gulp, trying to think of something else.
“How will it be administered?”
You hope you won’t have to drink it. Or have it injected. Maybe he’s just going to pour it on your skin? You try not to think about it too hard.
“Well, there are a few different ways that we’re going to try out…” Flug says, taking a quick glance at the bottle in his hand. “But the first one that we’re going to test on you is the pouring method…”
Black Hat’s smirk quickly grows wider. His eyes seem to sparkle as he hears Flug say that.
First? He’s going to try more than one? Crap! This isn’t good. Your eyes dart around the room again, looking for a window or door or anyway out.
Black Hat’s gaze follows your quick glance around the room, his smirk growing wider as he sees how desperate you are to find a way to escape. Flug also notices how you’re trying to escape, letting out a frustrated sigh.
“Stop trying to escape, it won’t work anyway. And it’s going to be much easier for everyone if you just cooperate…”
Black Hat chuckles again at that.
“Oh, do your ‘test subjects’ often just cooperate with your experiments?” you ask in disbelief.
Flug lets out a frustrated sigh, annoyed by your smart comment.
“Well, no, they don’t…”
Black Hat takes a few steps closer to you, his smirk only growing wider.
“But they always end up cooperating by the end of it…” Black Hat’s gaze is full of evil and sadistic intent, making it very clear to you what he is implying…
An icy thrill of fear shoots down your spine at Black Hat’s threat. There’s gotta be something that you can do to make this less unpleasant.
“Well then, what if I do cooperate? Will you…” …be merciful? Not likely. “...let me do it myself?” you finish with instead.
Black Hat’s smirk grows wider, finding your suggestion…interesting.
“Oh, now that’s an interesting idea…”
Black Hat glances at Flug, nodding for him to give you the bottle. Flug’s eyes widen, not really expecting for Black Hat to agree with your suggestion, but then he lets out a sigh before walking over to you, holding the bottle in front of you. Your hand shakes as you slowly take reach for the vial. You almost drop it when Flug lets go, spilling a few drops onto the floor. Flug flinches a little bit, but Black Hat just watches calmly and curiously.
“Be careful. We don’t want any of the liquid to be wasted, do we…?” Black Hat’s smirk is still present and he is clearly enjoying this way too much.
“N-no, sir,” you reply automatically. Something about Black Hat demands that kind of respect. Black Hat chuckles slightly upon hearing you call him ‘sir’. He is definitely enjoying this a lot.
You look at where drops of liquid landed on the floor to see the effect it had. It seems that the place where they dropped hardened very quickly.
“Hm…interesting…” Flug mumbles under his breath, examining the spot where the liquid dropped closely.
While Flug is distracted, examining the spots on the floor, you consider pouring the liquid down on him instead. You glance quickly at Black Hat to see if he’s watching. Maybe you can get away with it… Black Hat is watching you closely, not missing any movements that you make, and he realizes what you are thinking.
“Oh, I wouldn’t do that if I were you…” Black Hat’s voice has a menacing tone to it, a warning not to harm Flug.
You shudder at his words and gulp. Nope, you’re not going to risk making him angry. Instead, you hold your other hand out under the vial and prepare to pour a few drops onto the back of your hand.
“Did you want to watch this, Flug?” you ask before you do anything more.
Flug’s attention is quickly brought back to you upon hearing my question.
“Hm…? Oh, uh…sure…” he says with a blank expression on his face, clearly interested in the reaction that the liquid would have.
Black Hat is still watching you as well, his gaze looking very intense and interested in what you are going to do. You do not like having both of them so focused on you, but what choice do you have? This is better than being completely at their mercy.
You slowly tip the vial and brace yourself as a small stream of black liquid pours over the back of your hand. Flug and Black Hat are watching closely as the liquid falls, both of them very interested to see the reaction that it will have. Flug is also mumbling under his breath but he is too quiet for you to hear anything. As soon as the liquid hits your skin, it starts to take effect, almost immediately hardening your skin and making it feel very tight and…strange… You stop at the strange feeling, and try to flex the affected hand. Only a slight movement is possible. The liquid has basically hardened your skin, limiting your ability to move. Black Hat seems very amused by the effect, a sinister smirk appearing on his face as he watches your reaction to the liquid.
“There you go,” you say. “That-that’s all you need, right?” you hold the vial off to the side while you bring your affected hand up for Flug’s inspection.
Flug examines your hand, taking close and careful notes in his mind.
“Huh…that’s exactly what we expected…” Flug says, clearly intrigued by the effect the liquid has had on your skin.
Black Hat just watches as Flug examines your hands, a sinister smirk appearing on his face as he sees how hard and limited your movement is. This…isn’t as bad as you had feared. Your hand feels mostly numb where the liquid soaked into the skin. You’re glad it doesn’t hurt, though trying to move it is uncomfortable. Flug seems satisfied by the result of the experiment so far, taking a few steps away from you.
“Perfect…now that we know how the liquid takes effect let’s see how long it lasts…”
Black Hat glances over at Flug, agreeing with what he’s said. Both of them are clearly having way too much fun with this… You tuck the vial against your side, since they seem to have forgotten it. You look around for a door again. You want to get out of this lab!
“Right,” you say. “So, I’ll just, uh, get out of your way, then, while we wait.”
Flug and Black Hat both glance up at you as you say that, then at each other, as if silently communicating. A sinister smirk grows on both of their faces as they look back at you. Black Hat speaks up, his voice still having a menacing tone to it.
“Oh, don’t worry, you’re not going anywhere, little mouse…”
Your breath hitches in your throat.
“What? Why? I thought if I cooperated then you might…”
You don’t know how to finish that sentence. You don’t like the way they are looking at me. Black Hat chuckles at your obvious panic, clearly enjoying your desperation and fear.
“Oh, did you think we would just let you go that easily? No, no, no…” he says, slowly walking closer to you. “Now that you’ve cooperated and completed our experiment, we still want to have some fun with you…”
You try to back away. You don’t even want to think about what Black Hat might call ‘fun’. Black Hat chuckles as he watches you, clearly amused by your attempts to escape.
“Oh, there’s no need for that anymore, little mouse. You’re not going anywhere…”
Black Hat is now standing directly in front of you, towering over you as he smirks. You try to swallow down your fear, but Black Hat is too close. You feel small and hunted. You try not to think about what might happen next. Black Hat’s smirk grows wider as he sees the fear in your eyes, enjoying every moment of it.
“Oh, look at you, all scared and alone. You’re just a little mouse, trapped and surrounded by predators…”
Black Hat lets out another sinister chuckle as he places a hand on your shoulder. You flinch under his touch and close your eyes. Black Hat chuckles again at your flinch, his grip on your shoulder getting slightly tighter.
“You’re quite cute when you’re scared like this, you know that?” Black Hat says, clearly enjoying your fear and helplessness.
When you hear his words, something inside you snaps, and you switch from freezing fear to urgent flight. You fling the vial directly at Black Hat’s face. Black Hat’s eye widens in surprise. He hadn’t expected you to try to escape so suddenly. The vial connects with his face, black liquid splattering on his top hat, eye, and monocle, blinding him for a second. He stumbles backwards, growling and cursing as you run away from him. You dart across the room, putting a stainless steel table between you and the two villains. Where is the door to leave this room?! Black hat curses some more as he tries to wipe the black liquid from his eyes, growing more and more angry by the second.
Flug is surprised by your sudden escape attempt, but he quickly realizes what you’re doing and he knows that you’re looking for an exit.
“Damn it, she can’t leave yet! We need to finish testing the liquid!” Flug exclaims.
You cannot let Black Hat catch you! You turn and flee, trying desperately to find a way out. Black Hat finally manages to wipe the black liquid away from his eyes, his gaze immediately locking on you as soon as he sees you running deeper into the lab.
“You little brat! Get back here!” Black Hat roars as he quickly starts to chase after you, determination and anger fueling his every movement.
Your only hope is that the liquid will affect him the same way it affected you and slow him down. You finally see what you hope is a door, but there’s no knob. It looks like a sliding panel of sorts. There’s no obvious way to open it. Black Hat is quickly closing the distance between you and him, determined to catch you and not let you escape.
Flug is also quickly following behind, trying to keep up with Black Hat and watching you closely. He quickly realizes what you are doing and quickly shouts out to you, “Hey! Don’t even think about it! You’re not getting out that way!”
Your panic rises as Black Hat gets closer. You look for a button or handle or something that will open this door. Your fingers scrabble across its surface helplessly. Black Hat is almost upon you, a sinister smirk on his face as he sees you desperately searching for a way to open the door.
“No use trying to find a way to open it, little mouse. That door is specifically designed to stay closed until I say so!”
Black Hat is now right behind you, slowly reaching out a hand to grab you. You drop down to the ground and lunge away, trying to avoid getting grabbed. Black Hat’s smirk quickly turns into a scowl as you suddenly drop down to the ground, just barely missing his grasp.
“Damn it! Stop struggling and just give up already!” Black Hat roars, his patience quickly wearing thin as he tries to grab you again.
The demonic roar paralyzes you, and you curl yourself up into the nearest corner, trying to hide from them. Black Hat’s smirk returns to his face as he sees you curled up in the nearest corner, clearly enjoying how scared you are.
“Finally, you’re done struggling. Now, it’s time for you to face the consequences of your little escape attempt…” Black Hat says, slowly making his way towards you, his steps loud and menacing as he gets closer and closer.
You wrap your arms around your knees, shaking. Each foot step brings more dread. Black Hat is now right in front of you, looming over your shaking form and looking down at you with a dark and menacing expression.
“Look at you, all scared and helpless in that little corner…it’s almost pitiful.”
Black Hat reaches down and grips your chin, forcing you to look up at him as he leans down to get closer to you. You try to pull out of his grip, but stop when you feel the tips of his claws prick into your skin. You can only stare up at him, wondering what will happen next. Black Hat chuckles as you try to pull away from his grip.
“Now, now, don’t struggle. I don’t want to accidentally hurt you too much, little mouse,” Black Hat says with a sinister smirk. His claws dig a little deeper into your skin. He’s enjoying the fear and helplessness in your eyes as you stare up at him.
“What are you going to do?”
Black Hat chuckles again, his smirk growing wider as he hears your whispered question.
“Oh, there’s lots of things I could do to you, little mouse… But for now, I think I’ll just have a little fun with you…” Black Hat says.
He slowly releases your chin and takes a few steps back, his gaze roaming over your body as he considers what to do next. A loud clang from behind him signals Flug’s approach. He quickly turns his head to look at Flug as he approaches, a mix of annoyance and irritation clear on his face.
“What?” Black Hat growls, turning around to glare at Flug for interrupting his moment.
You take a deep breath. You’re just glad he’s not focused on you anymore. Now, Black Hat and Flug are engaged in a heated argument, completely distracted.
“You idiot! Don’t you know when to shut up?”
“I was just trying to remind you of our original plan!”
Their original plan? You slowly rise to your feet while Black Hat berates Flug. Their argument continues, both of them too focused on each other to notice your movements. You start to edge to the side while you eavesdrop. They seem to have forgotten all about you, which is a relief. They’re still arguing, Black Hat’s voice slowly rising in volume and anger as their disagreement continues.
“You always have to ruin things, don’t you?!”
“I was just trying to be practical!”
“Practical? That’s rich, coming from you.”
Their argument is becoming more and more intense, Black Hat’s anger growing with each word that comes out of Flug’s mouth.
You manage to make your way slowly back to the sliding door. Now that you’re not fleeing in a blind panic, you can see the little cover that protects a switch. Maybe that’s how to open the door? You carefully pull the cover open and flip the switch, hoping they won’t notice you fiddling with it. As soon as you flip the switch, the sliding door slowly and silently starts to open, giving you a way to escape from the lab. With a final glance back at them, you step out of the lab and start walking away quickly.
You have no idea where you’re going, just as far away from them as you can get.
Back in the lab, Black Hat and Flug continue to argue, completely oblivious to your escape.
As you walk further away from the lab, you find myself in a long, dimly-lit hallway. There are many other doors along the hallway, possibly leading to other labs or storage rooms.
You walk past the first door, then try the second door to see if it will open. It opens easily, revealing a small storage room filled with various supplies and equipment. It looks like the door hasn’t been opened in a long time, judging by the amount of dust covering everything. This is not a way outside.
You close the door quietly and move to the next one, opening it up. This third door opens up into another storage room, this one even more cluttered and packed with equipment and supplies than the last one. Everything in this room looks even older than the equipment in the previous storage room, as if whatever was stored in this room had been forgotten for a long time.
Maybe you went the wrong direction?
You turn around and tiptoe back down the hallway, trying to sneak past the lab without being noticed. Hopefully there’s a way out at the other end of the hall, if you can avoid being seen or heard by the two villains. Thankfully, Black Hat and Flug are still too occupied with their argument to notice your presence. As you reach the end of the hallway, you can see that it opens up into another, larger room. Perhaps you’ll find a way out in there?
You walk into the larger room, eyes wide. It’s decorated opulently. The paintings on the walls are all scenes of Black Hat at various conquests. The different moments all show his wielding incredible power or displaying a terrifying presence. Their eyes seem to watch you as you walk past. You shiver. It’s creepy and unsettling in here.
An angry roar from the lab startles you. You run through the nearest door, still looking for a way out. Black Hat’s angry roar gets louder and angrier. He’s finally realized that you’ve escaped and that he’s not happy about it.
The next room you enter is filled with various strange contraptions and devices, all of them looking like they’re part of some kind of scientific experiment. The contraptions and devices in the room are all clearly the product of Flug’s work, each one looking more bizarre and intricate than the next. Maybe you can find something to defend yourself with here…
As you look around, you notice that there are several small gadgets and tools lying around, some of them looking like they could be used as weapons. You snatch up something that resembles a laser gun. You can’t hold it with my blackened hand, so you hold it unsteadily in your other hand. It feels awkward and unbalanced but hopefully it will be enough to defend yourself if you encounter Black Hat or Flug again. You keep moving through the next door. Your heart is racing and your senses are on high alert, ready to fire if you see any sign of the villains.
The next room has tall, red-tinted windows. You immediately turn to look outside, trying to figure out where you are. Through the windows, you can see a vast and dark landscape spread out before you. It looks like you’re in some kind of mountain top lair, far away from any civilization or help. Your heart sinks. Even if you do get out, there’s nowhere safe to run to. Your hands drop to my sides, the laser thumping heavily against your thigh.
Then you notice that your blackened hand has started to ache. You bring it up to examine it more closely. It has started to ache and throb. The once smooth surface now looks cracked and dry, like the skin is slowly starting to dry and crack, as if it’s slowly drying and crumbling away. Oh no! This is bad! However, it doesn’t seem to be spreading or affecting any other part of your body, at least not yet. That’s a relief. But still, if this continues, you might lose the whole hand.
You consider your options, which are very few. Keep searching for a way out and possibly hide in the surrounding forest while your hand continues to dry up and crumble away? Or go back and face Flug? The forest offers no hope of escape.
You make the difficult decision to return to the lab and throw yourself on Flug’s mercy. Perhaps he will listen to reason and protect you from Black Hat until this experiment has run its course. Taking a deep breath, you start walking back towards the lab, your heart racing and your mind trying to prepare for the confrontation ahead. You keep the laser gun raised and ready to shoot if they won’t listen. You’re tense and on high alert, knowing that you’re walking into dangerous territory. Finally, you come back to the entrance of the lab. You can hear the sound of raised voices coming from inside, Black Hat and Flug’s argument still going strong. Apparently, Black Hat had never even given chase after you.
You take a few deep breaths to steel your courage, then step back into the lab, laser raised and ready.
“Flug!” you call out.
The sound of your voice catches their attention. They both whip around to face you, their expressions a mix of surprise and annoyance.
“Ah, so the little mouse has returned. How…unexpected,” Black Hat says, a menacing smile on his face.
“What are you doing back here?!” Flug shouts. “Haven’t you caused us enough trouble already?!”
Your mouth is dry as you try to explain.
“I…there’s nowhere for me to go. And my hand is getting worse.”
You raise it up to show Flug. His expression changes from annoyance to concern as he sees your blackened hand. He steps closer to get a better look at it, his eyes narrowing as he examines the damaged skin.
“Hmm, it seems the liquid’s effects are taking hold. This is…concerning.”
Black Hat, on the other hand, just smirks and steps closer to you, looking down at you with a menacing glare. You keep the laser pointed at Black Hat while you try to bargain with Flug.
“I promise to cooperate - for real this time - if I can help you find an antidote to this before my whole hand crumbles away.”
Flug looks at you for a moment, considering your proposal. He looks from you, to your blackened hand, and then back to you again, his mind racing as he weighs the pros and cons.
“Very well. I’ll work to create an antidote. But you have to listen to me and do exactly as I say. No more escaping or attempts to run away. Understand?”
“I understand. B-but also, Black Hat has to promise he won’t kill me,” you insist, waving the laser gun at him.
Black Hat scowls at you, clearly not happy with the condition you’ve just set. He looks like he’s about to protest, but then he pauses for a moment and looks at Flug.
“Hmm…very well. I won’t kill you. For now. But I can’t promise I won’t hurt you if you step out of line.”
You let the laser drop a little. You’re not sure if I can trust Black Hat, but you don’t have many options here.
“I’ll do my best to stay in line,” I promise.
Black Hat snorts in response, clearly not fully believing your promise. But he doesn’t protest further, instead, crossing his arms and watching you with a baleful glare.
“Good,” Flug says. “Now that that’s settled, let’s get to work. Follow me.”
Flug turns and walks towards the back of the lab, gesturing for you to follow him. You give Black Hat a last judging stare, then turn to follow Flug back into the lab where this all started. You can feel Black Hat’s gaze following you as if warning you to tread carefully. Luckily, he doesn’t follow us, instead staying in the first room and watching you disappear deeper into the lab.