Work Text:
Vechs stumbled around one of his building areas, sweating profusely as he held his hand to his side. Sweat stung his eyes as he pulled his hand from his side, staring at the blood and green ooze stuck to his fingers, the gore blurring as he nearly fainted, catching himself before fell over.
...I think I really should call someone. Vechs sat down, leaning against an unfinished project, inhaling deeply.
Last night had been fun. Maybe. He and Cleo had been talking, drinking something Cleo brought over. He remembered kissing her, starting to make out, but not much after that.
Woke up today, sweating, bite marks on his neck and sides, bleeding, with something...green oozing from the wounds.
Can't really call Cleo. “Hey Cleo, did we make out last night, then you started biting me or something? I ask because I am in extreme pain right now oozing green goo and blood all over the place.” Vechs whimpered slightly, leaning his head against a nearby block as he held onto his side again.
Everything swam in and out of focus as he started to close his eyes, panting loudly. Just as he started to lose consciousness, he swore he saw someone walking towards him. Whoever you are, I'm sorry. Don't touch the green goo, don't know what it'll do to you. Darkness enveloped Vechs, leaving everything in silence.
Vechs sat upright, struggling against the heavy white sheets. Where am I? Is heaven white? Blinking as he looked around, Vechs frowned slightly. Ok, is hell white? I'm pretty sure a lot of people just laughed at the thought I'd get into heaven.
...I can't see jack. Where's my goggles?
Vechs tried to pull his hand out from under the sheets, but found that his hands had been carefully tied together with a rather copious amount of surgical gauze and tape. ...what?
The sound of a quiet cough alerted him the presence of someone else in the room. Turning towards the sound, Vechs saw a large blurry shape which might be a doctor, given the prolific use of white. Or maybe an angel. Who knew at this point.
“I didn't expect to get into heaven, angel thing. But uh, thanks for the invite.”
The figure laughed dryly. “You aren't in heaven, Vechs. You're in a hospital. Well, a very small hospital.”
Vechs blinked. “Jsano? Is that you? How did you find me?”
“He didn't find you, I found you, you idiot.” Zisteau's voice filled the small room from where he sat unobtrusively in the corner.
“What happened?” Vechs asked, still trying to pull his hands from under the blanket.
“We were going to ask you that, Vechs,” Jsano said dryly. “Stop trying to pull your hands out, they're bound for a reason.”
“But I need my goggles to see,” Vechs said, whining slightly. Zisteau sighed before getting up and pushing Vechs's goggles onto his head. “They're not on right Zisteau, fix it.” Vechs stared up at the pigmen with an unhappy look on his face. Zisteau rolled his eyes and adjusted the goggles until Vechs stopped moaning about them being off center, before sitting down on the chair in the corner again.
“So Vechs. Mind telling me why Zisteau found you covered in zombie bites? I'm curious given it doesn't appear you got them from fighting zombies. Also, we're unsure if you turned into a zombie, are completely alive, or...something else.” Jsano said as he watched, bemused.
“Aren't you the doctor here, Jsano? I don't know. Let me up, I want to get back to work.” Vechs said as he wiggled around the bed.
Rolling his eyes, Jsano shook his head at Vechs. “I'm not letting you go until we figure out if you're a zombie or not.”
“And if I was, what would it matter? I mean look at Zisteau, he's a zombie pigman, he's not a danger to anyone!” Vechs said grumpily.
“Vechs, you know perfectly well I was born as a zombie pigman. If you were turned into a zombie, there's no telling what you'd do.” Zisteau said calmly.
Sniffling softly, Vechs whined, “Fine, how do you want me to prove I'm not dangerous? You can't keep me here forever. You two have things to do, and someone will eventually notice I'm not putting out any more Super Hostile maps.”
“We aren't sure, Vechs,” Jsano said before continuing dryly. “We thought about showing you some brains, see how much you felt like eating them. But we decided that seemed silly. Instead, we decided to have Zisteau shadow you for awhile and make sure you don't try and do anything stupid.”
“Well, do anything zombie like. You sometimes do stupid things normally, so...” Zisteau started to laugh as Vechs glared at him, upset.
Am I a zombie? How would I tell? I don't feel a compulsion to eat brains. Do normal zombies even want to eat brains? I don't think I've ever seen a zombie actually try and eat someone. They get bored once they kill someone. Vechs stared at Jsano now that he could clearly see him with his goggles on. Human. Fairly tall. Strong, as well as intelligent. Dangerous. Frowning slightly, Vechs blinked before turning towards Zisteau. Zombie pigman. Much stronger. Incredibly smart and devious if necessary. Very dangerous, but only if provoked...these do not seem like normal thoughts. But what is normal anyway. Coughing slightly, Vechs shifted underneath the covers.
“Can you let me go, please? I need to work on some new traps,” Vechs said with a soft sigh. Jsano nodded at Zisteau, who gently cut the bindings from Vechs' hands, pulling off the leftover tape and gauze. Vechs flexed his hands, stretching them out before grabbing the side of the bed and swinging his legs over the edge.
“Come back tomorrow Vechs, I want to make sure the bandages are holding up fine.” Vechs nodded at Jsano absentmindedly as he made his way out of the small room.
- - - - - - - - - -
Hissing quietly to himself, Vechs stared around himself at the planning area, filled with completed designs. Swinging blades were held aloft from large pendulums while pit traps flickered on and off, opening into the void, fire, or end portals. Tanks of water sloshed about, filled with traces of poison, tinting them a sickly green colour. Creepy crawly insects bounced and buzzed against glass tanks, the air filled with an unearthly humming noise, causing skin to crawl.
A good start.
“Vechs, I think we need to get going and meet up with Jsano...well this is something else.” Zisteau said, his mouth dropping as he surveyed the scene in front of him. For the most part, Zisteau had stayed back to let Vechs work while he read a book. He hadn't heard Vechs trying to eat anyone, so he thought he was mostly fine.
Turning towards Zisteau, Vechs smiled happily at him. “Yes, it's quite nice. I don't think I need to see Jsano though. I feel just fine. Great even. Knowing you, you'd force me. Luckily, plan!” Vechs said as he pushed a button, causing several blocks of bedrock and obsidian to spring up around Zisteau, trapping him.
“...what the fuck do you think you're doing, Vechs?” Zisteau said, frowning at Vechs.
“Keeping you out of the way while I work.” Vechs hummed softly to himself as he pulled out a small remote. Pushing it caused the sky and ground to crackle briefly with energy, setting up a one way electric fence. “One way in, hehe. Time to bring back some test subjects!” Vechs said as he skipped away, opening a hole into a different server, shutting it behind him.
“...fuck.” Zisteau closed his eyes as he sat down in the cage, straining to figure out a plan of action.
- - - - - - - - - - -
Of the original twenty people Vechs brought back to the “playground” only two were responsive anymore. The rest he had thrown into the pen with Zisteau, causing Zisteau to make increasingly unhappy grunting noises. So cute when he gets flustered.
A slight crackle flashed across the ground as he felt someone trying to enter the server. A sardonic smile played on his lips as he strolled over the the opening portal, pulling the uninvited guest through.
“Why hello Jsano, so pleased to see you again. So fortunate for you to arrive, I need your medical skills.” Vechs said as he laid a hand on Jsano's shoulder while twirling an enchanted diamond dagger in the other. “Vechs, what on earth have you done?” Jsano started to say, trying to pull away from Vechs. Vechs spun and faced Jsano directly, placing the dagger at Jsano's throat. “Listen. You are very lucky, Jsano. You get to help people get healthier! Isn't that something you like doing? You don't even have to run the obstacle course if you don't want to, since I want you in prime condition in case one of these toys breaks again. Breaks worse. I've been careful so far, and it's boring to be so gentle. Fix them up good, and everything is peachy.” Vechs shoved Jsano into the cage with a hiss, before striding back towards the two remaining people.
Jsano started to open his mouth before Zisteau shook his head sullenly. “He's not listening. I let him get out of control, I'm sorry Jsano. He just. He's gone nuts.”
Jsano watched as Vechs strode out of hearing range before turning towards the pile of hurt and injured people, pursing his lips as he assessed the damage. He pulled Zisteau closer to him as he started to sort through people, carefully moving them to more comfortable positions. Speaking lowly as he continued to work, he said quietly to Zisteau, “That's why we put the plan in place, Zisteau. Just continue to act upset, and I'll continue to fix people up until they arrive.” Zisteau nodded silently, moving out of Jsano's way.
Some time later as Jsano continued to patch people up, Vechs came over and started to pull people back out again, throwing them back into the circuit of contraptions. Jsano closed his eyes as he heard the shouts and shrill squeal of blades and machinery, not daring to see the devices in action. Vechs occasionally dumped people back into the pen as he made quiet tut tut noises, before turning back to the games with a ghoulish grin.
“Can...can you just let me die next time? I...I really don't want to go through that again,” a tired voice said, from the back of the cage, the voice faint and hollow. Jsano turned towards the voice and winced. Whoever it was, they were unrecognizable through the burns and blood. Jagged cuts covered their head and arms, while acid had burned through their lower clothing, causing bright red, bubbling wounds to appear on their feet and legs.
“I'm so sorry. I promise to help you feel better, and hopefully soon...”
“Hopefully soon what, Jsano?” Vechs said with a hiss as he looked into the cage, causing Jsano's blood to run cold.
“Hopefully soon you will stop being an asshole, Vechs,” Jsano said, managing to keep his voice carefully modulated as he started to wash away the blood from the person's arms and neck.
With a soft growl, Vechs spun around, marching back towards the games. As he was halfway through, the ground crackled brightly as a large rift opened in the sky. Several dozen people strode through the gate as it crashed shut behind them.
“Vechs! Vechs get over here right now you motherfucking asshole!” a voice shouted from the front of the pack. Several people parted, allowing Cleo, replete in enchanted diamond armour wielding a rather vicious looking diamond sword to come through.
Vechs stared at the throng of people, unmoving. Cleo walked up to Vechs before smacking him on the head with the flat of the sword.
“Why the fuck did you do that, Cleo? That hurt!” Vechs said rubbing his head as he glared at her.
Her eyes twitching slightly, Cleo frowned at Vechs. “Of course it hurt, you idiot. You are being a fucking asshole. You are doing incredibly terrible things, and are just being a dick in general. Stop it!”
Vechs frowned at Cleo before turning away. “Take Zisteau if you want Cleo, I'm too busy to deal with this.” He waved a hand at her as he started to walk away.
Howling in rage, Cleo tackled Vechs to the ground. “You. Are Not. Going Anywhere! You are going to stop being a dick! Right now! Loooook at these people, you you fucking asshole! Look at them!” Cleo grabbed his head, pointing it towards the pen where people laid bleeding and broken.
“...so?” Vechs said.
Cleo began to positively seethe as she stared at Vechs. “You are undead. That does not mean you can torture people and pretend it's ok.”
Pursing his lips, Vechs tilted his head, pulling it free from Cleo's grasp. “Given your general body language, I'm sure it would be a poor thing to say that I do have a doctor over there so they can keep going, it's not like I'm killing them. Then they'd be useless.”
Cleo began to splutter, incoherent from rage. “It but it it people hurt pain empathy motherfucking asshole someone get Zisteau over here to smack sense into him please.”
Several people scurried across the area, setting to work dismantling the cramped cage. Zisteau slide through one of the growing holes while others set to work help Jsano patch people up.
Zisteau carefully lifted Cleo off of Vechs, before pulling Vechs to his feet, carefully keeping Vechs from reaching into any of his pockets for hidden devices.
“You have a choice, Vechs. You can either calm down and stop being a jerk...” “I'm not being a jerk,” Vechs interjected, causing Zisteau to sigh. “Fine.”
Cleo threw a small potion and golden apple to Zisteau, which he nimbly caught before he broke the potion over Vechs head, and while Vechs was busy grumbling about the indignity of the situation, shoved the apple into Vechs' mouth. Everyone turned towards Vechs, staring quietly as they waited.
Vechs coughed suddenly before turning away from Zisteau. “Go away,” Vechs mumbled under his breath. “You are going to apologize to all the people here first.” “I'm sorry, go away.”
Zisteau sighed. “Louder.” “I was a jerk, I'm sorry, go away.” Vechs said, louder this time.
Shrugging helplessly, Zisteau dragged Cleo away as she still seemed intent on smacking Vechs a few dozen more times. Vechs sat down and stared at the ground as people slowly began straggling out with the assistance of the rescuers.
A short time later, Vechs was alone by himself, staring at the contraption in front of him.
Choose less well known play things. Move contraption further away. Pretend to show remorse. Vechs exhaled slowly as he spit out the uneaten golden apple, a depraved smirk appearing on his face as he began to hum happily to himself.