I'll Make You Mine

Welcome to the Show: Ribbon

(So remember in Behavior Modification when I said there was another chapter that had the same full rewrite problem? Yeah, that was this chapter. Combined with personal life issues, this was a challenge. But you know what, I think it turned out alright.)

(Content warnings for coercion, body dysmorphia, and Nightmare dismembering a creep)

Ribbon still wasn't used to having plastic and porcelain instead of bones. The stuff in his head and his clockwork organs were the parts that felt weird. But not in a bad way. No, it made everything feel right. It was hard to explain, but he felt like he wasn't . . . alive.

It was scary at first, waking up and feeling nothing but numbness. At least, he thought it was numbness. He couldn't feel his body, but it was also as painful as a pounding headache. Then multiplied by twenty. His eye sockets had dry ice shoved in them and his mouth and throat were as dry as Dust's sense of humor. And why was everything so bright?

He woke up in the same lab but in a different room. Instead of the surgical equipment, he lay on a wire rack, like the ones he used to put paintings on. It took a few blinks to adjust to the lights and sounds. Bandages wrapped around his entire body, but most of them were on his face. Probably because it needed the most with the implants Dust put in, he only had enough space to breathe and see. He wasn't wearing any clothes, but he couldn't feel the cold air like before. Ribbon buried himself deeper in the blanket he found himself in, which he also couldn't feel. He flexed his fingers, which were longer and smoother than he remembered. They looked like pretty gems. Porcelain, that's what it was! He remembered!

His first thought was that he died in the chamber and didn't get to say goodbye to Nightmare. What were the chances of him surviving a crazy surgery to make him a doll? Nada. Zilch. Zero. He didn't want to be dead, not without Nightmare! He needed him!

But an hour later, Nightmare walked in, kissed him, and told him that everything went according to plan. The thumping in his chest was a mechanical heart and clockwork organs. And the brightness was his new eyes adjusting. It made him upset knowing his color-changing eye lights were gone, they were a huge part of his identity. But Nightmare said his lilac ones looked much prettier. Hearing that relaxed Ribbon because thought he was bordering on uncanny valley. His facial features were all off in little ways. He had massive eyes, his cheeks were round and puffy, and the new white pupils were . . . interesting. He was more machine than skeleton, around ninety to ten percent. Wait, person was the wrong word. Ribbon wasn't a person.

Not anymore.

Any argument that he was a person was gone. He had the body to prove he was a pretty toy and no more. He got a better look at it later. His athletic and slightly muscular physique was completely gone. Instead, he was delicate, thin, petite, and pretty. According to Dust's tests, his DNA was altered to fit the new traits. He reminded him of the new weaknesses that came from his new body. No more teleporting through paint it seemed.

Ribbon couldn't tell if he loved or hated the changes. No, it wasn't even a contest. Loved. He loved all the changes. He was a doll, his skeleton body was all wrong! This was the way he was supposed to look all along!

Now, he sat in his bedroom, stitching away at a dress as Nightmare filled him with his paints. Ribbon's new back had a compartment to open and pour his paint into, which Nightmare did. He filled them one by one and Ribbon shivered with each emotion. He sat on his knees in front of Nightmare so it was easier to access. His teeth chattered since the back of his dress was open and exposed. He was so cold all the time, but at least Nighty was there to warm him back up.

"I wish I could make you a soul, my sweet lamb." Nightmare said as he corked a vial. "It would be much easier to tend to you with. But there are some things even my magic can't accomplish."