I don't need no light to see you SHINE

20

TWs: Torture/injuries/violence/near-death experience, manipulation. Stay safe :)

Nine clutched at his chest, feeling something piercing through his core. The left side of his face throbbed with pain and half of his vision was obscured in blackness, "Ngh...!"

He brought a shaking hand to his cheek, recoiling upon finding a sharp texture buried where the marking was.

"Alone again, are we?"

Nine's breath hitched, his eyes looking around wildly as he breathed heavily.

"Ah, how I missed this... still furthest from the Sun, I presume?"

The white Celestial grunted, "W... Why a- agh!"

A pulsating shockwave of electricity ran its course through Nine, making him squirm in place as he held himself close.

"Ah-ah-ah... I do the talking, remember? All you have to do is listen."

Nine growled, grinding his teeth as he held back what he wanted to say.

"Oh, don't give me that look. After everything I've done for you, after everything you went through... we're supposed to be friends."

Nine scoffed, regretting it once he felt a tightness in his core.

"I gave you the power of the Stars, and you don't even thank me. Pitiful, really... I thought you wanted to destroy them. They're the reason you're here. Alone. Abandoned. Lonely. You haven't seen or talked to anyone in billions of years, yet here you are forgiving them...? Pathetic. I knew you couldn't handle it. I knew you were too soft. You're just like that nuisance..."

The tightness increased tenfold. Nine felt his surface cracking from below. The icy terrain shattered like glass. He sucked in a breath, clutching his chest as he tried to stabilize his breathing. It was unbearable. He felt shooting agony across his body, digging and penetrating him in the worst way possible. The pain was worse than when he was ejected. Only this time, he was being torn apart.

"Do you know what's worse than dying?"

Nine didn't respond, focusing on trying to heal himself while his surface fractured.

"Knowing you never got a chance to say goodbye. But I mean, it's different for you... after all, no one cared about you- you're just an outcast... you were destined to fail from the very start."

Piece by piece, Nine felt his core breaking under the immense pressure.

'N... No... must not... give in.' Nine grunted, the stress forcing him into a fetal position. He forced his eyes shut, focusing his energy on his straining body.

"Even if you do persevere, you still are no match for me... say hello to your moons for me."

There was a pause as the pain seemed to cease, the cracking coming to an end.

He took a breath, his chest heaving.

Then it all came smashing down.

"Aaaaagggghhhhhh!"

All at once, the pain exploded into a cacophony of misery. Bits of his surface fell into the atmosphere while his core split in two. He couldn't see anything, a black crystal-like haze covering his eyes. He couldn't hear anything over the sound of his surface plunging into the void. Deep inside, he knew he wouldn't make it.

This was the end for-

"That's enough!" A voice pierced through the atmosphere.

The pain subsided, leaving Nine a wide-eyed spectacle as he finally managed to catch his breath.