Colors

Alter Ego AU

"Mark? What's going on?" Jack asked, voice thick with confusion as he followed Mark. The American sighed, running a hand through his bright red hair and carrying on, not bothering to answer the Irishman's question. Laughter floated up the stairs behind them as Bob and Wade joked and talked. Jack longed to go back down and join them but the desperation on Marks face had scared him into compliance.

They continued on until they reached Marks room where the duo promptly entered, Mark shutting the door behind them. Jack spun around at the sound of the lock clicking, fear entering his eyes. "Mark?" he asked, muscles tensing.

"Just....sit down and I'll explain. Please." At the tone of his voice Jack once again complied, silently cursing his weakness toward his friend as he sat cautiously on the edge of Marks bed, ready to spring up at any moment. Mark sighed once more before situating himself beside his fellow Youtuber, hands folded in his lap and back slouched. He refused to meet Jacks gaze. "Do you...do you know what Darkiplier is?"

Jack snorted, relaxing a bit. "Ah ha, very funny Mark. This is some hoaxy lil' prank Bob and Wade are in...on" he started, but his words dried out as the man beside him finally turned to look at him.

His eyes, normally so bright, so full of joy and light, were now dark, incredibly dark. His charming, chocolate orbs were a blood red, the pupils aglow and the white in his eyes the complete opposite: a pitch black.

Jack gave a half shriek, jerking backwards, but Mark reached out, clamping his mouth shut quickly. "Jack! Shhh! You'll alert Bob and Wade!" Jack gave him a bewildered look, almost as if asking 'That's what your worried about?!'. Mark's expression was one of sympathy, glancing quickly at the door before turning his gaze back to the horrified gamer beside him. "I need to show you something, but you have to promise not to freak out, OK?"

Jack stared in horror at the man before him."I'll make no fuckin' promises" he said, his tone incredulous, and Mark sighed, knowing that was the best he could hope for. The American pulled away as he began to shift, and the first thing Jack noticed was his nails. They were longer, sharper, the nails of a monster.

But that wasn't the only disturbing thing about him. His skin deprived itself of color, conversing from its rich tan to a dull gray. His jaw seemed bigger, more out of place, almost painful. Jack's gaze went from horrified to terrified to almost disbelieving yet pitiful in a matter of moments, transitioning and morphing together all too quickly as the Irish gamer tried to process what he was seeing here, not sure if this was all some crazy dream or not. The crackling of Marks bones as they changed only made the scene all the more surreal and sickening.

"M-mark?" He finally stammered at last and the said man gave a grunt, switching back with another crunch of bones and clutching his head, nearly falling off the bed. Jack reached out to steady him, but pulled away at the last moment, afraid.

"Keeping him in line takes a toll on me" Mark murmured.

"Wh-why did you show me that?" Jack inquired as he clutched at the sheets to keep from reaching out again, his voice going uncharacteristically quiet. Mark looked up, a plea in his eyes.

"Because I need to warn you."

"Warn me?!" Jack exclaimed rather loudly, causing Mark to cast another fearful glance at the door. Jack lowered his volume once more as he continued. "You should be telling Bob and Wade this as well. They are your best friends."

"They already know" Mark said, "but they don't set him off like you do-will you let me talk?!" Mark hissed once more as Jack went to open him mouth before clamping it shut again, taken aback by his normally patient friend's outburst.

"Good. The last time I saw you something stirred inside me. Remember when I had to run to the restroom in the middle of the panel?" Jack nodded and Mark continued. "That was because Dark was trying to emerge, and I had to hold him back. That's why I looked so sick when I came back: its because he took a physical toll on me. Now, normally I would just shrug this off, but his presence had been so strong...it was unnerving. I've been going down memory lane, and the only thing I can think of is that maybe...just maybe...you have something similar."