Left with a Memory

Chapter 6- The plague

Trigger Warning!!! If you have a fear of needles, I'd suggest not reading this. Descriptive scene of needles ahead.

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The magician could hear muffled voices around his head. Was that his powers trying to communicate to him again. Marvin attempted to focus his power on it, but something was blocking it. His body was still, he couldn't feel his magic at all. It was as if he was just a normal human being. Something in him knew it was still there, but why couldn't he tap into that power? Something was blocking it, preventing him from defending himself.

The voices didn't become anymore clear as Marvin grew more conscious. The magician was laid out on some cold metal platform. His limbs were restrained. Metal clamps held both hands above his head, his legs were both individually held in place. The metal touched his skin directly, leaving his whole body shivering. He couldn't see, he couldn't speak. He felt completely isolated from reality.

The sudden feeling of something warm slowly moving down his arm made the magician twitch in his place, whimpering behind the cloth gag in his mouth. His body adjusted, realizing it was a hand. The hand moved over the soundproofing headphones over his ears. It felt like emerging from water once his sense of sound returned. The first thing that he felt was the pain from the static whistling around him.

A familiar laugh rang through his senses. "Well this feels familiar," A voice said. He didn't need to ask. There was only one person that could shake his core the way Anti did. "Have you enjoyed your time in your sensory deprivation chamber? Hehehe" Once the magician adjusted to the return of his hearing, he was able to calm down. He couldn't give any response due to the gag in his mouth, so he just mumbled incoherent words.

The glitch laughed at his attempts. "Sorry deary, I can't understand you. Think there's something in your mouth" Even though he couldn't see, Marvin could tell he had a smug look on his face. "Why don't I help you with that," Marvin twitched when felt Anti's hand graze the side of his neck. He reached around and loosened the gag, letting it hang loosely around his neck. Marvin didn't realize how dry his mouth was until now.

Anti giggled. "So, what was that you said?" Marvin couldn't respond, his tongue was all dry. It made him wonder how long he'd been knocked out. "Oh I see you want the gag back on. Is that it?" Anti teased. Marvin frantically shook his head no.

This was so wrong. Normally he wouldn't be so afraid of Anti. He stopped being scared of the glitch a long time ago, but he felt completely different now. He was at Anti's mercy. He couldn't use his powers for some reason, and he had no sense of anything going on around him. Anti's glitches were messing with his sense of direction. If it wasn't for the fact that he was laying down, he probably would've fainted from disorientation.

Anti pretended to grab the gag, but suddenly jerked and gripped Marvin's chin with one hand. "Open up," Marvin felt something plastic touch his lip. His body shuddered when he felt water hit his tongue. It was like a rainstorm in the desert, then it was gone. Anti had given him just enough to speak properly.

Anti laughed, seeing the magician's desperation. He didn't say anything though, obviously waiting for Marvin to finally speak. Though Marvin didn't want to partake Anti's little game, he needed answers, and it wasn't like he had much of a choice. So he played. "What do you want with me Anti?" He choked out to say.

Anti smirked, finally getting his way. "Oh little Marvy, don't you even listen? I said it before, I want you!"

"And I told you before, I don't want anything you have to offer me!" Marvin spat back. "Now what have you done to me? Why can't I use my powers?"

Anti let out a glitched laugh. "Well I couldn't just let you mess up my plans as soon as you woke up. Oh but believe me, even with you unconscious I was fighting those powers of yours. You've got quite the set of skills little magic boy. Let's just say I've developed a little drug to suppress your powers."

"A drug?" Marvin muttered. It suddenly made sense now. The syringe. The pain in his neck. Something was in him, and it was holding down his powers. "How did you develop something like that?" Marvin struggled to ask.

He heard Anti move around a bit, laughing to himself. "Oh I am glad you asked," The sound of a timer going off made the magician jump. "Looks like it's time for another dose. Why don't you watch this one," Anti reached forward and removed the blindfold from Marvin's eyes. The magician winced at the blinding light above him.

Soon, once his eyes adjusted, he realized that the table he was lying on was slowly tilting forward. It stopped once he was leaning forward just enough to see around him. It looked like he was in some poorly lit laboratory. Next to him was a small cart with surgical tools. Mainly syringes and scalpels. Directly across was a lab table with chemistry equipment scattered around. There was a green liquid being boiled in the center of it.

Suddenly, Anti grabbed Marvin's jaw roughly again. He didn't even have time to fight back as the cloth gag was being shoved back into his mouth, leaving him without a voice again. Marvin's attention was suddenly brought to the door to the lab being opened. Who else was here?

A man in a long black coat walked in, he was holding onto a pair of thick black rubber gloves and round bottom flask with a clear liquid in it. The strangest part about this man was the cloak wrapped around his neck and up the back of his head. His face was covered with a mask. The mask had a long nose and large round glass goggles around the eye holes.

The man walked to the lab table, placing the flask next to the green liquid and putting on his gloves. He turned off the flame under the green liquid, letting it cool for a moment. Suddenly the man looked up at Marvin, as if he'd just noticed him there. The two stared at each other for a long time, then the man went back to his work. The man took the flask with the clear liquid and slowly poured it in to the green liquid. As soon as it came into contact, it began to sizzle, turning pitch black. After pouring about half of the clear liquid in, he began to mix it thoroughly.

Marvin was so focused on this man, he'd forgotten about Anti. "So when I said I developed the serum," He suddenly said. "I may have had some help," He smirked viciously at the man working. "He's been my little helper for the past, oh I'd say about two months now. It took a while, but now he's so... obedient," something about the way he said that made Marvin shudder. Who was that?

The mask man was suddenly walking towards the two with a syringe full of black liquid in hand. Anti smiled, taking a step back. "This may sting a little," Anti said mockingly. "I suggest not tensing up."

How on Earth could Marvin not tense up. His breathing began to pick up as he tried to squirm in any way, but the restrains kept him from barely budging. The masked man looked over Marvin for a second, the tightly grabbed the side of his neck. His hold was so strong, the magician couldn't do anything to resist. The man used his thumb to move Marvin's face away, leaving a clear spot on his neck opened. Marvin closed his eyes, trying to relax. There wasn't much he could do to resist, so he braced himself. He felt the needle go into his neck slowly. A pressure began building in that spot, until suddenly it was burning. Marvin bit down on the cloth in his mouth, suddenly grateful it was there. He could feel the liquid begin to enter his blood stream, flowing throughout his whole body, holding onto any source of power, and squeezing down tightly.

Anti had been right. It hurt, badly! Marvin was practically screaming into the gag, heavy tears streaking down his face. He felt the needle being pulled from his neck, but the burning in his core remain. It was all focused now on a spot inside him. As if the drug had found the source of his power, and was locking chains tightly around it.

It wasn't for a few minutes until the pain finally began to subside. Marvin felt exhausted. The masked man was now at the lab table, cleaning up equipment, removing his gloves.

Anti was standing at the table by Marvin, lowering it again so the magician was laying flat, facing the blinding light again. He looked up at the glitch's smug face. He felt tired. His eyes began his get heavy, he couldn't fight the exhausting feeling around him. Anti was looming over him. His voice fading slowly as the darkness surrounded him. "Nighty night little trickster."