Past Times: Bad Decisions and Even Worse Revelations

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"I think I know how Atlas felt
When he got the cards he was dealt
It seems a pretty lousy hand and
Life is full of rotten deals
You got no clue just how it feels
When everyone expects so much you can barely stand
And you wish that you were stronger
'Cause you know you're gonna fall
And you can't hold on much longer
Gonna lose it all
Take the weight from my shoulders
Take the weight from my mind
They say wait 'til you're older
But there's so many things I've yet to find."

- Take The Weight, Kristin Stokes

__________________________

Years ago, after the explosion

Midas awoke with a headache and a numb feeling in his entire body, as well as something foreign in him. The room was white and too bright for him to open his eye fully, so he blinked until he could get used to it all.
As he did, he noticed the hospital smell and wondered, how badly he was injured.
Finally, his eye got used to his surroundings and he looked around. It really was a hospital room. A constant beeping of the monitors had him on edge, and when he turned his head around, he saw the catman in another bed. How he'd survived the explosion was beyond Midas.
"Fantastic, you are awake", a familiar, yet annoying voice said and Midas turned his head to face Rue. Out of reflex, he wanted to reach her, but he just now noticed that his hands were strapped down.
"What are you doing here?", he asked, his voice barely a whisper.
"I work here, dumbo. You owe me and my team your life and I'm certainly not pleased with what you did to my friend", she said as she walked over to the catman. "You really did a number on him, huh? And the cat? My, my, you have a sick mind, but everything you do is in the name of science, isn't it?" Her high pitched laughter made him cringe.
When he tried to speak, she shushed him. "You just woke up from a coma, dear, you shouldn't be speaking without drinking something first."
Rue approached him with a glass of water, but he refused to drink it.
"Of course, you don't trust me enough to think I wouldn't posion you, hm? Fair enough. Well then, let's cut to the fun part, shall we? I will surely enjoy this and I am very certain, you will too." She put the glass of water on the bedside table and walked out of the room, coming back in with a bed on rolls, the person laying there covered up completely by a blanket.
Midas didn't know what to think, as his thoughts were still blurry, but he had a feeling that something was extremely off.
The bed stood still directly in front of him, and Rue stood behind. "Ladies and gentlemen, I welcome you to my magical show. Let me introduce you to my assistant!" With that she ripped the blanket off and revealed the all too familiar face of Maya, though she was frozen to gold and Midas' heart sunk. What had he done?
"We made you touch her, dear. When you were out. You kinda used your powers and we took it as an advantage. But wait up, I have another surprise for you!" She hopped out of the room and came back with a wheelchair, the oerson sitting in it covered up once again with a blanket, but Midas instantly knew that it was Marie.
"We were able to get all of you out of the ruins of that pretty little house. You're lucky that our people were still watching you or else your girlfriend would be dead by now." Rue said, as she took the blanket off.
"Now, Matthew, I want to play a game and you are the one who gets to decide the fate of the two women you love the most. Don't do anything stupid now."
Two men came in, both in uniform, looking tough. They unstrapped Midas and pushed him into a wheelchair, his hands were instantly tied down again. One of the men rolled him closer to the bed and the other chair.
"What do you want, Rue?"
"Your loyalty, even if we have to force it. Now listen closely. What if I tell you that I have something that can undo your doing?"
Even if he'd want to, he couldn't get himself out of the straps. He was too weak and Rue had too many advantages.
Oro had said something about a punishment and Midas was positive, that this was it.
"What is it?"
"I'm glad you're interested." Rue ducked down and came back up with a giant golden blanket, decorated with with white swirls. "This big boy here is said to heal any wounds and sometimes even bring the dead back when they just recently died. You, my dear, get to test the Golden Fleece out on either Marie or Maya. Choose wisely. There is no way for you to trick me. and I wouldn't turn this offer down. Either one of these two might be able to walk freely again." 
Oh, how he wanted to punch that girl in the face. Whatever she was planning, she'd use the other one as leverage and he knew that very well. The question now was if he really was selfish enough to choose who got to live and who would have to stay a statue for an unforseeable time. 
"Maya", he eventually whispered. "She is an innocent. If anything you say is true, then free her and let her go live her life."
Rue's smile got wider, as she put the fleece on Maya. "See? You can listen to what I say. Now, while we wait for your girlfriend to... thaw, let's talk about something else. Mr D wants to re-employ you, even if you have betrayed him."
"What if I don't cooperate?", Midas asked, his eye on Maya and the fleece, which was slightly glowing.
"I'm glad you're asking, but he will tell you himself. He should be here soon. I can tell you though, you will hate it. What I can also tell you is that you will cooperate, because we saved your life. Besides, our dear old doctor implanted something and trust me when I tell you that you do not want to find out what it is."
She took the fleece off and Midas couldn't believe what he saw. 
"It worked", he whispered, as he tried to push himself to her.
"Indeed it did." Rue folded the fleece together and put it in a box. "I didn't expect any less from that thing." Still smiling her annoying smile, she looked at Midas, as a small light on her earpiece started flickering.
Midas kept looking at Maya, waiting for any movements. She was alright, which meant that he now had something to free Marie too, he'd just need to get to it.
"Surprise, surprise, Mr D is here and wants to speak to you. Now remember, if you do something stupid, we will activate the implant and you'll be in immense pain. Meanwhile, our doctors will take care of Maya. Now, shall we go on a walk?" Without waiting for an answer, Rue hopped over and grabbed Midas' chair, rolling him out of the room. "We will have so much fun together, Midas! That's your name now, right? You kept repeating it from time to time during your coma. It's pretty edgy, but I gotta admit, definitely better than Matthew."
Midas barely listened to her, his thoughts still with Maya, but also thinking about his conversation with Oro. It was blurry, but he recalled Oro's anger. 
"Are you listening? No? Fine, then no conversations."
Rue kept rolling him through the dark halls of this strange place. He had never been here and yet it felt familiar, but Midas couldn't recall anything. Besides, everything in there looked the same, but they were definitely in some kind of cave close to the sea.
"This Mister D. Who is he?", he eventually asked to get his mind away from everything else.
"Oh, you will be surprised. Don't be fooled by us calling him Mr D all the time, that's more of an insider. His actual name might shock you."
"Rue!" A young girl, not older than 12, made her way to them, and Rue stopped the wheelchair. Midas watched, as she walked to the girl and crouched down.
"Bubblegum, I told you to stay with Auntie Liz."
"But Auntie Liz is boring and yelled at me because I drew on her yellow jacket! And Ollie wanted to go on an adventure with you!", she said, holding her pink plush toy up. A child in a place like this seemed strange to Midas, but there must be a reason. As sick as everyone here was, it somehow made sense.
"Skye, honey, I'm working. You have to wait until tonight, and then we will play, okay? Now go back to Liz. Go!"
Slightly amused, Midas saw the little girl's disappointed face, as she walked away. Rue stood up and continued bringing him wherever it was they were going.
"Your sister?", he asked, because he hated how quiet it was and he was curious to know more about Rue. 
"None of your business. We're here."
She brought him into another room, a conference room. A huge round table sat in the middle of the room, screens on the wall. At the end of the table, a swivel chair.
Rue rolled Midas to the table.
"Rue, unstrap him", a deep voice with strange accent demanded, as the swivel chair turned around and revealed a big man, his face covered by a skull mask.
"Sir, are you sure that it's a good idea?"
"Did I stutter?", the man bellowed, and so Rue did as he said and freed Midas from his chair. He stood up, rubbing his sore wrists.
"So, you are Mr D? What do you want?"
The uniformed giant stood up and approached Midas. "I have done nothing but being kind to you and your sister. I provided you with a steady job, a big house and security, and you thank me by shooting my employees and then turning them into abnormalities. You really are like your mother... See, I have known you your entire life, boy, and I can still recall how your mother held you on the day you were born, crying because she was afraid that you were the one who will fulfill the prophecy."
Midas froze in his position. "How do you know me for so long? Who are you?"
A laugh from behind, as Rue stepped next to him. "You really aren't the brightest light in the room, hm?"
Mr D took his mask off and revealed his face and bald head. "Your mother really failed telling you about what happened to your old man, but who can blame her?", he said, as Midas suddenly remembered.
"You're-"
"Brutus Eldorado", the man finished, putting on sunglasses, "your father."
While Midas stood there frozen, inside it was like he fell into the abyss as all the childhood memories came flooding back.
He barely even noticed the doctor coming in, announcing that they weren't able to save Maya and that she had passed away.

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A/N: THERE IS SO MUCH GOING ON IN THIS CHAPTER I'M SORRY BUT I HOPE YOU LIKE IT!!! and yeah it's hella confusing and weird but,,,,,, well

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