polychrome_pen | Dragon Flyz Ficlet

As this one ended up kind of long, I decided to just give it its own entry. XD

11. Jealous Character - Dark Wing (Dragon Flyz), as requested by strongheartmaid (Twist with #29)

29. Injured Character - Dark Wing (Dragon Flyz), as requested by strongheartmaid (Twist with #11)

Dark Wing clutched his injured shoulder, hissing as his fingers came in contact with the plasma burn engraved there. He continued running down the tunnel of Warnado, searching, hoping he could find a way out before the hated Dragon Flyz could find him and trap him again.

Stop running, Z’neth. The Voice. It clawed at his mind, never ceasing. Never giving up. Always calling him by the False Name. They want to help you.

“Go away!” Dark Wing hissed, clutching his head. “Be gone, horrid spirit! Why do you continue to haunt me?” he moaned.

You must end this, Z’neth. You know it is not right.

Dark Wing attempted to suppress The Voice as he had in the past, but was too weak. Let it talk all it wanted - he would never surrender to the Dragon Flyz. He would never betray his Father and his people in such a shameful way.

The assault on Warnado had come at dawn, the accursed hour when murky darkness birthed murkier light on Old Earth. It was the time of day that Dark Wing always felt weakest, most susceptible to The Voice. Airlandis’ dragons had surrounded Warnado, and in the hail of plasma cannon fire Dark Wing had been injured. Dread Wing had ordered his son into the safety of the battleship, under guard by the Dark Dramen. Dark Wing felt foolish leaving his Father’s side, being ordered away like a child from the Breeding Pits with their caretakers!

“Master, are you well?” one of the Dark Dramen asked, reaching toward Dark Wing.

You are not well. Seek help, Z’neth.

“Stay back! Do not touch me!” Dark Wing screamed, slashing at the warrior with his claws and drawing blood.

Dark Wing ran then, spreading his wings and diving into the foul depths of Warnado, hiding among hundreds of gremwings. He had to regain control before The Voice drowned him out. But it was becoming harder and harder to focus.

With horror, the mutant prince saw his claws begin to dull, his skin become mottled.

Do not fight it, Z’neth. This is for the best. We will become whole again.

Dark Wing let out an anguished, strangled scream. “I will not lose to you, cursed Voice!” He lost himself then, lost himself to the inner struggle between his iron will, forged in the breeding pits and armies of Lord Dread Wing, and the equally strong will of The Voice.

It felt as though hundreds of years passed in but an instant. Time seemed to warp and stretch, showing Dark Wing images of a life he might have know. A life lived at the corners of his own vision. People he might have loved: a girl, violet of hair, brothers, a sister, parents, friends.

Footsteps. The beat of wings as even gremwings deserted him.

“Oh, Z’neth,” a voice said. A voice almost broken with sadness and despair.

Dark Wing looked up, his bloodshot golden eyes taking in the vision before him.

Angels.

Four angels stood before him, wings outstretched. Two men - brothers? One spoke. “Can this creature really be our brother?”

A woman red of hair and bright of eyes gazed upon him as if into his very soul. “There’s no mistaking that psychic imprint.”

“Only one way to find out for sure. Do it, Ilona,” the second man spoke. Another woman, violet of hair began digging in her pack for something.

Not angels. Devils of Light. Dragon Flyz. The cause of all his misery could be traced back to these four beings. “Come but a step closer and you shall not survive. You are the reason my Father does not trust me - you are the wall that keeps us separated. If I kill you, his life will no longer be consumed with thoughts of defeating you. While you live, I can never assume my rightful place by his side,” Dark Wing coughed out, his voice a gnarled rasp.

The woman with bright eyes gazed at him again, and Dark Wing’s head began to throb. “You must remember, Z’neth. This form, this life, none of it is real!” she cried. Dark Wing collapsed to the floor, screaming in pain as images began rushing through his head like hot magma pouring into a mold. “Summit, I’ve never seen such extensive psychic conditioning!” Dark Wing heard the female say. “This Dark Wing persona has almost completely overridden Z’neth!”

The younger brother spoke. “Wait, are you implying we might not be able to get him back? This fake mutant might be all that’s left of him?”

“I. AM. NOT. FALSE.” Dark Wing roared. “The Voice is not right! Father told me you would make up lies about me in order to do me harm.”

The violet-haired woman stepped forward, holding a small gun. “Miriam and I developed this serum to reverse the mutein-damaged DNA, but we weren’t counting on such a dramatic personality shift,” she said, her voice quavering with fright.

“Leave that to me,” Apex said. How did Dark Wing suddenly know her name?

She is our sister, Z’neth. You are Dragonator One, a leader in Airlandis, a brother, a son. You need not crave Dread Wing’s approval. You have family who loves you.

Dark Wing felt the bright-eyed woman joining with The Voice, amplifying its reach and power within their mind. “Do it now, Ilona, while I have him contained!” Apex said.

Ilona nodded, and aimed the gun. It went off with a whistle, and a syringe buried itself in Dark Wing’s arm, releasing its payload deep into his tissue. If it had been painful having Apex thrust memories upon him, Dark Wing now knew new levels of pain and suffering. The contents of the syringe burned like acid coursing through his veins. With every moment, Dark Wing felt the connections between his body and his mind begin to fray, like branches snapping in gale force winds.

Dark Wing screamed, though his mouth produced no sound.

“He’s seizing!” he faintly heard one of the humans say. “I need a cortical monitor and ten ccs…” Her voice faded into nothingness as the sound of roaring waters filled Dark Wing’s ears. The water washed over him, covering Dark Wing in a sea of silence.

Hello, Z’neth - welcome to the place you once sentenced me. The Voice was here.

“Where are you, Voice? Show yourself?” Dark Wing yelled into the void.

All you have to do is look up. Dark Wing gazed upward, where the surface of the water floated mirror-like above him. And reflected there he saw...himself. And yet different. In place of scales, fangs, and golden eyes was human skin, white hair, brown eyes.

“More of your lies,” Dark Wing sneered. He could not, would not believe the humans.

The Voice shook its head, and Dark Wing realized then that it was only following his movements. The Voice was his own reflection - they were one in the same.

It’s time to rejoin, Z’neth. To become whole again.

Dark Wing moaned and curled up, wrapping his wings around his shoulders. “What am I, Voice? Who am I?” He felt so tired.

The Voice simply shrugged, the water rippling across his features. We’re me, I suppose. The dark parts that I don’t let others see. Dread Wing brought those all to the surface, and you were born from it.

“I can’t - won’t - fade away! If you displace me and control our body, my life, my very existence will have had no meaning,” Dark Wing said. “Who says that you are real and I am not?”

You can’t fade away. You’re part of me, after all. And on the contrary, I have learned a great deal from our time together. The Voice smiled and reached out a hand. It broke through the surface of the water, and Dark Wing felt himself mirroring the movement.

“I’m scared,” Dark Wing admitted as their hands neared one another. “I’m scared to die.”

You’ll live on through me.

The Voice grasped his forearm, and Dark Wing did the same. With a great pull upward, Dark Wing felt himself hit the surface of the water, except this time he was not separate, but his very atoms hummed with vibration as they stretched outward, bonding with those of The Voice.

It was prison. It was freedom. For the first time, Dark Wing truly understood his jealousy of the Dragon Flyz. They were family - the family he always wanted, but could never have. He suddenly felt very foolish for being jealous of himself.

If this is to be my death, perhaps it is not such a bad way to die.

+ + +

Z’neth woke with a sharp intake of breath. His face was wet with moisture, tears leaving watery trails across his cheeks. Looking around, Z’neth could see he was in the infirmary in Airlandis. Soft beeps and gentle lights from the monitoring equipment were his only accompaniment during these night hours.

Visions flashed before him. Dark Wing. Z’neth shuddered, thinking of all the terrible things he had done as the mutant prince. It had not been him...and yet it was.

Z’neth pulled his knees up to his chest and buried his face. He wasn’t sure why, but he found himself feeling inextricably sad for Dark Wing. What must it feel like to discover that your entire life had been nothing but a calculated, manufactured lie?

Though his parentage had been falsified, all Dark Wing had really craved was what Z’neth himself wanted out of life: the love and support of a family. To protect and help them flourish. To be needed and wanted. Tears slipped down Z’neth’s cheek again.

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Dragon Flyz Ficlet

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