He rubbed his back as he hauled himself forward, wobbling with every step. His body felt like a mass of flesh, just barely held together by his brittle bones...Wait, that's just a normal body anyway. He wasn't overly bothered by that, however, instead what truly irked him was the amount of eyes on him at this very moment.
The scene he'd caused earlier had easily attracted the attention of the rest of the prisoners, all of them staring at him like he was a madman. Not to mention, the threatening glares from the gorilla and giraffe, along with the eerie attention of the third one. Kai was used to a lot of things, but being the object of attention was not one of them.
He shifted uncomfortably under the numerous gazes, following along as his chains were dragged ahead towards the exit of this hall. Now that Kai had finally left the confines of his own cell was he able to truly appreciate how vast the corridor was. There were far more prison cells than he had expected, though he couldn't count them all, he estimated at least two hundred or more. To the relief of his fatigued body, his cell was on the end of the hall so he was not required to walk that far ('Though the guard seems to still hold a grudge, seeing how he keeps tugging my chains forward')
Kai's stunt had been far riskier than he had expected, not that that would have stopped him, but he still couldn't figure out what happened.
'The sudden pressure back there...What the hell even was that?' he questioned himself, sometimes turning to catch a glance at the one in charge.
As they approached the massive stone archway that Kai rightfully assumed was the exit, situated at the end of the hallway, Kai carefully took in the pink haired girl next to him from the corner of his eyes. She had naturally shot a few curious glances his way after the hubbub he had caused, but she reverted back to her disinterest. Kai couldn't help but feel increasingly intrigued by her, her entire being seemed to be completely still, like she'd gone through something so horrific she could no longer endure, almost empty. Almost.
He hadn't really noticed it before but up close now, he realized she was quite attractive, even through all the sweat and grime, not a blemish could be spotted on her face. Before he could continue to admire her facial features, the sudden thump of machinery snapped him out of his thoughts. The stone archway began to stir, folding inwards as they made way for them to enter.
Before Kai could even react, the shackles binding him were yanked ahead, lurching him forward, as he landed on his face. What met his gaze as he pulled his body back up was the ridiculing smile of the guard gripping his chain, or at least what he could tell was a smile behind that mask, the gorilla to be precise. Well, he'd never been one to let such things affect him as he pulled his body up unfazed.
As he stood up, he noticed the girl staring at him intently, or more accurately at his nose. Kai sighed as he rubbed his nose, wiping away the blood leaking down from it. By the time he'd wiped all the blood away, the entrance shut behind him as he took in his new surroundings.
The first thing that he noticed was the smell, the pungent odour of countless chemicals mixing together in the air, igniting his throat. Coughing hard, Kai wiped his eyes while inhaling deeply. He wasn't the only one affected, the girl was also wheezing heavily, while everyone else appeared used to the smell.
It appeared they were in some kind of laboratory based on what Kai could assume seeing all the complex contraptions and the chemical substances strewed around in beakers. The lab itself was outrageously modern, looking at the kind of technology used around them, it seemed incredibly advanced, even more so than what he knew of the world.
Tilting his head, Kai could only sigh, the questions he had, only growing without a single answer.
Preparing to move ahead, he stepped forward, only to slam into the oaf in front of him. Before he could respond, the gorilla gripped his arms, digging into his flesh as he lifted him up by his chains, dragging him into one of the adjoining rooms before he could even begin to process what happened. The giraffe followed shortly, the two of them dragging him to the center of the room. Kai wasn't planning on resisting as his body was being hauled like a piece of furniture.
The room was a lot smaller than the lab earlier which seemed to stretch for awhile, this room was more enclosed, the walls illuminated white. At the center of the room appeared to be some kind of machine, strapped to a seat similar to one of those electrocution chairs.
'Seems like I'm gonna die again, this new life was truly short but sweet, I'd like to give my gratitude to the ape and the giraffe, they truly made my second life much more entertaining.'
Kai mused in his head as he was stuffed into the seat, his hands were forced down, till they were tightly strapped down with some kind of mechanical device, same with his feet. Just as his limbs were cuffed down, they held open his mouth, stuffing what felt like cloth before they pushed his jaw shut on it.
The two guards stared down at him once he was fully strapped down, their faces were obscured by their masks but it was easy to tell, the two were just bouncing with glee.
'Sadistic fucks...then again, who am I to judge.'
"You really don't get it, do you?" the big guy sneered. "You should've begged me to finish you off when you had the chance. What's coming next… you'll be praying for death before it's over." His voice tinged with vindication for what will happen to Kai. The prisoner remained silent, staring at them blankly with no struggle which seemed to dissatisfy them.
"Tch, You'll feel it, let's see how long you can last."
he said, clearly frustrated by Kai's lack of response to his taunts. He turned away leaving the room along with his partner, similarly buzzing with excitement.
His beady eyes observed the device he was restrained to, the seat itself was surprisingly comfortable and cradled his back nicely. The restraints placed on him were mechanical and built into the seat, firmly gripping his limbs to the seat. He creaked his neck looking all around the room observing it's details, realizing that the room was not as plain as it seemed. To his right was an interior glass wall covering the majority of the wall on that side. it was pitch black to Kai's vision but he suspected it was only that way to him.
The sudden whirring snapped Kai's attention as the floor vibrated, engravings Kai hadn't noticed began to stir into life one by one in a circular construct around his seat. His fingers began to tremble, a sense of unease filling him. He wasn't sure what was going on but his instincts were screaming at him that this wasn't good. As each engraving lit up, finally forming a full circle around Kai, it began to emit a crimson radiance, the luminance intensifying with every second.
His hands began to struggle desperately as his blank stare cracked, morphing into panic. He began banging his head frantically against the restraints, trying to break free, dismissing the blood flowing into his eyes from the continued trauma, his body thrashing against the machine to escape.
Kai wasn't scared, he did not fear death. But this wasn't death, he knew it wasn't. His instincts were blaring in his head like alarms, this wasn't death. Except this was pain, and he did not want it, he did not fear pain but he did not wish for it either.
The rufescent light began to coalesce forming a foul orb, levitating before Kai. With a sudden rush of adrenaline, he miraculously tore his left arm out of his restraints, ripping apart a layer of his skin along with his tendons as blood pooling at his lap, yet he didn't care for it at the moment, knowing he needed to escape.
However, time had run out, the orb rushed forward, impaling his chest before he could even blink, before it began to absorb into his heart.
***
In the room next to the room Kai was trapped in, a singular man stood there, watching the events unfold through the glass wall without a word. His arms were crossed as he stood stooped against the glass barrier, watching the scene intently. His mask seemed even more distinct than it had been earlier, the symbol flowing almost writhing against the mask. As the orb struck Kai, he opened his mouth from beneath the mask.
"For the glory of the depraved. For the splendor of the Archons. To their rise once more"
He spoke, his eyes gleaming with unnatural fervor.
The room descended into stillness once more as he observed, in thought.