Do I Know You, Captain?

Seeing Double

"This isn't how it's supposed to be." Damien growled through his teeth, his mouth pinched.

Captain whimpered as pain laced through their eyes. They tried to focus on him as he grit his teeth, turning his head to the side to crack his neck. In the movement two mirror versions of him seemed to leap from him, one mimicking his cracking neck, the other screaming silently. When he jerked his head back the other way, Celci came into focus where he had been.

"Captain!" Mark cried out from behind them. They spun around and the colors changed in a nauseating slash.

They reached up to grab their head, knocking the VR headset off their head, hearing it clatter to the ground. For a moment it was silent.

But only a moment.

Someone started to slam into the door, their voice hoarse from shouting as they slammed themselves into it making the Captain sob.

"Open the door, Darling! Open the door!" Damien roared, losing his normally calm demeanor.

"I have the key!" A female voice said, making the banging stop. Damien panted heavily and Captain could hear his breathing lower outside the door as he leaned on it.

"Candy.... Open it... please. They are in danger." Damien pleaded, but his words seemed to hiss.

Captain panicked. They knew something was wrong. They hadn't put on the headset. They had to figure out what was happening. They grabbed their phone off the charger and hurried over to their window. It was the second story, but they knew how to sneak out of here. It was their childhood bedroom.

They may not be able to get back into the game, but they could talk to their head engineer. Why hadn't Captain considered this before? They had corresponded during the planning of their promotion of the game.

Captain climbed fast from their own windowsill to their sister's, hurrying to the door and opening it fast to run out to the stairs. The hall was long enough that the two getting into Captain's room wouldn't be able to see them run past and down the stairs. They did hear Captain though, and both called after them.

Captain didn't stop, even when their nose started to bleed again. Something was horribly wrong. Captain needed to talk to Markiplier to figure it out. He had to be going through the same thing.

Sure enough he had tweeted a picture from the hospital a few days before, giving a thumbs up to show his fans he was alright.

The Captain pulled up their messages as they ran down the street. They didn't plan on running for long, they just needed to be far enough away to be alone for long enough they could message Mark.

They read some of their old messages as they ran, glancing between the screen, their feet, and the path in front of them.

They got through the greetings and the starting messages then got to the deeper things they spoke about such as the time they are going to record sessions and what things they each want edited out.

They slowed their steps and dipped into a garden, finding a bench and sitting down to type.

Mark, we need to talk about this. Something is wrong. Can we meet somewhere?

They waited, tapping their phone lightly woth their index finger as their vision started to swim with tears.

This is insane, Captain. I've been sicker than I've ever been before and more often.

They took a moment before responding.

Please meet me at the coffee shop on main. I don't have much time though.

What do you mean?

My boyfriend and sister don't think this is a good idea. 

Why not?

I'll explain when we meet up. Do you know sign language? When I get worked up I can't speak a lot.

Don't worry about it. I can understand you.

Captain couldn't help their smile at that. Did he really think he could still understand them outside the game? The game was set up for him to be able to follow prompts. The AI would be able to do it better.

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Mark walked briskly down the sidewalk, his hands in his pockets as he went, shoulders hunched. Normally he didn't mind being recognised and he wasn't recognised that often, not enough for it to be an issue. Right now he was in a hurry though.

He looked up at the name of the Cafe but as he made his way to the door he ran into someone, stumbling back.

"Sorry man." He apologized, finally looking at who he ran into. He was startled to see a familiar face. This man looked so much like he did. His eyes were the same shape, though Marks were hidden behind his glasses. His hair was black like marks natural hair but it was slicked back while marks was dyed red a day laid at the side of his face.

"Ah, Markiplier. Just who i was searching for. Excuse me if I skip the niceties, but where are they?" He asked without preamble.

"Who?" Mark asked innocently.

"My good sir, I do not have time for this, they are in danger. Where are they?" The man hit Mark in the chest with a cane, making him flinch. Mark took a step back.

"Hey! Don't touch me. I don't know who you are talking about." Mark said, raising his hands defensively.

"Listen to me." He leaned in close so his face was close to Mark's. The man smelled like cedar and leather,"You think you know them, but you don't. You played a game with them and it's hurting them. Mayhaps it has hurt you as well."

"Who are you, and who are you talking about?" Mark asked.

"Captain Nyx was coming here to meet you. They are unwell. That damned game you played made them ill. I need to find them." He snarled.

"You caught me before I found them, Mr. Mayor." Mark said, poking his election pin on his suit.

Damien stepped back and leaned on his cane,, running a hand over his hair to make sure it was neat.

"You remind me of an old friend." Damien said, tilting his head to the side either a small pop, making him wince,"You're putting them in danger."

"I'm not trying to. Just trying to figure out what's going on." Mark said woth a wide shrug.

"And I'm trying to save their life. Get out of here." Damien said, pointing,"If I see you near them, you'll not like the outcome."

Mark suddenly ducked under his arm and ran into the Cafe.

"Captain!" He shouted. He scanned the room but he was grabbed by the shoulder and spun around, a fist colliding with his jaw, knocking him out cold.