Test The Limits

Nothing Is As It Seems

"...better wake up soon...if he's not dead..." Mark faintly heard someone say as he slipped in and out of consciousness.

Am I in the hospital again?, Mark wondered as he cracked his eyes open, surprised by how dark it was. He could barely make out the outline of a figure standing in from of him, but otherwise could see nothing.

Definitely not the hospital, Mark decided as his eyes began to adjust to his surroundings.

"Good, you're awake. I was worried for a moment that you were dead before we could begin the fun." The figure spoke as he heard a light switch flip on, a din light bulb flickering to life in the center of the room.

The figure looked almost exactly like Felix, but Mark knew it wasn't him. He was dressed in an all black suit, his eyes pitch black with vibrant sky blue pupils.

He could also see a metal door in the background, a spark of hope igniting in him. He tried to stand to leave, but found himself unable to move due to the fact that he was restrained to a chair by heavy chains.

"Are you okay?"

Mark jumped in surprise when he heard a voice behind him whisper. Mark twisted his head just enough to see Dark sitting behind him in the same prison.

"Whispering is rude you know." The man reprimanded Mark, punching him in the face. Mark's head snapped back since he wasn't prepared for it, causing his head to smack into the back of Dark's. His vision became doubled for a moment before he shook his head to clear it.

"Leave him alone you son of a bitch!" Mark heard Jack yell from the opposite side of the room. Instead of chained to a chair, they were chained back to back and suspended on the ceiling by their feet.

"Ah ah ah, language Jackaboy." The man sauntered over to Jack and Anti with a smirk, circling around Jack and stopping in front of Anti with a maniacal grin.

"Remember me Anti?" The man prodded him in the chest, causing him and Jack to sway slightly.

"Fuck off Infelix." Anti spat in the man's face. Instead of lashing out at him like Mark feared he would, he only laughed and wiped the spit away with his sleeve.

"Same spirit you had since we worked together." Infelix mused with wry amusement.

"Oh I forgot, your friends probably don't know me. Infelix, a pleasure to beat you." Infelix bowed dramatically in front of Mark and Jack.

"What do you mean 'since we worked together'?" Jack ignored his introduction.

"Dark, Anti, and I used to be such great pals back in the day, hired as assassins to kill those people hated." Infelix smiled fondly.

"What?" Mark whispered, feeling a stab of betrayal pierce his heart.

"Mark-"

"Shut up!" Mark yelled at Dark, interrupting him. Dark immediately went silent.

"Oh, they didn't tell you two? What a shame, I guess you can't trust them." Infelix stuck his hands in his pockets, pretending to look disappointed.

"Or you two can trust me." Infelix brightened at the thought as if just thinking of the idea.

"No way." Jack shook his head.

"Come on, I'll let you kill these two traitors." Infelix offered. Mark felt Dark stiffen against him, his breath caught in his throat.

"Then we'd be just as bad as you and them." Mark pointed out.

"I'm not a bad guy." Infelix pretended to pout, folding his arms across his chest.

Dark seemed to relax slightly, his breath released in a soft sigh.

"But I am bored." He stated as he left the room, leaving the door ajar behind him as he disappeared into the darkness beyond.

He returned a moment later with a metal bat, smacking it lightly in his hand.

"Piñata time." Infelix swung at Jack and Anti. Jack had twisted away to avoid the bat, causing the brunt of the impact to hit Anti in the ribs with a loud crack that echoed throughout the small room.

Anti wheezed in pain, but otherwise made no sound as he bit his lip to keep from crying out. Mark felt Dark squirm against the chains, then go still.

"Come on, I wanna hear you scream!" Infelix swung again, this time hitting Jack square in the chest.

Jack yelled out in pain, tears quickly welling up in his eyes and spilling down his cheeks as he tried to take shallow breaths without hurting his chest too much.

"Leave them alone!" Mark and Dark both roared in anger.

"Ooh, touchy touchy." Infelix leaned against the bat like a cane.

"You should learn to be careful what you wish for." Infelix warned Dark and Mark before he swung the bat directly at Mark's head.

Mark cringed, waiting for the metal to hit against his skull at any moment.

It never came.

The bat was frozen an inch from Mark's face, Infelix laughing at Mark's scared expression.

"I don't want to kill you yet." Infelix lowered the bat, resting it on his shoulder.

"So I guess I'll knock you out the old fashioned way." Infelix produced a syringe from his pocket and embedded the needle in Mark's neck, injecting the familiar serum he had used before.

Not this again, Mark thought with annoyance as blackness enveloped his vision, the serum in his system quickly making him loss consciousness once again.

"What did you do to him?!?" Jack shouted at Infelix from across the room. All he saw was Infelix walk over to Mark and almost instantly Mark's head dropped over his chest, his black hair dropping in front of his eyes.

"He'll be fine." Infelix assured him.

"Can't say the same for you though." He shrugged apologetically as he swung his bat at Jack's face.

He didn't hesitate to hit him in the face.