"Every blade has two edges; he who wounds with one wounds himself with the other."
― Victor Hugo

Tommy scrambles forward, his hands desperately searching for something, though he doesn't know what. There is a scream trapped in his throat, vibrating incessantly to make him completely unaware of how he isn't inhaling. His eyes burst open. The light hurts his eyes, but he refuses to close his eyes again. He forces them to adjust as quickly as they can as he returns to the panicked state he fell unconscious experiencing. His agitation increases when he feels a light pressure against his palms. He tries pulling his hands away, but the gentle grip tightens, conforming in Tommy's mind to the shape of hands. When he glances to the side, his vision fills out with a man in a purple mask. Tommy feels a heavy weight settle on his chest, tears forming in his eyes. He recognizes the hero, though. He does after a moment, and the man's voice filters into his head, obscured slightly by a modifier but no less familiar.

"Vendetta, look at me, look at me," Watcher calls, holding both of Tommy's hands away from Tommy's body. The blonde stops jerking his limbs around. Watcher meets his eyes, and a slow smile comes onto his face. He lowers their hands onto the bed sheet underneath Tommy's body, but he doesn't let go. He instead presses the tips of his fingers against Tommy's wrist, searching for a pulse. Or, determining that it isn't nearly as fast as it should be. Watcher gives Tommy a look, his eyes narrowing slightly. "Breathe, Vendetta. In and out. Follow me."

Tommy follows the instructions given to him. He pushes down the swirling panic. The feeling is a tad irrational, and Tommy places a hand against the side of his face. He has a vague understanding of why he feels this way, but he can't put the details together. Every time he tries to remember, he feels a warm wind against his back and green flowers growing at his feet. He stares up at Watcher. His voice croaks, and he realizes he isn't wearing his mask, "What happened?"

"Here, drink some water," Watcher says, reaching for a glass that had been left on a wood wraparound desk that stretches on every wooden wall, only taking breaks for the doors. There is a circulating fan overhead with lightbulbs that shake because of the force of the ceiling fan. Tommy is lying on a mattress with a sheet but no blanket or comforter. There is a singular pillow that has been dropped halfway to the floor by Tommy's flailing.

"What the fuck happened?" Tommy demands again, glaring at Watcher instead of taking the water being offered to him. Watcher hesitates. Tommy's stare hardens.

Watcher sighs. He sets the glass back on the wraparound desk, answering quietly, "We got Pearl and Technician... but Briar was kidnapped by the Red Army."

Tommy's stomach drops, and he pushes through the bizarre barrier keeping him from his memories. He closes his eyes, and her eyes are staring at him. Her hand splayed out to save him- protect his life- instead of her own. She was taken by the Red Army, but she made sure Tommy and Technician weren't taken back. Tommy has no idea why she did that. He breathes out slowly, wrapping his arms around himself. He and Briar have never had a particularly good relationship. They respect each other. They were mutually... somethings... with Ultraviolet. They both had a decent relationship with Warden. They were never in each other's spheres, but they were joined together by several strings. Not enough for Briar to be able to break through the mind control, even for a moment. She should have killed him. She found the strength not to.

Tommy pulls his hands out of Watcher's- forgetting for a moment they were there- and pushes down on the bed sheet. He swings his legs off the side that Watcher is not on. Watcher grabs Tommy's shoulders, his wings bristling. Tommy shakes Watcher's hand off his shoulder. He glares at the hero as Tommy's feet hit the ground. He stands on shaky legs, using the mattress to support some of his weight. He feels sick to his stomach, though he doesn't know if that was due to smoke poisoning or guilt. It could even be dehydration, but he refuses to take the glass from Watcher. Tommy glances at Watcher, daring him to stop Tommy, "I have to get Briar back."

"Her kidnapping wasn't your fault," Watcher responds. He follows after Tommy as the blonde walks toward the door on the same wall as the door.

Tommy sets his hand on the doorknob, muttering, "Yes, it fucking is."

Tommy steps through the door. He enters into a room eerily similar to the one he just left, except this one doesn't have a bed. There is a space where one would have been- two, actually- because of the break in the wraparound desk, but they have been removed. In their place, there are chains attached to the wall. At the end of one chain, Technician lies unconscious on the floor in the corner of the room opposite to the one Tommy is entering from. The other chain, in front of Tommy, holds down a young woman with brown hair and blood red eyes. She wears a blue hoodie and jeans, but Tommy can recognize the Scarlet Demoness even without her cloak and man-eating wolf. Pearl smiles wickedly at him. "Hey, Vendetta. Good to see you awake."

"How are you feeling?" Tommy asks neutrally, stepping into the room. He leaves the door open because he senses Watcher behind him, but the S-rank hero doesn't step through the door.

Pearl laughs light-heartedly. She raises the hand that is bound in chains, and the metal makes a high-pitched tinkling noise. Pearl lowers her hand back into her lap, her legs stretched out in front of her. "Not so well, I'm afraid."

Tommy tilts his head, daring to take another step towards her. The smile on her face sharpens. She is almost daring Tommy to step closer. The blonde grits his teeth. "Do you know why you're chained up?"

Pearl laughs again, but it is far weightier and electrified like a live wire. When she stops, she smiles easily at Tommy. She speaks, and her tone makes it sound like she's talking about the weather. Mundane, common facts. "Probably because when I woke up, I immediately tried murdering Watcher and Good Guy."

"I- what?" Tommy blanches. Confusion ebbs in his mind. Of course, he knew that Pearl wouldn't be happy with her brothers while under Crimson's mind control, but wasn't her entire motivation for being stronger to protect her brothers? Pearl is amused by his confusion, but he can't make it fade away. "Why?"

Pearl's smile drops away. Tommy can feel Watcher getting closer to his back. Pearl's eyes narrow, and she practically hisses as Watcher tries stepping between Pearl and Tommy, "Because I despise him, that's why. It would be better for everyone if he was dead."

Watcher's wings flare and his hands close into fists. Tommy reaches for his shoulder, but he draws his hand away when the door beside the one he and Watcher came through opens. Good Guy stands at the door, balancing a tray of food in one hand. He looks up at Watcher and Tommy. His eyes widen with surprise. A slow smile comes to his face. Pearl ruins this by calling out, "I hate his guts, too."

Good Guy's wings droop sadly. He lowers the tray he was holding on the ground beside Watcher's feet. Good Guy walks away, closing the door behind him. Watcher shifts to speak to Good Guy, his hand raising up. Pearl scowls at the closed door, yelling to her younger brother, "You're a coward! The same one you've always been!"

"Don't say that," Watcher tells her, his voice burning with anger. He throws the hand he was reaching out towards Good Guy down. He glares at his sister. His wings rise up, making himself look bigger. Tommy ducks underneath the wing, trying to keep eyes on Pearl.

She snarls at her brother, raising both of her hands up to wave them around. "And why is a great, shining hero telling me not to speak the truth?"

Tommy raises a hand to Watcher, hoping to stop the ensuing conflict before it can begin. He whispers to the S-rank hero, "It's just the mind control, Watcher. This isn't really her."

Tommy looks back at Pearl. She radiates with anger. She grits her teeth, pulling at her chains. Tommy swallows, feeling like he's the last morsel of food in front of a starving man. If the chains weren't keeping her at bay, Pearl probably would have torn his throat out with her teeth. She hisses at him, far more angry at him than she was at Watcher or Good Guy. "Maybe Crimson did bring out this level of anger in me, but I have always resented my brothers. My entire life has always been about them, never me. The moment I found happiness outside of them and the shitty life they condemned me to, when I found peace with a group of people that wasn't going to abandon me, I was taken against my will. Of course I would want them dead."

"How can you fucking hate them when you've spent so long protecting them?" Tommy demands, taking a step forward. He feels it like a pit inside his chest, an all-consuming darkness that is spiraling away from his control. Mirror shards, sharper than daggers, cut into him, dragging against his insides and reflecting Pearl's anger back at her. It hurts Tommy, but he can't find a different approach to the situation, not when he feels like Pearl is so similar to himself.

"I protected them because they were all I had. Now, I have so much more. I would much rather protect the Cult of Erythr than spend another useless moment wasting away helping about my brothers," Pearl informs him. She takes a deep breath, her eyes closing for a moment. She sits back down on the ground. When she opens her eyes, she seems a lot calmer. "But I don't hate you. I really don't. I think... No, I know that I actually pity you, Vendetta. You remind me of the girl I used to be, the one that would have done anything- even throw away my own life- to protect what I had. You, like me, can't find happiness in other things anymore because you've devoted yourself to loving what will never love you back, to saving what will abandon you time and time again."

Watcher takes a half-step back, face pale like he's been shot. Pearl doesn't look at him. She instead raises her hand to Tommy, the chain shining in the warm light of the room. "Joining the cult would be in your best interest."

"Fuck no," Tommy tells her, shaking his head. The cult has done way too many wrong things for Tommy to willing consider joining them. They stand for the destruction of the city, not its survival. They have kidnapped hybrids and blown up parts of the Empires park, along with infiltrating the government and big businesses. They were a blight upon the land that Tommy was going to get rid of, not assist the spread of.

"I have to ask why. Don't you understand what the cult can do for you? It could give you a new family to protect that can also protect themselves. It would give you the power to never be taken advantage of again. It would give you the strength to stand opposed to all that makes you cower. Is that not what you've been searching for every day, trying to fill the hole inside of you with the promise of revenge?" Pearl tells him, smiling kindly at him. Tommy's breath hitches. For some reason, Pearl knows exactly what to offer him. She uses the right words, too, making Tommy remember that the cult has tried kidnapping him before. He does want a family again, but he wants his family. He does want to break away from Minotaur, but he would rather do that by himself while punching the villain's face in. He wants to stand against Dream on his own two feet.

"She's right," Another voice calls. Technician turns, lying on his back. He pulls at the chain on his wrist, but he doesn't seem too keen on escaping at the moment. He glances over at Tommy, something shining in his eyes. Tommy's hands form into fists, his grip tightening the longer he stares into Technician's eyes. "Crimson is able to give us all what we really want, no matter what it is. All we have to do in exchange is a few favors. He even gives up the right to refuse. Crimson wouldn't force you to do anything you don't want to do. He just wants to know you're happy."

Watcher grabs Tommy's wrist. He pulls Tommy, stepping over the tray Good Guy left behind. Tommy nearly trips over it, not prepared for someone to start tugging him along. Watcher slams the door shut. Tommy can still hear Pearl yelling at him to consider his options carefully. Watcher grabs Tommy's shoulders, looking right into his eyes, "Do not believe a word those two say."

Tommy pulls back. Watcher lowers his arms, but his stern expression doesn't fade. His wings flutter uselessly at his sides like he wants to fly away. Tommy glares at the man, something incredulous lighting up his chest. "I will never willingly join the fucking Cult of Erythr. Don't start that bullshit with me."

Tommy marches down the dark hallway. He finds the door at the end of the hall. He shoves it open with his shoulder. He steps onto a cement porch. As he prepares to shut the door, he hears Watcher, "Briar's kidnapping wasn't your fault."

Tommy looks over his shoulder, meeting Watcher's eyes even though the hero is bathed in shadows. Tommy scowls at him, "Go fucking check on Good Guy."

Tommy slams the door shut.