Chapter Text
Vox stared at his ceiling, his screen turned off, but if it was on, he would either be crying, or looking like he would. And he didn't want to see it, nor hear it. He wasn't this pathetic; he refused to be, no matter how much he felt like it.
Everything was gone, his image, status, even his body, it was all gone. Val had taken over VoxTech, rebranded it as something with only him and Vel, and he had completely shut Vox out of his own company. Nor did they make any move to reintroduce him back into it.
And he couldn't even start shit with them, since he was currently nothing but a screen, he couldn't even move through electric currents anymore. He had used too much power in his fight, this must be the first time he was truly this powerless, unable to do anything.
And it was terrifying, If he had a body, he could at least pretend to still be powerful, no matter how much of a lie it would be. But right now? If Val or Vel decided he was too much of a bother to still deal with, then he would be thrown out like trash, and for him, that would be more than just a death sentence.
But they hadn't, not yet at least… but for how long would that last? Val and Vel didn't seem very interested in giving him a body again anytime soon, so what? He was supposed to be a piece of decoration, some smart TV that could talk?
He decided he was way too tired to care, but he couldn't help the uncomfortable feeling in his circuits, something felt off, but he was currently on a Val and Vel ignoring streak, and he wasn't going to break that because one of his circuits might be faulty. He had survived worse.
He could handle it himself, he didn't need anybody else. It didn't matter, other people were just stepping stones after all.
—
Vox’s body burned, like lava had been pumped into his motherboard, his mind was clouded over as he glitched, hands… hands?! Dug into soft bedding, he didn't know what was going on, his mind was frenzied, his circuits overheating at something he didn't have the time to check.
He was panicking. What the fuck was going on?! Why did it hurt so much?! A body he shouldn't have twisted, clawing into the bedding, sharp finger easily ripping through the material, exposing the inner fillings of the mattress, glowing golden liquid dripping from his body, colouring the white sheets golden.
He heaved, coughing, nonexistent lungs on fire as his body continued twisting unnaturally, static whipping through the air with every burst of pain. Vox’s head was ringing, the pain only seeming to intensify with every single second.
And then there was a deafening wet rip, cutting through the previous pain like paper, he must be screaming by now, he had to… why was nobody coming?! Why was nobody helping him!?
Golden liquid was splattered around as flesh that he shouldn't have continued to rip and tear, the wet sound of cracking bones reminded him of the sound of thunder. He planted his face into the fabric, sticky and warm now, as his head hurt enough to make him woozy.
He felt a humming from above his head… before his body and mind shut down, overloaded by all the impulses being sent through his circuits, acting in an emergency shutdown.
—
The first thing Vox noticed when he woke up was the agony he was in, and the hole in his memories. It felt like his insides were alight, a burning inferno that burned his whole body, he didn't even have the energy to scream, body feeling like lead, completely drained.
But that was when he noticed… that he had a body, no matter how much pain he was in, he could feel his arms, his legs, and his chest rising painfully before a heckling breath escaped him.
How-Why… Did Val and Vel finally decide to give him a body?! No- they would have at least told him, woken him up or something. Vox growled as he collected his thoughts, before placing his palm on the bed, pushing himself to the side, only to fall off the bed with a pained moan.
He groaned as something on his back twitched… he wasn't ready to unpack this, he lit up his screen, it glitched from the pain, but at the very least he could see now… kind of, everything was strangely out of focus, like it normally was after he installed new optics.
He pushed himself up, or at least tried to, arms and legs screaming at him, unsteady and shaking. His screen glitched out again, electricity sparking from him like a faulty electrical socket. He started to tolerate the pain ever so slightly, noticing that the worst of it was his back, it was alight, and burned like somebody had ripped it open.
Vox growled as he grabbed onto his bed, pulling himself up, eyes going wide as he saw the state his room and bed were in.
The sheets were covered in golden liquid, some of it oozing off the sides, dripping onto the ground… that was already weird enough, but what really caught him off guard were the feathers, covered in the liquid, lying all around the bed, some of them on the ground.
The walls and windows were also covered in the liquid, it looked like something out of a slasher movie, but with the difference being that the blood wasn't red.
What the fuck happened while he slept?! Why did he have a body, and what was that golden, viscous liquid?! Vox felt himself panic a little, a forced smile appearing on his still glitching screen, like it always did when he was panicking.
… And then something caught his eye, something that made him freeze on the spot, smile falling off his face. A large shadow, from his back, twitching… the golden liquid oozed of it, dripping to the ground.
Vox wanted to see it closer… and the shadow moved, coming into Vox’s ocular field of vision…
It was a wing.
White feathers, glowing in a dim white, covered in golden liquid… And Vox felt his body convulse in shock as he lost his hold on the bed, crashing to the ground again, he was hyperventilating now, his fans working overtime to cool his systems down.
He stared at the wing in pure fear. He… what the fuck?! Yeah, no, he was dreaming, this was just a terrible nightmare he would wake up from any second now. This was his torture for being a fucking idiot, wasn't it?
Vox saw more of them, there were more fucking wings! All of them dripping gold, and he was starting to lose his mind, with a panicked groan, he rolled over, wings making him struggle, since they were in his way. Why were they so big?!
He didn't count how many there were, he didn't want to! He stood up on shaky legs, a mistake as he stepped forward and lost his footing, the weight distribution on his whole body off because of the new weight, the wings on his back acted on instinct, flapping and stopping him from crashing into the ground again.
And it hurt, new pain flaring up as he caught himself on a wall, crashing into it with his shoulder, the wings on his back folding into themselves from the pain. He growled as the edges of his screen scraped against the wall.
He pulled back, hand rubbing at the spot. It was fine, not a single scratch, instead, the wall had a dent in it now… What the fuck. He really didn't know how often he could still say that until it lost its meaning.
He was still hoping that this was just a nightmare of unholy proportions, but with every flare-up of pain, the foundation of that thought started to shake. He dragged himself towards the bathroom door, his feet stepping into golden, sticky liquid, making him shudder.
He pushed himself through the door, only for the wings on his back to unfold… he was fucking stuck. He growled and turned his head. He stopped and stared at them. “Fucking kill me” He muttered to himself, putting his head in his hands. “Stop making my life difficult!” He screamed at the wings in frustration.
Obviously, that didn't help; they weren't stupid dogs, nor sentient… at least he didn't think they were, or rather, hoped. He closed his eyes, trying to control them, make them fold again, or something like that. It took a while, but eventually he felt something, a slight tug in the back of his system.
He pulled at the feeling, and the wings folded and pressed against his back, it hurt, but at least he managed to get through the door now. His hand caught the luxurious sink, claws digging into the material, scratching the surface as Vox grit his teeth, another wave of pain ripping through his whole body, making the air crack with electricity.
He ripped his eyes open, heaving as he stared at the mirror, holding his breath as his screen glitched again, eyes widening as far as they could as he finally saw himself.
His body was there, he didn't know if it was still mechanical, organic, or both. The golden liquid oozed from his body, his body, he realised, it was blood, his blood. He stared at his face, the only still familiar thing he had.
His eyes forced themselves to stare at the wings; there weren't two, not even four… no.
Six.
Six wings sprouted from his back, feather sticky with the golden blood that seemingly belonged to him, they folded against his back, as if they had always been there. It felt almost natural, a scary thought… and then something glowing caught his eye. Above his head, around his antennas, was a-
A halo, white, glowing, and floating, moving with his body, five long prongs running across the front vertically, the tallest one in the middle. He had a fucking halo!
Val must have put drugs in his charging port again; he had to… this had to be a drug-induced trip, because… Vox didn't know if he could handle the alternative.
Vox felt his breathing speed up dangerously, the wings on his back twitching in response to his panic. And then…
Eyes.
Countless eyes opened up on his wings, his body, and even on his halo, all of them widening in what seemed to be the same horror he was feeling.
Vox breathed in deeply.
And screamed.