AN: Uh, so, yeah. This is... a thing. Not really happy with it- Re: I think its shit- but if I didn't post it now I never would have so... yeah. This is the first time I've posted here on SV so if I did something wrong let me know. Also let me know if you hated it and why! Loved it? Keep that to yourself 'cause ain't nobody care!
Now with that out of the way, let the shitty fanfic begin!
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Oh yeah, also my lawyers are telling me to let you know that Wildbow wrote worm and I am not him, kinda obvious but you know how the law is 🤷♂️
I wasn't sure what was going on. I don't mean in like a general "Hey life is weird" kind of way; I didn't know where I was, didn't recognize my surroundings.
Now to be fair I'm not sure there's many dark grimy alleys I would recognize, but that's sort of the point, isn't it? I had been jogging in the park near my house, trying to get back in shape… ok fine, trying to get into shape for the first time in my life, and then suddenly I was here.
There hadn't been any flash of light, or glowing portal, or alien dinner plate pulling me up in a beam of light, I had just blinked, and when I opened my eyes, I was jogging through a dark alley.
I had stumbled to a stop, arms wheeling and making short hops, before starring around me in confusion. Walls surrounded me on three sides, two made out of faded brickwork, and the third a chain link fence with a tattered green sheet covering it. The bottom of the brick walls for about a foot up were covered in some kind of slime, so dark green it looked black, and three tubes covered in piles of busted open trash bags that might, at some point, have been trash cans, rested in the corner where the fence met the brickwork.
The fence sat roughly thirty feet into the alley, and behind me the mouth of the alley spilled out onto a cracked street, dimly lit by flickering yellow light, a low buzzing reaching my ears when I turned around.
"Where am- 'The hell am I?" I started to say, interrupting myself mid-sentence, then yell out, "Hello? Is there- Is someone here?" The background noise of a city being the only answer I received. Walking out into of the alley, I found myself on a poorly maintained city street, broken streetlamps and dark buildings lining the cracked, pothole filled street.
Okay, what? What the hell is happening? How, and or why, am I here? Where is here? So many questions! Questions that won't be answered by standing here gawking at a shitty road- to be fair though, it's a really shitty road.
I start down the street, my old, worn, running shoes- once pristine white now a dull gray- cushioning my feet from the craggy sidewalk.
I'm assuming this isn't some sort of kidnapping, having not met any kind of kidnapper- maybe some kind of lab test gone wrong? Some big wig science nerd cracking teleportation for the first time, and the test goes haywire and 'ports me here instead of whatever they meant to do? Could be aliens I guess, though I couldn't think of a reason they'd teleport some random guy to… where I am now. Houston maybe? I live, like, a mile away, but this is a bit much, even for Houston.
Having been quite enjoying my stroll down the empty street in the pale moon light, I was unpleasantly surprised to be slammed against the wall of an alley I was passing.
I saw stars as my head smashed into the rough brick, a skinny guy about a foot shorter than me, in a ratty green jacket and tattered jeans holding a rusty, pitted knife to my throat.
"Gimme all yer fuckin money shitbag!" He screamed at me, spittle hitting my face like buckshot, wild, unfocused, and bloodshot eyes searching my face for something- I couldn't even begin to guess what.
None of this bothered me of course, as I was presently occupied with the tedious work of fighting unconsciousness. The back of my head felt wet and sticky as the man sprayed more demands and saliva at my face, my legs losing feeling and buckling under me. The world growing hazy and blurry, I fell, feeling a sharp pain in my neck as my body went limp.
The last thing I saw was a green blob moving away from me, melting into the general blur that was my vision, as darkness bled into my vision, creeping in from the edge.
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Beep…Beep…Beep
"Coma…Lacerated throat…Lucky to…Severe…Green or red...John Doe…"
Fragments of conversation floated through my mind, the voices distorted and alien, sounding like they were coming from underwater and a mile away.
Beep…Beep…Beep
I was… Where was I? I-I can't- I don't- Where am I? It's so dark. Why is it so dark?
Beep…Beep…Beep
I can't open my eyes. Why can't I open my eyes? What's going on I can't-
Pain. Filling my body, my thoughts, my everything. I could feel it in my goddamn teeth.
Beep! Beep! Beep! Beep! Beep! Beep! Beep! Beep!
I tried to thrash and struggle, fight the pain that was burning through my brain, but I couldn't move, couldn't even twitch.
"He's flatlining, get the crash cart!"
The pain in my head grew, my brain pushing on the inside of my skull, swollen, as a massive light appeared in front of me; a shining white star pulsating with heat and life.
Then another appeared, and another, stars popping into existence rapidly, until two-hundred and fifty-six of them were clustered tightly together in an orb. The stars were pushing and struggling, the ball of lights writhing as an invisible boundary held it together.
I don't know why, but I wanted to help those stars escape. Clearly, they wanted to be free- based on how hard they were struggling- and why shouldn't they? Stars are meant to be free to roam space, bringing life and light to the universe.
I held out a metaphysical hand- more the idea of my hand than my actual hand- to the orb of struggling stars, willing them to release.
My eyes flew open as electricity shot through my heart, restarting it, and the building pain in my head hit a crescendo, reaching heights of agony I didn't know were possible, before releasing. In my half-dead half-delirious state, I could have sworn I saw the stars from earlier, only this time they all had a rainbow sheen and were about the size of a golf ball. The stars shot into the room, most disappearing through the walls like they weren't even there, but some being drawn towards the four people in scrubs that stood over me, melding into their foreheads.
Staring straight up at the white, tiled, celling I tried to breath in, chocking as something blocked my airway.
"Holy- He's awake!" a moderately overweight blonde woman in nurses' scrubs exclaimed, noticing my predicament.
The next five minutes were spent with much coughing and chocking, before I could calm down enough for one of the men in scrubs to tell me to relax and let the machine breath for me. The doctor(?) then removed the tube that was running into my lungs, the whole process being surprisingly quick and smooth.
Finally able to breath under my own power, I looked around the room I was in, finding myself in what appeared to be some kind of hospital, white sheet walls creating a pseudo-room for some privacy.
I felt like shit. My head was pounding, my mouth was dry, my throat hurt, and my body felt heavy, like I was wearing a suit made out of concrete.
I groaned and tried to ask the people who surrounded me, "Uggh, w-where-" my voice scratchy and coarse, only to be cut off by a fit off coughing, my poor dry throat convulsing in pain.
"Don't try to speak just yet, you've been in a coma for nine days, and your throat was slit, can you look this way please?" the not blonde woman asked me, holding a bright penlight up to one eye, then the other. "Pupils dilating, reaction to light normal," she looked over to a monitor hooked up to the bed I was on, "Heartbeat looks good, I've gotta say, you're looking pretty good for a guy fresh out of a coma."
What? Coma? Slit throat? What the hell is going on?
I opened my mouth to respond only to be cut off, "Nope, don't try to talk, you'll only hurt your throat, my name is Dr. Hansen, and this is nurse Richards," she introduced herself and the man standing to her right, "we're going to take care of you, make sure you're all right, okay?"
I shakily nod once, earning an encouraging smile from the tanned brunette, "Great, why don't you go ahead and try wiggling your big toe for us huh?"
I nod again, closing my eyes and focusing as hard as I can on moving the big toe on my right foot. After a couple minutes I can just about feel it twitch, when I'm interrupted by the blonde nurse reentering the small cloth room carrying a paper cup. I hadn't even noticed when she had left, but I'll happily take whatever drink she brought me.
"Ah Jackie, good, you're back," Dr. Hansen said with a small smile when she saw the woman, "Please help Mr. Doe here have a drink."
The nurse- Jackie apparently- nodded to her and walked around to my side, smiling at me and helping my take small sips from the water she had brought. The other nurse, Richards, was busy fiddling with the machines that I was still hooked up to, a steady stream of jargon I didn't understand flowing from his lips to the good doctor's ears.
After another hour of trying to move various parts of my body with middling successes, I was finally left alone to "get some rest" according to the doc. She thought that one was hilarious, cackling away when she left.
Everything was kind of… fuzzy, the edges of the florescent lights blurring and melding with the white celling, and sounds echoing, the beeping of the connected EKG machine becoming a high-pitched whine in the background. It was getting harder to think, my vision swimming and body feeling like it was floating.
I passed out again. The doctor had told me I didn't have a concussion anymore, but I might- probably- have pretty serious brain damage, the back of my head having been smashed like a pumpkin after Halloween. That's probably also why they didn't ask me any questions about who I was either. Just as well really, I was having a bit of trouble remembering exactly who I was. I could picture the wide strokes, lived in Texas, hated high school, dead beat dad, big brother, little sister, but the specifics… Gone. I couldn't remember any of their names, any of their faces, hell I couldn't even remember my own. Dr. Hansen had called me "Mr. Doe" earlier, but for some reason that didn't feel quite right, seemed kind of… bland.
I didn't wake up until the next day- at least this time I wasn't in pain.
Closing my eyes and taking a moment to wake up fully, I paused, and "stared" in horror, as a single bright white star appeared.
No. No no no no no! No! Fuck! Why?!
Reaching out with my minds hand- a very strange sensation- I didn't know what to expect. I knew I had some control over the stars based on what happened yesterday, but I didn't know how much. I was just reaching out in a blind panic, I didn't have any words, I just had the need to not feel that horrible pain again.
The star disappeared, the same with the next four, the two-hundred and fifty-two after forming a loose spherical collection. The pain I was expecting- re: dreading- never came, relief filling me instead, along with confusion.
What was happening? Was I, like, wishing? Do I somehow have a refilling collection of wishes in my head? Am I now the gayest super hero? Motherfuck' Wishboy? Gods, I hoped not. Although, I suppose there's worse things to be, and there is one easy way to find out.
I focus, concentrating on a single star, and wishing that I was healed. The star disappeared, blinking out of existence, and I suddenly felt… kind of warm? I opened my eyes, just in time to wince in pain as I felt a pinch in my arm. Glancing down I saw that the IV drip that was in my arm had been pushed out, dangling from the IV pole it was attached to. Staring at my arm in wonder, I'm suddenly startled by feeling starting to return to my limbs, pins and needles shooting through them.
Well, fuck. Wishboy it is then. Kind of slow for a wish though, isn't it? I mean surely a wish would be instant and fully fulfilled right? My brain still hurt, and I couldn't move most of my body, so maybe not a wish then. Heh, not a wish, I mean it's just miraculous healing, jeez.
Trying to chuckle, and giving up when it hurt too much, I try to focus through the pain, what the hell is happening? Did I just get a healing factor or is this just like, a one-time thing? Hm, well I guess it couldn't hurt to use a few more stars- just in case.
Refocusing on the collection in my head, four stars disappeared, reacting to my will and wish for healing. Suddenly I was fine. It was like all the stuff that happened to me since I got here was reversed in an instant, the damage to my skull and brain healing over in a second.
Oh. Well, bit of a mixed bag here. On the one hand, full heal, but on the other, my memories are still gone. Which is fairly terrifying. What do I do now? I could still feel my memories- incredibly weird, don't ask- but it was like they were locked behind a wall of fog, completely inaccessible.
Well… fuck. This… this is not ideal.
Sitting up in my hospital bed, I starred at the wall silently for a good twenty minutes, thinking about what I should do. I mean… what could I do? I don't know who I am- or even where I am- plus I'll have to leave the hospital, what with being fully healed and all. I can't get a job, get a house- or apartment or whatever-, hell I couldn't even pay my hospital bill!
Oh, right. Shit. How the hell am I going to pay for all this? How will I pay for anything? Are there, like, social programs for amnesiacs? Would the hypothetical program even accept me with no id? Or would that be, like, super acceptance?
…What the hell am I going to do? I- It's too much, I need to get out of here, need to be alone.
I close my eyes, take a deep breath in, and make a wish.
