Gravity chapter 4 (Patreon)

Black Hat gone be PISSED 

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

When Flug awoke, it was no longer dark, instead it was extremely bright. He could barely move, his body was so stiff, and whatever he was laying on was cold and hard, some sort of metal. He blinked at the intense light.

"Awooo?" He heard from nearby. 

He tried to turn his head to look, it sounded like 5.0.5., but his head was in some sort of contraption that kept it from turning. His eyes went wide with fear. Wait a minute, strapped to a cold hard table, intense light, and... He tried to move his arms and legs, and found they were strapped down tightly, and that he was only in his boxers. Now Flug was panicking.

"Oh look at that, he's awake! See, Blue Bear, I told you he'd be fine! He's a lucky one though, all the same!" Another voice said.

A mans face suddenly came into view, blocking out the light. Thank God, it's not Black Hat... Anything but that... Flug sighed in relief. This new person was wearing the familiar scientists coat and smock, had some medical gloves on, surgeons hat, and a doctors face mask.

"Where am I? And who are you?" Flug asked, a tad weakly, but not as fearful. Sure he was tied down to a surgeons table almost naked, but that was not as bad as what he had thought it was when he had first awoken, so he started to relax ever so slightly. Also 5.0.5. was present, and that was a form of relief. The bear was next to come in view, and licked his face, happy his friend was awake.

The doctor figure reached up and switched the lights down so they were dimmed and not so intense.

"You can call me Dr. Bishop. I work for a private corporation on this base we've established out here." He said.

"Out here?" Flug repeated.

"Yes. Tis out in the desert here, central mexico of course. Far from prying eyes. Keeps the danger away from the public too. You're very fortunate. I don't know how your pet bear found us, or how he is able to drive that enormous utility vehicle you have, but when he came up on our base you were hanging by a thread. You still are pretty weak, but you should be fine. That toxin you had in your veins was a pretty lethal one, I've never seen anything like it. Where'd you get it, I am curious?"

"Um... I'm not very comfortable..." Flug started. If the guy was gonna ask him questions, then he at least wanted to be able to see where he was, what was going on, and etc. before he started having any sort of real discussion.

"Oh of course, how rude of me! Sorry, my scientific brain is getting far ahead of me. Forgive me, I'm not very well trained in the social norms. Just  no sudden movements if you please, you'll find your muscles won't be able to hold you up very well after your ordeal." The man started unstrapping his patient, which took him several minutes. He had restrained him extremely well.

5.0.5. helped him sit up for a moment, then picked him up easily and carried him over to what looked like a couch. Now Flug could finally look around. The room was.... vaguely familiar. Flug chuckled a little. It was a laboratory! Other then the surgeons table there were several large chemist sets, shelves filled with jars and vials of different chemicals and materials, and several large chemist sets that appeared to be running elements through them.

"Well at least I'm in a room I'll be able to relax in."

"Oh?" The other doctor sat down next to him, handing him some water.

"They call me Dr. Flug. My previous job was also in a laboratory. A bit smaller then this one actually, this ones a lot nicer." 

"Oh I see! So you're a scientist! How nice! At least then when I explain things to you I won't have to break them down into extremely simple terms, then!" Bishop said with a laugh.

Flug gave a small smile. He hadn't gotten to talk to another scientist in years. Black Hat never allowed him to do such things. He didn't want ideas going between companies.

"So! I do have quite a few questions, being the nature of this facility, we can't be too careful with who we allow in, you understand I'm sure."

Flug looked at him curiously. "The nature of the facility? I don't even know what it does? I mean it looks 'scientific' so I'm guessing it's something sensitive, but you said it was a private corporation, not government..."

Bishop looked apprehensive for a minute, then smiled at him and shook his head.

"I'll ask you questions first, then. Then after that, I'll decide if I'll let you in on anything we do here, eh?" He was given a nod in response. 5.0.5. was petting Flug's hair, which had been cleaned, actually all of him had been cleaned... The bear was so pleased that his friend was okay.

"First, now that I know your name, I must ask, how did you get to be in that state you arrived in? How did you get that toxin in your blood? Where'd it come from, it's unlike anything I've ever seen! There appeared to be something fighting it, but whatever it was was only keeping it at bay, it wasn't able to get rid of it, it was so powerful! You certainly were lucky I specialize in chemical breakdowns of toxic properties."

"Um..." Flug tried to think for a moment. How... Or should he even say anything about Black Hat? He didn't know this guy, or the company he worked for. Then again he did save his life, he'd certainly be dead by now if he hadn't intervened. Still, he should be careful what he said.

"Well... I worked for... someone... They decided to fire me, for the weird reason of them actually liking me... Yeah I know... crazy... But the problem was where I was working was pretty sensitive with their information, so that meant if they let me go, that they'd have to make sure I kept  my mouth shut. They... weren't exactly the best place to work, wouldn't recommend it at all. So anyway... I tried to leave with 5.0.5. here before they could actually get rid of me, and they chased me down. They tore me up and shot me up with that toxin as we tried to get away again. I had made an extremely rough antidote in anticipation they might use it, but I guess it just wasn't strong enough, I'd never tried it before on that sort of venom." That should hopefully be enough to satisfy him, Flug though, without saying too much.

Bishop appeared to be thinking, and studying Flug. "Hmmm... I see. No chance you'll tell me who you were working for, hmmm?"

Flug shook his head. "Not without knowing who you work for first."

"Well, I like you, Dr. Flug. I think you look fine to me. So I'll tell you that. This company is Weyland-Yutani. Does that satisfy you?"

Flug's eyes lit up. He knew that one! They occasionally would buy things here and there from Black Hat, even though they weren't a villain company, the demon had allowed it, because they had always paid extremely well, and weren't affiliated with any heroes of the sort, they were in it for corporate greed. They sold them some very interesting weapons, restraint devices, shields, containment cages, etc. 

Bishop noticed his reaction. "Ahhh I see you know of us! So tell me, now that I have been upfront with you a bit, you are going to tell me who YOU worked for, that apparently wants you dead?" Bishop had a bit more of a dark hint to his voice.

"A-alright. But you can't give me back to them, or rat me out, alright? I ain't going back, and 5.0.5. and I here would prefer to live!"

"Oh I'm sure we can arrange a deal or something, in exchange for our secrecy. After all, I still want to know the properties of that toxin!"

Nothing was ever free, of course, Black Hat had certainly taught him that. "Okay then. I worked for one of your suppliers. Black Hat. He's the one who was chasing me down, and he's the one who injected me with his venom, that you're so curious about. He really tore me up, and he probably thinks I'm dead by now. No one has ever survived when he's decided to kill them."

Bishop leaned back on the couch. "That explains... quite a lot. Just knowing who you were working for... Dangerous situation for our company indeed, having you here, alive."

Flug's heart almost stopped. He didn't like the other doctor's tone, or the way it sounded this conversation was going. It was apparent that these people knew EXACTLY who Black Hat was, and probably some of what he was capable of too.

"But then again, our company is well experienced at keeping dangerous creatures at bay, captive, even breeding... I think it should be all right, as long as he keeps thinking you are dead, after all, we still want to keep buying his equipment."

Flug sighed in relief. "Well, about his equipment.... I was actually... the one making all of it... So he probably won't have anymore for quite a while, and even if he does, it won't be the same, when I left I took all my schematics with me, whoever he hires will have to start from scratch."

The surgeon raised his eyebrows. 

"Oh, I see! Well then, in exchange for our secrecy perhaps you'll be kind enough to let us, 'borrow', some of your blueprints then, yes? Or all of them, in fact? I mean you certainly don't want your previous boss to know you actually survived his encounter, do you? I think that would be a fair exchange, don't you?" 

"Private use only. No reselling." Flug bartered, folding his arms. "I still plan on using my blueprints to sell shit, I can't give you everything, you know."

The other man nodded, and stuck out his hand for a shake. "Sounds good to me!"

They shook on the deal, and Flug became curious. "If you're just one of their scientists, then how do you have the privilege of making such a deal, don't you have to talk with YOUR bosses, to make sure it's fine?"

Bishop laughed. "I AM the boss, boy!"

Black Hat had taken Dementia back to the Manor. He was displeased by the fact that Flug had escaped, yet again. He must be dead by now, though, he thought to himself, with a dark grin. Just because the stupid bear had managed to outrun him with that truck they had, wouldn't save him, not from the venom. He had truly wanted to torture the scientist, to take him within a inch of his life, bring him back again and again, until he was mentally destroyed and then kill him himself, to watch his traitorous, thieving eyes flutter closed in front of him as he strangled the life out of him, and drained him of all his blood, his organs spilt on the ground, but unfortunately that was not how it had worked out. 

Severely disappointed that he had missed out on such an opportunity for his favorite kind of fun, he put his feet up on his desk and pushed a few buttons. He still had a few appointments he had to keep, regardless of how busy he had been the last few days. He needed to hire another scientist too, and that wasn't going to be easy, to find one as decent as Flug. As much as he had called him an idiot and abused him as if he were worthless, he was actually quite the brilliant mind in comparison to many others he had seen. He had just treated him horribly to keep him under his thumb, fear always was the best way, and he didn't want to ruin his reputation with being 'nice'.

Flug and Bishop had been talking more about the details of their deal, and allowing copies to be made of the blueprints he had in the truck, while also giving Flug something more comfortable to wear and something to eat. 5.0.5. was having a well deserved nap on the couch, after all the drama he had been through rescuing his best friend.

They were standing in front of a large computer monitor mounted to the wall, it served as the lab's big screen TV as well, Flug had scanned most of the blueprints in and they were looking at them on it, while he explained them. He hadn't had this much fun in ages, he had so much energy! He didn't have to be worried about being terrified from his Boss, he was comfortable (he had a new bag on his head with goggles, just like before, and a buttoned up lab coat with regular clothes on underneath) AND he was getting to discuss nerdy things with another scientist that was on the same level of intelligence as he was! 

"Oh, there are a few more in the truck, I think we're missing some, I'll be right back!" Bishop nodded as Flug nearly skipped off to his vehicle in the garage next door.

"Ah, that boy, reminds me of when I was a kid. He's been through a lot. Good thing I got a hold of him." He said to himself, with a pleased smile. There was no way he was going to let Black Hat have that boy. He didn't deserve him at all, and even if he did, the villain was just planning on killing him anyway, would be such a waste of a genius mind.

The screen in front of Bishop suddenly blinked away from the blueprints, and the computer began talking. "Incoming call. Company of Black Hat." Oh yeah, he forgot about that, by an extreme coincidence he had an appointment with the demon that day to buy some more things from him. Don't need those anymore though, he thought. "Thank you, Mother, put it through." This was going to be interesting, hopefully Flug would take a while in that truck of his, because he couldn't just refuse this call, that would be a mistake on his end, even he knew not to test the beast.

Black Hat's computer screen on his desk turned on, to reveal the Weyland-Yutani owner, Bishop standing in his laboratory, which was expected. "Good evening, Doctor. From your message from last week you had said you wanted to purchase some of my weapons stock? And some of my E-54 serial gravity containment units?"

"Thank you for keeping our appointment, Mr. Black Hat. I must profusely apologize however, as I had some events occur today that make my need for those things... obsolete. I won't be needing any new equipment for quite a while now, in fact I might never need it again." The human on the other end shook his head and smiled.

The demon growled, this company always bought a lot from him, it was a large money maker, even if they weren't a villain company technically, he wasn't pleased that one of his best clients would go straight down the hole and not buy anything from him anymore. "I'm sorry to hear that. Care to explain, Doctor?" It wasn't really a question, he had a threatening tone in his voice. Normally he kept it formal with clients, but if this one was going the route of not getting anything from him ever again, he wanted to know WHY.

Flug had finished getting the rest of the blueprints from the truck and was heading back into the lab. As he turned the corner and was about to head back in front of the TV, (the garage was in a large building directly behind the wall with the viewing screen) he heard the noise of discussion and stopped, right before he got to it. Bishop turn his head in his direction and shook his head, and made a shooing motion without saying anything. Flug raised an eyebrow and was about to speak, when he heard the voice on the TV. 

"Who are you motioning to?"

"Oh just one of my lab assistants, he was checking in before leaving, I forgot to tell him I was going to have a call today."

Flug began to shake uncontrollably. Black Hat! He was talking to BLACK HAT?! WHY?!

"Employees. Always such a nuisance. Interrupting, getting in the way, not doing what they are told, coming and going as they please without discipline! Even I can understand that!" The demon started to cackle. 

Flug realized that Black Hat didn't know that it was HE that was standing there. Bishop hadn't told him! He was actually covering for him! A lump rose in his throat when he realized how close he was to Black Hat finding out he was actually alive. He started to back away, very slowly, wanting to get as far away from that screen as he could, as if somehow his former boss would be able to come through it and see him there even though he was still technically out of sight.

Black Hat suddenly stopped in mid-cackle. He stared in disbelief as a large, sleepy looking, blue bear walked into view of the computer and sat down behind Bishop. It looked up at the computer screen, and let out a horrified scream and took off in a direction away from it, terrified out of it's mind. The demon's one eye started to glow red, and the pen he had been writing notes with in his other hand was crushed, ink splattering his desk and papers as he let out an angry growl that turned into a roar.

"THE BEAR!!! WHERE DID YOU GET THAT BEAR?!!"

Bishop seemed only slightly unnerved, which was saying quite a bit, with the way the demon was acting on his big screen TV. It took a lot to frighten him, but Black Hat was doing a good job of it.  "Oh, that? I found it this morning. It was wandering alone in the desert. At first I thought it might be a vicious being I could use, so I brought it in, but it's really quite harmless."

Flug had fallen over when he heard his bosses roar; curled up in a ball and was still shaking, with silent tears starting, he kept his hands plastered tightly over his mouth to keep himself from making any noise, lest the demon hear it.

"IT'S MINE!!! IT RAN AWAY THE OTHER DAY, I DEMAND YOU RETURN IT TO ME AT ONCE!!!"

"I have something you want? That's a change, but I'm afraid I don't want to give him up, he's great at cleaning!" Bishop was trying to end the conversation, this was not going well.

"YOU ARE NOT ALLOWED TO KEEP IT!!! GIVE THE STUPID BEAR TO ME, IT'S MY PROPERTY!!!" The demon was seething with rage. If the bear survived... He could pry out Flug's last moments from him somehow. He REALLY wanted to know how that ended, it made him salivate with anticipation.

Bishop was a bit torn. He wasn't going to give up Flug's only friend to the demon. But if he didn't comply, the was a very good chance that he would end up in a war with Black Hat. An ACTUAL war, and it wouldn't be pretty, it would take every single one of his resources just to survive, and then everything he had would tank from the stop of production, not to mention what would happen if his assets got loose and there was a containment issue... he shuddered at the thought.

Flug was listening to the conversation with terror. Not 5.0.5.! He couldn't lose him! He could tell Bishop didn't know what to do. His own safety and company was at risk, but he wasn't about to just turn on his fellow scientist that he had befriended. He's in this predicament because of me, thought Flug, it's all my fault... Thinking hard for a moment, he stood up, shakily. It's time to start taking responsibility, I can't let someone else be punished by him because they helped me, 5.0.5. had been the victim so many times, and now Bishop? No, he wasn't going to let that happen this time. Black Hat would come after him, he was sure, but he was going to be ready. He was going to become a REAL villain! 

Flug ripped his bag off, and put his goggles on, straightened up his lab coat and strode confidently in front of the view screen, turning to face it, arms crossed over his chest. He was done cowering.

Bishop turned to look at him in surprise, and Flug nodded at him. There was a long audible silence as Flug stared at the screen. His former bosses face was ecompassed with untold fury, sharp teeth baring, monacle cracking, eyes glowing, claws and tendils coming out of him as the room around him turned pitch black in a deafening roar.

"WHY WON'T YOU FUCKING DIE YOU DISGUSTING PIECE OF FLESH?! HOW DARE YOU LIVE AFTER I CONDEMN YOU!!!"