The Cyan Takeover: REWRITTEN

Getting Desperate

The scene Max saw was brutal.
His best friend, the one who basically saved him from death, was being pinned down by an army of cacti. Zone was seriously injured from being dragged through the Industry, yet he was still trying to struggle out of their grasp.

It was horrific.
Zone had to be shackled in order to keep him in one spot.

After Zone realised he was going nowhere and calmed down slightly, the army clipped a collar onto his neck. A horribly bright cyan started to engulf his naturally bright pink body, along with his outfit glitching into something akin to a prisoner's uniform.

The Cacti dispersed, leaving Zone to suffer.

"Zone? Zone, buddy, it's me, Max" Max called out to him in a soft tone.

"Ma-a-A- Intrude-E-e- wha-A-t are you doi-I-i- you a-A-re not welcome he-ere?" Zone was desperately trying to fight the corruption. Max could barely make out what he was saying.

"I-it's okay! I-I'm here to help you!"

"If I could come closer I would-d-D-d- by the orders of Lord Cyan I must eradicate your existence."

A gear formed in place of Zone's left eye, and black liquid dropped out of his right.

Max got as close as he could to the conveyor he was standing on.

"P-please... T-tell me you're still in there..." Max was on the verge of tears.

"Your precious "Zone" no longer exists. Prepare for annihilation."

Rainbow Factory - WoodenToaster
"In the rainbow factory, where your fears and horrors come true"

Max's feet started burning. The ground had become a grid.

A lot of industrial attacks and heartbreak later, Max managed to get behind Zone and clip the collar off.

The corruption receded, and Zone fell to his knees. The corruption weakened him immensely.

"ZONE! You're okay!" Saying Max was relieved is an understatement.

"I mean, if everything hurting counts as 'okay' then yeah, I'm good." Zone croaked back.

The two sat and embraced each other for a bit before a third person showed up.

"Oh no no no no no! Zone! What happened to you, you poor thing?!"

The Industry's head nurse, Hype, had returned after the evacuation to rescue any shapes that might have been left behind.

"Cyan happened, that's what. That fuckin hurt." Zone replied.

"Here, let me take you to the Medbay. We need to get you healed up." Hype offered.

"I could use that right now. Thanks."

"Max, you need to get out of here." Hype worried.

"You two will be okay, right?" Max inquired.

"We'll be fine." Zone replied.

Max nodded and headed off. He knew where the exit was, he just needed to navigate the obstacles to get there.

Stress - Kawai Sprite
"Heh, pretty good!"

It was pretty stressful to get out. It felt like someone was attacking from the shadows. But, he got out, and was faced with a corrupted wasteland.

"Oh no no no... what has he done?" Max was devastated at how the land had deteriorated.

He started trekking back towards the Tree, hoping to get it back to it's normal state somehow.

Take A Swig Of This - Atsuover

Shapes were attacking at Max left right and centre. Around halfway to the tree he gave up, and started on his way back to the Industry.