Lilac-Handed

Chapter 2

     Lilac closed the portal that led the way out of the Dimension of Darkness, throwing the machine behind his shoulder and wincing when he heard an unpleasant zap. He'd probably have to fix that later, but for now he really didn't care.

     The atmosphere was almost back to what it had usually been- a neutral emptiness, something Lilac had valued since he'd first coded this place into existence. He still did, but the bloodstains on the floor where he used to chuck his scraps of metal and wires didn't help improve the area. He didn't feel like cleaning anything up at the moment, though- especially not bodily fluids left over from a homicide right in his living space.

     Picking up the portal-maker that had previously been thrown over his shoulder, Lilac rotated the flat rectangular object, inspecting the buttons and wires that protruded from various sides. As of the moment, the only thing that seemed to have broken was one of the wires- its end had snapped off, making it unable to connect to his computer.

     Lilac rubbed his temples when he realized that Wild Card had taken his computer, desk, everything- somewhere, until he realized that there was a box in a corner of the room that hadn't been there before. He went over and prodded it with his foot, and with a whirl of red, blue, yellow, and green, everything went back to where it was.

     That was probably the only thing that Lilac would ever thank Wild Card for.

     There were a few tools lying around the area, sitting on makeshift desks, foldable chairs, and even hanging from the ceiling. Lilac found a circular device in his pocket that was laden with buttons of all sorts of colors and symbols. He pressed the button that was the same color as the walls around him, the central pillar popped out cabinets in a spiral like fashion, and after reading some of the labels on the drawers, he pulled a chair out and climbed onto it to reach one of the taller cabinets. There were wires of all sorts, along with scraps of USB cords and-

     "So that's where you put all of your things? Hah! I should've known," a voice echoed out, sounding through the room.

     Lilac ignored it, pulling out a bland gray wire and some old scraps of metal. He took the supplies over to a dark wooden desk that had a hefty toolbox and piles of what looked like junk. Well, maybe it was junk, but you never knew when you'd need a specifically triangular piece of metal.

     Fishing out a small set of tools from the toolbox, he started prying off the old, broken wire, but before he could try to even attach and fix the new one a notoriously familiar flash of red, blue, yellow, and green engulfed his vision. Lilac sighed, waiting for the feeling of a uncontrolled mindscape-

     But it never came. Wild Card wasn't able to enter his body, and when he opened his eyes he was still able to continue fixing his portal device. He brushed the fact off to the side, trying to ignore the massive relief off of his shoulders, when he heard a voice right behind him.

     "See why I've come here to talk to you?"

     Lilac jumped, whipping his head around to face the figure behind him- he only caught sight of a puff of multicolored smoke before he was up standing, holding a pair of wire clippers like a self defense weapon.

     A maniacal laugh ran through the room, making his heart drop like it was made of lead and pumping his veins with fear. His pulse quickened, and he could feel the hairs on the back of his neck standing straight.

     Rough hands gripped the back of his collar, pulling him off the ground and choking the air out of his lungs. He dropped the wire clippers in surprise, grappling at the hands that were now around his neck-

     Another puff of red, blue, yellow, and green smoke, and he was left alone, falling to the floor with a thud and hitting the back of his head on the edge of the table. He reached behind his neck, and felt a small trickle of blood running down- dang it, Wild Card.