||FINISHED|| Pink Roses (JSAB Fresh x Reader)

Quartet - Corrupted Friends

Until all of a sudden, a figure appeared down the tube that drained all colour out of Tetra's face.

An all too familiar face appeared down the tube.

Oversized pale blue sweater. Messy, unkempt light blue hair. A pale blue square with two triangles as his headphone design.

"TRIST!" Tetra screamed with strokes of anguish brushed through their voice like a comb through hair. A look of horror was swimming in their eyes. Skye took one look at them, put two and two together and immediately prepared to set off to retrieve not only Trist, but as many drugged innocent humans as she can.

The other three looked at Tetra with their skin moist and eyes focused. They all silently cheered Skye on.

But she was too late.

Trist seemed a bit more "alive" than the rest of the victims, because when the clamp closed around his shoulders, his eyes opened themselves wide. He wasn't fully conscious, but he had a vague idea that he was in danger, telling from the look in his black, deep eyes.

Silence.

But then the clamp started to snatch him away, just like a talon of doom.

Skye's eyes widened as her muscles stiffened in reflex, preparing to lift her two mighty wings. And with a great push, summoning up all the energy in her body despite the invisible chains of fatigue plaguing her muscles, flapped them relentlessly while trying to attempt to free Trist. No use.

Trist, being the submissive, quiet boy he was, just simply cowered in fear, covering his eyes. He was visibly afraid but showed no visible restraint.

Suddenly, a shrill scream echoed through the tense air. And the four of them could only watch as the power of the mechanical arm overpowered the poor flying girl, and she was sent flying through the air. She used her wings to soften her landing a little bit, but it was already too late.

And Tetra could only watch.

Only watch in despair.

Only watch in horror.

Only watch in silence.

As a dollop of thick, pink, syrupy blood leaked from the corrupted pink triangle

And landed on him.

Right on his perfect, adorable, innocent face.

The smile that was once so bright, so pure, like a daisy facing towards the sun

Suddenly was but a faraway dream.

As the corruption slowly tainted his pure, light blue skin, dying it a screaming, angry pink. It destroyed every trace of that wholesome, angelic innocence. The tired look in his eyes that was typical of Trist was replaced with a cold fear under a layer of acceptance that was heartbreaking.

Every feature of his angelic body was stained pink.

Pink.

His eyes started to morph into gaping black holes and black ink started gushing out.

But surprisingly enough, everything stopped to a halt. The mechanical arm stopped midway, the conveyor belt stopped turning...

And Trist started to hover above the ground, neck bowed, motionless. There was nothing supporting him.

But then, in a loud RIP sound, everyone's eyes widened in horror.

Trist absolutely despised wearing short sleeves, even in the summer, because that way all of his scars would be exposed to the world. And now, his beloved sweater was ripped. The scars on his neck, the scars on his wrist, even the ones on his lower torso were exposed, free for all the world to see. And worst of all, they seemed to become fresh. They used to be just pale white lines, but then they turned pink and blood started to gush out of them. You could hear Skye gasping and Tetra collapsing to their knees. 

And if you listened really closely, you could even hear the faint "pitter patter" of Tetra's tears dropping onto the metal floor

But one extra addition caused Lumina to gasp, Pi's fist to clench, Quin's eyes to widen and Tetra's heart to wrench.

A noose.

A single necklace of pink rope appeared around Trist's neck. It wasn't attached to anything, it just started to fade away a few dozen centimetres above his neck. Like someone took an eraser and rubbed part of it from people's vision.

He seemed alive, his chest was rising and falling, but his body was just floating there, limp and unmoving. His eyes had turned into the signature black holes of nothingness that was typical of the corrupted, but every now and then, they'd change shape. Sometimes it was shaped like a couple of cogs. Sometimes they were normal.

And then a level formed underneath him. It wasn't in the shape of a pentagon like the others, but rather a circle.

Tetra's eyes were wide as a flood of pure dread and horror drowned any other trace of emotion on their face.

A level, a corrupted ally, a corrupted piece of the tree of life right beside it... This was Lycanthropy all over again.

Moments passed where the four of them all had the same thoughts on their mind. They somehow managed to save Prochorus by beating him in a level, they just hoped they could do the same for Trist. And soon, they all started walking towards the void. Tetra actually had to be dragged there, since the image before them was a blurring, watery mess. 

Silence filled the air as they entered the void. Tetra's hands started to sweat. The last time they saw a necklace around Trist's neck was that night where he tried to kill himself. And they would rather die than relive those memories. The despair in their soul... The fear...

"Tetra?" Their trance was broke by a sudden voice. Pi's head was tilted in confusion and concern. "You good?"

"I-I'm good..." Tetra lied. Their voice gave everything away.

But then they saw a figure in the centre that they knew all too well.

Trist. With his Blue hair, blue sweater, tired expression, Tetra almost immediately bolted for them.

Then, Trist started crying.

Pink drops of acidic lava started to drip down his cheeks, and then they flew off, straight into the way of the four teenagers. The look on the poor Trist's face was nothing but a sad acceptance. It broke their heart.

And with every drop, Trist's hair would slowly turn pinker. Sweater would slowly start tearing itself apart. Eyes would slowly open and bleed ink. Scars would start to refresh themselves, like a backwards healing process. Every second, Trist would look less like Trist and more like... A Corrupted...

"Oh please... Please fight it..." Tetra muttered as their heart shook. They were never really religious, but at this point they were praying like mad to the Tree of Life, even though it's corrupted. "Please Trist, please fight the Corruption, Please fight it, Please fight it... Please fight it..."

And almost as if Tetra's prayer worked, Suddenly, the tips of Trist's hair started turning blue again. Parts of his ragged sweater started repairing itself, like a sewing machine.

Tetra's eyes brightened at the sight that their friend was actually fighting the corruption. Just like they had prayed.

But then, the corruption stopped retreating.

One of Trist's eyes started crying pink tears, the other normal. Trist's lips trembled. His scarred wrists bought themselves up to his head.

"Fight it... Please fight it..." Tetra prayed once again.

Well, be careful what you wish for.

Because nothing, NOTHING would've ever prepared any of them.

For the mental torture that was Trist's agonising, excruciating screams of pain.