It was suffocating. The void was suffocating. The darkness of the void..

His throat was already raw from screaming as he would repeatedly die. He wasn't even sure if he was dying over and over anymore. Everything still hurt, the void had killed him in more than one way. Physically torturing him and mentally destroying him. It could go from his skin being peeled off slowly or the void pulling at him until his limbs came from his body. He let the void fill his lungs as he went limp. 

The air didn't feel as heavy. It was suddenly bright. He was used to the void showing the destruction he had caused to everyone. The look on his parents' faces before they passed stung as memories flew by. Fresh tears clung to his cheeks right before they flew off with the other memories. He dropped down to his knees and wrapped his tail around himself, wanting the memories to stop. His ears lowered as he was forced to watch the memories fly by.

The last memory before the void would play as if it was in real time,  it happened again. He was being thrown into the void, getting a fuzzy glimpse of the trees behind him. The sky was bright and the air started to shift.

This time he wasn't falling backwards and all he could see was a blur. He was thrown out of the void and onto hard green concrete. There were gasps around him as he stumbled to catch his feet. It felt colder but warmer than the void here, it was the wind. He felt like he needed to throw up. There was mumbling from people behind him, no, beside him. Wait no, it was all around him. He quickly turned around, reaching as if on instinct where his sword would be. It wasn't there, he was helpless. Where was he.? He got more light headed as he lifted his arm up to block the sun. He was sore all over.

He tried to get his eyes to focus as the mumbling got louder, he could hear the typing of a communicator near him. More people started to appear, especially ones in shining, purple armor. It hurt his eyes and stomach to look at. He felt way too hot as he stumbled away from them. He needed shade. He barely made it to the treeline before collapsing onto the ground. A few hands grabbed at him, some small and soft, some big and rough. The main hands that went under his arms to catch him were scarred and strong. His vision was darkening before he could get a good look at the man that had picked him up to carry him.

–

He awoke in a dimly lit room, small glowing stars on the ceiling. It was a lot better than the void and a lot better than the bright sun outside. He let himself relax as he glanced out the dim window, the sun slowly rising up. How long was he out for.? He averted his eyes from the rising sun.

His stomach growled as a sharp pain was shot up through his body. His eyes felt wet and he was starting to quickly burn up. He quickly sat up and grabbed the nearest trash can he could find, dry heaving into it as if he had anything to throw up. His back was facing towards the door as it slowly creaked open. A shadow appeared in front of him as the man behind him got closer. A smaller shadow followed behind. A smaller shadow saw him freeze up and motioned for the other bigger shadow to stay.

"We're not gonna hurt you Ex.. As long as you don't hurt us, okay hun.?"

As Stress slowly approached him, she gently put her hand on his cold pale cheek. Ex's hair was all the way down to the middle of his back and it was knotted up. He didn't know how to respond before she gave him a warm bowl of soup.

"Impulse, Gem, and Pearl made you food"

Ex immediately started sipping on the soup. Stress had to slow him down as his breathing got heavy. Everything was still so blurry. Everything on him felt heavy, but he didn't have his armor on anymore. Ex slowly leaned against the wall and couldn't stop the tears from dripping down his face. Stress hopped onto the bed with him and pulled him into a hug. Ex rubbed his face into her shoulder and sniffled. His ears lowered as Stress touched his sore back. He flinched as she started to rub up and down.

"Can you lay down on your stomach for me?"

Ex slowly shifted to lay on his stomach. The man in the corner watched them both, coming closer to hold Ex's hand. Ex didn't know who he was but he knew what Stress was about to do. He took the man's hand and took a deep breath as Stress slowly moved his t-shirt up.

His entire back was just one big bruise. His back started to ache as Stress put one of her hands on him. Ex tried to breathe normally but it hurt too much. He burrowed his head into a pillow and bit his sharp teeth into it. His tail curled as Stress moved her hand up and down his back. He could hear the typing of a communicator and a small 'ding' after a few seconds. She put both of her hands on his back and Ex gripped the man's hand. He tried to scream but nothing could come out. He jerked away from Stress and pulled his shirt back down. Another person came through the door with a bucket of ice.

"Ex we really don't wanna have to hold you down.."

Stress spoke softly as tears welled up in Ex's eyes. He slowly laid down, still holding onto the man's hand. He had a green shirt and black pants on.

They put ice on his back to calm down the swelling on his back and Ex stared at the man holding his hand. He couldn't tell who he was but he was overly nice and looked so mean. When Ex showed any sign of pain the man would rub his cheek or head, letting Ex grip his hand.

Once Ex's back started to feel better they all left the room except the one holding his hands. Ex started at him like a pondering cat. His crimson eyes had a tint of purple as he stared into the magenta eyes. Ex still had some of his muscle left from not training or doing weights for so long, but he could take down someone if he really tried. He gently traced the big 'X' scar plastered on his face and everything seemed to come into focus. He flinched and the man rubbed the top of his hand. He blinked a few times and looked up at the man, his heart sinking a little. He felt sick when he saw the face of his twin brother. He slowly started to be filled with rage as he got up off the bed. He let go of his hands and they turned into fists.

"Suma."

Xisuma's ears perked a small bit right before Ex threw a punch towards his face. He ducked just in time not to get hit and he scampered out of the chair. Ex tried to punch him again but ended up punching a dent in the chair. Ex gritted his sharp teeth and tackled Suma, slamming him into a table. Xisuma grunted as he clicked a button on his communicator. As soon as Ex went to punch him in the face, a helmet had surrounded it. Xisuma's armor pieces appeared on his body one by one. All Ex could do was punch his chest piece over and over again. Xisuma just let him, he knew he was angry. The tears started flowing as Ex's punches got rougher and harder. Ex was sitting on top of Xisuma. He stopped punching and stared at him through the dimmed glass.

"Suma.."

He stumbled to get off of him and touched the scar on his face. He must have hated him. He was always just violent, that's why he got thrown into the void in the first place.

"Oh Xel.."

Xisuma slowly sat up and disabled his armor, pulling Ex into a comforting hug. They held each other close, Ex's small frame shaking in Xisuma's arms. Ex rested his head on Xisuma's shoulder, calming his breathing from the punching and hitting he had just done. Xisuma gently pulled his hair into a ponytail, softly moving the hair away from Ex's face. He sighed and gently lifted him up without any problems. He sat him down on the bed and grabbed another bowl of soup that the soup group had made.

"I'm so sorry for being such a bad brother.. I.."

Xisuma looked away, sitting next to him on the bed while he drank the soup. Xisuma rubbed in between his temples and sighed.

"We should've talked things out. I shouldn't have thrown you in there Xel. I understand if you hate me and such, but.. Please.. Please don't hurt anyone else.."

Xisuma was pulled weakly into a hug. As he finished speaking.

"Its okay.."

Ex said weakly, laying his head back down on Xisuma's shoulder.

"It's okay.."

Xisuma rocked them both back and forth as Ex started quietly humming a soft tune. Xisuma quietly hummed along, hoping to find a way to make it up to his brother in the future.