Chapter Text
Who knew his life would turn up this way huh?
Accused of murder, multiple at that, and one’s he definitely did not commit, only to be sent to his death by electric chair. Then he was swooped away before he met his demise.
Taken by a company that faked his death, making him legally dead. A ghost to this world. He had nothing to go back to, the bastards upstairs made sure to tell him every day.
Sebastian Solace was no longer a person, but company property. Just a string of numbers on a black suit with a company logo.
A company he never heard of until a bunch of suited men snatched him away, tying him up and blindfolding him so he would never see the site that he was thrown into.
Urbanshade. This company meant to do who knows what, they just liked to sweep people in trouble and make them do things. A prisoner, with only a number now. Just for the option of potential freedom these people were willing to do anything.
Desperate times called for desperate measures he supposed.
Sebastian however was not given that incentive. He was legally dead, the world given a fake report of him dying by electric chair while he wasted away in a cell.
Forced to do stupid work for stupid people.
Well they weren’t stupid. These people were eggheads, white coats that swirled flasks and wrote on clipboards. Obviously these people were paid to do weird shit that definitely wasn’t legal.
Sebastian was not a dumb person, no he liked to think he had some intellect. He was more cunning, using street smarts rather than glance through a book to give him a solution. He was quick on his feet and that pissed people off.
And what made people even more mad was his mouth.
He couldn’t resist to retort or snap a quick line that definitely made him get in trouble. Sebastian didn’t care, for what purpose did he have? He was dead to the world, and these people told him time after time that he was nothing.
So why not have a little fun?
Why not push buttons and get people red in the face. He thrived for it, the one thing that kept him going. If he had to clean up the dirtiest bathrooms because of a retort that would send a nerd in a rage, it was oh so worth it.
But of course his mouth would be the death of him, and now he was in mighty big trouble.
He had mouthed off to the wrong person, snapped and snarled like a wild animal. He hated these people, hated the orders and they thought oh a big bad black suited man was going to attack the head nerd.
And then he got a taser to the back. Promptly passing out from the sudden shock.
Which leads to what was currently happening. He woke up to his back sore, nerves clenched from the bolts of electricity that traveled down his spine. Sebastian holds back a groan, his eyes fluttering open as he realizes he’s stuck in a chair.
Bolted down, well doesn’t this seem oddly familiar.
Wouldn’t be the first time he was strapped to a chair.
“Good, you’re awake.” The voice echoes through the wall. It’s a woman but he can’t make out any features. The glass is no doubt a two way mirror, they could see him and he couldn’t see them.
Lovely.
“What’s this then? Finally decided to let me die?” Sebastian snarks, his lip curled in a smirk. He pulls at one of the braces that are strapped down on his wrist. Damn they were pretty tight. There was no slipping out of these binds, he probably would have to break his wrist to even attempt to pull away.
Only problem was his feet were also strapped to the chair.
Lovely.
He ignores the sudden heartbeat that begins to thud against his ears. The last thing he wanted was to give them something. They thrived on fear, thrived on his suffering. If he kept a straight face and a snarky lip perhaps he could get himself out of this mess.
“Guess torture isn’t below you guys huh?”
“If you know what’s good for you, I suggest you shut your mouth.” The woman’s voice was cold and emotionless, she obviously had enough of his antics. No doubt all her little nerd friends had complained about him.
How insubordinate he was, how much of a pest he was.
“Oooh what’s the big bad lady going to do? Punish me?” He croons, his fingers tapping against the metal bars of the chair, eyes narrowed with a large smirk plastered on his face.
He’s pushing his luck, he knows this isn’t good. He’s seen people disappear from their cells. The screams and cries that echo the night. He wasn’t stupid.
Sebastian wonders if this is the best way to do this considering this lady here didn’t seem to enjoy his presence.
A shame.
She ignores his little comment, “You have been chosen as a candidate Prisoner 1313446325. You will be one of the many who get to evolve past the mortal shell. Aren’t you lucky?” There’s a twinge in her voice as if she’s attempting to crack a joke of her own.
He didn’t find it too funny.
“Ohhh so you guys are the mad scientist type of company. Swell.” Sebastian states trying to ignore how loud his heartbeat is in his ears. Part of him is screaming to shut up, to just beg for them not to do whatever it is they have planned.
There’s silence and then there’s whirling. The sound of machinery clicking and groaning as the wall shifts beside him. A panel opens and a machine-like arm slips out, with a syringe on the end of it. The needle shines in the low fluorescent lights.
He sees the liquid within, it’s this viscous color. Almost looking like molten silver, but with deep swirls of grey.
Sebastian stares at it, his eyes slightly widening. He can feel his skin crawl, his body starting to tense. The bravado started to slip once he realized how dangerous of a situation he was in. This wasn’t good.
“No more quips? Side comments? All because of a little needle? Don’t worry. There will be more, this is the first dosage, we want to see how much your body can handle. It wouldn’t be fair to have it all in one go, no…this is going to be a long process, a bit of punishment for how much strife you’ve brought this company.” She states, and he feels his breath catch in his throat. He attempts to swallow the lump starting to form in his throat and she continues to speak.
“Let’s hope your body is as strong as your mouth prisoner.”
The mechanism moves closer, the straps tightening around him making it harder for him to move. He takes in a sharp breath, trying to steel himself as it gets closer and closer.
“Try not to fight it. It will only make things worse. The more you move, the tighter the bonds.”
“Yeah fuck you lady.” Sebastian snaps his eyes sweeping to the glass. He wasn’t going to grovel, he wasn’t going to beg.
His heart rams against his chest, he wouldn’t be surprised if the bastards could hear it from their little spot. Watching this like little children watching an ant under a magnifying glass, the sun rays burning the little insect until it popped.
The needle slams into his arm, and he can’t hold back the sharp yelp that escapes his mouth. It burns his muscles as the mechanism pushes the plunger of the syringe down, watching the liquid spill into his veins.
It’s cold, like ice traveling through his system. His fingers flex as he tries to hold back a shout, his head dipping into his collarbone
He pants, hissing in pain. His chest is heaving, it feels like his heart is about to burst.
Then the arm pulls away, the syringe leaving his body with a slick noise.
He grunts trying to think of anything but the pain that is traveling through his body like ice. The ice then turns into molten lava, he watches in horror as his skin starts to darken around the area the serum had been injected.
His tan skin grows paler, almost a grey-blue coloration as the skin around begins to flake. He watches in horror as scales begin to form around the area, the color starting to spread down and up his arm.
Sebastian’s skin scalloped across each other looking akin to fish scales, shimmering slightly in the light. He just stares at it in horror. This can’t be real. This couldn’t be real.
“Subject Z-13 has reacted well to the first serum. We will keep him on observation until the next dosage. Take him to his new cell.”
“What the hell did you do to me?!” He cries out trying to break against the straps but his body feels numb, exhausted. It’s uncomfortable, like insects crawling up his arm, burrowing into his skin. He can feel his skin shifting, scales forming across his body, only stopping before his hands, feet and head.
But the coloration stayed, now this light blue in the dim light.
He pants, as guards start to file in, all holding shock batons and guns. Like they needed an army to hold him down. He just grew fucking scales! The hell was he going to do?
“You fucking bastards!” He snarls, hair getting in his face as they all form a half circle around the head scientist.
She’s smaller than he expected, thin and pale. Her hair is a neat bob that curls around her chin. Her eyes are as dark as her hair, and her face shows no emotion. Blank as ever as she watched him twitch and snap at her.
“Sedate him. It will be much easier, hopefully the next dosage fixes that tongue of his.”
“Oh I’ll fix you already, fix your damn head by slamming my fist into it! Get off me! Get off!” He snaps, his teeth gnashing as a doctor comes closer with another syringe. He is held down as the scientist plunges the needle in between the scales on his shoulder.
“Fuck you! Get away! Get..” He can’t finish his sentence as the fog and haze starts to fill in his mind. He can’t think straight and the last thing he sees is a smirk from the doctor, and her dark eyes borrowing into his.
His body goes limp, and everything goes dark.
***
Sebastian wakes to a metal cell. It’s quite large compared to his other cell, with a metal bed attached to the wall and other amenities.
He groans, his head groggy as he reaches up only to shout in surprise. He forgot about the thin scales that traveled up his arms, it was all over only stopping at his hands, feet and head.
He breathes in sharply, his hair falling in his face as he stares at the scales.
His fingers brush against the scales on his arm, feeling them slightly move against the grain of his touch. It felt like a fish’s scales, he remembered going to an aquarium back when he was a child and got to touch some of the fish in the tide pools.
It felt just like that.
He isn’t sure what to think. What the hell were they planning? Making him sort of a fish man?
For what? For him to ‘evolve’?
Sebastian slams his fist against the metal wall, hearing the sound vibrate. He pants, his fingers gripping his hair.
Focus Seb! Focus. There had to be a way out of here. There just had to.
His thoughts are interrupted by the sound of something sliding into a slot at the door. It’s a tray, filled with food. He leans forward and frowns seeing that the food was fish.
“Oh clever, real clever.” He grumbles but he knows better than to throw away food. He had to say this was better than the slop he normally got.
He noticed there wasn’t a fork or knife anywhere, as if they expected him to eat with his hands like some savage.
Sebastian glares holes into the door picking up the tray and sat down. Fine, they wanted him to act like an animal, he would.
Just you wait, the next person he encountered in here, he was going to bite. Hard.
See how they liked that.
With a sigh, he picks up the fish doing his best not to crumble it with his hands. It’s not the best, tasting like the inside of a fishtank more than whatever fish it was supposed to be.
He does his best not to gag, reminding himself that he had gotten nothing but sludge and water. At least this came with bread and some vegetables.
So he eats it. There was no point in letting himself starve. He had to keep his strength, especially if he planned on getting the hell out of here. Sebastian would wait, and when the moment was right he would get out of here.
“Just you wait.” He grumbled as he finished his food. “Do all you want, in the end I’ll get out of this hellhole. Just you wait.”
***
