AN: Sorry if this is a bit dry. It’s been awhile since I’ve written fanfiction and this is my first try at AT4W and its characters. If there are plot inconstancies, as well as weird typos, grammar errors, or if you have ideas for the story, please let me know.
–

There was no other way, no other answer, he was certain of it.

Linksano had rattled his brain for days and everything he had come up with was useless and would be impossible to put into effect as long as Vyce had his ship, shades, and the power of his armor.

He didn’t want to encounter Lord Vyce again. He didn’t want to be anywhere near that man, but every scenario he dreamed up ended with another world destroyed and another set of people he had… attached himself to would be dead.

Unless he interfered, there would not be a chance.

There was no one better than him for the task. He had been aboard the ship and knew it mostly inside out. Once Vyce’s anger had quelled, he had have a bit of freedom, though it’d be nothing like when he was first on the ship. No, he would have to slowly earn Vyce’s trust again before he could gain access to the parts that would be most beneficial to the plan.

Maybe he was mad. He knew people he had worked with back home had labeled him eccentric, but he had never cared what others thought of him. He had went to school for himself, for his love of robots and software, for his brother.

Everything was done for his brother.

With Wayne’s death, Vyce had proved that it was impossible to defeat him through pure offense, and the only thing they had never tried was an inside man.

Wayne would be against the idea, he knew. His brother would have never placed him in that kind of danger. While he had his quirks, he was always the valiant protector and would go above and beyond to keep his loved ones safe, especially his brother. He had known what Vyce wanted from his little brother and would have not created an opportunity for him to get it.

But now, Linksano would give it to him, this time willingly.

The thought of going back to Vyce and letting him touch him made his stomach churn and every muscle in his body tense and quiver from fear. Vyce would beat him for having left and evaded him thus far. He would then, while his anger still roared, strip him of his clothing and force him to his bed. It’d be a never ending hell for weeks.

As he brought up the video feed to call Linkara, he hoped it’d be worth it.
–

It had been a month since Linkara was taken aboard Lord Vyce’s ship, though to Linkara it was only three days.

It was three days too many, really.

While his time aboard hadn’t been terrible, it hadn’t been pleasant either. Vyce was neither a gracious host nor cruel to him. He only kept Linkara in a cell large enough to stand and pace a few meager steps to a toilet or bed and gave him small but acceptable meals of bread, water, and fruit.

It had been enough to exist on, which was better than what he could have expected from enemies like Mechakara. Aside from the scanning of his person and a general medical exam, it seemed that Vyce had no interest in him.

Vyce, however, was still very much an unknown threat if his reputation said anything about him and Linkara needed to prepare for the worst case scenario. He had begun with studying the Shades that had been teleported back with him, but that angle had become a dead end quickly.

Then Linksano had contacted him with a proposal.

Linkara couldn’t remember a time when the other had dropped all the mad clichés and spoke to him seriously. Gone was the goofiness that seemed to haunt all Insano’s. What looked back at Linkara was a sweating, fidgety man. If he removed his goggles, Linkara would guess that Linksano hadn’t been sleeping well.

“We have a similar interest, Linkara. Lord Vyce is very dangerous and will stop at nothing, absolutely nothing, to get what he wants. I’m tired of running from him, and if this continues, there will be nowhere to run. You need to know what his intentions are, am I correct?”

Linksano continued without waiting for an answer. “Then I will be ‘caught’ by Lord Vyce and offer him my…”

He didn’t expect the pause or the shiver Linksano tried to keep from his shoulders. “I will offer my services. I will work from behind the scenes to insure your victory as long as you agree to defeat him.”

“That was always my intention. How long do you expect it to take to get on board?”

Linksano’s shoulders dropped from their tense pose and sighed. “Not long, I’d imagine.”

“Why do you think that? Vyce doesn’t seem to be a trusting guy.”

“No, he is not,” Linksano agreed and turned his head away from the screen. “But he has need of a mechanical technician. It is…beneath him to service his own robots and ship. He would rather push that work onto someone else.”

“You seem to know an awful lot about how Vyce–”

“Do you agree or not?”

He flinched at the sudden volume of Linksano’s words. He didn’t want him to know something, which was a clear connection between him and Vyce, but if he wasn’t willing to tell him, Linkara wasn’t going to ask about it anymore.

In reality, it could wait, as dealing with Vyce was more important than anything but what Linksano could offer him in information.

“Yes.”

“Good. When I am aboard his ship, I will contact you. Insure your lines are secured.”

And Linksano disconnected the call.

Well, that was abrupt. All he can do now is secure his defense until he knew what his offence was suppose to be.
–

Vyce’s rage was just as he had imagined.

The Shades on either side of him gripped his arms painfully, having discarded most of his clothing and small bits of gear.  Even his goggles had been casted away in a heap, his bare face showing just how much alike he and Linkara were.

“Why did you teleport back into this dimension?”

He did well to hide it. Vyce was never one show out right anger. He would hold it back until it suddenly burst from his person, preferably in privet and with Linksano close by. Right now, there was only a trembling fist.

Linksano lifted his head to look right up into Vyce’s visor. “I’m tired of running.”

“Despite my kindness, you ran away from me. I fed and clothed you. Kept you safe from the Entity and death from alien worlds, yet you spat in my face by leaving.”

Linksano scoffed. BAH! Kindness. Vyce was nothing but a delusional self important sack of shit that had kept him prisoner for years, torturing him daily with either rapes or beatings depending on how good he had been that day. If he was capable of it, he would love to crush Vyce himself.

Vyce pulled painfully at the hair on the back of his head. He needed to do his best to placate Vyce so he could minimize the damage. “I-I’m sorry!” he rushed out through clenched teeth.

“I have searched for you for months, wondering if you had suffocated or been killed! I have been worried and even lost sight of the Entity because of you! And all you would say to me is 'sorry’?”

“Sorry is all I have, Blue.”

For all that he was intelligent, he wasn’t smart. While he had meant it sincerely, if only to avoided making Vyce angrier, that wasn’t how Vyce clearly took it.

Only in Vyce’s most violent moments did he ever punch him. It was typically back hands or choking. The Shades never let him fall to his knees and Vyce alternated his attacks between his face, chest, and back. By the time Vyce raked the glove’s claws down his sides, Linksano knew that Vyce will now take out the rest of his frustration in the bedroom.

Vyce pulls him free of the Shades and carries Linksano to his thrown. He tenses, his breath panicked. Vyce wasn’t going to…not in front of the Shades!

He does. He forces Linksano to his knees and bends him over, smashing his face into the seat of the captain’s chair. He makes quick work of their pants and roughly shoves in.

Mindless robots or not, having witnesses is humiliating. He doesn’t want to see them watching, so he crushes his eyes closed and chants in his mind why he’s suffering through this again.

He’s doing this to stop Vyce so that he doesn’t have to run anymore. He’s doing this to give Linkara a fighting chance. He’s going to avenge Wayne. He’s going to avenge Spoonette. He’s going to give himself peace at last.

At long last.

He had thought enduring this again would be bearable as long as he could give Linkara the means to stop Vyce. Right now, he wished he’d just kept running and never had let guilt influence him.

It was painful and quick, Vyce’s strength making it impossible to move away. All he was able to do is scream in pain until Vyce came while saying his name, whispering promises of never letting him go again. It burns his insides and he knew it was imagined, but it felt like it was crawling up inside him, taking over him.

Vyce pulled out and moved away, leaving Linksano a cold, shivering mess of sweat and blood. “Clean up your mess and then go to our room. Shade, insure he does as he’s told.”

Linksano doesn’t need to see that Vyce has put himself away and is now focused on his computers. He also doesn’t believe for a second that Vyce is finished with him.

Vyce will insure that all his operations are running smoothly before he meets Linksano in the captain’s quarters, spending the rest of the day with him in a cycle of fucking and fists.

'God,’ he thinks to himself, speaking only to the minuscule speck of hope that is quickly dying. 'Let this be worth it.’
–

It was several weeks before Linksano contacted him again. Linkara had managed to find some free time to write a draft for the next comic on his schedule. He was almost finished with the Goddeyssy draft when Pollo interrupted him.

“Lin-ka-ra, Link-sa-no is cal-ling and he looks aw-ful.”

He saved his file and closed it before he brought up the program for video calls. “When doesn’t he look awful?”

“No, I’m not jo-king. It looks like some-one hit–”

The call connected and Linkara was face to face with what was indeed an awful looking Linksano. His goggles were on as usual, but nothing could mask the ugly bruise on his cheek or the puffy bottom lip.

“Good lord! What happened to you?”

Linksano used his left hand to gesture to his face. Wasn’t he right handed?

“Vyce has anger problems. He’s finally calmed down now, which is why I’m calling.”

“No, forget the plan. We’re not putting your life in dange–”

“Mechakara is back. I know of him from the records Vyce has of your last battle. You might not want to post things like that online.

"Vyce has me installing upgrades and by the time I’m done, Mechakara will have an energy shield that will be very hard to break as well as increased strength. You will need a very large energy blast to disable it; however, I’ve had to close the background port, so it’ll be impossible for Pollo to take him down that way again.”

Linksano was firing all of this information at them at lightning speed and it was clear that he wasn’t interested in Linkara’s order to step down.

Though, granted, he’d only agreed to be a part of Linksano’s plan. Never did either say who was in charge of what the other did or didn’t do.

In truth, if Linksano was caught, he was sure to get worse than a bruise and fat lip from Vyce. But, why would Vyce hurt him if Linksano was freely joining his side as far as he knew?

Damn, why hadn’t he thought about how dangerous this was for him before jumping in and agreeing? Surely Linksano knew though, right? He’d volunteered himself, knowing full well what could happen if Vyce so much as suspected a spy.

“Now, I’m not sure what they’re planning for the immediate future. Vyce wouldn’t let me in on that, but it seems Mechakara wants to do something covert. I’ve seen a group of weirdoes on the ship as of yesterday; but again, Vyce is keeping me from them so I’m unable to say more about them.’

Linksano moved forward, likely toward the button to end communication. He lifted his right hand, wincing as he switched hands and continued speaking. "My next report should come much sooner–”

“Linksano!”

He was shocked into silence for a moment, before stuttering out a reply. “Y-yes?”

“Thank you for this and please be safe. I mean it. I appreciate this and understand that there are major risks involved, but don’t put yourself in harm’s way. There’s no reason to–”

“There are worse things than death, Linkara. I’ve already encountered them and there’s nothing more to lose.”

The image faded as the call was terminated.

Linksano had thrown away his concern on top of devaluing himself. Why? That was completely uncharacteristic of Linksano, who shouted as much as Insano about how much of a genius he was.

Did he…really think of himself like that or was it because he was with Vyce?

It left a heavy weight in Linkara’s chest, but he couldn’t dwell on that now. He was very fortunate to learn of Mechakara’s return as well as upgrades on top of whatever it was that he and Vyce were planning to do.

“Pollo, did you get all of that?”

“Yes.”

“Good. Erase all records of the call and meet me in the arsenal room. We’ll need the most powerful weapons to take down 
Mechakara.”

“90’s Kid will love it.”

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