The figure waved a clawed hand, and they were now surrounded by countless mangled bodies of all sorts.

Their breath hitched, and they suppressed gags.

"People with peculiar circumstances are more susceptible to handling such Chaos, yet countless times, they too were driven insane."

Screams. That was all they heard. Covering its ears and dropping to its knees to curl into a ball, the screaming was overwhelming.

Manic laughter.

Sobs of pure agony.

Words of malice.

They heard it all despite trying to null it, curling into themself tighter, tears springing from its eyes as it begged through and through to not hear anymore. It was like going back to their first days of being fused. Both were frantic, the memories hurt, the scars felt like they were opening up again.

No more.

No more!

Please...

Make it stop!

It has to stop!

Please!

Everything eventually became quiet again, though both beings were rattled. Shakily, they uncovered their ears and looked around.

The bodies were gone. The figure was gone. Only they were here.

Sitting up, tremors going through their body like electricity, they looked around.

"You survived..." the figure spoke, but stayed hidden.

"W-Why..." they both asked, wrapping their arms around themself in faux comfort.

"Only one other has survived this."

"Are they by chance still alive?"

"I will answer after you answer my next question."

"Which is?"

The figure materialized in front of them, helping them to their feet. It kept a firm claw on their arm, almost in preparation to sink said claws in.

"Can you handle the Chaos?"

"What?"

The grip tightened, "Can you handle the Chaos?" It repeated.

Before Stephen could say no, the child, despite being as spooked as he was, spoke.

"Yes."

The claws sank deep into their arm, and when they tried to yell, it mixed with the others that now crowded suddenly into their head.

They tried to remove the claws, which sent dark tendrils of what could only be shadows, into the skin, turning the acquired bruises almost completely ink black, and giving them the claws that the figure once possessed.

The body’s eyes inked over, the black substance weeping from their eyes, and a nosebleed forming as the figure transferred all it had endured, gained, and controlled into them.

All they could do was sob, begging for it to be over, swearing and pulling to no avail. 

Inside of their crowded mind, where shadows and other half manifested figures ran around, the child and Stephen, who was being tormented with what was happening to their form and mind as absolute chaos threatened to drive him insane, were in a paralyzing shock. How much more of this constant pain could they take? Would this alone ensure they became what this shadow was trying to prevent?

The child absorbed what it could, souls, screams, the pain, all to keep it from killing Stephen’s consciousness since they tried hard to overrun the human’s mind. It was the reason they were still alive right now. It was the reason that Stephen, the original Stephen, was alive right now.

Then, everything stopped. A wave of pure power washed over the void-like place, similar to the shockwaves the child produced, and the figure dematerialized. Their physical body collapsed in a heap of tremors, black ooze pouring from its inked eyes, and blood and foam from its mouth.

Within, the child was shaking Stephen, who was still in shock, but when the wave hit, all were knocked unconscious. Both were heavily scarred by today's events, not knowing what lay ahead. Questions unanswered, life rattled to the very core, this was a new beginning for not just this fusion, but for the entire Abyss.