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Sometimes it happens. Mark doesn't really like it when it does, but it happens. Sleep has effectively eluded him. He's tried every trick in the book including sleeping aids, but nothing worked. With a defeated sigh, Mark flung the sheets off his body, tossed his legs over the edge of the bed, and quietly got dressed. There was no way he was going to be making a video; anything he has planned caused him to scream in either rage or fear and that would most defiantly wake not only Matt and Ryan, but the neighbors as well. So he did something that only happens when nothing will help him fall asleep.
He goes out for a little midnight stroll.
Now, yes, Markiplier knows that even in LA it's dangerous to be doing anything this late at night alone, but he has no real choice. Mark hummed softly as the faded heat from the day still clung in the air, making the night pleasantly warm. He didn't want to be making too much noise when he was getting dressed so he just grabbed another t-shirt from his dresser and fished his discarded jeans off the floor, throwing on his sneakers as he was heading out the door, only his house keys in hand. He had chose to just walk around for an hour or so, waiting until anything he had done earlier kicked in and make him sleepy.
Of course, having been lost in his thoughts for so long, Mark hadn't noticed that his guard was down. Or that a small group of people were following him. He rounded a corner into an alleyway, got half way in, then nearly jumped out of his skin when he heard a bottle being smashed against one of the brick walls. He spun around sharply, his brown eyes growing wide. The group was only about five people, but two of them wielded iron pipes, the rest knives. "Been waiting for this for a long time, Mark." "Waiting for what? Who are you?!" Mark demanded to know as he felt his heart double in pace, the sweat starting to form on his brow and his palms. "That doesn't matter. What matters is that, tonight, your live ends." Mentally, Mark cursed.
Over the past two weeks, he's been getting numerous death threats. All of them were anonymous and they never came from the same place twice so the police have been having trouble finding the people behind them. Apparently, they were now standing in front of Mark. The German-Korean backed up a few paces as his breath quickened, the fear and panic starting to set in. As he glanced behind him, Fischbach realized that he was trapped; it was a dead end alleyway. I'm gonna die... He swallowed hard, trying to think of a way he could escape, but nothing was coming to mind. In fact his mind was totally blank, unable to think of anything other than his impending doom. This was where Mark was going to die; in an alley, killed by total strangers, totally unknown to anyone else. He began to wonder how his fans would react to his death; how Jack would react to it. He didn't want to die. He really didn't, but he wasn't armed. I've got no weapon to defend myself with.
"No weapon to defend yourself with? Oh please, Mark. Have a little faith." An all too familiar voice to Mark suddenly sprang up into the air, but Mark watched as the group glanced around, trying to see where that voice came from. Moments later, one of them yelped and point behind Mark. He turned his head a little himself and found a large, swirling black cloud of either fog or smoke behind him. It danced for a few moments more before something solid grew and walked out of it. As it faded, Mark spotted a pair of red iris's that seemed to glow in the dim moonlight and instantly knew who it was. "Why are you here?" "Why do you think, Mark?" When Mark didn't reply, Darkiplier just sighed. He reached up and hovered his hand over his creator's face, locking their eyes together. Mark felt as Dark was in his mind, pulling his consciousness away. Suddenly, his eyes felt heavy, his body growing weak, but he managed to glance down and saw the large knife his darker half was holding in his left hand. Dark smiled with a soft chuckle as Mark slumped backwards, effortlessly catching the now sleeping man with a helpless expression with one arm. "It's my turn now."
Dark gently placed an unconscious Markiplier against one of the walls, making sure that he didn't just fall over in this state, before standing to his full height, his sclera turning from white to black though his iris color never changed as he glared at the group. "And what exactly were you planning to do with this one?" Dark asked, his tone icy and dangerous. All of the group flinched, except one, determination on his face. "We're going to kill Markiplier. Why are you protecting him, Darkiplier?" Dark graced him with a momentary expression of being impressed that he even had the balls to speak to him before he adjusted the grip he had on the handle of the knife. "Who says anyone else but me is allowed to hurt Mark?" Dark growled as he turned to face them, his eyes set on the one still showing no fear.
"You're strong enough to take a physical form, Dark. Why not kill Mark and set yourself free?" Dark's face turned to astonishment for a second before he just burst into malicious laughter, a mischievous smirk on his lips. "Oh you poor, shit-brained, fucker. Why does everyone believe that I want to kill my precious Mark? I don't need to kill him to get what I desire; he provides that for me already." "Because he lives in fear that you'll kill him or take over his mind." "Wrong!" Dark shouted, his free hand slamming into the wall above Mark and creating a fist sized dent in it. "Yes, I get off on his fear, that's a given. But you see, Mark created me when his nightmares became too much for him to handle. Unconsciously, Mark depends on me; he desires the protection that I can provide him and those he cares about. Mark won't admit it, but he needs me and he's ashamed of that fact and that is why I have no desire to kill him or take full control over him. It's the reason I protect him: he created me to do just that." The man scoffed. "You've just gone soft. He keeps you caged in his mind, never setting you free even when you beg him to release you for just one video. You've grown pliant to his demands to gain momentary freedom." Dark lost any humor in his body language. "Am I pliant?"
Suddenly, Dark vanished and the next thing anyone knew, a slick sound fluttered into the tense air. There stood Darkiplier, the knife he held buried all the way through the man's neck. "Am I really?" He yanked the knife out without any effort on his behalf, giving the dead man's corpse a passing glance as it fell limply to the ground. His eyes fell onto the rest of the group and they felt like prey under his gaze, pinned in place by some supernatural force. "You've made threats to take Mark's life; now I'll take yours."
Mark jolted awake, wanting to let out a yelp, but stilled in an instant when he felt a slightly cool finger touch his lips. He slowly dragged his eyes to the right and there, standing over him, was Darkiplier. Mark swallowed as he pulled his finger away, trying to figure out what he was seeing in Dark's eyes; they no longer had the red iris's, instead they had turned as black as an abyss, almost unable to see the pupil until you knew that he still had one. He darted his eyes away for a split second and realized he was back in his bedroom. He was still in the same clothes, minus the shoes, and Dark was gently stroking his dyed hair. "...What happened?" "I took care of the threat on your life. You were in danger after all." "Do I want to know how you took care of it?" "No. I can show you if you'd like, but I have a feeling you won't be able to stomach it." Mark had to choke down the small amount of bile that rose just from Dark's words alone.
He had killed them.
"Now, don't you go worrying. The knife wasn't yours at all and I wiped the minds of everyone who's ever met our...unfortunate friends. The bodies have been well taken care of and no one even remembers that they even existed. Problem solved." Mark shivered at how nonchalant Dark said that, but given who he was, it didn't really surprise Mark too much. "When did you get strong enough to do this?" Mark asked as he reached out and placed a half shaking hand on Dark's chest. "I'm honestly not sure, but you have been playing more horror games lately. It could have been from you becoming more dependent on me." Mark glanced away and that's when Dark pounced. His hands snared Mark's wrists and pinned them to the bed. "Say it for me, Mark."
The YouTuber shook his head, eyes squeezed shut as he turned his face away from Darkiplier. "Say it, Mark. And I'll let you go." "I won't say it." Upon those small words of defiance, Dark forced his way into Mark's mind again and the man under him screamed at what he saw; or tried to, Dark was keeping his vocal cords from working. Except for one sentence that Mark doesn't want to say, but knows that he's going to have no choice but to. "Just say it, Mark. Say those three, pretty little words and I'll leave you alone." Fischbach just shook his head, despite what he was seeing behind his eyes. "Say it, Mark." The images got more and more worse with each passing second until, "Alright! I'll say it, just stop!"
Mark felt relief wash over him as the horrific images faded completely from his mind. "Look at me and say it." Dark knew that he had his light side, but he wasn't one for patience. "Mark..." He warned and the man knew it was the only one he was going to get. He took a deep breath, opened his eyes and locked them with Dark's after turning his head to face him. "I need you." He submitted to his darker half's demand and said them. He hated the fact that he needed Darkiplier. It's not a deep seated hate, more a personal loathing that Dark just loves to shove in Mark's face. "Good boy." Dark leaned down and kissed Mark softly, not wanting to push his creator anymore than he has; he loves teasing Mark with that fact the he's absolutely dependent on him in situations he was just in, but at the same time, he's always displeased that he himself even taunts the man he loves so much with it.
Mark whines slightly when Dark pulls away--he always liked when Dark's gentle with him like this--but knew that his body was finally drained enough to get some actual sleep. "You'll be waiting for me, right?" Mark asked and Dark smiled warmly to his mirror image, combing his fingers through his hair as he started to vanish. "Yes. Sleep well, my darling; I have more things planned for you when you arrive." Darkiplier disappeared into a black mist that lingered for only a short moment then was gone. Mark, his body already going limp again, felt like he could finally break away from his evil half for a little while. I won't be dependent on you forever, Darkiplier.