Chapter Text
When Tony wakes up, it's like dragging himself out of a coma. All that he's aware of is the dull ache in his limbs for a long while.
But the first thing Tony becomes consciously aware of is something digging in his back.
His senses turn on one by one, after that. He let's out a weak groan. His body feels sore and his head feels like its stuffed with cotton.
Subconsciously, his body moves to shift out of the position its in.
His arms refuse to move.
It takes an embarrassing amount of time for him to feel the ropes.
His eyes blow wide after that, and he lets out a sharp inhale. Theres a violent crane in his neck from where it was slumped over and all he can do is wince at the pain.
It takes almost no time for his eyes to adjust to the light. Theres only a ring of it surrounding him, and then inky blackness beyond. It's like the floor has fallen out around him and all that's left is his little circle.
Tony doesnt know if it's his eyes or if it's just the lack of light, but the black and red tile on the floor looks blurry around the edges.
The blinks rapidly, desperately trying to wake his brain up. He cant. He just feels so slow and heavy. He pulls at the ropes binding his arms, but they dont budge. The plastic of the chair hes tied to is still digging into his back.
Without his permission, a small whimper exits his throat.
"Ah," A voice begins from somewhere. "you're awake."
Despite how he feels like the weight of the world is pushing on him, Tony still jumps violently at the sudden sound.
"What?" He slurs.
"Took you long enough." Is all the voice responds with. Tony cannot pinpoint the direction it's coming from for the life of him. "I was starting to get bored."
Tony shakes his head, squeezing his eyes shut and trying to rid of the fog reaching to the corners of his mind. He tries to think, tries to remember how he possibly could have gotten here, but every thought takes the same amount of effort as wading through a tar pit.
"Wh-ere..." He manages. "am I?"
"Disoriented, are you?" The voice says. "I'll give you a hint. You're at the Pizzaplex."
Suddenly, it all starts to come back. The Pizzaplex. GGY. The library. Going to the Pizzaplex with Greg--
Tony inhales sharply, forcing his heavy eyelids open and scanning the room around him. Nothing but darkness.
"Greg?!" Tony calls, tongue feeling like it weighs a hundred pounds. "Greg, are you okay?! Where are you?!"
The gravity of the situation suddenly weighs on him. The clouds part just enough for him to understand. He's tied up in a chair in a dark room, somebody he doesn't know is with him, and he doesn't know where Greg is.
His breath stalls, and he tries at the ropes again. It's only now that he realizes his ankles are bound to the legs of the chair; some sort of Pizzaplex Pizzeria plastic chair with no cushioning. The effort of wiggling his arms strains his shoulders, and he winces, gritting his teeth.
"This is sad." The voice comments. "Y'know, it was really easy to kidnap you. Almost too easy. You should be embarrassed."
Tony furrows his brows, still struggling against his constraints, and against his will, his eyes grow wet. "Wheres Greg?" He asks. "Why are you doing this? Who are you?"
"So many questions." The voice replies. It's sort of raspy and whispery at the same time, but childish and light. Its tone betrays the youthful undertone, completely flat and uninterested. It sounds nothing but sinister and it makes Tony's gut twist in fear. "The answers are all so simple."
They're everything but to Tony. He hangs his head, his breathing shaky. "What do you want?"
Theres a beat of silence. When the voice speaks again, it's from a different direction. "You almost solved the mystery, you know." It says. "You got closer than anyone else."
Tony huffs, feeling frustrated and afraid. "What?"
"Don't act so oblivious." It comments. "'The Mysterious GGY'. I'm honored, you know. It makes me sound... cool."
Realization dawns on Tony. His eyes widen to the size of saucers, his mouth agape. He stops breathing entirely.
"It was fun watching you run around like a headless chicken chasing me." The voice continues. Tony's barely listening through the blood roaring in his ears. His heart hammers in his chest. The voice echoes in the room, coming from different directions all at once. Its circling him. Like a carousel of doom or a predator with its prey. "Especially because I was right in front of you all along."
Tony's brows furrow, and despite himself, "What are you talking about?"
The voice does not respond. The room is thrown into abrupt quiet so suddenly that Tony's ears start to ring. He's heavily aware of the rapid beating of his heart and the sweat on his face. He listens intently, desperately searching for any rustle of movement.
Theres nothing. His breath shudders as he heaves for air. It's as loud as a gunshot in the silent room. He tugs at the ropes, but it does nothing but rub against his wrists and break the skin.
He grits his teeth, tears gathering in his eyes. He doesnt know what to expect. He doesn't know what to do. GGY killed all of those counselors. Did they get close to the truth like Tony did? Did GGY have to eliminate them to save their own skin? Is that why Tony's here? So GGY can do the same?
Tony is going to die here. He's sure of it.
"Its so sad watching how worried you are for your dear best friend." The voice comments, cutting through the silence. Before, it travelled around Tony, coming in all different directions.
Now, it's right in front of him.
Tony watches in horror as in the shadows ahead, two blue beacons in the inky blackness break through the dark.
Two blue eyes, sharp and slit-pupiled stare at him a few feet away, like a lighthouse in a hurricane.
Tony gasps sharply, his body aching in protest as he tenses. His fight or flight instincts are kicking in, but he cant run here. He's trapped. Cornered like a small animal.
The eyes begin to move, bobbing in the darkness, then a suited foot appears on the tile. It turns into a leg, then a body.
Then a mask.
The chair digs into his back from how hard he's leaning away. His shoulders scream in protest, but he cant bring himself to move. He's frozen. All he can do is stare in horror at the thing in front of him.
It's a rabbit. Some sort of fursuit that looks less completed and more like Tony's patchwork quilt back at home. It has two blue bulging eyes that seem to be boring into him even when its pupils are far and wide. The coat is a multi-shaded brown, with a stark gray stripe across the chest. Theres random patches here and there that dont look like they belong. Like it was just made out of scraps. Around its neck is a vibrant blue tie and a dirty white collar.
The rabbit-- GGY, steps towards him, stature rigid and professional. Even though their face is a set expressioned mask, trapped in a permanent smile, it looks judgemental.
It gets to his chair, and Tony shrinks back as much as he's able as GGY leans down, close in his personal space. Terror grips his lungs.
"Because you never looked at the big picture enough to ever realize that who you were searching for was right in front of you all along."
GGY retreats, standing back to full height, which is little. They walk somewhere behind Tony's chair, hands behind their back like a businessman, but Tony isnt paying attention. His eyes stare ahead, unseeing as he scrambles to process the words just said to him.
Then it hits him. His best friend. Greg. GGY. The dark wizards most favored apprentice. Spacing out. The stature, the voice, the height, Dr Rabbit--
"Greg?" Is all Tony can get out. It's nothing but a pathetic whisper and his voice breaks in the middle.
Theres no response from GGY. From Greg. Dr Rabbit. Tony doesnt know anymore. He doesnt know what to think. He wonders if it even matters. If he's going to be killed right here and now because he stuck his nose where it didnt belong.
His Dads and Crystal's words echo in his mind.
How could he be so stupid?
But GGY neither confirms nor denies, he just hums, and fiddles with something somewhere Tony can't see. Tony can only hear the faint clattering of hard material against eachother, but he's barely listening. It feels like he's underwater. He feels disconnected from reality. His stare ahead is blank, and it makes the shadows around him dance in the corners of his eyes.
His brain turns to static.
It's a few long moments before the silence is broken again. "I hope I got your order right." GGY comments. "You know how tricky the Pizzaplex service can be."
Tony doesnt register the words immediately. They process in his brain, and Tony is suddenly flooded with memories of earlier that day.
Checking into the Pizzeria with Greg. Heading to the atrium. Sitting at the food court at a table for two. Greg volunteering to collect their food. Tony eating his cheeseburger. Feeling on edge and like something is wrong. His stomach churning only after a couple bites. His fingers feeling heavy, then his limbs. His words slurring. Greg's worry. Leaning on him on the way to help. Flashes of red doors and dark hallways, then nothing.
Tony gapes, tears gathering in his eyes. "You drugged me?"
GGY chuckles behind him. But it sounds flat and indigent. "I would have done worse," He responds. "but he intervened and now I'm not allowed to kill you."
Terror washes over Tony's body in waves. His face scrunches up, and he pulls at the ropes again. "W-What?"
"Nevermind." Theres a scraping sound from behind Tony, presumably between some unseen surface and some unknown object. With silent footsteps, GGY makes his way back to Tony's front. He almost flinches all over again at the sight of the rabbit suit. "It won't matter to you, in the end. You'll be as good as dead."
A tear slips past Tony's eyelashes. His body shudders with a silent sob. Journalism can be dangerous, son. Promise me you'll drop it. "Wait, please--"
"It'll only hurt for a moment." GGY says. He inches towards Tony, and all he can do is struggle against his constraints. Its fruitless. "But afterwards you just have to... get used to it."
It doesn't feel like GGY is talking to him anymore, somehow. Theres a black object in GGYs hands, but Tony can't pinpoint what it is though the blur of his tears.
"Bye bye, Tony Becker." GGY croons. Tony leans back in the chair, further and further from the smiling mask, but its useless. Soon, all Tony can see is the blinding blue light of GGYs eyes. It overtakes his vision. "It was fun watching you fail, but your time is up."
Tony only has time to open his mouth before something heavy is being shoved over his eyes.
Everything is thrown into darkness. All of his senses are muddled, desaturated and flat like GGY felt. It feels like Tony is looking at a fogged up mirror. Theres a static and ambience ricocheting through his ears and he feels like hes being split in two.
Theres a figure in the darkness, and it has rabbit ears.
The last thing Tony is aware of before everything ends is a voice.