Chapter _

Searing, terrible, horrifying, unspeakable, blood-boiling pain.

That was literally the first thing Isaac felt.

It was the only thing he felt for hours.

After a while, he could feel a numbing sensation in his neck.

He was screaming.

After he realized this, he could feel the burning sensation of air leaving his lungs too rapidly, and began to feel his entire chest heave inwards.

Almost immediately, a new level of pain came to his senses.

His entire torso felt like it was being slowly torn open, likely because his wounds were all coming apart now.

Memories of the battle (he used the term very loosely) with his Necro-self played over and over again in his mind, reminding him of how he had died.

The stabs, cuts, acidic burns, blunt trauma, broken bones, internal hemorrhaging, ruptured organs, and several other gruesome injury he had gone through that day replayed themselves without pause.

Every single second he was conscious, Isaac felt the pain worsen. He could feel the blood seeping from his left stump, where his arm used to be, as well as his organs pool around the gaping hole in his torso. As each second ticked by slowly and deliberately, Isaac felt as though every single atom in his body was screaming in agony, just like he was.

Only then, did the voices begin.

At first, they were familiar voices, such as the ones from Aegis-VII, when he had first started getting the visions upon finding the Red Marker. Then they continued on through his time aboard Titan Station, his fights with the Nicole visions, and even Stross. Finally, they had gone through all the visions from Tau Volantis, and began with the land of his death: Equestria.

He remembered first meeting the ponies in Fluttershy's cottage, after she had saved him from dying in a forest. Then the time he spent in Ponyville, learning the ins and outs of the small town. Terror seized what little fiber of his heart was left when he remembered the bombing of the restaurant, and the Rainbow Factory. A fraction of his consciousness began to remember anger as he was reminded of the harm done to his friends by the Marker's power, until he remembered the moment of his death. As he did, every single wound felt more pronounced as though he were living them a second time. The Necro-Isaac slashing through his arm faster than he could blink, being impaled upon the blade of the horrific abomination. Then... silence.

Isaac's entire body felt like it was suddenly set ablaze from every single bit of flesh and blood. If he could still scream, he would likely have deafened himself. Every single bit inside of Isaac felt as though it were shifting. Bones began to crack and move inside of him, ripping away at veins as his organs began to melt and rearrange their remains. The pain never ceased as Isaac could feel his entire body beginning to shift and mutate. His limbs began to twist against his will, his skin bubbling like molten liquids, and his skull...

Fear and pain were the only constants that Isaac's psyche knew in that moment of time as a realization dawned on Isaac.

This must what it felt like to become a Necromorph.

The Engineer struggled to find any kind of grip on reality as he felt his body shift against his will, and against the laws of nature. He began to panic internally as he realized that he would become a monster. He would turn into one of those things. He didn't want any more blood on his hands.

However, no matter how much he tried to fight it, the transformation continued. Isaac could feel his fingers and feet sizzle and decay rapidly, falling off in agonizing pain as Isaac couldn't find any way to react. Trapped within a body that was becoming not like his own. Isaac began to mix sorrow into his emotions, as he began to think of how he could have failed to protect his friends in Equestria. He had failed to make his life worth anything. How he failed to make their lives, those that died on the Ishimura, Titan Station, and Tau Volantis, worth anything beyond a waste of time and energy.

It was over.

All was lost.

"Isaac."

... no.

He didn't fail.

Isaac began to remember seeing the Marker evaporate.

He could remember the feeling of its hellish powers leaving his mind.

"Clarke."

Isaac remembered how he felt when he saw the Marker vanish permanently, finally destroying all connections throughout all of time and space.

"Awaken."

For the first time in what felt like an eternity, Isaac opened his eyes.