Headcanon:
Mal was created in the thick of Mike’s depression (circa age 13-14). However, these feelings of hatred, sadness, and desperation weren’t strong enough to bring Mal into control until the night Mike tried to commit suicide.
The bullying became too much for Mike. Living with these voices in his head, constantly filling his brain. It was far too much. He was diagnosed with ADD because he could never focus on anything. His social anxiety crippled him; the thought of being triggered in public and having one of his alters come out made him paralyzed with fear. In the worst of it, he would only go to school and home. He would not leave the house on weekends. He would not take the bus to school, lest he be a sitting target for eyes and minds that wouldn’t understand- that couldn’t understand. He was either watched with scrutinizing eyes like a sideshow attraction, feared by those that assumed he was fit for a mental hospital, or beaten down with words sharp as blades by the ones who used his imperfections and insecurities like a tire pump to inflate their own egos.
On that night, he resolved to end it. He could only silence the others by silencing himself. Mike went to his room, fully equipped. A kitchen knife, a full bottle of his anxiety medication, and a note for his family to find. The others idly sat by, chattering away, unaware of their host’s intentions. Mike downed half of the bottle of pills, not even sure of what the effects would have on his body. The knife tore through him, and with trembling hands he marked himself with all the words they called him. “Freak”, “Psycho”, “Spaz”… each word etched a little deeper, running all down his arm. Soon, he felt his eyes drooping. The blood loss and anxiety meds were sedating him. He could feel everything slipping away. Now, he would slip into unconsciousness. The only question now is if he would wake up.
Although he survived the attempt, a new presence opened Mike’s eyes in the stiff hospital bed.
