Realm of Opportunity

7: One Tough Bastard

^^ Basic Status ^^

--- Xavier ---

My muscles, my bones, my organs, every single piece of my body hurt separately. The pain wormed itself into my brain, slowly entering each fold separately, changing my idea of the word 'Pain'.

Pain was stubbing your toe, or breaking a knuckle. Pain was all those things that didn't matter anymore. This wasn't Pain. This was Agony.

My brain apparently finished being filled with liquid Agony, because it dulled into the background, only to be replaced as the feeling entered my spine. Each vertebra, I could feel it separately. Each disk, each rib attacked.

I could tell the location of everything in my body, which was a new feeling. I knew where my kidneys were, they were the balls of Fire just under my ribs. My liver, a bowl of Lava. My heart, a critical Reactor Core. Lungs, Inflatable bags of Liquid Napalm.

The oddest thing, during all of this, was that it didn't go away. Normally, pain dulled the nerves after a certain amount of time, but this never did. If anything, I could tell my nerves were getting stronger, more effective, quickening my reflexes and response-time.

I'm sure time passed, but maybe it didn't. Heightened amounts of Pain had a tendency to stretch, (or change entirely,) the concept of time in the mind. For all I know, I hadn't even spent a single heartbeat after Loki touched me.

At one point, I thought I might pass out, and drift to heavenly sleep, but the pain reached my waist, and I heard myself finally make a noise, groaning as the pain invaded my loins.

My sense of smell started fluctuating, then my hearing, and my eyes darkened, shutting off my sight. My tongue felt like a piece of rubber in my mouth. Inversely, my fingertips, when they touched the wooden floorboards, could tell me exactly what type of wood it was, when it was last sanded, how long it had been here, how old the wood was... details that were completely lost on me before.

That sense remained, then my taste took the same route, heightening insanely, and I realized I could taste every piece of food or plaque in my teeth, until it was all burnt off.

Next was hearing. I could hear the people downstairs, on the third floor, playing a game of cards, it sounded like. My hearing managed to focus, slowly, and I heard Loki speaking very slowly to her people.

I theorized that time was slowed for me right now, and focused on getting my senses back.

My smell returned next, and I realized I needed about six baths filled with bleach, because I could still smell Engine Grease under my fingernails, from when I helped Johnny with his car, three weeks ago... I had held the tools and the flashlight.

Sight was the last sense to return. I could now see the grains in the wood, the ones I could feel. Dust motes in the air flew across my vision, followed by white blood-cells on the surface of my retinas, and inside my pupils.

I looked up, and saw individual shafts of daylight, each collecting to create the whole.

I tested my muscles, one by one, and found them adequately adjusted, so I lifted my chest off the ground, sitting back on my knees slowly, and cracked my neck.

"Ow." I grunted, summarizing the process for the people who were watching.

I had lost track of time, but I could see now that the sun had moved only about 15* on its path, which meant that an hour had passed, roughly.