Polarize (A Mech-X4 Fanfic)

Ch.9 That Gives me an Idea...

Mark collapsed. Ryan, no longer consolable, threw himself off the table to help his brother.

"What's going in?" Spyder asked.

"I don't know," Harris replied, "Ryan?" He shook Ryan's shoulder to get his attention.

"Long story," Ryan grunted after glancing at Harris' face while he hefted his brother onto the table, "Technoserum experimentation, like Leo with the chip but without the chip and with technoserum instead of ooze and yeah, not like with Leo after all."

"I'm going to assume that's the strain of everything talking and just say, what in all of Earth and space science were you thinking?" Harris all but yelled, Siri picked up on it and repeated his question. Harris then thrusted Siri at Ryan.

"Harris, not the time, not the time!" Spyder quoted.

"When is it the time?" Harris shouted in view of Ryan (who read his lips), grabbing Mark and adjusting him so he was lying comfortably, before he took the notebook and wrote, "You need to tell us these things, we're your friends for Mark's sake."

"I think it's for Pete's sake-" Spyder chipped in.

Harris deadpanned before writing, "I know, but that's not the point. The point is you didn't trust us! Who were we going to tell about this? Why didn't you trust us."

"Would you have let us go through with it?" Ryan asked darkly, "Seriously, would you have allowed Mark to go through with it had you known..."

When Ryan trailed off, Leo shot him a sympathetic glance. That combined prompted Harris to write, "What? What aren't you telling us?"

Ryan, who's head was facing the ground, squeezed his eyes shut, "I'm dying."

"What?" Harris asked in disbelief as Spyder sat on the ground, disbelief etched on his face.

"I'm dying," Ryan repeated, "This... this power, it's killing me. It has been, since I've been a child. I just didn't know then."

"But... If it was killing you, why didn't you tell us? Why don't you trust us? And why would you let Mark, your own brother, take something that's killing you?"

"Actually," Leo began, "I was able to isolate and remove the property that was causing the decomposition of Ryan's cells before testing it on Mark. And even then, it was gradually introduced from nothing but water to full blown technoserum. It won't hurt him because his body has had enough time to work it through their systems and filter out everything bad. That's how I was able to isolate it in the first place with Ryan. The only issue with Ryan is that for him the serum is in his very DNA. To take it out of him would be like taking the ooze out of me but way~ worse."

"You're telling me, that one of my best friends has been dying, something that, let me guess, gets worse every time he uses his ability, and you didn't think to mention it!" Harris screamed, tears in his eyes.

Spyder, still in shock on the floor, looked up at Mark's twitching body before tugging at Harris' pant leg as Mark groaned.

"We will be continuing this conversation later." Harris ordered, thrusting the notebook at Ryan.

Ryan nodded with a whispered, "Of course." He then shook Mark's shoulder, successfully waking him.

"Wha-?" Mark asked, blinking up at the concerned face of Ryan.