Project Renegade : Invasion (Book 2)

Rampage

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The Vertex..10:45 a.m.

Ryan lay in a small medical bed. The medical bay of the Vertex was large, painted orange and blue. The boy was exhausted, so much so that he could barely keep his eyes open. He had a medical ventilator on his mouth. His breaths were loud and heavy. His new white and black scales continued to run across his body, covering his dried black blood. Zen sat at a desk close by, wearing goggles and a lab coat. He mixed chemicals in front of him carefully. Outside, Sapphire paced back and forth, bags under her eyes. Zen used a pipette to squeeze a translucent, yellow liquid into a beaker filled with saturated water. Then, stirring carefully, he mixed the liquids.

Ryan growled in the background, his claws popping out from his fingers. Sapphire couldn't take the wait anymore; she barged inside. Zen continued to add ingredients to his concoction, ignoring her. In his mind, Ryan thought about what Sapphire would tell him. " What kind of leader are you if you're here in pain? Superheroes don't cry. " He felt as she sat on the side of his bed. She rubbed her fingers across his cheek, analyzing his state. " Why are you babying me? I can handle myself. " He thought, struggling to move his arms.

" Zen, how's it looking? " She asked, still rubbing her fingers on Ryan.

" I got good news and bad news. Which one do you want? " He mumbled, pouring a blue liquid into the beaker.

" The bad news first, please. " 

" Well, from the x-rays I've done, it seems like some parasite has infected him. " He explained, " That should explain why he's getting weaker and weaker. And his new transformation; also seems to link him to the aliens-- like when you gave me that corpse to examine the other day, I used the pieces of its DNA to create a tracker for when they're nearby. I picked up two aliens today in Phoenix High. He was one of them on the scanner. "

Ryan listened in on their conversation as he felt his stomach twist. The thought of an organism slowly eating away inside of him was beyond terrifying. He thought back to the night he had fought the alien, remembering how it slashed into his stomach. Sapphire felt his muscles tense. She knew the poor boy was scared. Zen placed the beaker, filled with a now all blue liquid, into some machine. It acted like a microwave, heating the substance. Ryan felt Sapphire wrap her fingers around his palm, trying to comfort him. He growled, ripping off the breathing apparatus as he sat up.

" What's wrong? " She asked as he grabbed his head, " You need to rest; it'll be okay."

" Stop talking to me like I'm a baby. " He grumbled.

" Excuse me? " Sapphire questioned, raising an eyebrow at this display of attitude.

" Don't mind that. From my research, it looks like the parasite affects his emotions. Like they are amplified..so yeah, he's gonna be a handful. " Zen said, pulling the beaker out of the machine and walking over to him with the glass in his hands, " Drink this. "

Ryan swiped the beaker out of Zen's grasp, putting his lips to it. Downing all of the liquid in seconds, Ryan quickly pulled it back from his mouth. It felt as if hot slime had been poured down his throat with a bitter taste. The acrid fumes from the liquid ran into his nose, scattering his senses. Feeling his stomach grumble, he wrapped his arms around it. His vision slowly started to change, all the colors becoming healthy again. In shock, he gasped as he blinked rapidly.

" I can see colors regularly again." He whispered.

" Nice to see that it's working; I'll go and create another one of those. You'll have to drink at least five to six of those a day to lower the effects of the parasite. I haven't made a cure; it's just temporary treatment. " Zen returned to his desk, " Stay here and rest up until all the scales have gone, don't overwork yourself too much either. "