Two more days passed.
Kai was still unconscious, but his condition had improved drastically. His body no longer lay stiff like a comatose corpse, but instead breathed with the rhythm of deep sleep. Whatever wounds he'd sustained were practically gone - his absurd recovery rate at work.
On the other hand, Isaac and Nadya had been stuck in a cycle of boredom and recovery.
Isaac barely ate, forcing down food only when necessary. Most of his time was spent sleeping or buried in whatever books he could find, desperate for some distraction from his missing arm and the dull ache that never quite left him.
Nadya, on the other hand, did everything but rest. She drank. She sang - horribly. She pestered Isaac with endless questions, poking and prodding at him both mentally and physically. He did his best to ignore her, but she made that impossible, especially when drunk, which - given her high alcohol tolerance - took a ridiculous amount of liquor.
As for Takeshi, he was rarely seen, drifting through the base like a ghost. Sometimes he'd appear, sometimes he wouldn't. When he did, he said nothing and left no trace.
Meanwhile, Kai was somewhere else entirely...
-
A pool of blood.
Warm. Thick. Endless.
"Where the fuck am I?"
Kai trudged through it, his breath heavy as he fought against the rising crimson tide. It lapped at his knees, then his waist, then his chest. The deeper it became, the harder it became to wade through.
Darkness stretched in every direction, infinite and suffocating.
Then, whispers.
Figures emerged from the void, shifting and flickering - phantoms with blurred faces, yet somehow familiar. They surrounded him, drifting closer with each breath. Their hands, pale and lifeless, reached out, fingers clawing at his skin.
The blood kept rising.
The whispers turned to murmurs, then to screams.
A sharp, manic laughter rang in the distance, echoing endlessly.
Nyx.
Kai's breath quickened. The phantoms clung to him, pulling him down, dragging him deeper into the thick, suffocating pool. The more he struggled, the heavier he became.
He couldn't breathe.
He was drowning...
'Damn it!'
-
Kai's eyes snapped open.
His body jolted up in a cold sweat, his breath ragged and uneven. His vision was a blur of white walls and dim lighting, and for a brief moment, he couldn't tell if he was still dreaming.
Then there was movement.
Beside him, a small girl in a nurse uniform was carefully changing his IV drip. Her hands were delicate and precise, but as she reached for his arm with the needle-
'No. No more injections. Not again.'
His body moved on instinct.
His hand shot up, gripping her wrist in an iron vise.
The shift in the air was instant.
Bloodlust surged from his body, thick and suffocating. A dark red aura was almost visibly emanating from his body.
Amina gasped, eyes wide with terror. Tears welled up almost immediately as she tried to pull away, but his grip was unyielding.
Shing!
The door sliced open in a blink, and before anyone could react, Takeshi was already inside - sensing an ominous energy from within.
Silent. Cold. His katana was halfway unsheathed, gleaming under the dim light. He hadn't said a word, but his blank stare and the slow, deliberate motion of his sword spoke volumes.
Nadya had also sprung out of her patient bed, explosions crackling in her palms.
"Let. Her. Go." Nadya's voice was low, controlled, but filled with fire. "Or I will blow you to pieces."
Kai's blood was still boiling, his breath heavy, his body tense. He hadn't fully snapped out of it, but one thing was clear - if he didn't immediately suppress the overwhelming bloodlust, he wasn't making it out of the room in one piece.
Takeshi's blade was already in motion, a single unsheathing away from slicing him into ribbons. Nadya's orange orbs of destruction glowed dangerously in her hands.
Kai gritted his teeth and released Amina.
She recoiled, stumbling backwards, her arms trembling as tears streamed down her face. Without hesitation, she turned and bolted from the room, her quiet sniffles echoing down the hall.
"You bastard!" Nadya snapped, eyes blazing with fury. "How could you do that to her?!"
Kai barely had time to process before the orbs in her hands flared brighter.
Isaac, who had been watching from his bed, immediately stepped in.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa - let's all take a deep breath here!" He forced a strained chuckle, raising his hand in a half-hearted attempt to de-escalate.
Kai's own body tensed, still on edge. Takeshi's blade was now fully sheathed, but his presence alone was enough to keep him wary.
Nadya, though? She was still furious.
Amina had been the one taking care of them, visiting them with food and drinks. Using her mutant ability was draining, but she still did so to help them heal. She had been tender, quiet, and kind - especially to Nadya, who she saw as an older sister.
And Kai? Kai had just terrified her.
But finally, with a deep breath, Nadya closed her palms, snuffing out the orbs.
"You're lucky," she muttered. "If she wasn't already scared shitless, I'd still blow you up."
Then she turned and stormed out after Amina.
Kai exhaled slowly, wiping his forehead, his body still slick with sweat. His heart was still pounding from the nightmare, from the bloodlust, from almost getting torn to shreds.
And Takeshi?
He was already gone. The moment the tension dropped, he disappeared as fast as he'd arrived, leaving not even a sound behind.
Isaac sighed and shook his head, giving Kai a tired, knowing look.
"Not off to a great start, are we?"
Kai didn't answer. He was still trying to figure out how the hell he even got here, and now he had even bigger problems to deal with.
Meanwhile, Isaac was certain of one thing.
'This is going to be a long three months...'