Versus The Mind

Chapter One: Within His Body

"It's too big." He called.

Grace turned around.

"You want to be grounded?" She asked.

Mark shook his head immediately.

"Then watch your brother. It's not like he's some kind of weirdo." Grace finished.

She closed the door. The eight year old put his tush on the end of his brother's bed. He had an angry look on his face. The seven year old stared at him for a few moments. He had his pillow up against his back.

"Mark?" Ryan called.

The eight year old looked at him.

"Yeah?" He questioned.

"Do you hate me?" Ryan wondered.

Mark blinked for a second.

"No. Your just annoying." He replied.

The little seven year old nodded. He bit his lip as his older brother looked back at him. He sighed.

"Do you hate me?" Mark asked.

Ryan looked at him.

"No. Your just mean." He responded.

"You think I'm mean?" Mark inquired.

"You've always been mean." Ryan retorted honestly.

Mark glanced down at the bed. He crawled over to his brother. He sat next to him and shrugged.

"I guess I'm just getting the hang of being an older brother." Mark said.

"That's okay. I like having a mean, cool older brother." Ryan replied.

"Well, I can't argue with you there." Mark bragged.

"But, your not cooler than Jamie Foxx." Ryan told him.

Mark gave an offended stare. Ryan chuckled. The eight year old glanced around the room. In that moment, he felt a pair of arms wrap around his waist. He looked down at his little brother.

"Is this fun for you?" Mark asked.

"Yup." Ryan answered.

"Why?" Mark questioned further.

"Because then I know your there. Even when you don't like me, I know your there." Ryan explained.

Mark didn't bother to pry away. He instead used one arm to hug his brother back.

()

"Do you feel any better?" The sixteen year old inquired.

Ryan sighed.

"I guess." He responded.

He removed his arms and slowly sat up.

"You know why that happened?" Mark questioned.

"I didn't see anything if that's what you mean. This time I just, blacked out. It might've been because I overused my power earlier." Ryan answered.

"It has to be more than that. You were screaming." Mark disagreed.

Ryan nodded.

"Yeah, it hurt like crazy." He replied.

"I'm just glad your not in pain anymore." Mark stated.

"Well, right now I'm cold." Ryan told him.

His older brother raised an eyebrow at him.

"Really? It's like 77 degrees in here. And your even wearing a long sleeve shirt." Mark retorted.

Ryan shrugged.

"It's freezing outside." He responded.

"Does it look like we're outside?" Mark questioned him.

Ryan chuckled. That quickly died down when he jumped. He held his chest as Mark became nervous.

"What's wrong?" He posed.

Ryan looked at him.

"I felt something shoot up in my body. It hurt, but it's cold too." He riposted.

Mark was perplexed until it reoccurred. The freezing shock of pain felt like a piece of glass. It was as if something was cutting his veins. Ryan's hand clutched the edge of the bed as he tried not to holler. Mark quickly got up and opened the door.

"Leo!" He called.

The 30 year old member of the team dashed into the room. He saw that Ryan was awake, but he was still in some sort of pain. He checked the scanners once more and saw that the blue liquid was traveling quicker through his veins. Some cells were turning dusk and the intestines had an outer shell forming. This became more intense than before.

"Oh my gosh." Leo spoke astonished.

Ryan had settled down a bit. Mark was standing beside the bed. The two looked at the scientist.

"What?" Ryan asked.

Leo turned around.

"Okay so..." He began.

The boys became curious.

"Your powers are growing." Leo said.

"Growing?" Mark questioned in return.

"Yeah. Their getting stronger." Leo clarified.

"So that's it? That's why I have all this pain?" Ryan inquired.

"And why that weird blue stuff is inside of him?" Mark added.

Leo nodded.

"But why does it cause pain?" Ryan wondered.

"It's bonding with your body. It's trying to protect you from further injuries." Leo explained.

"So it's not bad?" Mark asked.

"Seems like it isn't. But I'm not sure." Leo answered.

The two brother shared a glance. Not sure? That was never usually a good sign. Leo created technopathy in the first place to help save people. How could it cause damage to the person who has it? Why is that blue liquid sending waves of pain? I guess, for now they would have to wait. They would all have to try and make sense of this weird new thing.