Soft steps moved behind a white cotton curtain the next morning. A gentle hand pushed it aside for a moment.
"How's he doing?" Winona asked with worry while she carried Sky's gadget chest into the tent.
"Spiking a fever," Hazel whispered back as she stood up to meet her gaze.
Winona was careful not to drop his PC tower and his mobile phone, which were lying on top of the chest. She heaved and grunted when the bottom of the chest touched the floor.
"I don't like this one bit," Hazel added. "He had this folder hidden inside his jacket. It's about the Lifebringer project. This, and the fact that he had just found a... mad version of Haywire who didn't recognise him... I... I think he's been exposed to some chemicals."
She sighed, dropping the folder on a nearby table. Massaging her temples, she grunted.
"Headache?" Winona asked.
"I've read almost three hundred pages these last few hours while watching over Sky. I need to know what he's been exposed to, but I'm not an expert on chemistry. The only thing I know for sure right now is... it's crazy stuff. There are things explained here which I wish I could unsee, believe me!"
"Do you need me to bring more water? More blankets? More painkillers or-?" Winona asked as if she'd love to do more.
"It's fine, Winona. The water and food you brought earlier are fine. Thanks." Hazel smiled at her friend. "Now, there's nothing more we can do for him but wait."
"I wish we could call a doctor... or his mother."
Hazel chuckled. "Or his aunt."
"Yeah, she would be of great help right now."
"This is a nightmare," Hazel complained with angst. "He's seriously ill due to some mysterious crazy shit he caught from the lab. Haywire, his best friend, has changed and become aggressive, according to him."
"Well, the entire floor was about to crumble due to his lunges against the walls. I wish we could've got him out of there, but..."
"Impossible. Not in that state. If he didn't recognise Sky, he could've murdered us." Hazel sighed as she sat on her chair beside Sky's bed. "On top of that, his aunt is still missing, locked up somewhere. His mother got him locked up in the first place, so he can't count on her. His father died years ago. Both Mrs Evergreen and Endurance have issued search orders and death threats against him."
"Yeah, it's all over the Internet now that it's finally working. He's not just expelled from the academy, now that he's escaped from that holding facility, he's become the Hovering Hive's public enemy, just like Endurance."
"Which is not true. He's not an enemy of the Hovering Hive! But people are way too dumb. They'll believe any crap Mrs Evergreen tells them." Hazel sighed as she fished her phone from a pocket of her jeans and dialled a number. "To make matters worse, Kovak is MIA. No matter how many times I call the bastard, he doesn't pick up!" she exclaimed in anger, staring at the million missed calls she had made so far on the screen.
Grunting in frustration, she threw her phone onto the table, next to the Lifebringer file.
"The situation is desperate. Everything's wrong in his life," Winona concluded in sadness. "How much longer do you think we can keep him hidden in here, in the hydroponics lab?"
"My uncle works here, so I can come and go as I please. So can you, by the way. I told him we were writing an essay about the hydroponics lab for the academy. He bought it. He even got some holiday days to give us time. He just made me promise we wouldn't break stuff."
"Your uncle's cool."
"And naïve, but yeah. He's cool. I'm the apple of his eyes."
"At least that's something. Being on ground level and outside the city limits is convenient. The security drones here are fewer and easier to hack, says Luca. This hydroponics lab will give us time to take care of Sky and think about what to do next."
"I really hope that he gets well... and that we come up with something soon. Otherwise, the future looks bleak."
Heat seared through his body in waves. Sweat ran down the side of his face. He was panting. He ran and stopped, looking all around him, confused.
Why was he running? Where was he? Where was he headed? He didn't know.
Fresh air hit his face, but the cooling sensation faded in a second. Grunting with annoyance, he ran his hands over his face, hoping to wipe the sweat away for good. More beats of sweat came from every pore instead.
He looked at the palms of his hands. Their outline split into three, each in different colours. One was magenta; another was yellow; and the last one was cyan, all of them swinging in front of his weary eyes.
He blinked forcefully, but it was no use. Whatever he laid his eyes on was glitching and splitting into three different colours.
Taking a step forward, he hesitated since he didn't know where to go or what to do. But there was a dark window on his right.
Observing his reflection, his limbs felt distant, as if they had been disconnected from the nervous system.
Then, the reflection showed him how his skin was melting like an ice-cream under the hot midday sun. He gasped with wide eyes and immediately put his hands on his cheeks, but the touch was fine.
He was wearing a white T-shirt. His biceps started melting too in his reflection, like the rest of his arms and his neck. So did his legs.
He checked his limbs in panic, but he was fine. It was just a wicked reflection of his body getting melted like a candle.
When only his clothes and a fleshy kind of goo remained on the ground of that reflection, he let go of the air he had been holding.
But his eyes started burning. He yelled due to the pain.
A sharp white light engulfed everything.
Sky woke up in a jolt.
Panting and grabbing a bedsheet in his fist, he sat up and started ahead. His wide eyes took in the unfamiliar environment.
Where am I? I'm in an improvised tent made of white sheets?
He had been sleeping on a hospital stretcher with white bedsheets. An empty chair right by his bedside caught his interest. The nightstand was a small table, on which rested Hazel's phone and the Lifebringer file. There was also a night light for babies in the shape of a star on it, which cast a cosy peach-coloured light.
Hazel made this?
His eyes suddenly found three old friends in the tent: his phone, the tower of his PC, and his gadget chest.
Did my friends find those? Thank God!
The flushing of a toilet startled him. The sound came from somewhere outside the tent. A few seconds later, Hazel came into the tent.
"Hey, you're finally awake," she said with a wide smile. She rushed to him and sat on the chair. "How are you feeling?"
She put a hand over his forehead to check his temperature and smiled.
"Weird," he replied with a rusty voice. "My mouth is kinda parched."
"Here, drink some water." She gave him a bottle of water. "Thank God your fever is gone. You've been unconscious for a whole day."
Then, a sudden explosion echoed from wall to wall. Despite being muffled, the sound startled both teens.
"There's a phoenix attack up in the city," she whispered with sadness.
"You're kidding," he whispered with bewilderment.
"I'll tell you everything in a minute. A lot has happened while you were unconscious," she replied with exhaustion. "By the way, if you need to go to the bathroom or want to have a shower, there's one right outside. And if you're hungry, we've got water and some food for a couple of days."
"Where are we?" He took a long sip of water.
"In the hydroponics lab down below the city, on ground level."
"What?!" He closed the bottle and left it on the table.
"My uncle works here. Don't worry. It's all sorted out. Nobody will find you."
"Nobody will f-" He chuckled. "Is anybody looking for me?"
"Everybody, I guess. Mrs Evergreen declared you a Hovering Hive public enemy."
"So, I'm the bad guy now?" He chuckled in frustration.
"Yeah, sort of. She was mad during her last public statement, shortly broadcast after we got you out of the cell and broke into her headquarters. And Endurance's death threat might still be in force, bearing in mind the last phoenix attack earlier this evening."
His eyes almost went out of their sockets. "But I thought Kovak had rehacked the swarm's brains, releasing them from Endurance's control!"
"Yes, after that Mrs Evergreen took control of those phoenixes who attacked the Hovering Hive and couldn't flee from your enhanced whistle. She had them captured and rehacked once more. But these last twenty-four hours have been chaotic: the good old swarm is back—well, most of it."
"What?!"
"Endurance somehow must've regained control of some phoenixes, not all of them, and issued a massive attack onto the Hovering Hive. Some of them are from brand new species, though, which means that he can breed on his own?" she said with some reluctance to accept that last idea. "Winona keeps me posted on what's going on up there. There are over a dozen phoenixes resembling wolves with eagle wings, cynogriffons."
"What the hell-?!"
"Anyway, I expected Mrs Evergreen to fight back, releasing her phoenixes—but she hasn't so far."
More explosions reverberated in the air.
"She's got a small army of loyal phoenixes... and hasn't used them?" he asked. "Why?"
"Beats me."
"I don't like this."
"Why?"
"What if she hasn't used them... because she experimented on them like guinea pigs... and they died?" His eyes got cloudy while he clenched his fists.
Hazel held his hand with hers. "Don't even think that, Sky. Haywire is alive, and we'll rescue him, okay?"
His body got tense. He made a move to get up, but Hazel stopped him, grabbing his hand with more strength.
"But now you're too weak. You literally came back from the dead, Sky."
He closed his eyes and calmed down.
"Well, at least the guys and Charlotte were able to retrieve my stuff. We could use my gadgets to try to rescue him a second time."
"I don't know. Your wristwatch isn't in that chest. I checked. Your whistle isn't either. Mrs Evergreen must've chosen the most valuable gadgets and stored them somewhere else."
"What?!" He got pale.
"Your sonic gun is there, though. That's something." She sighed. "Anyway, it's too early to think about rescuing Haywire. You got ill in that lab, God knows what with. I don't think you're out of the woods yet."
"I think... it was Haywire, probably. He yelled right in front of my face, sending a huge gust of air onto my face."
"Since he had been injected with the Lifebringer serum, oh dear. Do you think he infected you?"
"There's no other explanation. I've been exposed to the Lifebringer. I didn't touch any hazardous materials in the lab. I just took the Lifebringer files, and that's it."
Another explosion from the battle up in the city made the walls tremble.
"No, wait!" he said with wide eyes. "I fell down in the clean room, and I touched some blood on the floor. That must've been from those two scientists they mentioned as if something bad had happened to them."
"If Haywire hurt—or killed—them, biologically speaking, it's the same issue. The Lifebringer is in the mix."
"Now what will happen to me?"
"I don't know."
"Isn't the Lifebringer supposed to be good? Why am I ill? Why did Haywire change so drastically?"
"I've read almost the entire file, and it describes awful outcomes of these bunch of chemicals. Anyway, what happened to Haywire exactly? When Winona and I got you out, he was charging against the walls. The entire headquarters shook violently, as if there was an earthquake!"
"Haywire grew an extra pair of legs. His feathers were sharper, longer. His eyes became bright red. He also grew a fancy crest on top of his head. His skin oozed a suspicious fiery, red mist which exploded after a few seconds. And he didn't know who I was. His stomach growled when he saw me. He wanted to eat me."
"Oh dear. Luckily, you haven't grown an extra pair of arms."
"Yet. I... I want to check my body. Do you mind if I...?"
"Sure. Just go to the bathroom."
He got up and rushed outside the tent.
Somehow, I feel lighter. Every step I take is... surprisingly easy and fast.
He approached the door to the bathroom. A sign on the door greeted him with vital information. He read it all, even the small print at the bottom of the page.
'This facility uses caustic soda as part of its nutrient solution or pH adjustment process, so it's crucial to assess the risk level when handling the aforesaid substance. In case of skin or eye contact with the chemical, immediate decontamination is required.'
So, this is why it is required to have emergency showers and eyewash stations here. Convenient for me, at least.
A complete bathroom awaited behind the door. It wasn't fancy at all since its function was to provide an effective immediate decontamination. Just plain white tiles and appliances, white towels, white-coloured soap, and a wide mirror on a wall to his left.
He started to undress in a hurry, discarding his clothes as if they were toxic. His father's wristband jingled as he moved his arms, but it felt tighter than usual. Then, he accidentally ripped off his old white T-shirt.
Oh, shit. Well, the one was pretty old, I guess.
Anyway, got urgent stuff to do. I need to check every nook and cranny of my body right now. I have to know whether I've become a monster.
Most teens stare at their naked bodies in the mirror hoping to feel good and sexy, but for Sky, that wasn't the case. He inspected every inch of his skin and his hair, his heart hammering wildly in his ribcage.
No weird spots, no extra limbs, nothing in a different shape or colour... Good. My hair is where it's supposed to be. My nails... normal, too. Although... my muscles are kinda leaner, aren't they? And my eyes... they haven't changed in the physical aspect, but I just read that small print on the sign pretty well, not to mention fast. I don't think I was able to do that before.
He thought nothing of it and headed straight for the shower.
Damn, I smell. Hazel said I had a fever. Maybe I was coming off with something, got a fever that had nothing to do with the Lifebringer, and sweated it off. We don't even know whether it's contagious. Some illnesses are, while some others aren't. She didn't get ill while she stayed by my side these last twenty-four hours, right? I need really good advice from a scientist, but who's gonna help me now that I'm a fugitive? Anyway...
His train of thought got interrupted when he crushed the handheld showerhead in his hand. Water splashed on his face uncontrollably through some cracks. The handle, once ergonomically designed for comfort, was contorted and buckled. He grabbed the shower hose out of instinct with his free hand while making a funny face.
What the heck?!
He stared in disbelief at the handle in his right hand.
I didn't do this, right? Please, God, don't tell me I did this. I was just... showering... while feeling frustrated about being a fugitive.
Wait. My old white T-shirt. I was in a hurry... and ripped it.
And my feet felt lighter. I could move faster, too.
And reading that small print? That was surprisingly easy, as well.
Holy shit. No.
No, no, no. Don't tell me this Spiderman shit is real! Teen gets exposed to a strange chemical component; teen acquires superpowers. My favourite works of fiction are fucking with my head!
He closed the shower knob, left the crushed handle on the floor, and got out of the shower. When he saw himself in the mirror once more, all he saw was his paler skin due to shock.
I just had a vivid nightmare in which my body was burning, melting. My eyes too. Were those signs of what's happening to me? I need to test myself.
He looked left and right. When his eyes landed on a white towel beside the sink, he bit his lower lip.
I will pull the towel from both extremes and see what happens. I've never had the strength to rip up any piece of clothing.
With a hand on either extreme of the towel, he pulled. He tore the fabric up as if it was made of paper.
No way...
He stared at the towel split in two in disbelief.
I need to test my speed and my sight outside.
"Hazel!" he yelled as he dried off in a hurry with those two bits of towel.
"Yes?" she yelled from the other side of the door. "Do you need anything?"
"Yeah, a clean T-shirt and... thick scraps of metal."
Hello, my sugar cubes!
Did you like Sky's Spiderman moment? LOL
Stay tuned!
XOXO
Mar
*NOTE: PLEASE, READ THE A/N AT THE END OF CH.1 if you feel the need to know about the differences between this story and HTTYD. Thank you.