Chapter 3: The Lab Rat.
There are countless levels of pain, from mild to excruciating and the one I was feeling was well past excruciating.
"*Arrgh*"
"Focus on your breathing. The more you struggle, the worse it will get." Nosferatu warned but unknown to him the pain I felt was unbearable. Max on the other bed was in the same situation, he shook vigorously, tapping on the bed with his tied fists.
"*Ahhh*"
He cried in pain but the mad scientist paid him no heed.
After a few seconds, I felt a cold sensation flow through me. My blood grew colder as my skin started to stretch and then withdraw. It was painful but I felt another weird sensation growing inside me.
It was weird, it was foreign... but it was satisfying. Through the pain, I felt that sensation to be something good. Desperately trying to escape the agony, I focused on the feeling of satisfaction —letting my body get absorbed by it.
"Focus on the feeling of relief." Nosferatu instructed. "That's the only way that you can resist the pain."
Saying that, he calmly went to sit on a chair. He kept monitoring us, but he was not bothered by our painful screeches.
He was just that confident in his ability.
As he sat calmly, he started to note down our reactions.
Max screeched at the top of his lungs while I bit my lips to the point of drawing blood.
As Max kept screaming, Nosferatu smiled. "It is taking effect." He said. "Your eyes are changing."
Turning my head painfully, I saw Max's blue eyes turn silver as his body jerked on the bed.
The scientist turned his head to look at me and grinned. "You are doing just as good, Adam." His smirk grew bigger. "Your skin… no your pores are evolving."
I felt my pores tear open and blood ooze out of them. It was painful… painful enough to make me cry, but I couldn't stop now. I had to withstand it.
"*Arrghhhhh!*"
With our screams, the room began to shake which made the Nosferatu even more satisfied.
"Incredible, Max… You are evolving."
The boy gritted his teeth from the pain, but Nosferatu was right —he was evolving.
His eyes and hair were turning into a deeper shade of silver while the bed frame below him started to crumble. The metal began to bend and the light bulbs began to burst.
The Nosferatu stared at Max in glee as he began mumbling, "Perfect, you are almost an omega."
He walked closer to the boy, uncaring of the possible dangers. "Metal control… No, it's magnetism manipulation." With each word, his smile grew.
But Max was not the only one that went through such changes.
I was having a major change as well.
I felt the interior of my body reorganise itself. The pores expanded and then contracted, the tissues grew thicker and the organs began to grow stronger.
But above all, I could feel every single cell in my body. However, I had no control over them. It was frustrating to feel their presence but not being able to control them.
But... but despite being unable to control those cells, there was a certain something that I felt I could control.
And that was my pheromone secretion.
The pain was slowly subsiding but it was still weird, I could feel my pheromones being under my control.
Allowing my mind and body to be in sync, I tried gaining control over the pheromones.
First try…
Fail.
Second try…
Fail.
However on the third try, I felt a tuck. A pull that brought the pheromones under my control, and before I knew… I had released them through the pores of my skin.
"Pheromone excretion! Excellent, excellent!" The mad scientist laughed in glee. "But… I cannot let you fill this room with your pheromones." He mumbled, his laughter turning into a sigh. "So, forgive me."
Saying that, he pushed a button. And with that, I lost consciousness.
.
.
.
[[Nathaniel Essex]]
Nathaniel was a man of his words. He was going to let the kids go but not for free. They were too precious to let go.
These children were born with the X-gene and the being that changed his life… for the good or the worse also had the X-gene. He knew that every bearer of the X-gene gained different abilities however… Not all of them were necessarily good.
Some people ended up as abominations while some became god-like entities.
And the being that made him who he is… was one of those God-like entities.
He hoped that the boys would receive at least a fraction of that beings power once they awakened their X-gene. And truthfully, his expectations were far exceeded.
One had gained Magnetism Manipulation —an omega or at least a near omega level ability. And the other… he obtained pheromone manipulation. He could see the boy become someone worse than Hitler with that ability, however, he also knew the boy's personality so he was not worried about it.
With the success of the experiment, he was one step closer to breaking free and preparing himself for the arrival of the impending doom.
"*Arrgh.*"
He turned his head around to find Max waking up groggily, his bed frame bent in unimaginable directions.
"Congratulations, Max." He gave the boy a slow clap. "You succeeded."
The boy was still trying to comprehend the situation.
"Does… that mean I can escape this place?"
Essex nodded at his question. "You can and as I promised, you now have the power to protect that little girl."
Max's eyes went wide at the revelation and his thoughts began to race. He looked at the boy lying unconscious on another bed.
"What about—"
"He is alright." Essex said. "He gained quite an interesting ability."
Max looked at Adam and then at Essex.
"When will he wake up?" He asked.
Essex shook his head. "His changes are quite biological compared to you. So I cannot say."
Max frowned and sighed. "I need to look for Magda… but I cannot leave him alone."
Essex laughed at his statement. "Boy, you do not need to worry about him. The ability he gained will keep him unharmed."
Max was still not convinced but the longer he took, the worse Magda's situation was going to get.
"I… will go and look for Magda. But, I will come back once I get her to safety." He clenched his fists. "Promise me that you won't let Adam get hurt."
Essex smiled, "I will promise you nothing boy. I don't owe you anything. However, there is no way my prized experiment is going to get damaged. So, be on your merry way."
Max started at Essex for a long time before giving him a nod.
He turned to look at Adam and sighed. "I will be back my friend. I promise you."
But unknown to him, Adam had no plans to meet him again… at least for the time being.
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone