Chapter 3: At The Same Time...
All of Dan's excitement subsided after he transformed back to normal. He still does not know how to transform into his alter-ego or revert back to his normal form. He felt tired all of a sudden. His body could not bare all the extra energy recieved from the transformation. He lay down flat on the bed and fell asleep.
Dan woke up in the middle of the night. He heard a familiar voice screaming:
"Stop following me! Leave me alone! Stop! I didn't mean it!"
Dan looked through his window. He knew this person screaming.
It's his childhood friend Chino.
Chino is a loner. He spends almost all his time alone, listening to music, and adoring his pet iguana named Troy. The only person Chino speaks to is Dan, whom he knew for almost 10 years now. They are both in Achitecture, and both are planning to be in the same architectural firm. The rarely argue, in fact, Chino never even makes enemies, because he never speaks to anyone else.
This made Dan very curious. This was the first time Dan heard Chino scream, and it's also the first time he saw Chino running for his life. Dan opened his window, removed the grills, and started climbing down the fire hatch. As he stepeed out of the final step of the ladder, an officer bumped into him.
"Bossing, what's the problem here?" Dan asked.
"Kid, it's best you stay away from police matters, we are after a juvenile who was allegedly the mastermind of the Ateneo Chemical Lab Explosion, so get out of the way and go home!" Replied the officer.
This made Dan even more curious, and at the same time, nervous. So nervous that his temperature was beginning drop. Dan was feeling cold. It was as if he was submerged in a pool of ice.
The officer asked,
"Kid, are you okay? Let me bring you to the nearby health center! You don't look well!"
Dan replied, "No...I'm okay, you can go ahead, i'll be coming...back...home..."
The officer left,and continued on chasing down Chino. Dan was left on the pavement, still shivering from the cold as his temperature still continues to drop. Dan was beginning to hallucinate,and once again, began seeing double, triple and quadruple. Dan knew that he was mutating again. Wanting no one to see what he has become, Dan used his remaining amount of strength to crawl behind a trash dump.
Dan's exoskeleton was forming again, and he became vermillion in color. The helmet spouted, and he became Ipisman once again.
"Ugh, not now! I need to find Chino!" Said Ipisman.
Ipisman used his brand new wings to fly out of the area. He used his super-vision to track down Chino. In a matter of seconds, Ipisman found Chino hiding behind a couple of trash cans in a tight alley. Ipisman flew down.
"Who are you! I didn't want the Chem Lab to explode! Leave me alone...or else!"
Screamed Chino.
Ipisman, still surprised of Chino yelling, replied,
"Chino, I know you, you would not do such a thing...or did you? Tell me Chino! I need to know!"
Ipisman knew that the explosion had something to do with his mutation. He would really want to know what happened, but Chino persisted on telling it's not his fault. Ipisman then drew a blade from his arm, unconciously.
"No! I don't want to hurt Chino! What am I doing?!"
"You are weak Dan, this is how to draw some answers! You need to threaten him a little, you see!"
"No! Stop it! Stop!"
"Hmph! You don't need to see this if you don't want to! Get lost!"
And Ipisman took absolute control of Dan.
Chino started to tremble with fear, as Dan's alter ego took over and pointed the blade on Chino's head.
"Don't kill me! It's NOT MY FAULT! LEAVE ME ALONE!", Chino yelled.
The place suddenly began to heat up. The steel garbage cans Chino was lying on began to melt. Something's not right, Ipisman thought. He looked at Chino, and was shocked to see steam bursting out of Chino's pores.
"It's not my fault! I told you to leave me alone! Now you're just pissing me off!"
Uttered Chino.
A bright light suddenly engulfed the alley. Just before Ipisman knew it, Chino disappeared and a mysterious figure appeared infront of him, pointing a blade, this time in Ipisman's head.
"How does it feel to be in my place? Not so good eh?"
"Who...are you? Where's the other kid?"
"You're dumb. Don't you see?! Chino and Troy are now one!"
Ipisman was shocked. It was not Chino he was facing anymore. It was pale, green, and had a tail. His hair resembles that of Chino, and standing near him would be enough to make you tremble.
"That explosion killed Troy, but I got something better!"
"I wanted to make Troy live forever by altering his genes, but instead, I caused a deadly chain reaction that blew up the Chem Lab. When I woke up, Troy was gone. I stood up, looking at my feet. They were different. They were green and scaly. I hurriedly rushed out of the remains of the lab and ran as far as I can. I looked at myself. I am one with Troy!"
The story made all things clear. Chino caused the explosion, which turned both of them that way, and it hapened all at the same time. It was a curse they had to bear.
"Enough of this, now you know how I feel! I feel...exhilirated! And be proud, because you are the first one to try the fire of Dragon Katol!"
Katol opened his palm, and concentrated his energy on it. Fire suddenly bursted out. He pointed on Ipisman, and blasted a heat wave, which rendered Ipisman out cold. Katol felt the PNP coming. He figured they must have seen the bright light when he morphed. He concentrated energy in his feet and blasted away, out of sight.
Dan woke up in a hospital bed. He could not remember anything that hapened the night before. He could not remember Katol or anything that happened to him. All he remembered was taking to Chino, and fighting for control with Ipisman. Dan lied down on his bed again, tired from the moprhing process. He took a newspaper and read the headline.
"Explosion in Quezon City; 1 Wounded, Origin still unknown"
posted by AJ @ 11:37 AM
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