The Skin I'm in.

Chapter 1

He remembered everything so vividly.

The tournament was off to a rousing success. Snek was worried thought that he may not have been able to qualify in the final round. They narrowed down the contestants this year and he just made the cut due to his A Class status as a hero. His skills were nothing to sneeze at either.

He remembered the inside of the arena, waiting for the event to start. He wondered about a little to see who else was in the contest when hunger got the better of him. He knew where everything was and the event was catered for those who made it to the finals. Snek looked about and checked the tables until he found one with his name on it. Yet he paused. Everyone else's table was arranged very neatly with food and offerings. His was scattered and filled with more than enough. Plates piled on top of plates in a disorderly fashion. But his wasn't the only one set up this way. Was it a rush job? "Is this a little too much?" he said aloud.

Kujo was already at his and laughed at the comment. "It's never enough! Eat, the sashimi is to die for! Everything is delicious. Try it!"

Max came in shortly after and noticed his table oddly set as well, Suiryu could have cared less as he already began to partake in the food. As Snek ate, he noticed two empty tables. "Odd, why are those ones empty?" he asked. He paused and noticed the names on them. Hunter and Garou Jr.

Kujo smirked. "Somewhere to put your plates after!"

"Why are there names on the table? Hunter and Garou Jr.… yeah, that belongs to them. Where's their food?" said Max.

"I'm not in charge of catering!" Kujo snapped back. "Shut up and eat!"

Snek was a little bit hungry so he began to eat. Everything tasted okay, yet the after tastes of some items were not very pleasant to say the least.

When the event started, Snek watched from afar as Pac participated in his first match. However, he was disgusted as Dorvan the Disturbed used a spiked knuckle and stabbed Pac several times! The ref himself was in on it! "That piece of shit!" Snek muttered.

"You saw it too, what the hell was that about? Even if that is Garou's kid, he is fighting by the rules!" They were stunned when Pac even did the proper procedure when there was an issue, yet since the ref was in on it, the protest was pointless. He continued on and blasted Dorvan out of the ring!

"Damn, the kid has power!"

"Yeah… wait… doesn't that move belong to Bang and Bomb? Both have to work in sync to perform that! How did he do it on his own?"

Snek shrugged. "It is Garou's kid, what would you expect!"

He went for another bite to eat with Pac and Hunter entered the room. Pac was worn down and bleeding. Snek heard Garou could recover if he ate a good meal, his sons must possess the same ability. Yet when they walked in and noticed their tables were empty. Hunter protested. He claimed to have been here earlier and there was food there. Now it was gone.

Snek and Max were silent as Kujo explained that sponsors provided the food and since they had none, they didn't eat. Yet Snek couldn't help but feel he knew were the surplus came from on his table. The boys left without incident yet Snek no longer wanted to eat what was on the table. "You took it, didn't you?" he demanded of Kujo.

Kujo only smiled as he stuffed his face.

A part of him wanted to bring the boys back in and allow them to help themselves to his food. But he didn't. Snek didn't do a thing. Instead he allowed the event to play out. Fortunately the brothers had a friend in Pig God and got a good meal that way.

It wasn't long until Snek had his fight, but was eliminated by Kujo rather abruptly. The man was ridiculously strong, none of his attacks fazed him, but Snek gave it his all and was defeated.

Shortly after, he felt compelled to switch into his hero suit. Max was surprised by his move. "Really? Why?"

"I don't know, normally when I see Garou in the general area, I stay on alert. You never know what the former hero hunter is going to do!" With that said, Snek went out and watched the rest of the tournament from the sidelines.

Everything changed the moment when that crazed looking man was celebrating the notion of Pac appearing sick from eating the food. He knew something was to happen to him, but it didn't. And it all had to do with the food left on Pac and Hunter's table.

What was supposed to occur in the brothers instead happened to Snek, Suiryu and Max.

Snek remembered the sensation, at first he thought the stomach pain he felt was from the strike he took from Kujo. But the, the pain spread in him like a fire. Every inch of his body began to revolt and burn. His mind even felt as if it were slipping away. Anger, rage, and the urge to destroy began to fill very fiber of his being. Yet he fought it. When he saw Alley come towards him with a serum, his focus turned to Max, he was changing a lot faster than he was. "No… Get… MAX!" he insisted.

Alley did just that. She got to Max, but was quick to get to him. She begged him to keep moving. No matter what he has to keep moving himself for her serum to work. He tried time and time again to stand, but couldn't bring himself to do it. Instead, he crawled until he couldn't anymore. The urges disappeared; he felt his mind return, but then. The world became a blur.

Next thing he knew, he woke in a hospital bed, being stared down by Garou of all people… then, he realized the extent of the damage.

His legs were gone. And he felt so was his right to call himself a hero.

It wasn't an easy adjustment.

It took Snek days to realize he really didn't have legs anymore. Time and time again he would wake up screaming at the lack of them or unable to feel his toes. Yet, shortly after the outburst, he would settle down and come back to reality. This was reality now. He wouldn't dare to leave his room, he couldn't let the world see him as he was. Yet, as he turned on the news, he found out the world already knew. There was video of him being transported to the hospital, his legs were already gone and the serpent body was just starting to form. "Shit!" he muttered before turning the TV off.

A nurse would walk in every so often to check on him. "Are you hungry? Would you like anything?" she would ask.

Snek wasn't feeling hungry, he didn't want to see any sort of food for the next while anywhere. Not after this. The nurse was kind enough to still bring him little bits to eat. Despite his situation he wasn't about to let food go to waste. Yet, as he ate, he found the food did nothing for him. Hell, he had a hard enough time trying to ignore the urge to swallow it whole!

He refused to leave his bed too. Half the time he was too fearful. What would happen? How will he move about? Could he get back into the bed when he was ready? So many questions bogged his minds, and yet, all he could do was lie in wait. Hoping the cure was on its way sooner than later.

Doctors would come in, they wouldn't offer any sort of encouraging advice or anything of the sort. It was mainly "How do you feel today? Any different than yesterday? What can we do to make you more comfortable?" shit like that didn't get much of Snek's attention.

"I just want to be left alone!" he would say to the doctors. "If you got nothing for me that isn't a cure, I won't want to talk about it!" He would try to say it as gently as he could, but the frustration only grew. How can he live like this? How could anyone? What the hell was the point of being at the hospital if there was nothing they could do for him? Snek merely rolled over to his side and tried to sleep it all off. A cure couldn't take too long now, could it?