Chapter 2
Pac panicked, he felt himself become caved in and closed off to the world. He remembered carrying Alley and Hunter out of that God forsaken hellhole, but he couldn't feel them anymore. They were on his shoulders. He knows they were! But, now, he felt alone. Strangely alone. Yet, as he tried to wake himself, to move about and find his siblings. Then he heard it, the calm rhythm that has soothed him many times before.
For a moment, he felt himself waking again, but he was oddly numb to it all. He couldn't feel any extension of himself, yet he felt aware of his surroundings. Pac woke in his own room once more, but the sight before him scared him. His father sat at the foot of the bed! "Dad?" he asked, but jumped at his own voice. His hand touched his throat, but then, he saw his hands… his arms… legs… he was bigger! "Dad…" he said nervously.
"It's okay." His father said. "You aren't dreaming. This is how you look now, that is how you sound. You had an explosive growth spurt… thanks to Metal Knight." The last part made his father sneer.
"Dad… Are you real? The computer said…"
"I'm alive, so is your mother. We were able to make it look like we were killed, thanks to your mother's esper powers and my own. Your brother and sister are safe too… Pac…. I am so sorry."
He wasn't quite focused on his father, at least not just yet. There was something oddly familiar about this sensation he had. Pac paused as he listened once more to the calm rhythm that he heard. But there was something else too, his father looked unusual. Nothing too out of the ordinary, but one noticeable difference. Mainly his third eye was open. The rhythm he heard continued, one he doesn't normally hear under these circumstances, especially in his own room.
He decided to say something. "Dad… I know where I am."
A look of shock came over his father, that and it brought something else to his attention, the once steady rhythm he use to hear has now quickened. "Well, that just confirms it." He said. "Dad… I'm inside of you, aren't I?"
"Pac…" his father began to say, but he stopped himself. "Do I need to let you out?"
He shook his head. "No, I … I need this right now. Were you going to tell us that you kept us inside you?"
His father gave a nervous smile. "I was trying to figure out how, but no matter what I tried to think of, it just would have made it awkward." His father hung his head. "We were too late to help you, I am so sorry. Your mother and I thought it was a trap, we didn't think… we didn't…"
"Dad, it's okay. If this one didn't work, they would have kept trying. If they kept trying, they would have gotten desperate at one point or another…" he paused. "I turned again, didn't I?"
"Yes, your growth spurt tore your flesh, it was so fast, my monster side came out in you to heal the opening wounds. You have a good mix of your own skin… but… you are starting to look like me now. Hunter as well."
"And Alley?"
"She has as well, but not to the same extent as you and Hunter." His father paused. "Pac… son…"
"I just want to sleep dad. Please, let me sleep?"
"Sure… you'll let me know when you want to come out, okay?"
"Dad… why do you do this? You've done this before too haven't you? You've taken Alley, Hunter and I into yourself. Why?"
His father was silent for a moment, but gave a sigh, "Because, I thought it would be comforting for you, a part of me hoped that if you were turning… I could take some of that pain or even transformation away, absorbing it into myself so none of you endure it. I could endure it, since I have done so many times before. I hoped… if I braced you tight enough, I could prevent it from escaping out of you."
Pac was silent. "Thanks for trying."
#
Garou's eyes opened. He lay on his back as he felt the triplets resting in his sides. Melee was next to him, leaning herself against him. "What do we do now?" she asked.
"We let them rest, we let them recover… then we go hero hunting for Metal Knight!"
Melee nodded. "I don't want that tin can anywhere near them again."
"It's not the can we are after, it's the meat controlling the can!" Garou said with a snarl. "And we will make him suffer"
She leaned in closer to Garou, giving him a tender kiss on his forehead. "Get some rest for the both of us, I won't be for the next while."
"You went through hell too, you need to sleep!"
"No, not right now. Besides, I got Zombieman's endurance. I can go for a while. You need to sleep, you are protecting our children."
Garou was reluctant, however nodded to her and began to rest his eyes.
