Paige was one of the few people in the facility that Cormac trusted.
Paige didn't remember most of her life before she turned 10. It was a blur, and all she knew that someone made her forget those memories. She didn't like to try to remember, as it felt like her entire life was just a lie. And that hurt more than most would think. It felt like the pounding of nails to a skull, and black holes swarmed the depths of her memories. Yet she knew something happened between her and Cormac between the time she didn't remember.
So she decided to help Cormac by keeping this special tool. Paige didn't know what it was, but it was obviously important.
Important enough so that she turned off her music for once in her life and finally opened the door to see Ikrana and Erika.
"What are you two doing here?" Paige asked.
"Cormac sent us." Erika stated in a rushed tone, and Paige understood. This was important, and she was already off to go get the tool.
Erika and Ikrana both followed Paige inside the dorm room. Streaks of sunlight ran loose throughout the colorful dorm room. Strings of chinese lanterns of all different shapes and sizes hung low, and various styles flooded the room. It wasn't exactly cozy, but it was open and spacious. There were holes and cupboards holding secrets, and medicine piling up in Luna's space. It was rather odd and mysterious, but so was Luna.
Gareth's side was secluded as well, but it still held this aroma of welcome. Books were sprawled out over his bed, and posters of girls and his hobbies stuck to the beige walls. There was a worn out, sad beanbag chair in the corner, and a dresser as well. That was about it, as Gareth lived on his own for most of his life and never really held on to valuables. As he always says "A memory is more valuable than a valuable."
"I have it around here somewhere. Just let me find it." Paige said, as she rummaged through the domain of her "area" of the dorm room. Hidden underneath her polkadotted bed was a pile full of dirty clothes (Paige really had a problem with getting her laundry done on time), which contained a small, metal box-only accessible by a key. Paige then got up, and gave the box to Ikrana, who took it and ran off.
"Wow, you guys must really be in a hurry." Paige said, gazing at the icy trail left behind (she knew the feeling of ice being left behind when in a hurry, it was an effect everyone with ice powers had). Erika just nodded, and muttered a goodbye. Before she could leave, though, Paige grabbed her pale, green arm.
"Wait, do you know what...what's in the box. Do you know?" Curiosity struck Paige like it had Pandora, but there was no telling what was in this box. Her blue eyes gazed with the lust for knowledge, a bad habit Paige hadn't yet broke.
"No. It could be harmless, could blow up the whole facility. Doesn't matter, my payment has been fulfilled. And so has yours. How did you end up owing debt to him in the first place?" Erika questioned in a hushed voice. There it was again, being reminded of the hole in Paige's head.
"Could ask the same for you."
"Touché. Look, I gotta go. See ya around." Erika stated, before running off, following the icy trail. Paige closed her dorm door, before wondering just what happened during those 10 years.
"Cormac, he hasn't changed a bit, and it's been 2 days. Jemma says he probably won't improve for months. I mean, if he does improve-"
"No Enna! He will improve. I got the power source, those girls will get me the tool, and Rumple's condition will improve. He might even wake up," Cormac puts a reassuring hand on Enna's bulky shoulder, "He's strong. He will make it through this."
"I hope so." Enna replied. Her voice was hoarse, and meek, which was a big difference compared to her usual leadership-like voice. The two girls (Erika and Ikrana) burst into the infirmary room where Rumple slept. Enna and Cormac stood up eagerly.
"We have your box. Now, tell us who stole the...you-know-what." Erika demanded, with a nod from Ikrana backing her up. Cormac chuckled at the sudden use of secrecy from these girls.
"Relax, Enna is a friend, not foe. And here-" Cormac handed a piece of paper over to the girls, "This is a list of the suspicious acting kids in this facility, and their powers are included with this. You should be able to put two and two together and find your culprit." Erika felt her blood boil like a pot of hot soup, a look of rage present on her face.
"You said you knew who the culprit is! We had a deal! We wanted information, not a stupid piece of paper!" She yelled, Ikrana holding her back from unleashing her anger out on Cormac.
"I had an idea of what the culprit is. So? I got you results. It's not like you did much, anyways. All you did was go to Paige, and her room isn't even that far of a walk from where you started." Cormac explained, taking the box from Ikrana's hand. Both girls left with a huff, shutting the door after them.
"Great, let's perform the operation." he said, unlocking the box. In the box (which had a lovely floral pattern on the inside of it, by the way) was a simple pill.
"That's it, a pill? That's what's going to save Rumple?" Enna asked in a serious tone, though she had her doubts about what this pill could do. It was just a white tylenol pill, but it was probably more than that considering the trouble Cormac went to for this thing. He went to his parents-something he rarely ever does.
"Yes, but please stay quiet. This pill is much more than what you expect." Cormac explained, taking the pill and placing it in some kind of odd fashioned battery. Enna wasn't the sharpest tool when it came to science, so she was completely clueless when it came to this procedure.
Cormac put on his gloves and mask, cautioning Enna to stay back. Slowly the pill turned into purple fumes, which smelled like a radioactive chemical. it engulfed the room, changing into different colors. Soon the entire room looked as if a rainbow bomb exploded. It marked the walls with it's beauty, and both Enna and Cormac had streaks of different colors maring their skin.
But then it died down.
And nothing seemed to happen to Rumple.
Tears were threatening to spill, and Enna's skin was drained from color (despite looking like a Mexican pinata). Nothing happened, and Rumple would stay lying useless on the boring bed in the boring room instead of fighting, training, and helping out like he should be doing. He should be out there, challenging Loki to a rematch! Enna just couldn't believe it.
Neither could Cormac.
That was supposed to work. Cormac knew it was supposed to work, and he was 99% of the time right! Why didn't it work! It had to work! His friend should be up and going, and this miracle decides to be a trash-like miracle! Cormac was internally fighting to regain his state of mind. He was pacing around Rumple's machines, looking for just a little sign of recovery! But there wasn't any, only the same old beeping noise. Cormac was sick of that beeping noise!
Until it stopped beeping.
And it was liked the room stopped beating.
Enna and Cormac stopped moving, and it felt as if a million bullets were being shot into the frame of their heads. They were screaming, but not a sound was made. They couldn't even move, they could just watch the monitor go flat, that sick lign taunting them with death right above their reach. Their hearts were hammering against their ribcage, but neither could make a sound. They couldn't even hear the drained sound coming from the monitor.
Then it sped up.
Like a cobra, ready to strike the paralysed.
And just like that the statues could move.
Including Rumple, who was violently shaking. His body was moving in unnatural directions, as if every bone could snap within minutes. His eyes were open, and red veins could easily be seen. He started to hack out blood, vomit, and other bodily fluids, his movement becoming jerky and curt. Enna and Cormac ran to him, relieved at his awakening, but upset at his current state. While it took at least an hour for them to get Rumple better, they were smiling at how quick of a recovery their friend made. In fact, Rumple even decided to speak (though it sounded like nails to a chalkboard).
They were not pleased at what he said.
"It wasn't Loki."
Then Rumple fell back into oblivion for a little cat nap.
Cormac entered the training center, a flashlight in his hand as the night had come. Tiptoeing into the large room, he began to search for clues. While he began to doubt this lost cause of a mission (after all, Rumple was delirious when he stated that it wasn't Loki), but he wasn't going to abandon his best friend's wish just like that. His 20/20 vision looked around the site for any sort of displacement.
There was nothing. At least, nothing you can see to the normal human eye. Turning on his x-ray vision, he scanned the perimeter of the room, encountering a strange device with an even stranger marking. Cormac zoomed in on this 'device', throwing away all of his original doubts. Cormac was rather intelligent when it came to technology, and he noticed the device was a holographic one. It created holograms.
This must've been what Rumple meant.
The device was small, and invisible to the human eye. It was camouflaged to fit in with the white walls to the facility, and it was high in a corner, hanging on the brim of a vent. It would have been an easy escape from the person who put the device there. Cormac couldn't even reach the device from where he stood (the ceilings were quite tall in the training center).
Someone wants to destroy the facility. Someone was the reason Rumple was hurt. That wasn't Loki-it was a hologram. A powerful one at that.
That means the black venom, it wasn't from an old enemy, but a replica.
But who would do that?
A series of shuffling is heard coming from the ventilation system above. Shining his flashlight in the area, Cormac looks up to the direction in which the sound was made. There was nothing at first, just dust and cobwebs from the cleaning lady failing to come this week. But Cormac was a smart man-he knew someone was there. Turning his flashlight off, but his night vision on (that power really wore him out though, so he needed support from a nearby weapons rack), Cormac continued to stare at the area. Just one minute later, the shuffling continued, and Cormac caught sight of a small person. He couldn't tell whether or not the person was male or female, and the person didn't stay there for long.
All the person did was take the device that activated Loki's hologram before crawling back into the ventilation system, their grey hood secured as to not reveal any identity.
Cormac couldn't help but break into his famous smirk.
I think we found our culprit.
Sorry for not updating last week, I was sick with a bad case of writer's block (honestly, I didn't really want to write this chapter). But anyways, the weekly Friday update will happen this week, I promise. Anyways, to those who are reviewing, my birthday is in 2 days. So give me a birthday shoutout, make me feel good about myself (it sucks to have a summer birthday, literally all of my friends are too busy for me).
So there's a culprit in the facility! How do you feel about that? Is your character safe? We shall find out (I really don't know, I don't plan these things out). Yeah, this will be a short author's note, as it's like 11:20 right now, and I should be going to bed soon. See ya'll later!
