Chapter 14

Mirakuru Part 2

An intense pain caused me to jump awake. There was a pain surging through my body, not from any particular location I could pinpoint. I saw my arms and legs tied with steel cable, not allowing for any wiggle room. The suffering became too intense to bear and I started writhing and howling.

"AUGHHH," I screamed in agony.

"Oh no," Oliver said, "I must not have injected enough sedative. The Mirakuru is counteracting the sedative. Hold on."

Oliver picked up his bag and started looking for more sedative.

"That was all I had," Oliver said worriedly. "Don't worry, you will make it through the pain, I believe in you."

I felt like a building was crushing every part of my body. I would do anything to stop the torture. I started to pull my arms and legs to try to escape from my restraints. I felt a small twinge of pain in my left shoulder but this was nothing compared with what I was already feeling. I pulled with fervor and heard a loud pop in my shoulder.

"Stop fighting," Oliver yelled, "You just popped your shoulder out of place and are literally going to rip your arm off. Not even Mirakuru will cure that."

I couldn't listen to him because the fire I felt in each of my cells was too extreme. My muscles were now in a state of enhanced strength but my healing and resistance had not yet taken effect. I continued to pull and heard snapping in my shoulder.

"STOP!" Oliver yelled.

He ran around the bed and grabbed powerfully onto my arm. He pulled my arm, counteracting the force I was applying to it. My enhanced strength was giving Oliver great difficulty, despite him previously being stronger than me.

"URGHHH," He yelled in his efforts. His arms were tense and steadfast for a couple minutes as I thrashed against him. Thick lines of sweat were formed around his eyebrows and hairline.

"Stop fighting, Evan," He yelled.

I closed my eyes in a grimace, wishing to do anything to escape the torment. I felt tears start to build up behind my eyelids and opened them to let the water out. I saw streaks of maroon in my vision and realized I was bleeding, not crying.

Oliver looked at my bloodied eyes in utter fear. He redoubled his efforts at holding back my arm, reminded of the power of Mirakuru.

I started to become weak and lost focus. I was relieved as my vision started to black. I did not care whether I was dying or falling asleep, I simply wasted to escape the pain. I relished the darkness until my consciousness faded away.

I regained consciousness and felt a pulsing power through my veins. Oliver was right about the Mirakuru; I felt stronger than I ever had before. The pain was worth this strength and power. I would not relinquish this feeling, I decided. I would not let Oliver take the Mirakuru away from me.

I opened my eyes and saw Cassandra standing next to me.

"You're awake," she stated.

"How did you- Why are you-," I said, perplexed.

"I came as soon as you were affected by the Mirakuru," she told me.

"How long was I unconscious?" I asked.

"I'm not sure," she said, "But it is almost morning."

I looked across my body and saw my shoulder, mostly healed.

"Amazing what Mirakuru can do," she said.

"Why are you here?" I asked.

"To help you," she told me.

"How?" I asked.

"I'll help you decide what to do," she explained. "I know you're obviously not going to allow Oliver to give you the cure."

"How did you know?" I asked.

"Because I know you," she said sincerely. "I have a future planned for us," she said. "A great future. But to find that future, you have to trust me."

I nodded my head in agreement.

"We have to kill the three people keeping us from that future," she explained. "Keeping us from each other."

"Who?" I asked.

"Felicity, Oliver, and Barry," she answered.

"Why?" I asked, alarmed

"I'll start with Felicity," she explained. "You two obviously have feelings for one another. You have a mental bond and are interested in all of the same things. You both are extremely intelligent and compatible. She is keeping you away from me. She convinced you to stay with her and stop the Flash rather than be with me. She holds a power over you that you have to take away."

I thought her logic was extremely understandable and true.

"The Flash obviously needs to be killed," Cassandra continued. "He is a danger to you, me, and this city. With your new powers, we don't need anyone to help us. We can kill him ourselves."

I completely agreed.

"And finally, Oliver," Cassandra stated. "You have developed a sense of trust and attraction towards him. This has been misplaced, however. He is imprisoning you to keep you away from me, away from greatness. You need to kill him and escape this jail."

Invigorated by this new vision, I asked, "And then what?"

"Then you can share the power of the Mirakuru with me," she explained, "And we can have anything that we want. We could rule the city, the world. We could destroy the city and exterminate the people. Our opportunities will be endless."

I was excited by this new future and I lusted to murder those who could stop me. They would not defeat me with comfort, lies, seduction, or power. Now that I was stronger than ever, I would defeat them.

"How will I kill Oliver and escape?" I asked, quivering in excitement.

"Ask for Oliver to come to you," she advised. "I'm sure he will. Then you can kill him and rip free."

"Oliver!" I yelled.

I heard noise and saw Oliver enter the room.

"Your shoulder is almost healed," Oliver noticed.

"And I feel fine," I lied. "The Mirakuru hasn't affected me mentally."

Wary, Oliver observed me.

"Can I have a glass of water?" I asked innocently, luring him closer.

"Sure," he said, leaving the room.

He came back with the water and stood next to the bed.

"Can you untie my arms so I can take a drink?" I requested.

"No, I'll help you," Oliver decided.

He kneeled down and brought the cup to my mouth. I started drinking, the water cooling and refreshing me.

"Don't forget your goal," Cassandra reminded me. Oliver seemed unaware of her presence.

"Choke on the water," she explained, "As a ruse for him to approach closer. Then hit him with your head with maximum force which should knock him out."

I admired her brilliant plan. I breathed in the water, causing me to spit the water and heave for air. As I was choking, Oliver was deciding on what to do. He waited for a moment and since my choking continued, he realized he needed to help me. He towered overtop of me and wrapped him arms around my chest to try to perform a reverse Heimlich maneuver. Since his head was now so close to mine, I launched upwards, making direct and forceful contact with his skull.

Dazed, Oliver fell onto the floor.

"Pull against your ropes!" Cassandra spoke urgently.

I started pulling with my increased strength and resiliency. I felt the ropes start to stretch and become taut.

Oliver regained his senses and stood up. He looked at how I was pulling at my restraints and noticed how much I had made the ropes budge. I heard a crack and saw one of the outer threads of the rope snap. I pulled with ferocity, motivated by Cassandra's glance. More of the rope started to fray, alarming Oliver. He looked at my shoulder to see if my efforts had caused any damage. He realized that my shoulder was not being damaged and that in mere minutes my wound would be fully healed.

Oliver walked back to the bed and grabbed my arms, careful to avoid my head. He pushed against arms, decreasing my power on the ropes and stopping the fraying.

"Come on Evan, don't let him push you around, show him your power," Cassandra encouraged.

I strengthened my exertion causing Oliver to start to tremble.

"Just another minute," Oliver muttered.

I started gaining on Oliver, stretching the rope again. Oliver kneed me in the head soft enough not to cause any damage but to distract me, eliminating my progress. Realizing I only had seconds until Oliver would use the cure on me, I gave the maximum amount of force my muscles allowed for. The ropes stretched and started to fray again.

"So close, keep going," Cassandra said desperately.

Oliver jumped off of me to his backpack, grabbing the cure. I pulled frantically, snapping one of the ropes. This was too late, however, as I noticed Oliver had already stabbed me in the thigh with the needle.

Completely hopeless, I started to fade into darkness. I was utterly crushed by this failure, by the destruction of my dream and future. I heard the strangled sob of Cassandra and lost consciousness.