Chapter 2: In Lightless Dreams
He was running, running like he always did when he dreamt, he never looked back, but he always new what was chasing him, it would grab him, and it would whisper into his ears, and then he would wake up screaming. Right now he felt himself running from his nightmare, the blackness that followed him when ever he went. He felt himself trip, and the Darkness flowed around him, but this time even after the whispering started, he didn't wake up.
The Queens Lab, The Capital of the Southeast Empire
C watched as Joe tossed and turned in his sleep, she sighed and turned back to the screens , surrounding her, the former crew of the Kantu could not all be present in the lab, only Riddler stood by his sister, twirling his cane deep in thought, Her husband , the king, was at the main palace taking care of business, Anna , was at home with Jack and Lizzie, as was Caitlin with Erica.
" It's bad guys, his cell degeneration is getting worse, the dark energy has already warped most of his genes , hes growing scales , his bone structure is changing as is his muscle structure, this is staggering if we don't do something now we may lose him completely " Said C massaging her brow
" I'm still not comfortable with you keeping him here, can't we move him to a securer facility" Said Jigen
" I agree, we all now what Joe can do, and what if he goes over the edge" Said Anna in agreement
" If my estimates are correct then even our most secure facilities couldn't hold him," Said C
" Well Fuck this is bad" Muttered Jigen
" All I can do is try and halt the progression of the mutation, if I can freeze , then we can try and combat the damage done" Said C, " I'll talk to you all later" She said as the screens cut out
Riddler looked over at his sister, " What can we do now, "
" We have to be quick, if we don't act soon irreversible damage will be done, " She said going back to study the skin samples she had taken from him
In his nightmares Joe Felt the Darkness rap around him, it burned itself into his mind , his skin his organs, he felt it twist inside of him, he began to lose what little he had left, of his sanity
Riddler noticed as Joe began to spasm and writhe on the table , " Sis we have a problem" HE said grabbing a taiser as Joe's bonds began to break
Joe Felt his bones snap, his muscle contract and writhe under his skins, he felt his skin burn and fray, his muscles exposed as hard scales grew over them, he felt his mind slip, he felt... pleasure, great pleasure, the ... the power, oh the pain was unbearable, but he felt the power grow inside of him, he felt it, the darkness, it was in him now, deep inside him, it was apart of him, why had he been running from it. It was setting him free, so very Free
Riddler and C Ran into the room, Joe's bonds where all but gone, and what remained was not going to hold him for much longer. Then they got a good look at him, and they both stumbled back in shock, most Of Joes skin either hung loosely off of his body or had been replaced by black scales, his wings where now twice the size they had once been and his horns had grown considerably, he stood much taller as the table he had been restrained too buckled under his weight, but his face, it resembled nothing human like, it was twisted and malformed, his teeth had been replaced with crocodile like fangs, and all hair had fallen off of his head, leaving only the now pulsating Implant as the only semblance of the man they once knew,
C was stuck to the spot in fear, this creature that was once her friend grinned, displaying the rows of serrated teeth he now had in pride ,
Riddler ground his teeth and fired the taiser at Joe, it buried itself into his shoulder, but did no damage, the monster chuckled, it's laugh chilling them to their bones, Before it flapped it's wings, sending the two of them flying back slamming into the wall, Joe pointed his hand up, firing a huge blast of Dark energy into the ceiling, then flying up through the rubble, he was gone
C managed to crawl through the rubble, grabbing the communicator, she commed ,Jigen " Jigen.. Joe's gone, he lost I...I don't think He's human anymore "
Joe flew through the sky, he stopped , he let his more acute sense survey the world around him, so much prey to hunt, but, he felt an urge, a gut feeling, it was another dark energy user but who, then a shattered memory drifted back to him, Neil, he had never been able to find him, but now he felt the child's dark energy call to him , he flew off in that Direction, there was going to be a family reunion