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Part 5: Trask’s first experiment

“We need to move fast, there’s still time to reverse the transformation” Darius took off down the hallway but stopped when he realised I wasn’t following him.

“What are you waiting for? We have to hurry!” he said frantically, but I just stood there staring at the floor.

I thought hard about what to do and then I responded-

“I don’t care about that any more! I don’t care if I do become a dragon… I’m going to find Jack… If he’s still alive,” I said hopefully.

“Virgil, I can’t allow them to recapture you" Darius argued "once the transformation is complete, they would have everything they would need to create more dragons” he pleaded, but I wouldn’t listen.

“Even if I do change back, it won’t stop them from using the process on me again or worse. As a dragon I’m stronger than I ever was before and because of this, I might have a chance of finding Jack and getting out of here in one piece!” I argued.

Darius was about to object but he knew I as right. Even if we reversed the process it wouldn’t help us in the long run.

“Okay then” he sighed “if you’re really sure about this then let’s get moving” said Darius.

I was ready to go but I didn’t have a clue where to start looking.

“Okay, do you have any idea where Jack could be?” I asked hoping Darius might know where my friend is, he paused thinking a moment.

“There’s only one place I can think of, but it’s not on this floor. We will have to find a way up to the next floor, follow me” Darius led the way and I followed close behind.

Darius led me through numerous concrete corridors and we soon came to a large steel bulkhead, but I couldn’t see any obvious means of opening it.
I examined the bulkhead and I noticed it was designed to open by sliding upward.

“This is a problem” said Darius “this door is the best way to get to the nearest passage up from here, but it’s operated by electricity and there are no controls” said Darius frustrated.

As I thought about what to do next, an idea popped into my head, but it seemed a bit radical. I stepped up to the door and using my claws, I gripped the bottom of it and attempted to lift it.

“Virgil, there’s no way you’ll be able to lift that open” he said doubtfully. “It would take at least ten men to lift it”

I grunted as I endeavoured to lift it open, at first it didn’t budge but then with the sound of scraping metal and gears, it slowly began to move.
Darius watched in disbelief as I slowly lifted the door open, I was lifting with all my strength and my arms were beginning to hurt.
Finally I managed to get it open enough for me to fit through.

“Move!” I exclaimed as I strained to keep the door open.

Darius darted through and as I released my grip on the door, I darted through as well and rolled to a stop as the door slammed back down with a very loud clang.
The noise of the door slamming shut echoed though the tunnel we had just entered for nearly ten seconds and then everything went quiet.
The silence was soon broken however by Darius’ voice.

“That was amazing!” he said in awe “I can’t believe how much your strength has increased!”

I felt a certain level of pride at my accomplishment but I soon pushed it aside as I remembered our currant predicament.

“We’ll talk about that later, we should keep moving in case someone heard the door slam” I said cautiously.

Darius nodded and we proceeded down the tunnel.
We walked through a labyrinth of old, dimly lit tunnels and I was becoming concerned that we might be lost.

“Darius are you sure this is the right way?” I asked “It doesn’t look like these tunnels have been in use for some time” I was getting very concerned about where we were heading.

“There was another way, but it has a great deal surveillance” he explained, “These tunnels are part of the older section of the facility and have no surveillance. This is our only option right now”

“I understand, but I’m beginning to think we’re going round in circ…” A squelching noise stopped me in my tracks as I stepped in something slimy.

“Eww!” I exclaimed in disgust “What did I just step in!?” I lifted my foot off the ground like I had stepped in dog excrement.

Darius took a closer look at the substance on the ground as I stood on one leg. It was some kind of transparent slime, Darius took a quick sniff and recoiled back cringing.

“Augh! It stinks!” He grunted and held a paw over his nose. “It appears to be some kind saliva,” he explained.

I wiped my clawed foot on the ground to get the disgusting stuff off and then took a closer look at it myself.

“Saliva?” I said confused “But from what?” I wondered.

Darius looked deeply concerned at this point and said.

“I don’t know, but this stuff is fresh. We had better get moving before whatever left this comes back” without another word we continued on.

As we walked, the tunnels began to get darker. Most of the lights were broken and it was getting darker the further we went.
Suddenly my chest and neck grew hot, another change had begun and this one was more painful than the others.

“Darius…I…can’t…breathe!” I gasped for air, clasping my hands around my neck and I could barely even speak.

I could feel my lungs moving and changing. My throat and mouth we’re also undergoing a transformation.

“I’m sorry Virgil, this part will be very uncomfortable I’m afraid” Darius explained quickly, “I was wondering when this change would take effect” he said as he cautiously stepped away from me and watched.

My neck grew slightly longer and then the skin lining my mouth felt different, like a thin layer of plastic lining it instead of skin.
The heat in my chest died down slightly and I was able to take deep breaths again much to my relief. But as I did, I began coughing violently. Suddenly a new hot feeling emerged in my chest and moved up through my throat and with a final heavy cough, fire spewed out lighting the tunnel for a brief moment.

“Wow!” Darius exclaimed in surprise as he jumped back.

The coughing eventually subsided and I breathed normally again. I leaned against an adjacent wall recovering and I couldn’t believe I just expelled fire from my mouth. I hadn’t burned my tongue, my mouth or throat either. I figured it had something to do with this new layer of skin in my mouth.
I looked to Darius for answers and he knew from the expression on my face, what I wanted to ask.

“You’ve just grown a new separate lung. It houses a compressed organic gas that ignites when mixed with oxygen and your air lungs can now close shut when ever you expel the gas, so as to prevent that air already inside from setting alight” Darius explained.

“Incredible!” I said.

“Also you’ve grown a special layer of fire proof skin that now lines your mouth and throat,” Darius added.

I felt excited about this new ability, and I attempted to do it again. I took a deep breath and exhaled but nothing happened.

“Nothing happened that time” I said disappointed.

“You must have used up all of the gas in your new lung” Darius guessed. “There won’t have been much in there to begin with since you just got it. You’ll need to wait until you’re body develops more later on” said Darius.

I was enjoying this for some reason. The thought of breathing fire whenever I pleased was amazing to me.
We continued on through the tunnels and eventually we exited into a large concrete chamber with a metal floor.
The chamber was at least forty feet high and about the same width. At the other end of the chamber was a large metal door but it had been forced open at some point leaving it warped and permanently wedged open.

“What is this place?” I wondered. “And what happened to that door?”

“I don’t know?” Darius replied looking confused. “There isn’t supposed to be anything here but a corridor”

Suddenly a light turned on above us. The light was coming from a glass-covered balcony attached high above on the right wall almost thirty feet above.
I looked closely and then I spotted Trask sitting in a chair watching us.

“Welcome!” he called with an almost congratulatory tone “I’m glad you didn't take too long getting here” he said darkly.

“You Bastard!” I screamed rage “I’m going to tear you apart when I get my claws on you!”

“Language young man, you should show more respect to your elders,” he mocked grinning and I scoffed a grunt at him.

“So… Darius, still alive are you,” said Trask as he took notice of Darius standing next to me.

“You should have killed me when you had the chance” yelled Darius.

“Be that as it may, I don’t need to” as Trask said this he opened a panel in the balcony window and threw something through it.

It was a small vial of red liquid and as it hit the floor it smashed open and spilled across the ground.

I powerful musky smell erupted in my nose from the strange liquid and Darius cringed from it.

Before I could say anything, I suddenly heard a rapid thumping noise approaching from the broken metal door.

“Here it comes” Said Trask laughing.

My eyes were fixed on the darkness beyond the broken door and then I saw four large insect eyes appear.

What I saw come out of that door sent a chill down my spine. First a black hairy appendage emerged out of the dark doorway and then another and another and then a large black form was pulled along by the legs and emerged into the light.
It was a giant tarantula nearly three times bigger than I was and it’s fangs looked deadly.

It’s eyes were grey and even though it seemed to be blind I knew it was aware of my presence.

I remembered the liquid at that moment. The smell must have somehow drawn the thing to us.

“What the hell is that!?” I said frantically as we backed away.

“This was is my first experiment using an experimental growth serum on an arachnid” replied Trask amused “Unfortunately it got loose and out of control. We’ve kept it locked down here ever since and now is the perfect opportunity to test your new abilities against a suitable opponent!” as Trask finished the giant spider drew closer.

I had no choice but to face this monster but I needed to get Darius away from it so I could focus without worrying about him. I noticed several air vents in this room at floor level but only one was open and the Spider was between us and it.

“There’s an open vent on the wall behind that thing, I’ll distract it while you make run for it” I said to Darius and he nodded without question.

Darius darted away and the spider fortunately didn’t take notice of him. I didn’t know if I could beat this thing but I felt confidant that I had a fair chance.

To be continued

Description

Part 5: Trask’s first experiment

“We need to move fast, there’s still time to reverse the transformation” Darius took off down the hallway but stopped when he realised I wasn’t following him.

“What are you waiting for? We have to hurry!” he said frantically, but I just stood there staring at the floor.

I thought hard about what to do and then I responded-

“I don’t care about that any more! I don’t care if I do become a dragon… I’m going to find Jack… If he’s still alive,” I said hopefully.

“Virgil, I can’t allow them to recapture you" Darius argued "once the transformation is complete, they would have everything they would need to create more dragons” he pleaded, but I wouldn’t listen.

“Even if I do change back, it won’t stop them from using the process on me again or worse. As a dragon I’m stronger than I ever was before and because of this, I might have a chance of finding Jack and getting out of here in one piece!” I argued.

Darius was about to object but he knew I as right. Even if we reversed the process it wouldn’t help us in the long run.

“Okay then” he sighed “if you’re really sure about this then let’s get moving” said Darius.

I was ready to go but I didn’t have a clue where to start looking.

“Okay, do you have any idea where Jack could be?” I asked hoping Darius might know where my friend is, he paused thinking a moment.

“There’s only one place I can think of, but it’s not on this floor. We will have to find a way up to the next floor, follow me” Darius led the way and I followed close behind.

Darius led me through numerous concrete corridors and we soon came to a large steel bulkhead, but I couldn’t see any obvious means of opening it.
I examined the bulkhead and I noticed it was designed to open by sliding upward.

“This is a problem” said Darius “this door is the best way to get to the nearest passage up from here, but it’s operated by electricity and there are no controls” said Darius frustrated.

As I thought about what to do next, an idea popped into my head, but it seemed a bit radical. I stepped up to the door and using my claws, I gripped the bottom of it and attempted to lift it.

“Virgil, there’s no way you’ll be able to lift that open” he said doubtfully. “It would take at least ten men to lift it”

I grunted as I endeavoured to lift it open, at first it didn’t budge but then with the sound of scraping metal and gears, it slowly began to move.
Darius watched in disbelief as I slowly lifted the door open, I was lifting with all my strength and my arms were beginning to hurt.
Finally I managed to get it open enough for me to fit through.

“Move!” I exclaimed as I strained to keep the door open.

Darius darted through and as I released my grip on the door, I darted through as well and rolled to a stop as the door slammed back down with a very loud clang.
The noise of the door slamming shut echoed though the tunnel we had just entered for nearly ten seconds and then everything went quiet.
The silence was soon broken however by Darius’ voice.

“That was amazing!” he said in awe “I can’t believe how much your strength has increased!”

I felt a certain level of pride at my accomplishment but I soon pushed it aside as I remembered our currant predicament.

“We’ll talk about that later, we should keep moving in case someone heard the door slam” I said cautiously.

Darius nodded and we proceeded down the tunnel.
We walked through a labyrinth of old, dimly lit tunnels and I was becoming concerned that we might be lost.

“Darius are you sure this is the right way?” I asked “It doesn’t look like these tunnels have been in use for some time” I was getting very concerned about where we were heading.

“There was another way, but it has a great deal surveillance” he explained, “These tunnels are part of the older section of the facility and have no surveillance. This is our only option right now”

“I understand, but I’m beginning to think we’re going round in circ…” A squelching noise stopped me in my tracks as I stepped in something slimy.

“Eww!” I exclaimed in disgust “What did I just step in!?” I lifted my foot off the ground like I had stepped in dog excrement.

Darius took a closer look at the substance on the ground as I stood on one leg. It was some kind of transparent slime, Darius took a quick sniff and recoiled back cringing.

“Augh! It stinks!” He grunted and held a paw over his nose. “It appears to be some kind saliva,” he explained.

I wiped my clawed foot on the ground to get the disgusting stuff off and then took a closer look at it myself.

“Saliva?” I said confused “But from what?” I wondered.

Darius looked deeply concerned at this point and said.

“I don’t know, but this stuff is fresh. We had better get moving before whatever left this comes back” without another word we continued on.

As we walked, the tunnels began to get darker. Most of the lights were broken and it was getting darker the further we went.
Suddenly my chest and neck grew hot, another change had begun and this one was more painful than the others.

“Darius…I…can’t…breathe!” I gasped for air, clasping my hands around my neck and I could barely even speak.

I could feel my lungs moving and changing. My throat and mouth we’re also undergoing a transformation.

“I’m sorry Virgil, this part will be very uncomfortable I’m afraid” Darius explained quickly, “I was wondering when this change would take effect” he said as he cautiously stepped away from me and watched.

My neck grew slightly longer and then the skin lining my mouth felt different, like a thin layer of plastic lining it instead of skin.
The heat in my chest died down slightly and I was able to take deep breaths again much to my relief. But as I did, I began coughing violently. Suddenly a new hot feeling emerged in my chest and moved up through my throat and with a final heavy cough, fire spewed out lighting the tunnel for a brief moment.

“Wow!” Darius exclaimed in surprise as he jumped back.

The coughing eventually subsided and I breathed normally again. I leaned against an adjacent wall recovering and I couldn’t believe I just expelled fire from my mouth. I hadn’t burned my tongue, my mouth or throat either. I figured it had something to do with this new layer of skin in my mouth.
I looked to Darius for answers and he knew from the expression on my face, what I wanted to ask.

“You’ve just grown a new separate lung. It houses a compressed organic gas that ignites when mixed with oxygen and your air lungs can now close shut when ever you expel the gas, so as to prevent that air already inside from setting alight” Darius explained.

“Incredible!” I said.

“Also you’ve grown a special layer of fire proof skin that now lines your mouth and throat,” Darius added.

I felt excited about this new ability, and I attempted to do it again. I took a deep breath and exhaled but nothing happened.

“Nothing happened that time” I said disappointed.

“You must have used up all of the gas in your new lung” Darius guessed. “There won’t have been much in there to begin with since you just got it. You’ll need to wait until you’re body develops more later on” said Darius.

I was enjoying this for some reason. The thought of breathing fire whenever I pleased was amazing to me.
We continued on through the tunnels and eventually we exited into a large concrete chamber with a metal floor.
The chamber was at least forty feet high and about the same width. At the other end of the chamber was a large metal door but it had been forced open at some point leaving it warped and permanently wedged open.

“What is this place?” I wondered. “And what happened to that door?”

“I don’t know?” Darius replied looking confused. “There isn’t supposed to be anything here but a corridor”

Suddenly a light turned on above us. The light was coming from a glass-covered balcony attached high above on the right wall almost thirty feet above.
I looked closely and then I spotted Trask sitting in a chair watching us.

“Welcome!” he called with an almost congratulatory tone “I’m glad you didn't take too long getting here” he said darkly.

“You Bastard!” I screamed rage “I’m going to tear you apart when I get my claws on you!”

“Language young man, you should show more respect to your elders,” he mocked grinning and I scoffed a grunt at him.

“So… Darius, still alive are you,” said Trask as he took notice of Darius standing next to me.

“You should have killed me when you had the chance” yelled Darius.

“Be that as it may, I don’t need to” as Trask said this he opened a panel in the balcony window and threw something through it.

It was a small vial of red liquid and as it hit the floor it smashed open and spilled across the ground.

I powerful musky smell erupted in my nose from the strange liquid and Darius cringed from it.

Before I could say anything, I suddenly heard a rapid thumping noise approaching from the broken metal door.

“Here it comes” Said Trask laughing.

My eyes were fixed on the darkness beyond the broken door and then I saw four large insect eyes appear.

What I saw come out of that door sent a chill down my spine. First a black hairy appendage emerged out of the dark doorway and then another and another and then a large black form was pulled along by the legs and emerged into the light.
It was a giant tarantula nearly three times bigger than I was and it’s fangs looked deadly.

It’s eyes were grey and even though it seemed to be blind I knew it was aware of my presence.

I remembered the liquid at that moment. The smell must have somehow drawn the thing to us.

“What the hell is that!?” I said frantically as we backed away.

“This was is my first experiment using an experimental growth serum on an arachnid” replied Trask amused “Unfortunately it got loose and out of control. We’ve kept it locked down here ever since and now is the perfect opportunity to test your new abilities against a suitable opponent!” as Trask finished the giant spider drew closer.

I had no choice but to face this monster but I needed to get Darius away from it so I could focus without worrying about him. I noticed several air vents in this room at floor level but only one was open and the Spider was between us and it.

“There’s an open vent on the wall behind that thing, I’ll distract it while you make run for it” I said to Darius and he nodded without question.

Darius darted away and the spider fortunately didn’t take notice of him. I didn’t know if I could beat this thing but I felt confidant that I had a fair chance.

To be continued