DreadnoughtDT
God of Hyperdeath
Shadows
By
Nathan Jones
By
Nathan Jones
It was just another boring day at school. I sat in my desk, bored out of my mind. The clock said 3:13. Only two more minutes to go until the weekend. I looked at the desk and saw my frazzled reflection, clearly disfigured by the curves of the desk's woodwork. "I don't look THAT hideous..." I said to myself. To tell you the truth, I'm not too bad looking. Black hair, strong muscles, and dark brown, nearly black eyes. A looker for the ladies, although I didn't pay them any mind. They only wanted my looks, not my personality. Shallow people like that make me sick. I stole another glance at the clock. 3:14. Another minute of torment, and I'm free to head home and melt my brain with video games. Maybe I'll play that new one I got. That one starring the smart-aleck in the red trench coat... What was his name? No matter. I'd remember it sooner or later.
The school bell rang, and kids nearly trampled each other to get out. I merely sighed and packed up my stuff. 'Why does my life have to be so BORING?' I thought. 'I want something awesome to happen to me for a change.' I was right... something was going to happen. But it wasn't gonna be awesome, that's for sure.
I took longer than usual getting out of school. I walked like I was stuck in molasses for some reason. By the time I'd actually gotten out, everyone had left. 'Boy was mom gonna be steamed about this...' I thought. Then, as I walked out of the entrance lobby, I was grabbed by a big man wearing a black business suit. He was a big, bald muscular man. He had one of those fancy earphones, and he dragged me to a car. I screamed, but stopped when I realized that no one was around to hear me. That's when I noticed the big guy talking to the guy on his earphone. "Yeah, we got the kid." He said. "Once we get in the car, you drive us to Delta Base, got it?"
The car ride took only fifteen minutes, but that was enough for me to fall asleep because of exhaustion. I guess I'd screamed and flailed too much. Once the car stopped, I was shoved out rather violently, but I got on my feet before I hit the ground. I looked around at the large expanse of country that I was in. That's when I noticed another pair of big men flanking a thinner man, standing right in front of me. That's also when I found my voice again. "Who are you? Why are you doing this?" I asked. Pleaded, actually. The thin man merely smirked. "You've been selected for a very special project of the U.S. government. You are going to be a supersoldier." I crossed my arms and stood defiantly with a look of hate on my face. "And if I refuse?" The thin man didn't even have to talk. I had four pistols trained on me in a heartbeat. "Then you die. Which is it?" I gulped and complied with a bitter tone. "Fine. But you have to explain this to me first." He smirked again. That was getting annoying REALLY quickly. "Fair enough. You're being chosen because your DNA is compatible with the virus sample that we have. All we do is put the virus into your arm, you feel a little stinging, and then WHAM. Supersoldier material. Sound good enough?" I got the distinct feeling he was lying, but I also got the feeling that's all I was going to get out of him. "Alright. So, where's this Delta Base cue-ball over here was telling his friend about, just fifteen minutes ago?" Without talking, one of the men pressed a button on his wrist that made a small industrial building appear out of nowhere. 'Okayyyy...' I thought. 'This is getting creepy.'
Once they had me inside, I was searched for weapons and given to a doctor. "Hello, Jack. I'm dr. Coffman. I'll be the one to administer the virus to you, but only after one question. What's your favorite animal?" I stopped in my tracks. "Are you kidding me? Is that really important? And how do you know my... Oh, right. Government." The doc chuckled. "I suppose it is a strange question, isn't it? But still, it's important to the project." I crossed my arms and looked at the floor, deep in thought. 'What WAS my favorite animal?' I thought. 'Oh. DUH, why didn't I remember it sooner?' I straightened back up. "Lizards, of course. They're smart little creatures, and they can adapt quickly too." The doc seemed surprised at my analytical choice of words. "What?" I said. "Never seen an intellectual 15 year old before?" His face quickly changed back to the indifferent one he was wearing just a second ago. "I suppose I shouldn't be. Alright then. Just head in there and take off your clothes. You need to wear something sterile. But keep your underwear on, for decency's sake." He walked off. 'Great...' I thought. 'This guy must not have even been here for a week. He didn't even tell me where the clothes were...'
I walked into the small, square, metal room. There was nothing. Not even a clothes rack. That's when the door closed. Tight. I tried to pry it open, but it wouldn't budge. A voice came on over the intercom. It was the doctors. "Jack, please calm down. You'll be fine. Just relax and breathe normally." Like that was going to help during a panic attack like this. That's when I heard a small click, and part of the wall disappeared and a small hollow rod poked through. My mind started racing. 'Oh GOD,' I thought. 'They're gonna GAS me! Oh GOD NO!' Sure enough, a gas started to pour forth. It was a light, almost sky blue color. I got one whiff and immediately my body felt like it was on fire. My skin started to feel extremely dry, and began to flake off like a bad sunburn, only... What was underneath was a bit off. I touched my arm and thought I muttered, "Scales...?" Although I'm not sure if I said it or thought it. Then, the REAL pain kicked in. My feet went numb, and then began to burn uncontrollably. It slowly spread through my entire body, and it HURT. But not as much as what happened next. My toes seemed to melt away, and then four new ones grew back, three in front, one on the back of my foot. Each had a long, sharp claw. My knees snapped backwards, into a reverse-jointed position. The bones cracked as they warped, and the muscles gained new girth in order to support the new shape. Once it reached my waist, I didn't feel anything for a moment. Then, it felt like my spine was elongating. It was. I felt something tear my pants near the base of my spine, and saw a tail, black with red markings, just like the rest of my body, grow to about four feet before stopping and twitching randomly. As it reached my chest I began to pant, simply because my internal organs seemed to be shifting around. My back started to ache, and I found myself hunched over as the dull ache turned into searing agony as two fissures erupted from my back, bleeding like rivers, and from them sprang forth two wings, nearly as big as I was, bloody from the waterfall they'd just gone through. My arms didn't show any noticeable changes aside from a small gain in muscle, and then my fingers sprouted jet black claws. Finally, the last of my humanity was destroyed as my face elongated and my nose became part of my snout. My teeth lengthened into long, bent fangs and my eyes went a bit to the sides. My black hair became a dark red and my formerly black eyes became blue and slitted. Then, the pain finally stopped, and I fell over, panting, sweating and crying a bit. That's when a man opened the door and walked inside before any of the gas escaped. Although he was wearing a gas mask, I recognized him as the thin man from before. I bit out the words, "You... Liar..." Before he leaned over me. "You will be a god among these soldiers. You should be happy for this..." I couldn't hear the rest, as his words were drowned out by darkness.
What do you think for a first part? Too long? Not enough detail? Constructive criticism is welcome. However, if it's DESTRUCTIVE criticism, I'd advise you to GTFO before I explode and chew you out like no tomorrow.
