The soles of my shoes hit the smooth pavement with a soft thud as I stepped out of the car. The morning air was crisp, laced with the faint scent of antiseptic and blooming hedges lining the hospital entrance. Towering above me was the very same building I had walked out of yesterday, dazed and disoriented in a body that wasn’t mine. Now, I was returning with a purpose.Cynthia stepped out beside me, shutting the car doors with a quiet hiss as they sealed behind us. Her expression was unreadable, all business now. The tension in her shoulders said everything—this wasn’t a social visit. Something about this place, or maybe who we were here to see, had her on high alert.“This way,” she said.We walked side by side toward the main entrance. The glass doors slid open automatically, revealing a pristine lobby bathed in natural light filtering through massive skylights above. Nurses in white and pale blue uniforms bustled about. A few armed guards in black suits stood subtly at key positio

I let out a soft sigh, casual, almost bored, like this whole confrontation was beneath me. I narrowed my eyes slightly and kept my voice low and controlled, channeling the real John’s signature arrogance. “You’re overthinking this, Trevor,” I said, shaking my head. “You’re smart, yeah, but you’re making a hell of a mistake.”He didn’t lower the gun.So I kept going, relaxed in posture but calculating inside. “John Henderson doesn’t grovel. He doesn’t panic. He doesn’t even blink when a gun’s in his face. You think you caught something? Then maybe you need to check again. Because all I see is a paranoid doctor playing detective without a badge.”But it wasn’t enough.I could tell.His eyes didn’t soften. His grip didn’t ease. That suspicion—sharp and hot—still burned in his gaze. And that’s when it hit me.The serum.I had just been injected with the mutant reactivation serum. Trevor himself said the serum not only restor

Trevor’s terrified eyes darted around the lab—searching—until they landed on a table lined with volatile-looking chemicals and experimental vials.I stepped forward, ready to intercept, but he bolted—a desperate, jerking sprint toward the far side of the lab.“Trevor—don’t!” Cynthia shouted, raising her weapon.But it was too late.He reached the table, scattering beakers and tools with a frantic sweep of his arm. His trembling hand grabbed a thick syringe filled with a glowing, viscous green liquid, bubbling ominously inside the glass. The moment I saw it, a chill swept through me.“STOP—!” I shouted, charging forward.But his hand shot to his neck.Ssshhhk—THUNK!The needle pierced flesh. He injected the serum with a violent push of the plunger.Silence.Everything froze. Even the alarms seemed to fall away.Cynthia and I stared in horror as Trevor dropped the syringe. It clattered t

“Where are we headed?” I asked, keeping my voice calm, though my fingers itched near my belt—instinctively checking for a weapon I no longer carried. Something was definitely wrong, and I felt like Cynthia was about to betray me. Cynthia didn’t take her eyes off the road after I asked that question. “Calm the fuck down and stop thinking I'm going to betray you, 'cause if I wanted to do that, you'd have been a lab rat since yesterday," she said firmly, her tone serious. “We are only heading to my private apartment. We’ll be safe there for now.” I almost asked for the reason why we are heading to her apartment—not out of distrust, but because everything was moving too fast, and I needed context. But I stopped myself. In a situation like this, questions could be dangerous. The truth about me had nearly been torn open. If I hadn’t silenced Doctor Trevor when I did, the entire SCID would’ve known I wasn’t John Henderson… not really. They would

The agents began closing in, boots crunching gravel, rifles raised, moving in formation like a pack of wolves circling their prey. Their red tactical lasers danced across the windshield, across our faces, across every inch of the vehicle. There was no space left. No gap to slip through. No hope for escape."Do something!" Cynthia barked, her voice cracking with desperation. "Anything! Or we’re cooked!"I clenched my fists, heart pounding against my ribs like a war drum. I didn’t know what to do—but I shut my eyes, trying to will something… anything… to happen. I tried to feel the same energy I felt in the lab, tried to summon that rage, that surge of power that had once taken over and destroyed everything in my path.I begged for the beast inside me to come alive.But…Nothing.Just silence. Darkness. Weakness.My shoulders slumped. My chest tightened. The beast was gone.Cynthia let out a long, trembling exhale beside me."We have no choice," she muttered. "We surrender."As soon as