Chapter 36

Ryker

The moment I began to retch, all eyes fell on me. I was now on my hands and knees, straining to force all of the vile substance out. I felt two sets of hands rest on my back. When I glanced to my right, I found a concerned-looking Amy, and on my left was the mental projection of Ruby, mirroring that same concern. The second I stopped throwing up, I pushed two of my fingers down my throat so hard I felt my teeth begin to creak.

I could faintly make out the sound of multiple voices urging me to stop and asking what was wrong, but I was consumed by the horror of what I had just done. That horror soon changed into something else, something darker, something primal. All I could do is imagine the faces of my family being turned into food for others, defenseless children being fed to their parents. Then I felt an old familiar heat welling up in my stomach… the flame of indignation, the fire of hatred building… Then I heard Silvar's deep voice in the cave again… “RAGE.”

I felt something inside of me break loose, and all rational thought was swept away by a tsunami of scarlet. I started punching the stones below me in a vain attempt to vent my pain. I roared as I continued to strike. Soon, my knuckles were bleeding, and I felt the bones begin to break. I couldn't stop, I wouldn't stop; the fury inside of me had to be let out, or I would explode.

I felt hands try to grapple my arms, and Ruby trying to bind me with the suit, but I just kept pushing through and striking the ground despite their failed attempts to hinder me. Then I felt my body being lifted into the air by my arms and legs, and I ripped my focus away from the gore I had left below to find four robotic arms holding me aloft.

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I felt a faint sense of betrayal at the two A.I for trying to stop me, and my rage continued to build. I saw multiple notifications flashing in the corner of my vision, but all I knew was the overpowering urge to destroy. I had no target for my wrath, so I turned my anger to fuel and aimed it at my captor. I flexed my arms and legs, but barely felt the mechanical beast move an inch. In my manic state, I gathered all my strength and pushed everything I had into breaking my bonds. Suddenly, something inside me snapped into place, and a red glow started to radiate off my muscles in waves, violently lashing out at the air around me before sinking back into my body. With the arrival of the ominous glow, I felt a strength like nothing I had ever felt before suffuse every cell of my being, and I began to pull.

This time when I flexed, I heard and felt the machine begin to shake under the force, and I roared in victory as I pushed with everything I had. Suddenly my left arm buckled under the strain. My arm was violently torn from its socket and it fell limp. The robot forced it down to my side where Ruby bound it with the suit. I channeled my pain into the red aura, and it was the machine's turn to fail. The screeching sound of metal fatigue could be heard before something broke free from the device and the pressure on my right arm went slack. I yanked my arm free and was trying to tear at the rest of the restraints but couldn't grasp them. When I looked down at my free hand, and I found nothing but a bloody mess of bone and flesh. I stared down at the bleeding stump in bewilderment as I watched a green radiance begin to overtake the angry red, and the bones in my mangled hand visibly started to shift and the tissues started to knit themselves back together. Then I heard Amy’s voice break through the crimson haze. “RED, STOP HIM!” I felt a sharp pain in the back of my head, and everything went black.