43 Hospital Blues

Ralnas was the last one to awake. The medical robot that had been tending his wounds beeped in satisfaction before turning and exiting the room. Ralnas tried to lift himself up before an explosion of pain rocked his body. "Ughhhh," he said loudly and he heard a snicker from somewhere in the room. "Who's there!" He called out panicked. The white cloth that separated his area from the room was pulled back and Jenira stood there smiling at him.

"Jen! You're alive!" Ralnas relief was overwhelming. She ruffled his hair and laughed, "Like I would die before you." He smirked and then motioned for her to help him stand. Helping him to his feet slowly she supported him as his chest stung with pain. Ralnas pulled off the thin shirt that covered his chest and gasped. A bruise perfectly in the shape of the bugman's foot was imprinted on his chest. Jenira saw it and burst out laughing. "It's not funny! It really hurts." Ralnas complained before smiling. He walked out of his area and saw that Jayce and Micu were already sitting at a table picking at some food while watching the TV.

"Sleeping beauty finally is awake!" Jayce said happily seeing Ralnas stand and pulled a chair out next to him. Ralnas gratefully sat and looked up at the TV. "Anything good on?" Micu shook his head, "Nah, just the fact that our friend has superpowers." Ralnas started laughing before the pain in his chest forced him to stop. "Micu please don't make me laugh right now. It really hurts." Micu nodded, "Yeah you already said that." This time it was Jenira and Jayce who laughed. Ralnas scowled and then looked at the TV. Tara Sourcurl was speaking about the exam but the volume muted.

"No for real, what are they talking about?" Ralnas asked. Micu then looked him in the eye. "Our friend Jayce has superpowers." Ralnas rolled his eyes, "Micu I already laughed at this joke. It isn't as funny the second time." Micu paused the TV and opened up a tab on his watch. The last round of their fight was displayed before them on the table. Ralnas watched Micu and himself get knocked out. "This is where I faded out." Micu paused it and looked at Ralnas. "I am touched that you risked your life to make sure I wasn't dead." Ralnas gave him a thumbs up and then urged him to continue the clip.

Before him, the rest of the battle played out. His body tensed as it got to the part where it looked like Jenira was about to die but then his eyes opened wide. "Jayce what the fuck?" He looked at Jayce as the clip ended. Jayce shrugged, "Yeah I don't really know either." Ralnas looked at his friend suspiciously. "Prove your Jayce." Jayce looked at him with a mocking grin. "How the hell am I supposed to do that?" Ralnas racked his brain before looking him dead in the eye. "Answer my questions." Jayce sighed, "fine if it'll get you to believe that I'm me ask away."

Micu and Jenira sat and leaned forward with grins on their faces. They had no idea what Ralnas had planned but they were sure that they were going to enjoy it. Ralnas held up one finger, "What is my last name?" Jayce smirked, "Is that really the kind of questions you're going to ask me?" Ralnas looked at him pointedly, " I don't hear an answer." Jayce sighed and looked him in the eye, "You're insane. You know that right?" Ralnas didn't move. "Marrow, your name is Ralnas Marrow."

Ralnas nodded before raising a second finger, "Who has Micu had a crush on forever?" Jayce rolled his eyes, "Isabel. C'mon at least make it hard for me." Ralnas simply raised a third finger. "What's my biggest fear?" Jayce let the smile fall off his face, "Ral seriously? Do we have to do this? Jenira and Micu felt the atmosphere shift. It had seemed that Ralnas was playing it off as a friendly game but the questions were quickly getting into things that Jayce and Ralnas had discussed when it was only the two of them alone. Jenira looked at Micu with a worried expression. He made a calm down motion with his hand but watched their two friends closely.

Ralnas said nothing and continued to stare into Jayce's eyes. Jayce let out a long sigh, "It's seeing your family die again. Why are we doing this?" Ralnas simply raised a fourth finger, " How many times have you and I promised each other we're going to win the grand prize together?" Jayce answered coldly, "Every time we remember what the Overwatchers did to our families."

Ralnas nodded and held up his fifth finger, "What size is my sister's bra?" Jenira slapped his cheek and Micu started laughing so hard he was crying. Jayce turned pink and stared at Ralnas open-mouthed. Micu was laughing so hard he fell out of his chair with a pained grunt. Ralnas had a bright red hand mark on his cheek but was grinning ear to ear. Jenira was fuming and Jayce thought it was best not to say anything at all.

Micu finally regained some composure and climbed back into the seat. He high fived Ralnas, "I can honestly say that you even fooled me that time." Ralnas was leaning back in his chair contently. Jenira was still mad but had at least let herself smile at her brother's prank. Jayce was still unsure of how he should approach the situation and just continued to be silent.

After a few moments, Ralnas sat back in his chair and let it fall back to the floor. He looked at Jayce seriously, "You don't know right?" Jayce quickly shook his head. Ralnas smiled and then returned his attention to the TV, "So you've got superpowers huh?" Micu wiped the last of his tears away as he looked at Jayce. "How did it feel?" Jayce thought for a moment before answering. "Like breaking through your limits a thousand times at once." Micu considered this calmly.

Jenira whispered, "I have some powers too..." Micu and Ralnas whirled their heads to look at her. Jayce was surprised she was choosing to share this information but didn't obviously react. Micu noticed this and glared at Jayce, "You knew!" Jayce didn't realize he had given himself away by not reacting and cursed his luck. "Yeah... we may have discussed it before." Micu scowled and then returned his focus to Jenira.

She undid the bindings on her shoulder and the same spider tattoo that had been on Jayce's chest was displayed prominently. Ralnas gasped, "When did you get matching tattoos!" Jayce started to laugh until the deathly glare from Ralnas killed his amusement. "I was the one who put that tattoo on Jayce actually." Ralnas was bright red with rage and was about to yell at his sister before Micu placed a hand on his shoulder, "relax Ral. I think you and I have a lot of catching up to do."

Jenira spread her hands in a "sorry" gesture and looked at Jayce, "maybe we should tell them everything together?" Jayce nodded reluctantly and moved his chair closer to Jenira so that the two could speak to them more easily. "So where do you want us to start?" Jayce asked. Micu and Ralnas exchanged glances, "At the beginning?" They said together. Jenira and Jayce nodded. Jayce removed the thin shirt that he had been wearing.

A lions head with eight arrows of differing lengths extending from the center was now tattooed on his chest. All three friends looked at him surprised, "How did you change your tattoo?" Jayce smiled, "actually as far as I understand it this is the mark of the Overwatchers who gave me my powers." Even Jenira looked confused at this. Micu and Ralnas looked at each other, "Jen you didn't know about this?" She shook her head, "I put the spider on him to save his life. A voice in my head told me what to do and the next thing I knew he had the same spider tattoo as me. I've never seen that mark before." Jayce pulled his shirt back on. "And I don't think you ever will again. It's two Overwatchers power together."

His friends gasped and stared at Jayce like he was a monster. "How is that even possible!" Ralnas stared at his friend with a variety of emotions battling on his face. Jayce shrugged, "I have no idea but that's what Neith told me." Jenira suddenly sucked in her breath and started coughing. Micu and Ralnas weren't sure what was happening and watched Jayce pat her on the back in silence. "You've spoken to her too!" Jenira spat out. Jayce nodded. "Can one of you two please tell me what the hell is going on?" Ralnas was already getting annoyed by how many secrets his friend and sister had kept from him.

Jayce took a deep breath and then started explaining everything that had happened to him since the second exam. Jenira would chime in when she could add details but a lot of the things he was saying were new to her too. After fifteen minutes of explaining Jayce finally stopped speaking. "Whew, I think that's it. Any questions?" His three friends now stared at him with a mixture of awe, fear, respect, and confusion. "You have to kill the Overwatchers?" Micu asked flatly. Jayce nodded. "The people who built the simulation?" Jenira followed. Jayce continued nodding. "The people who destroyed Earth with a snap of their fingers?" Jayce just kept nodding. "Oh yeah, no big deal," Ralnas said caustically.

Jayce laughed. "I won't force you to come with me. But, I would love to have you by my side." Ralnas glared at him. "You know when we spoke about killing the Overwatchers that wasn't really a serious thing. You didn't have to go and piss off three gods just for me Jayce." Jenira tried to stay serious but couldn't help herself and started laughing. "Honestly how do I get dragged into these things with you? We went from being the biggest joke at our school to now considering going on a quest to kill the gods themselves? I mean you can't make this up." Jenira looked at Jayce with a stampede of thoughts running through her mind.

Jayce shrugged, "Yeah I know crazy right? But I did promise one, well two, of those gods that I would kill the other three. Sooooo I'm screwed either way." Ralnas sighed, "I guess somebody is going to have to bail you out of your own messes." He winked at Jayce and smiled. Micu nodded, "and you two would definitely get lost without me around. So I guess I better come along too." Jenira wrapped her arms around the four of them, "and you guys are the only people I like so I guess I'll come along too."

Jayce beamed, "You know this means we're all crazy right?" Three "yes"s followed his question and the four friends laughed together enjoying the brief freedom from any responsibilities. As they settled in to watch the rest of the TV news report Micu turned the volume up so that they could hear. Tara's over the top make up didn't make her look any less serious and she delivered the news crisply. "Due to technical malfunctions, there will be no more Coliseum matches until tomorrow at the earliest. We have been trying to get in contact with someone from the exam but so far they have not responded to any of our questions. We will keep you updated as news unfolds."

Micu turned his head to look at Jayce. "So what was that bug thing in the Coliseum today?" Jayce looked down from the TV. "It was one of the other Overwatcher's minions." Micu grimaced. "I guess I better start hitting the gym harder." The four laughed but there was an uneasiness to it this time. Jayce looked out the window lost in his own thoughts.