CH12: ON THE LOOSE

[Earlier]

"He's out cold. Let's allow his body to go through the process, guys," the lady who administered the serum into Ace's body spoke to the two large men as she packed the machine and started to roll it out. The large men removed the restraints from Ace's body as they gently readjusted the bed to let his body adjust to the changes of the serum peacefully.

As the lady rolled back the small pipes, the large men looked at the ceiling and noticed something strange happening. "Err...is it me, or is the air turning red?" The lady looked at the air vents and watched as slight traces of red gas entered into the room they were in.

"Strange!" she spoke. "I've never heard of this before."

"Could it be some sort of manner in which they plan to eradicate pests?"

"I don't think so," the lady responded. The gas continued flowing through the vents, and it eventually got into their respiratory systems.

At first, they coughed slightly and felt a slight itchiness. It wasn't a big deal at the moment, so they slowly strolled Ace away from the gas.

Suddenly, the mild, simple coughs turned into heavy, bloody coughs. Their skin grew sores that started to explode with puss. Their throats clogged up with mucus, making breathing hard for them.

"What's happening?"

"Are...are they trying to poison us?"

"This...this is horrible. We need to get out of here!" the lady said as she tried crawling out.

"What about the kid?"

"Leave him. We have to save ourselves."

***************

[Meanwhile]

The gas sneakily made its way to Ace's nostrils, and as soon as it did, Ace's body started reacting violently.

[Ding!]

[Stimulant substances ingested. Your human DNA cannot handle the poisonous gases.]

[Defensive measures activated.]

Ace's body was reacting the same way as the others in the room with him, but then his system went into defense mode and transformed him into his blood mutant form.

His skin grew thin blood spikes that stuck out like spines on a porcupine. His muscles bulged, and his veins burst open, letting his blood out. However, his blood didn't just pour; it rather stretched over his body.

His eyes became clear as they grew into crescent shapes, making him look angry. His blood soon covered his entire body, making him look like a certain red hero dressed in a spandex suit. The only difference was his facial features. The only things on his face were his eyes, no nose nor mouth unless he decided to open them.

*GROWL*

The lady and both the large men looked at Ace with fear as he grew into a towering seven-foot monster straight from hell. Ace looked at them with bewilderment, and they did the same, but they weren't expecting what happened next. Ace stomped and let out a mighty roar as his jaws opened wide, showing his crazy teeth hidden behind his blood form. The three humans didn't bother running, since the gas had already made them weaker.

With one swipe of his arm, Ace sliced open the lady's head, killing her in an instant as her brains spilled out. The two men, who still had a little strength in them, tried kicking and punching him, but the mutant grabbed both of them with his arms and raised them over his head.

"Please....don't kill me. My son's in this base. I have to take care of my son. My wife was already kidnapped," one of the men pleaded with pure terror in his eyes.

"Please...no no no NO...AAHH!!!" Two blood tentacles grew from Ace's back and dug themselves into the man's eyes and came out from his mouth with his eyeballs and tongue.

The tentacles did the same thing to the other guy, killing him in an instant. Ace dropped the bodies and took some blood off of them. Just then, he heard footsteps running into the room he was in. Not wanting to gain any more attention, he shrank himself as he hid in the air vents.

[Extra blood consumed.]

[Blood tanks have been granted. This way, you'll be able to save extra blood, just in case.]

Ace watched from the vents as he saw Jim passing out from a weird thing that crawled into his ear. Seeing that the man was down, he crawled out from the vents and smiled without showing his teeth. Jim stared back at him with his weak eyes before passing out. 'He knows too much. Perhaps I should end him as well.'

[It is strongly advisable to not do so.] The system warned.

Ace's defense mechanism's time period came to an end, but he had learned to control it a little bit so that he'd be able to breathe properly in this red gas, even though the air was contaminated. Now that the serum was out of him, and the people who gave it to him were no more, he escaped from the building, only to find many people of his age and older running into underground bunkers in groups that were concealed under the grass.

There were a couple of military personnel leading the Gifted, people with serums in them, into the bunkers. Neither of them had gas masks to keep them from breathing the poisonous gases, and this confused Ace very much.

"HEY!!" A man, probably in his late twenties, shouted at Ace. "DON'T TAKE TOO LONG! HURRY IN." Ace reluctantly went down into the bunkers while the last of the Gifted got in. The bunkers were then sealed tight until the gases had worn off. Ace and the other Gifted were flabbergasted by the magnificent architectural prowess of the underground bases. Unlike the upper buildings, these ones were ten times larger, bigger, and much more designed for a highly advanced military academy.

The inside had six levels that went deeper into the Earth's crust. The floors were about twenty-five feet high and two yards wide.

They were designed in a circular pattern with balconies that showed the bottom floor. Right now, the top floor was filled to the brim with all the Gifted who managed to get in. Since the gas did not affect them, they had the opportunity to hide in there until it was safe to go out.

*Ladies and Gentlemen.*

*Boys and Girls, please remain calm and follow the instructors. They will show you where you're to go.*

"Alright, listen up."

"You're all going to the elevators and head to the sixth floor."

"No pushing, and do not exceed the ten-person limit."

"For those of you who can jump or teleport, go to the bottom floor."

The students did as they were told, but before they left, another instruction was given concerning the adults.

"For those who are twenty years and above, please head outside. There is a secondary base for the adults."

The adults were separated from the teens while they made their way to the bottom floor.

Ace was shoved and pushed by the more buff teens, almost knocking him off his balance. Ace tried to keep himself from falling over when suddenly, a discomforting pain grew from his back after someone kneed him while holding his neck in a chokehold position.

"Well, well, well. Look who survived!"

'No. It can't be. Please don't.'

"Little mouth breather, Ace." Ace knew damn well who it was, for he was the same person who nearly let him die of an asthma attack three months ago. " Looks like little Acey didn't die after all." Jason said with his now much deeper, more masculine voice.

He then let go of Ace and said, "Look at you, having gained some weight. You're not as puny as you were." He smiled.

Ace thought Jason wasn't going to do anything else, so he continued making his way to the elevator. "Get back here," Jason said as he tackled and pinned Ace to the ground. With his fist raised, a blue energy ball formed as he smiled tauntingly. "Even though you're bigger than you were, you're still my punching bag. Got it!" Ace didn't reply but rather stared angrily at Jason.

He would have loved to show him just a little bit of his blood-mutant abilities, but he wasn't so sure if he could take on his high school bully. Besides, he didn't even know how what abilities Jason had and how damaging they could be if used on him.

"Get off of me, please!" Ace pleaded. Jason smirked as he let go of him and said,

"You're still the same weak Ace. I'm gonna enjoy torturing you."

[Ding!]

[Side Quest Available: Become strong enough to oppress your high school oppressor.]

[Rewards: ???]

'We'll see about that, Jason.'