Whatever was going on outside was none of Ryan's concern anymore. The problem was outside, and it wasn't coming inside, so there was no problem. Even if something did come in, he wouldn't hear it. After washing his hands and nearly painting the sink red, Ryan plugged in his headphones, then lied down in the center of the boxing ring.
Ryan stared at the ceiling while his favorite playlist, "End of the World," blasted in his ears. About thirty minutes ago, Ryan had no idea what he would do. His old friend was now a piece of modern art scattered across the floor. Should he go on a killing spree? Should he go home? Should he test out his newfound ability? No, none of those. He had the perfect playlist for this. So he decided to just do that until help arrived. Would help arrive? What would help even be? Who would come for him?
He asked himself this as he blatantly ignored the buzzing of his phone. Maybe there would be a clue there? Nah. His eyes didn't tear away from the dark ceiling stretching far above him. The music hypnotized him. This was better than whatever the world had planned for him. The internet could go out at any moment, so might as well make the most of it now.
The song "all my friends," by 21 Barbarian played along. Ryan lied on the canvas, letting the lyrics flow into his ears.
"I don't need no friends if you really wanna know the truth~"
No friends, huh? Ryan thought to himself. Images of his friends began to flash through his mind against his will. Like a powerpoint presentation, he saw Darnell, he saw Makayla, he saw Alicia, he saw Tristan, he saw Teemo, he saw Illyana, he saw Vanessa, he saw Raj, he saw Michael. He saw some more individuals he happened to know, but they didn't hit as hard. He willed himself back to his close friends. He wondered where they were. He wondered what was happening to them.
"Lost a couple friends, I ain't even really mad though~" sang 21 Barbarian.
"No, I'd be mad if I lost them." Ryan said out loud.
Where were they? Ryan suddenly shot up. He had to check his phone. Ryan reached to his side where his phone rested. Ryan checked his notifications where every update on what had been going on outside was being updated. The first thing he checked was the group chat which read:
Darnell: "Just met up with Vanessa" - 1 hour ago
Makayla: "Raj and I are at the daycare" - 1 hour ago
Darnell: "Ight, Michael and Alicia are closest so we goin there first" - 1 hour ago
Darnell: "Then I'm goin for Tristan" - 1 hour ago
Makayla: "Kk" - 1 hour ago
Tristan: "Please hurry." - 1 hour ago
Darnell: "Just grabbed them, on our way Tristan" - 56 minutes ago
Tristan: "Wya?" - 44 minutes ago
Tristan: "Darnell?" - 39 minutes ago
Makayla: "Darnell u okay?" - 38 minutes ago
Darnell: "We got Tristan, sendin him to u Makayla" - 25 minutes ago
Makayla: "O ok! Don't scare us like that! >:(" - 24 minutes ago
Darnell: "My b lol" - 24 minutes ago
Makayla: "Wait where u going?" - 24 minutes ago
Darnell: "To Ryan" - 23 minutes ago
"To me?" Ryan said out loud. Ryan looked around, he was still alone in the gym. Should he call them? No, what if that endangered them? Ryan wasn't sure what to do. He ran to the bathroom. Ryan looked himself in the mirror, he looked like a mess. His nose was still swollen from the headbutt Keith had given him earlier. He tapped it. It stung. What a surprise. He ran his hand through his rough hair. There was some blood in his hair that disrupted the dirty blonde color. He splashed water into it over and over. He managed to smear it. Ryan sighed into the sink. "What am I doing?" he said to himself. His music was still blaring in his ears.
Ryan exited the bathroom feeling dumber than before. Why did it matter how he looked when his friends saw him? As Ryan walked back into the gym, scratching his neck, he could hear shuffling behind the ring. Ryan stopped dead in his tracks. He examined the giant dim corridor of the gym. Nothing. Was he just hearing things? He did still have his headphones in. Ryan decided it was just a part of the song. Still, he looked down at his hand and balled it. He commanded his fist to do what it did before. He flexed it as hard as he could, concentrating. Slowly, he felt a tingling sensation along his entire forearm and fist. Like his skin was being opened up from his pores. The red shell began to cover his arm again, starting in small spots that grew larger and larger until conjoining. Soon, his fist was covered in a red shell again, he made out the irregular white streaks and varying shades. With this, whatever it was, he would survive.
Ryan slowly exited the bathroom again. He peered into the gym, it was mostly dark, except for the few emergency lights and the light from the bathroom. Ryan didn't turn on the lights before because he relished the darkness. He was regretting that decision more and more.
He took one step into the darkness. Nothing. Then another. Nothing. Ryan took more methodical steps along the gym. His eyes darted around the room, looking for any sudden movements. Ryan slowly made his way around the left side of the ring. His heart began to pound even more. He looked down at his fist once more, the red shell hadn't abandoned him.
Ryan approached the second corner, moving as steadily as ever. Ryan prepared for whatever would be hidden behind the ring when the crashing of a ladder happened in the far corner of the gym. Ryan turned towards the ladder that wobbled on the floor from the impact. His heart pounded even more. Whatever was here just gave itself away, but now, it's guaranteed he has to fight now. Ryan stared at the area where the ladder fell. Hoping to discover anything.
The hair on the back of his neck tingled. Like his body was telling him to turn around. The urge grew stronger and stronger until he couldn't bear it anymore. Ryan shot a look behind himself just in time to catch a dark figure reaching for his head. Ryan immediately swung his fist towards the intruder. His crimson punch shot towards his opponent and in a flash, the figure swerved to the side and pushed his fist away. The force of Ryan's punch pulled him forward, causing him to lose balance. But Ryan was quick to recover. Ryan swiveled on his left foot and brought his right foot down in front of him to stop himself from falling. The intruder was now behind Ryan, and Ryan spun his right fist around, hoping to land a back-handed blow. Halfway through, all of his momentum was blocked by the intruder who clashed their forearm with Ryan's wrist. Before Ryan could pull away, the intruder's grabbed Ryan's arm. Then his other hand caught Ryan's neck. Ryan yelled in frustration as the intruder wrapped his leg around Ryan's right leg. In one swift motion, Ryan was brought to the floor. Ryan wailed as the cold concrete collided against his cheek.
Ryan tried to break free, but the dark figure held him down firmly. He heard the intruder speak, "Alicia! Get your spear!"
Ryan's eyebrows narrowed and his eyes bulged. The voice sounded familiar, and "Alicia?"
"Wait!" Ryan shouted out with hope that his hunch was correct.
"...'Wait?'" the intruder loosened his grip. "Ayo! Ryan!?"
"Yo! It's me!" Ryan shouted out.
The dark figure released his hold on Ryan and stood up. Ryan heard footsteps to his left as he began to bring himself up. The figure walked in front of him and offered his hand. Ryan took it, rose up, and came face-to-face with the perplexed expression of his friend, Darnell.
"Darnell!?" Ryan yelled. He looked to his left, and a shorter, skinner, feminine figure holding a long sharp object stood a few feet away. Ryan pointed at her, and using clues from what he heard earlier exclaimed, "Alicia!?"
"Is that you Ryan?" the girl asked.
Ryan patted his chest yelling, "Of course it's me! What are you guys doing?"
"We could ask you the same thing!" went Darnell.
"I was minding my own business! Y'all were the ones creeping around in the dark!"
"We didn't even know if you were still alive or if something happened to you," said Alicia.
"Of course I'm alive!" Ryan yelled.
"Answer the group chat next time then!" Darnell scolded.
Ryan sighed, throwing his face into the palm of his hand.
Darnell walked past Ryan to sit down on a nearby chair, he spoke, "Well, at least you're alive, I was hoping you were."
Ryan looked up at them, "Yeah, I'm glad to know that everyone else is okay."
"Hopefully, it stays that way…" Darnell added with worry in his voice.
"I'm sure it will!" Alicia cheered.
"Yep, let's do our best," Darnell grinned. He stood up and started to examine the gym. "And in order to accomplish that, we'll need new gear."
"Oh yeah," Ryan went and pointed at Alicia, "Is that a spear!?"
Alicia jumped to show it off, "Yep!" she slammed the butt of the spear into the ground and puffed her chest out, "I've slain many a enemy with this!"
"What the-"
"I need a new weapon too, my spear broke on the way here." Darnell said, "Also armor."
"Armor would be good," Alicia said, walking closer to the other two.
Darnell walked behind Ryan with his arms crossed. With a deepened voice, Darnell spoke, "Also, Ryan…"
Ryan turned around to face Darnell, who wasn't looking in his direction. Darnell was looking towards the hallway that led to the exit of the gym. Darnell continued, "I'm guessing that was your doing?"
Darnell gestured his chin towards the bench on the far side of the gym. Ryan realized Darnell was referring to the mutilated body of his old friend Keith across the gym.
Ryan choked on his words for a bit, remembering what he'd done. What he had to do. "Yes," he managed to say, "I did it with this."
Ryan's statement piqued the interest of both Darnell and Alicia. Ryan held up his fist once again. The two leaned in closer. Ryan flexed his fist just like he did before. Only this time, his arm already felt strained. Ryan mentally demanded that it come out again. Nothing. Darnell and Alicia shot Ryan looks as his hand just started to shake.
Ryan, feeling embarrassed, spoke up for himself, "It didn't take this long before…" he fretted. Ryan shut his eyes and refocused. He reimagined the sensation of his skin tingling, crackling open, numbing, then stiffening. This time, there was a hint of soreness, but Ryan ignored it. As he focused on calling out his red shell, he heard the "Ooh" of Alicia to his right. Ryan opened his eyes, and it was back. The red shell covered his fist again, although this time, he felt exhausted calling it out.
"Interesting…" Darnell whispered.
Ryan couldn't hold it anymore and released the shell. The shell retreated back under his skin where it would most likely hide until much later. Ryan dropped his hand onto the ring and started panting. Ryan could feel sweat on his face and arms. He honestly expected more of a reaction from his friends.
"That's it? Just interesting?" Ryan panted.
"You're just like Tristan!" Alicia cheered.
"Like Tristan?" Ryan looked to Darnell for an explanation.
"Yep, you got a superpower too." Darnell said.
"What!?" Ryan exclaimed in disbelief, "It's not just me?"
"Nope, but Tristan's is much more different than yours. But… two people getting some superhuman ability on the same day…" Darnell put his hand on his chin, as he paced away. In earshot of Ryan and Alicia, Darnell thought aloud, "Are Tristan and Ryan's powers connected to the apocalypse? Then how many more people are going to get powers? Do other people have powers?"
Ryan and Alicia looked at each other. Darnell spun around. "Ryan," he said.
"Yeah?" Ryan answered.
"How did you activate it?"
"I dunno. I was fighting Ke- that thing, then as I tried to punch it, it just happened on its own."
"Mans just became a bloodbender out of thin air."
"Bloodbender?"
"Yea, from what I can tell, it looks like your blood coming out or somethin'."
"Oh… that would make sense." Ryan looked down at his hand.
"Anyway, we can discuss it more when we meet up with everyone else at the daycare."
"Yeah! That would be better," Alicia chimed in.
Darnell moved over to a shelf on the wall closest to them. He picked up a roll of bandage tape and headgear. "But first, Alicia, we need an upgrade."
"Yessir!" Alicia rushed over to Darnell to find out what new plan he had now.