Chapter XVII: Graduation Day

Chapter XVII: Graduation Day 

“Well, here we are: graduation day. I knew this day would come, and I couldn’t possibly be more proud of you four right now. Oigres, you can either continue to be my assistant, or you could have a lab of your own somewhere on the premises.” 

“I will remain your assistant until I know for sure what I want to study.” Oigres says. 

“Accepted. Razul, I know you’ve been looking forward to this day since you were born. You can be your father’s co hunter until you’re confident enough to go on your own.” 

“I already am.” Razul says. 

“If you think so, then so be it. You’re of age now, I can’t stop you. Nyvar, you are now fully licensed to practice Galaxian and human medicine. Try not to mix them up, please.” 

“I promise I won’t.” Nyvar says. 

“Nogal, Gorgon tells me you’re doing great work, and your idea for purifying ocean water was complete genius. You are hereby promoted to Commander. Like Gorgon, you will have your own troop to command.” 

“Yes!” Nogal says as he gets a new uniform. 

“Well, what are you all standing around for? Don’t you have work to do?” Oigres takes his station, Nogal leaves with Gorgon, and Nyvar goes to her office. 

“So, what are we hunting today?” Razul asks. 

“We’re hunting Scotts today.” Ballester says. 

“Ugh, we ALWAYS hunt Scotts!” 

“Well yeah, they’re everywhere.” 

“Fine, but I wanna fight a Ching at some point.” 

“Believe me, no you don’t.” 

“Whatever.” 

“Ready when you are.” 

“I’m not going alone?” 

“Well, sort of. You’re in charge of the mission, we’re just here in case you die.” 

“Wait, what?” 

“We make it look easy, don’t we?” 

“It is easy, they’re just Scotts.” 

“Sure bud.” He calls Hallester. “Yo bro, wanna come with me and Razul Scott hunting? Oh, you already are? Where are you? We’ll just meet up with you.” Ballester and Razul leave the building, and Chimmy lets them out of the gate. “Follow me.” So, they start walking through the woods and eventually meet up with Hallester. 

“So, what are we doing?” Hallester asks Ballester. 

“We’re letting the kid do it himself. We’re just here to observe.” 

“Got it.” They continue to walk until they find a pack of Scotts. Some of them are having sex with each other, one is having sex with a dead deer, and another is banging his head against a tree. Razul finds himself a nice spot to shoot from, and he starts sniping, blowing up the heads of the two Scotts with one bullet at just the right moment. He turns his sights on the one humping the dead deer but he’s not there anymore. The Scott banging his head against the tree died from his injuries. 

“Well, I don’t see the other one, it must have ran- aaaaugh!” Razul yells as he’s bitten in the leg by the deer humping Scott. He grabs his rifle, but the Scott knocks it out of his hands and continues to gnaw on Razul’s leg. 

“Use your short range weapon!” Ballester yells over. 

“I can’t- I don’t have one!” He yells back. 

“What? Why?” 

“I didn’t think I’d ever need-” He passes out, and Ballester takes his pistol and shoots the Scott in the head. 

“Let’s go get him.” He tells Hallester. They walk over and pick up Razul, and head back to the lab. Chimmy lets them through the gate, and they head into Serge’s lab. 

“Is he alive?” Serge asks. 

“Yeah.” Ballester answers. 

“Bro! Is he alright?” Oigres asks. 

“He’s alive, but hurting. The Scott bite is already infected. Take him to your sister’s office.” Ballester carries Razul to Nyvar’s office followed by Hallester, Serge, and Oigres. 

“Oh my Lord Scorpious, what happened?” Nyvar asks. 

“He got bitten by a Scott.” Ballester tells her. Ruzal starts to wake up. 

“Duh, I’m stupid.” He says as he starts banging his head against the wall. 

“Hold him down.” Serge says, and they strap Ruzal to the bed. Serge takes a sample from the bite and heads for his lab. “You can come or stay, Oigres.” Oigres follows Serge out of the doctor’s office. 

“What do you plan to do?” Oigres asks. 

“I need to figure out a cure. The longer that stays infected, the higher chance he has of becoming Scott.” 

“Like a zombie?” 

“Exactly, except in search of brains, he’s just going to be stupid and have sex with other Scotts, dead things, and eat s**t.” 

“Yeah, I don’t want that life for him, let’s figure this out.” Meanwhile, Ruzal is trying to break out of his restraints, and he s***s himself. 

“Duh, I’m stupid, I want poop!” 

“Um, what?” Nyvar asks. 

“Poop in my mouth please.” He opens up his mouth. 

“That’s...not happening.” She injects him with a shot and puts him to sleep. “I hope they figure something out in there.” 

“Yeah, I don’t wanna hafta kill my own son.” Ballester says. 

“Why would you kill him?” 

“If he turns into a Scott, I’m gonna hafta.” 

“I don’t want that to happen.” 

“Me neither.” Oigres and Serge return an hour later. 

“Alright, so, with a simple blood transfusion, he should be back to normal. Nyvar, did you clean the wound?” Serge asks. 

“Yeah, best I could. The teeth marks are still a little on the green side.” Serge inspects the bite. 

“It’s alright, it’s just bruising. The combination of human and Galaxian DNA is intriguing. Get your mother in here.” Nyvar pages Gorgax, who shows up a few minutes later. 

“Oh my Scorpious, is he going to be ok?” Gorgax asks. 

“Yeah, we’ve started the transfusion.” Serge says. “When your species bruises, what color is it?” 

“It’s a teal-ish color, why?” 

“That bite mark, that looks bruised, correct?” 

“Yes, but it’s a different shade of green, it’s so much darker.” 

“That’s the human blood. Since he’s got a combination of DNA, his blood is gel like, like yours, but it’s red like human blood. The only donors compatible with him are his siblings, and Oigres volunteered.” 

“Anything to help my little brother.” Oigres says, and Gorgax and Nyvar ‘aww’. Razul wakes up. 

“What the f**k happened?” he says. 

“You got bitten by a Scott.” Ballester tells him. 

“Oh s**t, is that why I’m strapped down?” 

“Yeah, you were turning into one.” 

“Oh hell no, I couldn’t live like that!” 

“Yeah, luckily your brother donated blood to counteract the Scott DNA.” 

“Am I cured then?” 

“As far as we know.” Serge says. 

“Cool, so how long I gotta stay here?” 

“As soon as your transfusion is done, you can head back home, but you’re off of work for a few days.” 

“Aw, damn.” 

“Sorry, can’t risk it.” 

“Fine, whatever. Thanks, sis, thanks bro.” 

“No problem.” Oigres and Nyvar tell him. 

“Keep an eye on him.” Serge tells Ballester. 

“Yes sir.” Ballester says. He and Hallester go and start hunting Scotts again. They find a couple 69ing each other, and Ballester pops them both. 

“Hey, I wanna get some kills too!” Hallester complains. 

“Eh, I’m sure there will be more.” They keep walking, and sure enough, they come across a couple of more Scotts eating s**t off of the floor. “They’re all yours.” Hallester goes up to one, and cuts its stomach open, and uses its intestines to hang the other one from a tree. “Nice.” 

“Yeah, it’s like a work of art.” 

“It’s getting dark, wanna head back?” 

“I guess. Good thing I got some kills already today.” 

“Whatever.” They head back to the lab, and Chimmy lets them through the gate. Ballester and Hallester report in to Serge, then Ballester makes his way back to his apartment. “Hey, how’s Ruzal doing?” 

“He’s doing ok, I suppose.” Gorgax tells him. “He’s just been sleeping it off in his room.” 

“Alright.” Ballester walks down the hallway and knocks on Ruzal’s door. No answer. Ballester lets himself in. “Ruzal?” 

“What?” Ruzal asks. 

“How are ya doing, buddy?” 

“Aside from my leg hurting a little bit, I’m fine.” Ruzal says. 

“Ah, that’s good to hear.” 

“Dad?” 

“What?” 

“When am I going to be allowed back out?” 

“Whenever Serge says you can.” 

“Duh, alright!” Ruzal says, frustrated. 

“What was that?” 

“I SAID ALRIGHT! F**K, DAD! JUST GET OUTTA MY ROOM!” 

“Alright, fine! Geez!” Ballester leaves and closes the door behind him and makes his way back to the living room. “Kid’s got an attitude on him.” 

“He gets it from his father.” Gorgax says as she smirks at Ballester. 

“He said ‘duh’, do you think that there’s a part of him that’s still Scott?” 

“It hasn’t even been a day, give it some time.” 

“Alright, fine. But I’m letting Serge know.” 

“Whatever.” Ballester heads to Serge’s lab. 

“So, Ruzal said ‘duh’, should I be concerned?” 

“I don’t know, it’s still too early to tell.” Serge says. 

“That’s what Gorgax said too.” 

“Is he lucid?” 

“Yeah.” 

“Then he’ll probably be fine.” 

“Ok, if you say so.” 

“Look, just get some rest, and just keep an eye on him. If he regresses, let me know.” 

“Alright, fine. Oigres, you coming?” 

“Go ahead, your shift is about over anyway.” Oigres follows Ballester back to the apartment, and they meet up with Nogal and Nyvar on the way back. 

“How’s he doing?” Nyvar asks. 

“I guess he’s ok, he said ‘duh’ earlier, it has me concerned.” 

“It hasn’t even been a day yet.” 

“Everyone keeps saying that.” 

“Wow dad, do you actually care about someone other than yourself?” 

“Huh. That’s never happened before, I guess I do.” 

“What are you guys talking about? What’d I miss?” Nogal asks. 

“I’ll fill you in when we get home.” Nyvar answers.