4 Waking Up Inside a Tube

"... full... stable... vital..."

"... what... status... enchantment..."

I heard... voices....

I heard... people... talking....

I slowly opened my eyes, my consciousness gradually returning. The world before me was a blur of sounds and shadows. Slowly, shapes began to form in the dimness. Figures loomed over me, their features obscured by darkness.

A group of people stood before me, their appearances indistinct. Neither age nor gender could be discerned clearly, as the scant light sources only allowed vague glimpses of their figures. But... even in my dimmed vision, one thing stood out: 'White...' I thought to myself, noticing that they were all clad in pristine white lab jackets or coats.

Turning my gaze to another point of interest within my dimmed vision, I discerned the source of the scarce light: dim illuminations emanating from the sparse ceiling lights and high-tech equipment. These machines softly glowed in the gloomy darkness.

'Am I inside a laboratory...?' I thought to myself as I connected the two pieces of the puzzle. I witnessed what I presumed to be scientists working and discussing with each other. I didn't have much of a clue about what they were doing right now, nor could I actually hear what they were saying. But... with that being said... they sometimes glanced at me, as if they were checking on me...

Then, I surveyed my surroundings even more. I tried looking to the left... and found another person beside me. In fact, there were not just one person, but a bunch of others, creating a long row of people.

'What...?' I thought to myself, dumbfounded and surprised. I was surprised not just by the existence of this row of people, but also by what they were. These people... while indeed they were lined up in a perfect row, they all stood motionless, as if they were sleeping while standing. Each of them was encased within glass tubes, resembling something straight out of a Sci-Fi laboratory experiment.

The other thing that really stood out from them... was that they were all dressed in dark gray to black attire. No... they were not exactly attire either, but... they all looked like skin-tight suits, covering them from their fully-covered heads to most likely the edges of their toes. These were something you would mostly see in fictional comic book characters. But for these people... their skin-tight dark gray or black suits made them look like the villains from a superhero comic. No... to be precise... they looked like the goons or grunts of the supervillain.

'Grunt...?' That single word stood out in my mind. Then suddenly... The memory of a voice from a certain 'Witch' crossed my mind.

"Oh...! A Grunt, you say?"

Followed after that, flashes of memories flooded my mind.

Public Park, kids, Heroes vs. Villain, grunt, alleyway, the "fortune teller" lady, dark flame, the searing pains, running, being run over...

Wicked smile.

The sudden flood of memories washed over me like a relentless tide, each one hitting me with a force that felt like physical blows. I clutched my head instinctively, hoping to quell the mounting pain that accompanied each memory. In particular... the last one... The wicked smile of the Witch. Remembering that smile... caused the most pain in my head.

"Hey! Subject No. 703 is exhibiting abnormal behavior!" I heard a shout, likely from one of the white-coated scientists. Soon after, hurried footsteps approached, presumably from other scientists gathering around the caller.

"What's the problem?" asked the first scientist to arrive, addressing the one who had shouted. Still wincing from the massive headache caused by memories flooding my brain, I could make out several white-coated individuals now gathered before me.

"Look! Subject No. 703! He has awoken!" exclaimed the scientist who had first alerted the others. 'Subject... 703'? I vaguely recalled hearing that number shouted just before. Who were they referring to?

'Is it me...? Am I... one of their subjects...? Am I... Subject No... 703...?' I pondered while still enduring the headache, trying to grasp why I was here in this dim laboratory, surrounded by scientists and possibly other 'subjects' like me. I also realized I wasn't breathing normally; I was inside some sort of clear watery liquid in a tube, similar to the other subject beside me.

"That's absurd! Our enchantment hasn't finished yet, and they should all still be in a deep trance," declared one of the scientists to the others. They began discussing among themselves, likely deliberating on what to do with me.

'Enchantment'...? What had these scientists done to me...? Then, I noticed my arm, which I had been using to quell the headache; it was covered entirely in a dark gray, almost black material, just like the other 'subjects' beside me.

It felt... odd. It seemed like I was wearing a skin-tight suit, but simultaneously, I could feel my own skin directly touching the liquid substance I was submerged in. Shifting my attention to my other arm, I found it also covered in the same material.

As I examined my body further, I realized my entire body was enveloped in this dark material, from my torso to the tips of my toes. If I had to guess, my head was likely covered too, like the other 'subjects' beside me. This dark material hugged my skin tightly, giving me the sensation of being a character from a comic book, clad in a skin-tight suit.

Not to mention... I seemed to have abs now. It felt... odd, a complex mix of emotions flooding through me. I had been fairly thin with little muscle definition, but now my body appeared toned, as if I had been hitting the gym regularly for 1 to 2 years. I also noticed numbers labeled onto the dark material on my left chest, presumably indicating the subject number. '703...' I read the upside-down number with a mix of bewilderment and unease.

Out of curiosity, I attempted to touch and feel my newfound muscle mass, but as soon as I touched my chest... 

"Now, now, I'm just going to give you a little 'token' to help you on your journey."

Dark flame. Searing pain on my chest.

Wicked smile.

Flashes of memories suddenly flooded my mind again, reminding me of my encounter with that 'Witch' of a woman. She had "branded" me with her so-called "token". As soon as those memories began to flood into my head, the painful headache returned again, halting any further thought inside my head. Not only that... My chest started to feel the same burning sensation of that dreaded memory of mine.

I clutched both of my head and also my chest, to suppress the hollow pain that I felt because of that memory. I couldn't talk nor scream in pain in this watery-filled tube. The only thing that came out from my mouth was just bubbles going upward.

The scientists that had been discussing in front of my tube had also noticed my pained reaction. "Quick! Check his status!" One of them urged their fellow scientists to check on my... status? I couldn't see clearly what they were doing right now, especially when I was in this agonizing pained state, but I could somewhat vaguely see that one of them pulled out a tablet gadget and began fiddling with it.

"Look here. High level of pain indicators on the area of his head and torso," the scientist holding the tablet stated to their fellow scientist. The few of the scientists also peered through the tablet that most likely showed my 'status'. They soon began to discuss with each other again.

"What should we do about him? Up his anesthesia dose?" One of them suggested. I didn't really want to get knocked out again and kept getting experimented on by these white-coated scientists... but being relieved of this painful agony was starting to get tempting.

"Hold it." A commanding voice suddenly interjected through the scientists' discussion, denying me of my salvation. The scientists fell into silence, then turned and directed their attention to an approaching figure. This figure was also obscured by the dim darkness of the room, but... *clack, click, clack*, the sound of heels' clacking could be heard, even from inside my tube.

"Ms. Victoria, ma'am." Many of the scientists addressed the approaching figure with respect, revealing the name of said figure. I tried to force open my eyes to see the approaching figure. While still basked in the darkness of the room, the figure was clearly wearing the same pristine white coat that the other scientists were wearing, indicating that this figure was one of them as well.

Slowly but surely, the figure's silhouette began to look clearer with each step she took, revealing the feminine and ladylike figure of the approaching woman. Her white coat hugged her well-endowed figure quite nicely, that even I was a bit mesmerized by it... but the hollow pain that I was still experiencing in both my head and chest interrupted any further thought about this woman's charm.

As the woman scientist approached the scientist group, they all stood up straight in her presence. The scientist who had been holding the tablet then offered it to the woman. She began to examine and fiddle with the tablet.

"Interesting..." The woman scientist commented on what she was seeing on the tablet. Then, she began to walk closer to the tube where I was submerged. The other scientists made way for her to approach me, signifying her importance. As she came closer, her visage became clearer to me: A beautiful, bespectacled blonde woman.

"Good morning, Subject... No... Grunt No. 703." The beautiful blonde scientist addressed me with a mischievous smile.