16 Dreamscape

Chapter 16: Dreamscape

"Soul? Hmm..." Zayn pondered deeply.

"Let me rephrase that. What do you know about the soul and how it affects your genetic ability?" The man asked again.

"Do you mean like...Soul related Abilities or..." Zayn scratched his chin.

"No." The man sharply interrupted.

"Up till now, you must have had a silly misconception that the Abilities of humans solely depended on their genes..." The man began to speak.

"Wait, they're not!?" Zayn inquired astonishingly.

"Of course they're not. Although it does count for about 75%." The old man stated.

"Hold up. 75%? What does that even mean?" Zayn shook his head. This was beginning to get a bit more complicated than he had hoped.

"What I mean is...a weak body cannot host a powerful soul, and the same also applies vice versa. The two parts, body and soul, must be in a state of harmony for either of them to reach the limits of their potential." Old Man Billy said mysteriously.

"Wait! I have some questions. Isn't the soul supposed to like control the body or something like that? And state of harmony? Is this some kind of magic? I thought we were talking about genes here." Zayn scratched his chin.

"Have you heard of Arthur E. Clark?" Old Man Billy probed.

"Yeah. Any sufficiently advanced technology is..." Zayn replied.

"Indistinguishable from magic." The both of them finished the sentence.

"There's your answer." Old Man Billy smiled.

"I see." Zayn had a flash of realization.

"For years, humans had been studying, researching, performing countless trial and error experiments to see what exactly gave them their genetic abilities. But you see...they had subconsciously overlooked what lay in front of them the whole time." Old Man Billy lectured.

"The soul? But I thought there was no scientific evidence to prove the existence of the soul." Zayn stated.

"You're right. There wasn't. Not until Von came along." The man answered.

"Von Strauss? Him again? What does he have to do with this?" Zayn inquired.

"He proposed a theory. Humans have a...special kind of gene, that gives them their powers, strengthens their bodies, and releases genetic energy. He called it "X-Genes." The man recalled.

"Wait! Did you just say "X-Genes?"" Zayn looked surprised.

"Yes. Do you know about it?" The man inquired.

"Yeah..." Zayn explained in full detail, the ins and outs of the Genetic Symbiotes, how they were formed, and how they were related to the X-Genes.

"I see. Technology has really come a long way. I remember when I used my first Genetic Scroll..." The man reminisced.

"Stop it, old man. I'm gonna puke." Zayn interrupted.

"Von said that X-Genes are the core of a human's genetic make-up. He also said that when a human's genetic ability reaches Perfection, they are one step closer to unlocking the limits of their genes..." The man did not mind Zayn's snide remark and continued speaking.

"What did he mean by that?" Zayn asked.

"He meant..." All of a sudden, Old Man Billy flashed in front of Zayn and pierced his hand into Zayn's chest.

Zayn's eyes widened.

"Wha—?" Zayn's eyes looked towards the old man, who had an impassive expression on his face, and towards his chest.

Strangely, he could not feel any pain.

Zayn looked at Old Man Billy, who drew his hand from his chest and ferociously ripped out a dark mass of matter from Zayn's body.

"It's better to just show you." The old man's face was indifferent.

The dark mass of matter finally morphed into a humanoid shape, constantly shifting and twisting until it transformed...

"What? Who are you?" Zayn demanded in shock.

"I am you." The chaotic mass of matter had transformed into a being that shared a vast similarity, both in appearance and demeanor, with Zayn.

"What is this? Is this some kind of freakshow? How can you stab your hand into my chest, acting as if you were gonna f**king rip my heart out, and then pull out another version of me?" Zayn asked incredulously at the old man.

"Oh. This is not a joke. You humans have always been quick to put off what you cannot understand. It makes me sick. Now, acknowledge my existence. Or I'll kill you." The other Zayn said darkly.

"O...kay. Someone's a bit of a psycho here. I don't even know who...or what you are, and I should acknowledge your existence? This guy cannot possibly be me, or even a part of me. He's too dumb. And what does he even mean? Human? What exactly are you?" Zayn pointed out snidely.

The other Zayn's eye twitched.

Old Man Billy stifled a chuckle.

"Here's the gist, boy. This IS a part of you. The part that causes your...what was it? Murderous Impulse State? Yes, that's it..." The old man remarked.

"Wait, what? How do you know about that?" Zayn's eyes turned cold.

"Hold on there, boy. You're in MY dreamscape. Even though I didn't read your memories, the dark and chaotic thoughts up there is too hard to ignore." The man pointed at Zayn's head.

"You can sense my thoughts?" Zayn deduced.

"On a subconscious level. It's one of my quirks. Do you think I want to read your memories on how you live as an assassin underneath that lazy mask you put on? Please. I don't have that much time." The old man scoffed.

"Okay. Now that's just downright creepy." Zayn waved his hands.

"So...what's the whole gist here..." Before Zayn could finish his sentence, the other version of him suddenly jabbed his hand into his chest, causing him a great deal of pain.

"Did you think I came here to play house with you!? You pathetic weakling! How dare you use a toxin to restrict me? I'll kill you!" The MIS Zayn roared.

{A/N: I'll use MIS Zayn to refer to the other version of Zayn from now on.}

Blegh!

Zayn spat out a mouthful of blood.

"Blood? I thought this was an inner world..." Zayn rubbed his lips, staring incredulously at the red liquid on his hand.

"And who says inner worlds can't be as real as the real one?! Like I said, you're too quick to put down what you can't comprehend!" MIS Zayn swung a kick at his counterpart.

Blocking the kick with his hand, Zayn soon found that the dark place had transformed into a scene from his childhood.

Flowers everywhere, in a serene and cozy picnic. Well, not exactly serene. There were quite the number of people, but for little Zayn and his mother, it was like they were the only ones in the world. They laughed and played around in the grass, with little Zayn occasionally falling on the ground, near one or two boxes of food laying by the side.

"What is this place? Is this some sort of illusion?" Zayn shook his head. This sort of trick could fool anyone. But not him.

The scenery changed again.

This time, it was not a very favorable scene to Zayn. He was lying down on a sophisticated bed while a dim light scanned his body.

This was where...

"Have you seen it? This was where it all began! The time where you gave birth to me!" A mad voice sounded behind him, followed by a heel kick that landed on his back.

Zayn's eyes closed for a second due to the extreme pain he felt in his body.

"Argh! Dammit! Where is he?" Zayn grunted.

When he opened them again, he was standing by the street. And a few meters away from him was the 20-story building he and his mom lived in. A few people could be seen rushing off to God knows where. Even in the dead of night, the city was quite bustling.

A bright full moon hung in the sky.

"Is this...what's going on here? Why have you brought me here?! Why are you showing me this? Do you think this illusion can fool me?" Zayn wiped his lips.

"Oh. Whoever said anything about an illusion?" A sinister voice echoed.

Zayn looked up at the night sky, his vision reaching the highest point of the building, where an injured woman could be seen, blood seeping out of her mouth. Her face was pale white, and her clothes were bloodied.

"Mom? Mom! — You?!" Zayn's eyes widened as he saw the dragon scaled figure holding a large spear that was dripping with fresh blood, standing behind the injured woman.

"Ronaldo! If you dare lay another hand on her, I'll kill you!" Zayn growled.

"Oh my. You already said that before, didn't you? But here we are. You can't kill me. You can't even stop me from torturing your poor mom." Ronaldo made a shallow cut on the woman's body as he grinned at Zayn with pure schadenfreude.

Zayn's eyes turned red.

His eyes flashed with a malicious glow, and two bright red laser beams shot violently towards Ronaldo.

"Oh. Was it that move you were trying to use earlier against me? It seems so pathetically weak." Ronaldo used his scaled arm to slap the two beams into oblivion.

It was so casual, that it left Zayn completely dumbfounded.

"Surprised? Did you think you were the only strong one in our class? Ridiculous. Now. For the pain you caused me, I will reap your dear mother's life as compensation." Ronaldo held his spear with both hands, and violently thrust it towards the woman's chest.

"No!!!" Zayn's body sparked with lightning, as he raced towards the two.

Stab! Splash!

Rivulets of blood splashed in the air under Zayn's shocked eyes.