0.8 𝒎𝒆𝒏 𝒊𝒏 𝒃𝒍𝒂𝒄𝒌

EDDIE didn't know who he was anymore. He remembers what he did at the restaurant so vividly that he knew he wasn't dead, but he might as well have felt like it with the lack of control he had over himself. 

He was stuck between reality and a crazy, incredibly wild LSD trip, as he thought of it. He was also questioning what had happened at the LIFE laboratories greatly. 

What had come out of Maria that night? What had crawled into him? What had gotten into him? Why was it seeming that at random he'd be shoved into the backseat like something else was in control: another instinct. 

Riley was pondering similar questions, just with less detail.

What had happened to him that night he was gone? What were those pictures doing on his phone? What had gotten into him?

And now, she had a thought that she might be able to get some answers, as she was standing on one side of a MRI room. Eddie was in the MRI scanner, perfectly still, with Daniel and Riley on the other side, plus another doctor.

Riley had a level of borderline trust with this Dan that she didn't have with most, as he made sure she was able to stay with her father on the ambulance ride to the hospital. 

"Eddie. Eddie? Eddie, can you hear me?" Daniel poked his finger onto a loudspeaker button, "this is Dan speaking to you."

 After a moment of silence, Eddie responded.

"Hey.. Dan.."

"Welcome back."

"Where am I?"

"Uh, you're in the MRI, okay? We gave you a little sedative," Daniel stays calm, as Eddie's heartrate forces a frown on his face, as he hears only Dan's voice.

"Where's Riley?" Eddie's voice didn't need to shake with concern to show his sudden realization at his daughter missing from the picture, but it still happened anyway. 

"Riley's right here next to me," Dan spoke with a light tone, waving Riley over to him. He pointed to the speaker, and she nodded. 

"Hey Dad," Riley smiled, "how you doing over there?"

Hidden by the MRI machine, Eddie's sigh wasn't heard, but his smile could be heard in his voice. Maybe only Riley noticed the change in his voice, but it didn't matter. At least the two knew the other was semi-okay. 

For the Brock's, okay wasn't just okay. It never would be, and so semi-okay was what they had to work with ninety percent of the time. The other ten percent was left to draw with either life being absolute shit, or a fever dream of unrealistic fantasy. 

"Hey Rils, I'm doing.. I'm semi-okay. How about you, sweetheart, are you alright?" 

"Yeah, I'm good." Riley took Dan's nod to continue. Riley took a deep breath, "okay, so, now their just gonna run some tests, with the scanner thing-"

"MRI," Dan interjected, and Riley took a moment to force a small smile.

"Uh, yeah, the MRI.. but don't worry, it's completely painless, and you won't feel a thing." Dan nodded as Riley stepped back, crossing her arms and taking a deep breath.

Her breath had an easier time settling for the quiet hum of the MRI machine through the glass, and the small clicks of the computers ramping up the scanner. That was over speaking and having to use medical terms and an listening to an interrupting Dan.

However, that quiet bliss was shattered, as something literally started to tear Eddie apart, his mind sucked back into the rear view mirror as something else started to take over.

His body shook uncontrollably, black veins starting to pulse forward at his forehead, his eyes shifting violently from Eddie's to the same white one's that Riley had seen in the bathroom earlier. 

Speaking of, Riley didn't see any of this with her own two eyes. She only heard the screams that erupted from his body, thundering through the speaker, alarming everyone else in the room that something is wrong.

Riley jerks, her body reacting to the unhuman-like sound that came from the side of the room. She jumps forward, her hand on the speaker as she tries to keep the panic from seeping through her voice.

She fails, "Dad- Dad?!" 

Her brain gets no answer, and makes a fight-or-flight descision. Instead of fighting the urge to ask her Dad questions, she runs. Runs right to the door, slamming a hand on the pad for the gateway to her father. 

"Shut it down, shut it down!" Dan yells, his partner typing wildly on the keyboard to do so. The sound of the machinery booting down calms Riley's wild eyes, but she still scurries to her father and immediately starts to try and get him to sit up. 

Dan appears right next to her, trying to get a better grip on Eddie than Riley does, just because he knows she wouldn't be able to genuinely hold Eddie up if he tried to stand. Riley swallows quickly, one hand on her father's right shoulder while the other holds his elbow tightly. 

"Hey-hey- hey," Dan repeats, "you're okay-- you're alright? Hey- look at me, look at me-"

If there's one thing Dan would be able to force Eddie to do, it wouldn't be to look at him. Eddie's bloodshot eyes look wide as he swats away Dan's arm, breathing deep into his chest at a fast rate. 

"Eddie- take a deep breath- take a deep breath," Dan inhales, taking a step back and instead, noticing how Eddie's shoulders seemed to relax once his grip was released. Expecting him to not listen to him once again, Dan opens his mouth to speak, but is stopped when Riley's hand catches his eye. 

Not the one holding her Dad's hand, but the one holding a firm pointer finger at him, low enough for Eddie to not notice. Dan takes it as a statement, not a suggestion, to stay back until Riley allows him back near Eddie. 

"Dad- Dad, it's okay- okay? We're good, okay? You're fine, I'm here," Riley half smiles as her voice fails her, heart still pounding in her chest, eyebrows raised and her face laced with concern. 

Like before, right when Riley's voice cracked in the apartment and brought Eddie back to his seemingly drivers seat in his mind, the same happened now. Within a moment, Eddie's gaze was on Riley's, and the Brock's both shared a lower heartrate after that, with Eddie squeezing Riley's hand. 

He was semi-okay, is what he told her. She gave a small nod, replying the same way.

They were semi-okay. That was all that mattered. 

For now anyways. 

This meaning that not even hours later, all hell had broken loose. Remember that ten percent of the time that was either extremely shitty or a fever dream? Yeah, the Brock's life became an rare extreme neither was used to-- an extremely shitty fever dream. 

From the shaky walk out of the hospital to the awkward ride on the cable car, it wasn't too bad. Riley only had to half guide her father everywhere there were people around-- which in the Brock's case, was literally everywhere.

It was San Francisco, goddamnit, so there wasn't really a place where anyone could go without people around. 

Until they got to their apartment, Eddie and Riley had really swapped places. 

The apartment was a place of 'chill' for the both of them to be themselves, in their own ways of course. For Riley, it was for her to be alone by herself, in her own thoughts and paintings. For Eddie, it could be a lot of different things, from taking a nap to watching a show, but this one was a new one. 

He was making a bag of week old pizza rolls, though of course anyone can do that. Pizza rolls are always a good option, especially when all else fails.

This didn't last for long, though, because Eddie soon was on a call with Anne, trying to sound like he wasn't completely exhausted and still mildly bothered by today's recent events.

"Hey, Anne," Eddie trailed off, letting the eager blonde on the other end speak with a comforting tone. 

"Hey, Eddie, how are you feeling?" 

He half chuckled, "I'm feeling, well.. I'm sick." 

Instead of giving more comforting phrases, Anne's voice hardened and her thought came out blunt as ever, "You have a parasite. They're not sure how you got it, but it would explain the fever." 

Eddie nodded his head, "yeah, that makes sense." He squeezed his eyes shut suddenly, pacing the room. His head, the back of it, he could feel it again. It was like it was pulsing starting to form, pushing against Eddie's personal thoughts in the drivers seat. 

He started to panic.

"Also.. uh, uh- I'm hearing a voice?" Eddie wasn't sure whether Anne would believe him, but at that point she'd probably seen enough to know he wasn't kidding around. And, of course, the one other person besides Riley who'd believe him on the spot was a doctor. 

Daniels voice flowed through the phone quickly, "Auditory hallucinations are actually very comm-"

"Oh hey Dan," Eddie interrupted, eyes squinting as he scratched his head, "You know- you know I didn't realize you were on the call too..." 

"Yeah, I'm here."

Eddie frowned, his voice becoming animated, "Uh, hey Dan, this parasite, would it make me- I don't know.. would it make me, like climb a really, really tall tree, but, super super fast?"

WE JUST DID.

Eddie held in a jump, his head jerking near him as his eyes leaped to see who else was in the room. But no one was there: just him. 

"Okay, well, Eddie, it sounds like it could be causing some malobotic abnormalities, making it hard for your body to maintain homeostasis."

Eddie continued to pace, rubbing his temple with his fingers, "you said causing body, and I lost you-"

"Listen Eddie, um, we are gonna get you on some meds, and we are gonna clear that out." Dan stated positively.

"Yes, yes-"

Eddie's agreement was interrupted by yet another voice, but this time causing a bigger reaction.

NEVER GONNA HAPPEN.

Suddenly Eddie was whisper-yelling aloud, feeling half his control over his brain start to wither away. He tried to make sure the other end of the phone call couldn't hear him, but it failed.

"Eddie we're just trying to help you," Anne interjected, sounding slightly disappointed. 

Eddie let out a breath, "I know, I know, I'm just not actually talking to you, Anne.." He drifted off.

"Who're you talking to?" Anne asked lightly, as her and Dan leaned closer to the phone. They sat at the table in Anne's apartment, eating take-out for dinner. 

"Okay, I'm just gonna call you back, so, thank you, thank you Dan, thank you thank you-" And with that he hung up, just as a bone jerking noise entered his earshot. 

While Eddie suddenly tensed throughout his whole body, Riley groaned, hearing the loud rock music of their neighbor. She didn't have the energy to get up to paint today, but for this lousy, roudy neighbor of theirs she had a little too much energy. 

She swung her door open, rounding the corner of the kitchen area when something flew her direction-- a garbage can. 

"Jesus-!" She exclaimed, jumping back. Her eyes flew to her father who was storming out of the apartment. She followed his shadow, watching him from their doorway as he pounded on the door. 

"Wassup man?" the neighbor had a blank expression on his face. 

"Hey, could you turn your music down please, cause I'm having a really rough time," Eddie growled out, not making direct eye contact with him. His hands gripped the sides of the doorway tightly. 

Their neighbor wasn't taking him seriously as he sighed it off, "Whatever." 

But then Eddie felt the backseat enter his mind, as a new voice appeared and growled at the long haired man. It had black and white eyes, and sharp, narly teeth as it made an appearance, scaring the hell out of the neighbor. Riley watched, her own eyes widening as her father turned back into the apartment, their neighbor nodding shakily and shutting the door quickly. 

Eddie didn't notice Riley yet, however when she grabbed his attention, "Dad? What- what was that?" 

Eddie's head jerked up, panic forming again at an explanation to what happened.

But what was he supposed to tell her, other than he didn't know what actually happened himself?

"Uh-" he started, searching for some sort of quick wit to respond with. He really did try, his brain wracking itself to try and find a solid answer that wouldn't spook his daughter more than she already was. 

Riley leaned her head in slightly, still trying to find her father's eyes, "Da-"

Ding!

Immediately Eddie was scrambling, almost tripping over to the kitchen as he took advantage of the pizza rolls alerting him of their readiness. Riley blinked and licked her lips as her hands flew into the air to display her flurry of irritation. 

"Dad, could you like, please talk to me? Like a normal human being?" Riley was still standing near the doorway, as Eddie had his back to her, still handling the hot pizza rolls.

"Huh?" He responded, suddenly shaking his head and turning away from Riley's questions. Riley was about to open her mouth again to speak, this time irritation starting to flare, but waited as she watched her father go to the door to check it, after a knock of five beats came. He shook his head again, twisting the doorknob. 

Riley peaked her head around Eddie's form, the two of them spotting no one in the doorway. 

That was until a flurry of men barged in, entering with one shoving Eddie back. He jerked away and quickly found Riley, pushing her back towards the couch and entirely behind him. 

"Hey Eddie." 

Before she could yelp out in fear, Riley shortly was shoved behind her father, shocked at what just happened, frozen in her spot. Her jaw was still wide open as she barely got out a whisper, "the fuck?" 

Eddie heard it from a distance, but after a moment he couldn't remember what she'd said at all within the last five minutes. 

WHO THE HELL ARE THESE GUYS?

A bald man stepped forward, as Eddie's right hand shot back as Riley tugged on it. She leaned to her right to see the man staring right at her father. "I'm gonna need Mr. Drake's property back."

Within the instant he said it, like it was a secret code Riley thought, guns with lasers were pointed at Eddie's chest, his arms flailing up as Riley gasped, eyes wide. Her arms were up, suprised by her father's quietness. 

"Dad," She whispered, "Just give them their property back.."

Sure, he had guns pointed at him from some random guys in black who just broke into their apartment, but he surely wouldn't be quiet if it meant his kid's safety. 

Yet again, Eddie wasn't here anymore. 

This was something else in control, even as Riley watched in a chaotic sense of terror at her father starting to shake and.. fight himself?

"I. am. putting my hands. Up!" He gritted out, suddenly flailing so much that Riley stumbled out from behind him. She backed up near the brick surrounding the window, suddenly feeling the difference in her chest as a red dot followed her too. 

The bald man only looked at her for a moment before returning to observe Eddie, still fighting and mumbling random things aloud, tilting his head. Riley didn't know what was going on with her father, and she certainly didn't know why this man was so calm right now. 

Okay, sure, he was in control of the situation, but watching the person you've got guns pointed at start to fight himself should get a reaction, right?

"Eddie," the man stated coolly, "Eddie, where's the bug?"

Eddie, however, was sweating like crazy and barely got out a whimper of a question, as the loud voice he'd been hearing decided to really go for it. 

Riley's mouth twitched: she wanted to say something to try and relax her father, but just then, and only right then, did the weird shit start. 

"Fine. Take him," the words birthed a command, as the men fired their guns. Four tazer shocks hit Eddie in the gut all at once, one passing him. 

It was like ripping off a band aide to get it over with, in the simplest terms, as a black goo stretched from Eddie's arm, shooting the man closest to Riley out the window as well as absorbing the tazer shock heading right towards Riley's chest. 

It was instinctual for Riley to scream, but instead somehow she let out a flood of explicit language. Her back was entirely up against the wall, frozen in place as her father's other arm lunged out the same black goo, rocketing another man to the ceiling. 

It was instinctual for Eddie, oddly enough, as his arms were free for a moment and the next his right arm extending for the black goo to cover the third man's face, slamming it into the other long arm he had the bald man in. And then, like it was an Agatha Christi book, then there was one. 

The bald man was an inch away from Eddie's face as Riley's face was contorted in fear and awe, breath stopped entirely in her throat as she watched her father whisper, "I'm so sorry about your friends-" And then slam the man into their coffee table. 

"Jesus fucking Christ!" Riley exclaimed, as the only thing she was able to get out was explicit language.

Her brain was not used to this type of stimulus-- this high and adrenaline pumped kind. Her eyes were wild around the room, spotting a man starting to stand.

Though all she did was point before actually getting anything out, it was like Eddie knew what she was pointing to and where exactly the man was.

A large dumbbell was suddenly flying through the air, the man on the other end of the room near the kitchen taking the full impact. 

Eddie's hands retracted to himself immediately, Riley pushing herself into the wall so hard her shoulders and back hurt, eyes dilated as it was like her father was playing with black slime. He was trying to rid the black goo of himself but it was no use, it just wouldn't unstick itself. 

Riley, too focused on her father's parasite, didn't realize the man next to her, who was starting to get up.

Seeing a blur of color, the man grabbed Riley's ankle to try and help him stand, alerting Riley quickly. She yelped, jerking away and sending a instinctual kick forward, her shoe slamming into the man's face. 

Before she could do anything else, his face was bursting with blood from his nose as she fell back, tripping over her own jerk away from the man and ending up on her butt.

She felt immediate guilt for breaking the man's nose, sure, but half of her shouted at her that it was self defense, all while watching the black stuff come out of her father again, suddenly wrapping itself around the man's neck multiple times. 

And then that man was slammed into the ground too, just as another started to come up. This time it was the bald man, and it was like a routine Eddie had never know, but suddenly seemed to realize as his own within seconds.

His body moved before his mind reacted as his leg extended with the black stuff, flipping over into the man's face, sending him down as Eddie's knees took the impact of the sudden move. 

There were four men in the apartment before with guns to both Eddie and Riley, and now they were all sprawled on the floor. 

That was until another man came in, blazing gunshots like crazy. 

"Oh, shit!" 

AUTHORS NOTE - i feel like this chapter is a filler and also im so sorry ive been dormant for so long but school is like a buttcheek on a stick ☠️ BUT ILL TRY TO UPDATE MORE OFTEN HOPEFULLY NOW bc i dont work this weekend!!!