"What in God's name is a 'Hybroid'?!" All of the Vertigo Project asked at one time. Vyrus began laughing like a lunatic.
'How do we keep encountering crazy people like this?' Heidi asked herself, watching Vyrus chuckle.
Once the old bear gained his composure, he explained, "I'll show you."
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The eight kids all piled into a large vehicle that was a little bigger than their former SUV.
"What are you guys going to do with Primzo?" Marie asked.
"The dog?" Vyrus began, "Don't worry. He'll be taken care of."
No words were really spoken after that. Vyrus had just driven them farther into the battered city, and into the darkened night.
The kids looked out the windows, mesmerized by how worn the town was. As Heidi gazed into the black horizon, a white figure darted out of a building, and ran down the street. She tried following it with her eyes. But it was too fast.
"We're here." Vyrus stated, beginning to drive agonizingly slow. The eight all looked out the windshield. Their eyes all widened in curiosity and terror.
Animals were everywhere. The Vertigo kids had no idea what they were. Hell, how would they know? They'd never seen these creatures before.
The animals looked like giant Komodo dragons on steroids. They were a really dark gray, with orange stripes starting from the head and ending at the tail. Off-white, length-alternating spikes started on the base of the head and ended at the base of the tail. They had massive feet and claws with heavy tails. The most astounding about them had to be their heads. Their heads were sleek, bulky and long. Their eyes were black with white pupils, placed at the end of the snout. A large, pronounced blade was attached to their chins, and they had indentions in their lips to look like teeth.
"Are those the Hybroids?" Akio asked, slightly frightened.
"You betcha! And to think, you'll be fightin' one of those!" Vyrus responded cheerfully. The rest just shuddered, knowing that they were going to die. When Vyrus drove close enough, the Hybroids would stop, look at the vehicle, hiss, then slink away.
They all watched as the Hybroids basically tore each other apart. They roared, bit, scratched, hit, and did many other things that would've killed a human instantly. They looked to be about seven and a half feet tall, maybe twelve feet long.
Then, a loud roar, like the sound of an elk mixed with a train horn, sounded through the air. The Hybroids instantly stopped. They all look around in fright, then ran away.
"Shit, we gotta get outta here!" Vyrus said, frantically putting the car in reverse.
"Why? What's wrong?!" Heidi asked.
Vyrus replied, driving around a corner, "It's the DXM5, you definitely don't wanna encounter that!"
The group of children all looked out the windows, trying to find whatever this "DXM5" looked like. Jackson spotted it, but only a glimpse. He could tell that it was about eight to nine feet tall, dark green-gray, and had bright, glowing green eyes that were thin and pointed downward in a triangular shape. Its head was small with a short snout.
"Where did these things come from?!" April asked.
Vyrus took in a breath, "They were originally created to be a weapon in the War. They created four species, the Kodyadaurus, Polaridae, Hybroid and the DXM5. But, as scientists expected, the animals went rogue, killing almost every genetic engineer currently in the lab."
The man seemed to shudder at the thought, as if it were a memory, "The lab is actually in this city, and that's where the creatures had been staying. They shockingly haven't left. All they do is reproduce and hunt. They're usually not out during the day, but sunset is when they come out. You guys picked the perfect time to show up, 'cause these monsters were about to come out."
"That's nice." Jett muttered under her breath. Nobody really heard her except for Heidi, who was to her left.
Vyrus added, "The really stupid thing that the scientists did was make these creatures eat metal. They have metal skeletons, so they eat each other. These animals are unaware that they, themselves, have metal inside of them. And here's the real kicker, the scientists were all cyborgs. That's why they were killed."
"Oh good." Jett muttered again.
"So," Joseph began to ask, "Why do we have to fight those things?"
Vyrus explained, "Because it's an ultimate test of strength, speed, yadayadayada. It's actually not my choice, it's Moth and her friend Denim's. They haven't said, but it is entertaining. Don't worry, we'll use an older, weaker Hybroid." He smiled in the rear-view mirror out of reassurance. It didn't exactly comfort the kids like the man wanted it to.
Heidi asked, "When are we going to fight the Hybroid?"
Vyrus replied, "Tomorrow."
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The Vertigo Project was shown to their room. They all had to share a room since the house full of cyborgs wasn't exactly a mansion. There were two full-sized beds. The girls and boys separated themselves to be safe.
They were all surprised that four could fit into one bed. One, they didn't want to sleep on the floors. Who knows what was on it. Two, even though they could fit, they had to sleep in rather uncomfortable positions.
The worst thing was, there was one bathroom. And everybody needed to shower. They were offered clothes as soon as they entered the room by these two really nice women. They both had fake legs, and they were young.
Somehow, the cyborgs knew what sizes the kids wore. It has to be the fake eyes. The eyes probably scanned them and the owner of the eye instantly knew.
All the kids really knew was that these people may have been nice, but they had a few screws loose. They also had to fight a Hybroid the next day, for some reason that they didn't even know. The eight hoped they could use their weapons. Speaking of which, were gathered by the hunting party and brought back to the house. The weapons were laid out onto the dresser in the kids' room.
"Guys?" April said. The rest of the group looked at her. She continued, "When we fight tomorrow, we fight together. If one of us gets killed, we avenge them, alright?"
"Oooo, when did you become the motivator?" Jett asked teasingly. April just shoved her, said, "Oh, shut up," and smiled.
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Okay, I know what you're thinking. This situation is really stupid, but I really wanted to include cyborgs in this story. Cut me some slack.
Anyways, thanks for reading!
Trubberys, signing out.
