Chapter 11: Last of a Dying Breed

Last of the Real Ones: Fallout Boy

I was just the only child of the universe

And then I found you

I will protect you

Cause you’re the last of a dying breed

Wonwoo tossed and turned, trying to ignore the throbbing in his temples and the lurking ache settling in his muscles. It was just… too hot. Although it had never been an issue, the stiff medical cot grated on his nerves. He gulped in a lungful of air. His brain begged him to sleep, but his mind withstood, the stream of thoughts only growing stronger.

“So, it’s not water then…” Wonwoo jumped at the warm accented voice. He’d been so busy with his internal wars (and trying to kick the blanket off the bed) that he hadn’t even noticed the Joshua enter. As soon as he made eye contact with the boy, Wonwoo’s insides stilled enough for him to focus on Joshua’s words.

“Huh?” Wonwoo squinted towards where the boy was refrencing. His mouth fell open. Ice covered every inch within a two foot radius of the bed, ceiling and all.

Joshua inched on the ice, drawing closer and further allowing his calm aura to bliss over Wonwoo. As Wonwoo’s tension released so it seemed the ice did to, drawing close before vanishing all together. Joshua was an odd dude. Odd meant powerful now.

“You know what this means right?”

“I am the male version of Elsa”

Joshua beamed at the lame joke, “Sure, but what I mean is that it’s all real. You have a superpower Wonwoo, welcome to our world. ”

Wonwoo took a deep breath, nodding as if his sanity wasn’t flying through the window, “Okay… So if it really is all true. Why couldn’t I know until now?”

“Remember how Seungcheol explained about 5% of the population has the ‘powered gene’?” Wonwoo nodded, “Well, only around 1% of that population ever ‘awakens’. For the rest of the 5%, they have the gene, but it never mutates. SPAWN invites all 5% and they’re just like really intense about us not sharing our powers with ‘the normal people’ so we’re like on suppressants.”

“Suppressants… the thing that makes your hair like naturally colored?”

“Among other things” Joshua shrugged, “We only really take them during the summers for the camps. We have… two weeks left? So you’ll only need them the last week if you’re ready for ‘the games’ by then.”

Wonwoo shifted in the bed, uncomfortable and unsure about so so many things in this world, “What do I do now?”

“Well answering your questions should take up at least a week” Joshua joked, “No, but really, awakening takes a huge physical toll on your body, so as the cabin’s healer, I’ll be forcing you to rest until you’re really ready. Once your transformation is complete, your “presenting” that will happen, about a month after you first awaken. Until then, you’ll have little to no control over your gift, and some other more minor symptoms. ”

“Symptoms?”

Joshua began taking Wonwoo’s vital signs, “Like I said, minor. You might feel more emotional than usual. Sometimes really tired, but overall you’ll have a much larger amount of strength and energy.”

Joshua paused as a small knock came from the already open door at the side of the room. Seungcheol waved at the two before striding into the room, with Mingyu slinking along behind him. Wonwoo knew there was something off about him.

“How are you feeling?” Seungcheol asked, even though Wonwoo knew now that the older probably already knew that much and more.

“I’m okay. Tired and sore. A little on edge, I mean until now, until Joshua got here, I guess…” He attempted a small smile, but he