Chapter 57: Revelation
Inside the burning, flickering lab, Damon finally stood tall—scars fresh, eyes bloodshot, chains shattered by the now-dead senator’s mutilated hand as he commanded it to free him using his only two hands without any object until he lost bones and enough blood to be dead. As Damon slowly walked through the corridor lined with shattered glass and sirens blaring faintly in the distance, he saw him.
The scientist—the same smug man who once treated Damon like a experiment—was now crawling on the floor, screaming, clutching his own throat, as though something unseen was suffocating him. He begged and sobbed for help, cursing shadows in the corners, striking the floor to escape phantoms only he could see.
Blood dripped from the scientist’s nostrils. His eyes widened in madness as he tried to tear off imaginary insects crawling under his skin. He was trapped inside a hallucination, unable to distinguish what was real.
Phoebe, weak and limping but finally freed, watched in horror.
"D-Damon... How... how is this happening?" she asked, catching her breath.
"This isn’t your ability... is it?"
Damon didn’t respond at first. He just looked at the crumpled scientist—once the master of this lab, now reduced to a shaking mess. Then, slowly, he turned to Phoebe with a calm, dangerous look.
-- Damon’s Revelation --
"No, Phoebe. It’s not my original ability... but it is mine now. Let me explain."
Damon stepped over shattered tools and bent steel, his voice steady.