Chapter 1
~Mordecai’s POV~
My eyes itched, and I didn’t have to look in a mirror to check if they were bloodshot behind my thick-framed glasses. The dim-lit fluorescent blue light of the lab was soothing at first, giving a sense of tranquility, but after three years here, these lights only brought a headache. The scrubbed benches were full of neat rectangular machines with blinking lights, all the sophisticated laboratory devices costing millions over millions of dollars. A computer to the side hums quietly, and the smell of antibacterial soap is as strong as ever in the air, along with the scent of other chemicals. The desk before me was a mess of textbooks, notebooks, diagrams, and analytics. There was also another sound in the lab that would make anyone shiver in fear, but after months of his presence, I got so used to him, his growl didn’t faze me anymore.
In an artificial swamp with a thick bulletproof glass separating the humid environment from the laboratory, was the biggest Nile Crocodile our investors could find.
Honestly, after graduating from Oxford at only 16, I had expected to do something much more fascinating, but here I was, in the middle of a swamp, in a laboratory with other scientists in the pursuit to find the cure for cancer with the help of this crocodile species cells.
We made cosmic signs of progress at the start, but now it seemed things were in a frustrating pause. I pulled off my glasses and rubbed the bridge of my nose. For almost two days, I haven’t slept. We were low on time, and if we didn’t show actual results to the investors, we could lose everything we made so far. The project would be canceled, and all our research taken away from us. I couldn’t allow that, and neither did my colleagues.
Taking a minute break away from the bright monitor of the computer, I glanced in one of the mirrors of the laboratory. Just my reflection made me remember why I was in this place. You would think a guy my age, 26, would have had some success, but the only form of success I had so far was in the academic field.
Being a tall and skinny guy never assured me of a position in sports, not to mention my health issues. I had severe asthma, which required me to have my inhaler with me non-stop, plus tons of allergies. My looks weren’t anything special either; dirty blonde hair, always messy no matter how much product I would put in it, pale blue eyes, which made my ivory skin seem sicker, and the freckles that only added to my geeky vibes. Just the way the oversized white lab coat hung on my body made me hate mirrors.
And the biggest shame, I never had a girlfriend. Yes, at the age of 26, I was a virgin. Didn’t even get my first kiss. Through the years, I made peace with this issue. No woman would spare me a glance, because of the heavy baggage I had to carry with me throughout my whole life. Academics never impressed girls. I was at the top in biomolecular biology classes, but that was invisible to the female species. So, seeing as I would never have a partner with whom to spend my life, I decided to focus on something else, but even a career as a scientist didn’t seem to bloom. As a former Oxford student, some might think I got noble prizes, but that wasn’t the case, but it will change if this current project would become a success.
“Mordecai!” I snapped out of my inner monologue by Dylan’s voice as he yelled my name. I glanced at Dylan, the one who leads this experiment.
“What?” I asked him, putting my glasses back over the bridge of my nose.
“I called your name five times, and you spaced out again.” He stated as he held an electronic notebook. “I got some bad news.”
I internally groaned. That’s the last thing I wanted for today. Bad news.
“What is it?” I asked him, leaning back into my desk chair, my back hurting from the neck all the way down to the last spinal cord. The curse of spending more than half a day at the desk for years.
“We got an email from the investors. They have cut our deadline short.” My eyes widened at the bitter news.
“W-What? But they said-”
“I know what they said.” Dylan cut me off, looking as tense as me. “But we haven’t got any improvement for five months, and they want results now.”
“What more could they want?!” I shouted, only to cough a little. “Isn’t it enough we had managed to use the crocodile cells to heal mice and rabbits? Remember that bunny who was on the brink of death? We almost resurrected him, and the microscopic footage of his cells healing themselves at a record rate? How could they say the results so far aren’t enough?” After I finished my raging ramble, a coughing fit hit him, and I felt how my pulse rate grew as well as the pain in my lungs.
“I know it’s very unfair, Mordecai, but the investors are leading us the money for everything that we use here.” Dylan motioned to the entire laboratory. “Remember, the main purpose of this research is to cure human illness, not the animals.”
“And what we should do then?” I asked him, baffled, as I ran out of solutions. Of the entire team, I always worked the most, spending my life in this hell place while others took breaks to be with their families and partners at home. I had no such luxury.
Dylan looked away from me, his jaw stiff as he fiddled with the notebook in his hands. “There is something we can do.” He spoke under his breath.
“What?”
“We have to use a human.” Dylan’s words were heavy and firm, like a rock hitting me, and I gave him a stunned expression, almost silently telling him he was crazy.
“Are you out of your mind? We are not ready for this big step, plus the procedure is unstable for humans. I had doubts with mice that the healing process will go smoothly.”
“But it did go well.” Dylan reminded me about how delighted the entire team, including me, had celebrated that day.
“Still... Who in their right mind would accept to be a lab rat for our experiment?” A bitter laugh escaped me, picturing what individual would sign up for our research program.
Dylan’s lips quirked into a forced smile, before looking me up and down, and a bad feeling formed in my gut by his answer.
“You.”
An unsettling feeling formed in my belly, and a cold sweat materialized on the nape of my neck.
“W-What?” He couldn’t be serious.
“Come on. Let’s analyze the situation. You are a sick man, Mordecai, and judging by the last check-up by the doctor, your condition won’t get better. The last thing you can do is take this project to finality by putting your personal mark on it... and who knows? Maybe the experiment will be a success and all your medical issues will vanish.” Dylan’s persuasion wasn’t reaching my ears.
“The protocol is unstable. You are nuts!” I shouted out, making the other team colleagues look at me and Dylan. I blamed my outburst on the lack of sleep, nausea, and Dylan’s selfishness.
“So you won’t take part in this.” I narrowed my eyes at the leader of the team.
“I would be a kamikaze to accept this insanity,” I stated firmly, standing my ground.
“I see...” Dylan nodded, his lips into a tight line before he sent me an apologetical look, before glancing at the other guys in the laboratory, who all looked as if they waited for Dylan to say something.
“Get him.” The moment these words fell from Dylan’s mouth, everyone stood up and walked over to us. My eyes widened, and anxiety bubbled in my chest, only for panic to take its place when two of the bigger guys caught me by the arms. That’s when I started to kick my legs and trash around.
“H-Hey! What’s the meaning of this!? Let me go!” I shouted out, fighting instincts kicking in when they dragged me to the main device of the project, where the big capsule was waiting with the door open.
“I am sorry, Mordecai, but this is the only option we have left. Just like you, I refuse to let years of hard work and research go down the drain.” Dylan tried to sound apologetic, but his voice lacked any empathy.
“You’re making a mistake!” I yelled, trying to pull away from my colleague’s grip, but it was fruitless. My strength was nothing compared to theirs as they tugged me on the platform toward the open glass capsule. With one rough push, they threw me there, and before I could get back on my feet, the door closed. I was trapped.
I banged my fists against the glass, but deep down, I knew breaking it was impossible. The glass was bulletproof.
“Dylan!” I shouted the project manager’s name.
“It’s the only solution, Mordecai. I refuse to go back to teaching idiot youngsters at the university. Ungrateful little bastards.” Dylan commented, walking over to the control panel. “Think of this as your ultimate contribution to the experiment. If it’s a success, the world will be forever thankful for the risk you took.”
“Bullshit! The procedure is still unstable for humans! And you know that!” I shouted, pressing my palms against the glass, looking Dylan straight in the eyes.
“Every man of science had done great sacrifice for humanity. Marie Curie, who exposed herself to radioactive elements. Galileo Galilei, who has made an immense contribution to the field of science by inventing a telescope, which made it possible to study space and related objects. But the irony was that his invention became his life threat. Galileo used to continuously watch celestial bodies, especially the sun. Excessive viewing of the sun led to extreme damage to his retina, which resulted in blindness.”
Dylan has done insane. He was speaking nonsense, even though whatever he said was true, the risk of our experiment was too high.
“Also The flying tailor, Franz Reichelt, was a well-known figure. He had a strong desire to fly and even constructed an aviator outfit. His major goal was to create outfits that would serve as life jackets for aviators. As a result, he manually tested these suits by flying from tall buildings. His concept and design were successful. Along with the suit, this particular outfit had a parachute to help aviators land safely. Even after multiple attempts, Franz Reichelt was unsatisfied, so he decided to put it to the test by leaping from the first deck of the Eiffel Tower. However, his plunge from the Eiffel Tower landed him at the death doors. Do I have to give you more examples?”
“Don’t do this. You will regret it.” I gave one last attempt, hoping I could knock some sense into him.
“All in the name of great science. Let’s start.” He declared, and the two at the control panel, nodded, starting to type on the keyboards. The sound of the device being turned on resounded, and above me a small panel opened. My eyes widened as tubes with syringes came out toward me. I tried to dodge the big needles, but the small space didn’t help. A hiss left me when they pierced my spine and the sides of my neck. I grasped one of the tubes and tugged on it to pull the syringe out, but they were implanted well into my flesh.
“First step is done. The tubes are fixed.” I heard one of the colleagues inform Dylan, and from my spot, I saw the Nile Crocodile in tubes similar to mine.
“No...” I whispered, my heartbeat growing in panic.
“Second step. Fill the capsule with the gas.” Dylan ordered, and a hissing sound filled the little space I was trapped. After the hiss, I saw a thick white gas come out of the floor.
I glanced one last time at the team and Dylan with horror, but to my utter shock, they manifested no sympathy. They treated me like one of the lab rats we used all this time. The gas was so thick, I couldn’t see outside anymore.
“Second step is done.”
“Perfect,” Dylan said. “Third step. Transport the crocodile cells into the subject’s body.” No fucking way he called me a subject. The bastard.
After he said that, I saw from the corner of my eyes how the tubes were transporting these cells, right into my body. My legs were shaking in fear, and I felt like pissing myself. The outcome was unknown. I could only prepare myself for the worst. I felt the cells entering my body. My eyes closed tightly, shaking like a leaf as I waited for something bad to happen. I counted the seconds in my head. One minute passed, then two. Slowly, I opened my eyes, and nothing happened.
Well, that wasn’t so bad...
I spoke too soon as the biggest pain imaginable hit me. First, I felt like someone punched me in the gut, followed by the discomfort spreading through my entire abdomen. My arms wrapped around my torso, and I yelled in agony when the sensation of a thousand needles piercing my back hit me. I collapsed on my knees, hunched over as every nerve in my body burned. A thick layer of sweat formed on my skin. The salty fluid dripped down the bridge of my nose. I felt like a fire erupted inside me.
I couldn’t even make out what Dylan and the others were saying outside of how intense the pain was, and it only got worse when I felt like my muscles and bones were ripping and breaking. My glasses fell off my nose. I didn’t even care when I stepped over them. Something was horribly wrong, especially when my hair and teeth fell. I could taste the blood on my tongue. Weirdly, it tasted sweet.
When my fingertips glided over my gums, my eyes widened. In place of my fallen teeth, I felt razor-sharp ones. For the first time since the experiment started, I glanced at my hands. I was horrified by the sight. Green scales covered my hands, and very sharp claws were in place of my human nails. The worst part? My hands seemed to grow, as did my whole body. Along with the pain, confusion hit me when I felt like something grew from my tailbone.
Oh God... What was happening to me!?
This horrible sensation could be described as being thrown into a giant blender, chopped into tiny bits, then rearranged like plasticine, and at the same time a drill piercing the skull. Right then and there, I thought I was going to die as my pulse accelerated, and I felt like a rabid dog, then... everything stopped. The pain vanished as if it wasn’t there in the first place.
When my eyes opened, I found my sight without my glasses impeccable, and I never felt my lungs so powerful. Glancing down at myself, my eyes widened. My feet had claws, and my legs looked like massive trucks full of muscles. The clothes I had on were torn to shreds as they didn’t fit me anymore. Looking higher up, I was astonished to see my abdominal muscles so defined, and when I touched my now sturdy pectorals, they felt like steel. Something else caught my attention, tough. It was the massive crocodile tail behind me. The sturdy tail was connected to me.
I-Is this really me?
Yessss...
I didn’t know where that deep and guttural voice came from, but it sounded like it came from the far depths of my mind, like a second brain. Flexing my hands, I never felt so... fresh, so unhinged. The sensation was nothing like I ever felt before. I was reborn.
Kill all of them! They treated us like lab rats!
“I cannot see him. It takes a few minutes for the gas to vanish, but his pulse is normal, but his body temperature is lower than it should be.” One of the scientists from outside spoke.
“Mordecai... Mordecai! Are you there? Can you hear us?” My pupils turned to slits as I heard Dylan’s voice, and my insides felt like they were being filled with fire. It was pure-blooded rage.
KILL THEM.
The voice growled in my head, and I couldn’t help but listen to it. Instincts took over, hands balled into fists, and with two powerful punches, the glass of the capsule holding me broke like fragile porcelain. Everyone gasped at the piercing sound of shattering glass, and even more so as I made my appearance.
“M-Mordecai?” Dylan asked me, looking like he saw a ghost, and everyone had either a stunned or horrified expression.
“W-What happened to you?” He asked me, not making a move forward, clearly reluctant of the situation.
My lips curled into a devious smirk. “Evolution, old man,” I replied and even my voice had changed. From a higher-pitched tone to a baritone one with a hoarse edge.
Without wasting another moment, I pounced on one of the guys who dragged me into the capsule. Instincts lead my actions. My jaws opened wide, and I clasped my jaws around his head. Unfamiliar with my new strength, I bite with all force, crushing the man’s skull as if it was a watermelon. Pieces of bone and bloody tissue filled my mouth. The taste should have made a human puke his guts out, but I found the taste very pleasant. It made my mouth water and for me to see red. The guy didn’t even have the time to scream, and now his headless body fell at my feet. Blood squirted out of his open neck.
Everyone screamed, and I snarled loudly back like a wild animal.
“Take him down!” Dylan screamed, and the younger ones dashed toward me with electroshocking guts. The shocking devices felt like a tickle against my thick, scaly skin. Their attempt at taking me down didn’t hurt one bit. It only annoyed me. Narrowing my eyes, I grasped the lower jaw of one of the guys, then straight out ripped it off. Red splattered all over the white tiles. The other one seeing as the electroshock weapons had no effect on me, tried to get away, only for me to grasp him by the back of his neck.
Growling under my breath, I picked him up with both hands, then smalled his back on my bent knee. The crack of his spine echoed through the laboratory. It was sickening but so delightful to my ears. A very high-pitched scream pierced my ears, and when I turned around, I saw the only female scientist yell her lungs out as I brutally killed three men as if it was the easiest action ever. She wasn’t a threat, but her screams were pissing me off, so I slammed my heavy tail on her. She flew to the other side of the lab against the wall like I hit a ball with a baseball bat. Her body fell lifeless on the hard floor. Her neck was obviously broken, and her limbs were at an abnormal angle.
My eyes scanned the place and landed on the last one standing - Dylan, who looked like a scared mouse as he hide behind a desk.
“What’s the matter, old fart? You looked so confident before.” I mocked him, slowly stalking around, getting closer to his hiding place.
“Mordecai... You have to stop. This is not you. I-If you want... We can try to reverse the procedure.” He suggested, grasping the backrest of the desk chair, using it as a shield as I walked toward him.
“Go back? Why would I do that? It feels so much better now.” I puffed my chest out, flexing my deadly hands, covered in blood. “Never felt so refreshed before... so powerful... so unstoppable.” I rasped out with a sadistic grin.
With one huge step forward, I grasped the desk chair and threw it across the room. It smashed into pieces, and the metallic sound echoed through the laboratory. Before Dylan could run off, my hand clasped around his throat. I picked him up with ease as if he weighed nothing more than a mouse. He clawed at my forearm in a pathetic attempt to inflict some pain to escape.
“L-Let me go! G-God... You are crazy!” He screamed in a gurgled way, choking on my iron hold. The feeling of domination made tingles of sadistic pleasure run through me.
I raised an eyebrow at him, my toothy grin widening. “Oh? Now I am the crazy one. The nerves on you...” My hand loosened, then tightened around his neck, playing with his breath like a cat plays with a mouse by the tail.
Dylan glared at me. “Y-You fucking... monster.” My grin dropped at the words, and what little playful energy I had, morphed into rage. In a swift move, I slammed him down, and before he could get up, I pressed my heavy foot on his chest, making sure he won’t get away.
“If I am a monster, then I should do what monsters do best, no?” I inquired, pressing my foot against his chest harder until I felt his sternum crack under the pressure. He choked out blood. His hands continued to claw at my feet until I grasped one of his wrists. I tugged on his hand and smiled when I heard his shoulder dislocate. His screams only fulfilled me, and I continued to tug more to the point that muscles and skin tore, and his arm came off his body. Blood squirted around him, but I wasn’t done. Throwing the limb behind me, I applied the same treatment to his other arm. With every minute passing, he lost more blood. His skin looked sickly pale, and sweat covered his face.
“Mordecai!!!!” He shouted my name, and I gave his right cheek a punch. The satisfying crack of his cheekbone followed.
“That’s not my name anymore, bastard,” I grunted out, putting my entire body weight on his chest and using my other leg to smash both his knees. “Call me Croc.” He hissed out, seeing how Dylan’s eyes rolled back, slowly fading as death consumed him. I moved away from him, and with one last move, I smashed my tail over his face, completely destroying his skull. My crocodile tail left a trail of blood as I walked away. The dead silence consumed the laboratory. It felt both relieving but also bitter. My steps came to a halt when I gazed into a body-length mirror. I could finally see myself for the first time after the experiment.
It shocked me to see how tall I was now. Probably over 7′0. With an astonished expression, I flexed my bulky muscles in the mirror. My biceps were now the size of an adult human skull, and my body was covered in faded green scales. My face was another story. There was nothing human about me anymore as I resembled a humanoid crocodile with a big snout and mouth full of sharp teeth. My eyes were a yellowish-orange color with the pupils into slits. From head to toe, I was wearing the blood of my deceased colleagues. I resembled a canvas of carnage, and the more I looked at myself, the more I hated what I saw.
I was a monster... Just like Dylan said. My lips curled into a snarl, and in an outburst of anger, I punched the mirror. It shattered into million pieces as reality hit me hard.
I was forever trapped like this. I couldn’t go back to civilization to lead a normal life.
You can live here in the swamp.
That voice from before told me.
Make it your home. Your territory.
My territory?
Yessss. No one can hurt you. No one can kill you. You are the Apex Predator now.
The Apex Predator? I like the sound of that.
My lips curled into a wicked grin.
Maybe this new life won’t be that bad.
