The Future Will Change

A few days later…

Keiji, having started to recover with a few burn marks on his face, had received a message to visit Vertex in the hospital. Accompanied by Silver Spoon, he’d arrive there via one of her family’s limos.

The vampboy would walk through the hospital and past the receptionist desk towards the room that Vertex had been stationed in. On his way there, he passed by several of his fellow House Iota brothers who had rather somber expressions on their faces as they left the hospital. Seeing this caused Keiji to fear for the worst. His eyes shot open, his heart raced, and he quickly sprinted down the hall towards Vertex’s hospital room.

Once there, the open door of the room would allow Keiji to see that Vertex was actually alive and well. He immediately took a sigh of relief as he stepped into the room where the EKG was beeping at a steady rate.

“...oh thank god,” Keiji commented as he stepped inside and took a seat one one of the chairs at Vertex’s bedside. “I was assuming the worst there for a second, but it looks like you’re okay.”

“...” Vertex glanced over at his newest frat house recruit and gave a forced, painful smile. “...I’m just glad to see you again, brother.”

“Me too. That situation was horrible, but it seems like you’re gonna make it out okay,” Keiji replied with an earnest smile, “Oh and don’t worry about that cat bitch. She’s dead and you won’t have to worry about anyone else being hurt by her either.”

“...good to hear,” Vertex responded with a small sigh as he glanced at the ceiling.

Confused at the presence of their fellow House Iota memebers, Keiji would continue the conversation, “...so uh…what’s going on? Why’d you wanna see me so soon? And what was the deal with our guys from Iota being here?”

“Needed to explain some things to them,” Vertex went on, “I need to be up front with you, Kei. Things aren’t…gonna pan out well.”

“...whaddya mean?” Keiji tilted his head, “We beat the bitch, we’re alive. That’s all that matters, right? C’mon, you’re overthinking things, bud. Soon enough, you’ll be back in classes to get your majors and fulfill that doctor dream of yours,” he encouraged his friend with a smile.

“...”

Vertex looked upwards for a moment and decided to start the conversation over by bouncing off of what Keiji had just said.

“...pal. I don’t think I really quite explained why I wanted to become a doctor, huh?”

“You said you wanted to help people, right?”

“...I wanted to become a doctor because my entire family was killed when I was little,” he went on, “...right in front of me. Mom, dad, my little brother and sister. All shredded to pieces by some…weird demon thing…” He held his head in his palm as he shuddered. The memory of what happened clearly took a toll on him even now.

Something that Keiji could feel even from where he sat. “...I…I see now. Now I get why you’re so apprehensive towards mutants too.”

“...yeah. Though the thing is…I’ve figured out that you are one,” Vertex muttered with a smile while glancing at the vamp. “...a vampire pony from that other world, huh?”

“I…yeah…”

“...and a few of your friends that were born here have mutations from that world too. Like Sandbar with the sand stuff. Cool, huh?”

Keiji blinked his eyes. What could this mean for Vertex now? He had to know.

“Wait, so does that mean you don’t hate mutants anymore?”

“...yeah. Well, the ones who aren’t criminals and assholes anyway,” Vertex chuckled, “But that’s pretty much how regular people are too. I made too much of a snap judgement before, so I wanna apologize to you at least, Kei.”

Keiji felt no animosity towards Vertex to begin with, but could absolutely understand where the guy was coming from given his past. “...no need for that, brother. I feel you. Sorry for what happened to your family. Sounds to me like they were good people who didn’t deserve what happened to them.”

Vertex nodded slowly. “...yeah. My mom was a mail runner and dad was a gardener. They both kept things in order while my little bro wanted to drive race cars and my sis wanted to become an astronaut,” he grinned at the fond memories before his expression flattened, “...too bad, though. They were all pronounced dead in this same exact hospital believe it or not.”

“...ow…damn, I’m…sorry…” Keiji muttered awkwardly as he scratched the back of his head. Then he came up with another query. “...hey, before all that went down, what did you wanna do when you got older?”

“Be a rocker,” Vertex replied with a smile, then changed the subject, “Have always loved music. But…anyway, there’s some things I need to talk to you about, Keiji. Gotta make this quick.”

Given that visiting hours were extremely tight, Keiji was understanding of this. “No prob,” he leaned forward with focused interest, “What’s up?”

“...gonna need you to take over for me as House Leader. Not gonna be able to…”

“Until you get better, right?” Keiji cut him off and pointed confidently at himself, “I can handle that. Anything that needs to be done, I’m your guy and they’ll listen to me.”

“...” Vertex glanced at Keiji, then turned his head away.

“...until you get better, right?”

With a heavy heart, and a low tone of voice, Vertex would finally come clean. “...when I said I gotta make this quick, I literally meant that I don’t have much time left, man. As of this moment…I’ve only got a few hours left.”

Keiji froze, and clutched his chest to make sure his heart was still beating. The news rattled him to his core and caused his hearing to deafen to the immediate area around him. “Wh-what…? No…no way…you’re fucking with me, right? C’mon…”

Vertex shook his head. “...There’s nothing I can do. All of our other Iota brothers already know. I just wanted to let you know so you can take up the mantle for me when I’m gone.” He reached out and patted Keiji on the shoulder. “...stay cool, alright?”

“...you…you went through all that trouble to save me and now…” Tears started rolling down Keiji’s face as he grit his teeth. The overwhelming sense of helplessness left him unable to do anything but cry for his new, dying friend. “...you’ve thrown away your life for someone like me?! What were you thinking, Vert?!”

“...I wouldn’t say that,” he replied as he let Keiji go, “...quite the opposite, actually. This experience…it’s given my life more meaning than it ever had before.” He flashed a genuine, wide smile at Keiji, “...and for that, I’m grateful. You were the best mutant I ever met.”

“...” Keiji glanced up at him, eyes filled with tears as he sniffled, and threw his arms around Vertex to hug him. “...I won’t forget you. You got that? I’ll make sure you’re immortalized for what you did for me.”

“...I’d rather you didn’t,” Vertex chuckled as he accepted what was essentially his last hug of his life. “Nothing crazy like a huge ass memorial or anything, alright?”

Keiji let him go and nodded as he wiped his face. “...promise. Nothing crazy like that.”

“...Now let me explain what you’ll have to do as House Leader from here on.”

With that, Keiji listened to Vertex’s explanation on what to do as House Leader for Iota. The vampboy wasn’t going to allow his friend’s death be in vain and made sure he listened to every last detail and kept them in mind as he left the hospital.

Once he arrived at the limo where Silver Spoon had been waiting, she immediately walked up to him, and held him tightly to comfort him. “...I’m sorry, Keiji.”

“...don’t be,” Keiji replied with newfound courage, “...he’d want me to live happily. Not in fear.”

And with the last few beeps of the EKG…it flatlined. Content with his decisions, Vertex Incline had passed away from his injuries with a peaceful smile on his face.

“...see you soon, everyone.”