"Jones! Jones! Jones, wake up!!!"
OJ was rudely interrupted from his dream. He blinked the sleep out of his eyes and looked around his bed. He then noticed that he was the only one sleeping. Driz was nowhere to be seen. Gillian groaned.
"Oh, come on! Stop looking like you've just lost a billion bucks or something! Come on! We gotta go to the U-Chamber right now!!!"
OJ muttered an OK and got up, hastily changing his clothes. He quickly got on the bike and rode off with Gillian towards the direction of the U-Chamber. But as they rode towards the Chamber, OJ couldn't help smiling inwardly as he thought of the night he had spent with Driz.
Yes, you have guessed it, OJ and Driz somehow made it through their relationship. At first, OJ continued to deny Driz and reject him over and over again, but Driz was oblivious to defeat. He kept on chasing after him and sending him gifts and give him butterfly kisses whenever he can. Slowly OJ began to think that maybe Driz was right after all; maybe his guilt for letting Drix die has channeled into a fascination towards Driz, maybe even attraction.
It was about a month ago that OJ finally melted and decided to give it a try. And it worked out rather well. In front of everyone, they pretended that it was all down to business, but whenever they had a chance to escape from public eyes, they glob each other like newly weds or something. Driz even had secret night visits into his room when everyone was asleep and you can guess what lovers do when it comes down to bedding. OJ never dared to mention this relationship to anyone, especially not to Jared. He tried to make up for him and tried to be as much of a father he could be, but Jared had steeled his emotions from him and want to have nothing to do with OJ. In fact, he made it a must to ignore and avoid him as much as possible. Even when the chief tried to help patch up their father-son relationship by pairing them up in a case, but it was always either Jared or OJ who ended up going solo on the case. OJ didn't know what else to do to make it right for Jared, but Driz was always there to give him support.
OJ made a silent promise to himself that once everything was settled and he and Jared were OK, he will openly announce his relationship with Driz, starting with Jared and the rest of the family.
"Exactly what the heck, pray tell, am I doing following you to the U-Chamber?" OJ asked, curious.
"Mother just called," Gillian replied as he swerved sharply to avoid a red blood cell bus. "She said that she and Jared would be working extra late coz Shane's finally gonna have the baby. You're needed there to keep track of the situation and don't let anyone go too near the womb and accidentally fall in. They don't wanna end up drowning or get pushed out with the kid, believe me."
"What? She's pushin' already?" OJ exclaimed in surprise.
"Yeah, about an hour ago. Not sure if she'll make it. She's pretty young and everything, and cells are have a hard time trying to help the muscle cells get the kid out. They might consider giving her Caesarean or something."
"Caesarean? She's too young to even have her appendix removed! We gotta get there now! Chop chop!"
"Chopping!"
Gillian again increased his speed of his bike and was soon seen with OJ racing down the road towards the U-Chamber.
"Come on, everyone! Put your backs into it!"
Jared and his troops are at the U-Chamber, dressed in diving outfits and all gathered together with the muscle cells trying to help Shane to push the baby out. The muscle cells have received data information from the U-Chamber base that the child's growth in the womb has finally stopped and that it's too big to remain in the uterus any longer, so they've decided to get it out before it takes up too much space and sap Shane off her energy. News pread like wildfire and all of Shane Metropolis soon got ready to witness the birth. The news reporters quickly rushed to the scene to broadcast this birth live throughout the whole city. By the time OJ and Gillian got there, the bridge was packed with people, including the reporters.
"Woah! That's a lot of people here!" Gillian exclaimed, trying to squeeze his way through the crowd. OJ flashed his badge to force the crowd to make way.
"Make way, guys. SPD agent comin' thru'!"
"Mr. Jones! Mr. Jones!" one of the reporters noticed him and ran towards him. "I'm from SNN (Shane Neuro News). What are the odds that SPD and the muscle cells will succeed in getting the child out?"
"That'll have to depend on my cousin," Gillian replied proudly. "He's just right down there coaching his troops."
"Do you think Shane will pull through since she is of young age and most of the cells here are inexperienced?"
"No comment right now, guys," OJ said as he waved the question away. "If you wanna please you fans, you might as well shove your little camera there and let the whole world see what's going on instead of wasting your time asking us dumb questions."
With that, he quickly led Gillian away to a part of the bridge that was less packed before the stunned reporters have a chance to chase after them. From there, OJ and Gillian could at least see from their angle some of the cells hard at work and the baby slowly shifting his position towards going out of the uterus. OJ could see Jared from his position coaching and urging intensely at his troops to help out the muscle cells.
"I never knew it was this soon," OJ commented as he continued to watch, trying hard not to have eye-contact with Jared. "I thought there would be like an extra month or so."
"Well, it can't get any sooner than this," Gillian grinned. "Time sure flies when we're having fun taking care of the little kid now, doesn't it?"
"I know what you mean," OJ sighed. "I'm sure gonna miss that kid. Sure beats having someone to talk to."
"There's always us," Gillian suggested. "And Jared."
"I've tried. He still hates me. He doesn't want to have anything to do with me. I don't know what else I can do to convince him that I'm sorry. I really let him down big time now, didn't I?"
"Actually, Jones, you made him quite proud."
"What?" OJ turned to Gillian, surprised.
"He's actually very proud of you. Because of you, he made it into the immunity force like he always wanted to be in. Because of you, he is what he is today. And because of you, he's someone everyone wants to be."
"But he's..."
"He's bitter because he was lonely, Jones. My mother said that he's expressed a lot to her when you weren't around. The nerve of her. She knew it all along that you're his old man and yet she never bothered to tell me. Anywho, he's angry because when he's being pressured to excel just like you, he had no one close, no one of the same flesh and blood of his to convey to, to tell his deep and darkest secrets," Gillian explained, his eyes still looking with interest at the pushing of the baby. "I know he has more secrets than he's telling my mother, but he needs someone closer of blood to talk to. And you weren't there, and that's what makes him so tripped up. He was lonely, Jones. He's just too proud to admit it, like you."
"I...I didn't know..." Jones looked away, awkward.
"It's alright. I didn't know either until he actually snapped at you. But there's one thing you should know. He never hated you. Not even once. He just said that coz he's pissed off. We were there when we saw you fighting that weird virus to save Frank. We wanted to help but my mother forbid us to. She said we're not allowed to intervene directly in your city's businesses—now I know why. This was his proudest moment ever. You're a hero to him, Jones. Really, you are."
OJ could hardly believe what he heard. Jared, his son, needed him so much but he wasn't there for him. He was so oblivious and didn't bother to find out what happened in the Penis Plant that he never acknowledged the fact that he actually created a son who needed him the most. It wasn't a matter of feeling guilty about what he hadn't done for him in the past; it was a matter of figuring out what he can do for him right now at this most needed moment.
Suddenly something wasn't right. The troop seemed anxious. They seemed to have trouble trying to get the kid out into the opening. OJ saw Jared taking out a walkie-talkie and shout out throughout the hectic situation for Queenie.
"Yo, calling for Queenie! We have a situation here! We can't get the child out! Seems like it's stuck or something. What's going on out there?"
"There's a problem out there too!" Queenie replied in a crackling voice through the walkie-talkie. "The opening of the uterus seemed to have shrunken in size or something. The kid was supposed to be able to get out but the opening won't let it. Even the vagina has gone smaller than her usual size. The docs are kinda baffled right now. They're giving it another hour, and if the kid doesn't come out by then, the C-section's coming in."
"She can't have C-section now! Her blood vessels down here have already expanded. There's no telling how much blood she'll lose!"
"It seems that the situation here has gone tougher for Shane, the child and our dedicated troops from the SPD and the muscle cells," the reporter began talking to the camera. "Will they pull through or will Shane Metropolis go down? We'll have to see what will happen next..."
OJ heard everything. He knew he had to do something fast before history repeats itself on Shane. Without warning, he ran towards the main control room of the U-Chamber, ignoring Gillian's surprised questioning. He grabbed a diving suit and immediately jumped over the bridge and dove into the womb. Everyone gasped and the reporter announced frantically at what was going on, urging the camera man to focus intently at the womb.
"Ladies and gentlemen, look at that SPD agent Osmosis Jones go! Seems like the cells are going to expect an extra helping hand here!"
Everyone may be amazed and fascinated at OJ's sudden feat and Gillian may be glad and cheering him on, but Jared didn't feel the same way. Just as soon as the other cells made way for OJ to help, the first words that came in Jared's wand were insult.
"What the hell are you doing here? Who asked you to come here?"
"I came here to help," OJ said. "I'm still an SPD agent now, ain't I?"
"You go mind your own business and handle the crowd up there! We don't need you! We never asked for your help!"
"Gill can handle the crowd. I'm just doing what I'm responsible of doing!"
"You? Responsible? Since when have you learnt..."
"Look, I know I haven't been there for you when you needed the most, and I'm sorry, coz I didn't know, and I..."
"Oh, shut it up already!" Jared snapped, venting his anger by pushing hard at his position. "You never cared! You don't bother to care! I never needed you! Never!"
"You can deny anything right now," OJ replied determinedly. "But I'm telling you that I'm not going to make it up for what I've never done for you in the past, but do whatever I can do for you at this moment."
"You can just disappear. I really need that."
"I'm going to be by your side from now on, whenever you need me. I want to be your father, Jared. I don't want to be enemies with you. I want to love you like any father would love his son."
"Why...Why should I believe you...?" Jared sounded hesitant, like he wasn't sure whether to believe him or not.
"Because I'm your father...and you're my son. My flesh and blood. My son."
Jared felt awkward and out of place. He was torn between wanting to believe OJ and ignoring him. All his life, he had been feeding himself with hate for OJ because that was all he had to keep him alive and able to handle life the way he did in the past. Hate was all he had to keep him going. There was nothing else he could feel for OJ. Now OJ was actually promising him things that he had always wanted OJ to do but didn't in the past. He was disappointed by him before, and he wasn't sure whether to let himself fall for the same predicament if he ever failed him again. He felt his heart melt, going weak all over. He struggled to steel his heart back the way it was, but OJ's words and promises bore deep into him and he was faltering.
"Do you...really...mean what you said...?"
OJ didn't reply this time, because as he continued helping the troop, he saw at a far, far distance someone trying to slink away and escape. He stopped whatever he was doing right now and ran after the weird entity.
"Hey, you! Stop right there!"
"Jones, where are you going?!" Jared called after him but OJ was too far away from earshot to reply him back. He told the troop to carry on with the work while he followed him behind.
OJ followed him real close until they've reached the secluded part of the U-Chamber, and it was somewhere near the vagina. From there, the foreign entity disappeared. OJ took out his gun and got ready to hit anything that might be a threat to Shane. Just when he thought he had lost the entity he had chased, he was suddenly attacked from behind. The force was so strong that he was flung headlong onto the lumpy ground. He spun round and was shocked to see that the foreign entity was none other than his beau Driz.
"Dr...Driz?! What...What are you doing here?" OJ asked, surprised.
"What does it look like I'm doing?" Driz grinned coldly. "I'm trying to stop the birth and bring down Shane Metropolis in the process."
"What...? Why, Driz? Why are you doing this? I thought you liked Shane Metropolis! I thought..."
"Whatever you thought, you've thought wrong. I've never liked this place. I'm here to help an old lover of mine to, you know, take care of unfinished business."
OJ stared at him in both shock and with questions in his mind. There was someone he loved before him...?
"Oh, look at that little pitiful face," Driz said in mock pity as he took OJ's chin and stroke it gently. "You didn't know that I had someone else before you now, did you? Unfortunately, I do, and you, my sweetheart, are just a pawn in my plan to help my other sweetie fulfill his revenge."
Turned out that Driz was never a cold pill or anything near a medicinal enzyme. He was a virus that had the ability to impersonate any kind of cell, entity, enzyme or just about any microscopic particles altogether. And the shocking thing was that Thrax was actually the old lover Driz was talking about! In the beginning he was just one of those entities that existed in the alcohol Thrax fell into after the fight with OJ for the hypothalamus. He saw Thrax falling deeper and deeper into the depths of the alcohol and though he knew that he was a virus by his inability to withstand the liquid surrounding him, he still needed help. He immediately swam over and covered whatever was remaining in Thrax with a protective shield he created from his body and tried to take care of him as much as he could. But his body was so battered and meshed by the alcohol before that he didn't have anymore time in his hands. Driz have come to like the charisma and the ideology of Thrax about humans and their lives. He was fascinated with the way he was able to hit on so many victims at such short time. And most importantly, he had fallen in love with the fact that Thrax and his evil was the ultimate thing any enzyme should follow.
The day before Thrax finally disintegrated into nothingness, he held out his lethal finger, which isn't too lethal anymore, and stabbed it into Driz's chest. He was shown a scene where Thrax had his misadventures in Frank's body and showed him the face of Drix and his sworn enemy Osmosis Jones. His insides and outsides were modified with intensity that by the time Driz broke out of unconsciousness, he saw himself in Thrax's form and that the real Thrax was slowly shrinking and dying in his hands. But not before he mouthed his last words "Destroy Shane..."
"I will, my love. I will," Driz replied in tears before swimming slowly out of the glass jar.
"It wasn't easy though when I've acquired this new shape-shifting power," Driz finished his tale. "But I've finally got to Shane. I shape-shifted into different kinds of cells and clung onto her like my life depended on it, waiting for the right moment to be able to get into her body without being suspected or caught. And that moment finally arrived when Shane decided to commit suicide. I transformed myself into the likeness of your Drix friend and the rest was history. I saw everything when I was Shane's body hair, Ozzie. The way the guys attacked her from behind, dragged her into the boiler room, then taking off her clothes one by one..."
"No...Stop...Please don't say it..." OJ pleaded, feeling both guilty and heartbroken. "I thought...I thought you loved me..."
"Oh, of course I love you, sweetie, when you're all so guilty and sad and all that crud. You look so handsome when you're so pathetically pitiful. And also when your face look so whore-like in bed."
OJ was really pissed. He lunged forward and had a struggle with Driz, trying to hit the daylights out of him for making him such a love-drowned fool. The struggle went on for quite some time, and Jared, who had heard everything, was about to rush out to help when Driz had the upper hand. He used his cannon to blast OJ, making fly really far and hit the pelvic wall. OJ felt as if his whole body was going into pieces. Driz walked over towards OJ coolly and flashed him a flying kiss.
"My name was never Driz; it's Ethanole, actually. But for the record, I had a great time with you, Ozzie. Thanks for the memories, sweetie."
With that, he turned towards the vagina and aimed his cannon devilish at one of the veins.
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