Chapter 15: Rat?

  February 6th, 2025

  (Revamped on May 9th, 2025)

  ?

  All the beds were taken, so Harith laid down on the floor.

  He stared at the ceiling for a while, then slowly closed his eyes.

  But no matter how much he tried, sleep wouldn’t come. Maybe because he wasn’t tired to begin with.

  Suddenly, a hand waved in front of his face from behind, and a quiet whisper followed.

  Aboutrika: “Psst… I know you’re not sleeping.”

  Harith jolted.

  Harith: “Woah, bro?!”

  Aboutrika quickly covered his mouth.

  Aboutrika: “Shhh! Don’t wake them up, man.”

  Harith gave him a deadpan look, his mouth still covered.

  Aboutrika: “Let’s go to my place. Where’s the exit?”

  Harith: “It’s on your right.”

  Harith stepped forward—only to land on a spoon. The loud clang echoed in the quiet room. It was 1 AM.

  Aboutrika: slap! “Bro!”

  The slap was loud enough to rouse Tariq, who groggily sat up. Amina, as expected, slept through the chaos.

  Tariq blinked into the darkness. He couldn’t see anything, and he was too lazy to switch on the lights.

  Tariq: “Probably the oven again…”

  Meanwhile, Aboutrika had turned into his toy form, a little smiling figure on the floor. Harith was still in his regular human shape—though upside down for some reason.

  Once Tariq laid back down, Aboutrika transformed back to normal, slapped Harith again, and got him upright.

  Aboutrika: “Not sure how you did that pose. Teach me sometime, will ya?”

  Harith: “Ow. Did you have to slap that hard?”

  Aboutrika: “So. Where’s the exit?”

  Harith: “Right there—”

  He pointed toward the door. But then his eyes caught something on the floor.

  Harith: “Wait, is that a—?”

  Before he could finish, Aboutrika pulled a pistol from his jacket and fired a single round.

  Bang!

  The rat dropped instantly.

  Harith: “Bro! You gone nuts?!”

  Aboutrika: “Yo. You know how to drive a Gyrosphere?”

  Harith: “The hell’s a Gyrosphere?”

  Aboutrika: “Didn’t answer my question.”

  With that, Aboutrika slammed the door open using his forearm and grabbed Harith’s hand.

  Harith: “Wait! Tell me what the hell this ‘sphere’ is!”

  Aboutrika tossed a shiny orb at Harith’s feet. It unfolded into a large, clear spherical vehicle—a Gyrosphere. Inside was a deep blue leather seat, with two joysticks on either side.

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  Aboutrika: “Left joystick turns left or right. Right joystick goes forward and back. Pedals below your legs—brake and accelerator. Big blue button? Shoots a suction cup on a black rope—pulls you wherever you need to go.”

  Harith climbed in and gave it a spin.

  Harith: “Isn’t this a toy? I thought you hated toys?”

  Aboutrika: “Mention that again and I’ll take it from you.”

  Harith: “…Fine.”

  Aboutrika: “Follow me.”

  He rolled ahead in his Gyrosphere, speeding toward his house. As he moved, he raised his voice slightly.

  Aboutrika: “Yo, that koshari earlier really filled you up? Admit it.”

  Harith: “…Not really.”

  Aboutrika: “Didn’t even need to ask. You’re stuffed, man.”

  Aboutrika: “Go grab us some hawawshi. Five of ‘em. Make sure it’s Alexandrian meat, alright?!”

  His voice got louder at the end.

  Aboutrika: “Use your money. I’ll pay you back once you’re back.”

  Harith: “Yeah, yeah… Alright.”

  Harith took off to fetch food, while Aboutrika returned home.

  Aboutrika: “Long day…”

  Inside, a secret toy collection hid behind his wardrobe—his guilty pleasure. He quickly stashed them out of sight.

  Switching into his toy form, he accidentally dropped his keys—not under the bed, but right in front of it.

  Sitting down on the bed, he scanned the room.

  Aboutrika: “Where’d I put my keys…”

  A brief flash of memory hit him.

  Aboutrika: “Ah, right. I think I dropped them under the bed. Ugh… too lazy to move.”

  He grabbed a stick nearby—surprisingly strong for his size—and poked under the bed.

  Something latched onto it.

  Aboutrika: “Nah. I’m still pulling this out—whatever it is.”

  He yanked.

  Not keys.

  A rat.

  Aboutrika: “THE HELL?!”

  The rat flew at him and sank its teeth into his arm.

  Aboutrika: “AGHH!”

  He punched it across the room with brute force. Blood spilled, but the rat shook it off.

  It stood back up. Unfazed.

  Aboutrika stared.

  Aboutrika: “There’s a hole in it… I shot it earlier… How the hell did it follow me?!”

  The rat lunged again.

  Aboutrika blocked with the stick.

  The moment the rat bit it—sizzle—the stick melted like wax.

  He looked at his arm. It was gushing blood.

  Rat: “That’s true. The reason you’re not feeling pain, Mohammed Aboutrika… is because your nerves have already been destroyed by my venom.”

  Rat: “Your body is already decaying. Slowly, silently.”

  Aboutrika: “One good thing? I don’t feel the pain. But it’s like guessing what time the bus arrives when I don’t even know the schedule.”

  Rat: “You’ve got two choices. Let my poison eat you alive… or stand still, and let me end it quickly.”

  Aboutrika: “Kill yourself, asshole.”

  He reached into his pocket, grabbed some itching powder, and threw it at the rat’s face.

  Then he leapt off the bed.

  From his toy-sized perspective, the jump was like falling from a building. He crashed into the nightstand. The cup of water on it trembled.

  Rat: “Really? Itching powder? You think that can distract me?”

  The rat chased him.

  As it did, the cup tipped—splash!

  Water poured onto it.

  The rat shrieked in pain.

  Aboutrika: “That’s it… water hurts it.”

  But something changed. The rat’s eyes lit up with a sickly green glow. It got faster. Stronger.

  Aboutrika rolled fast in his Gyrosphere. The world around him loomed massive. Everything was giant. He was still in toy form, trapped.

  Aboutrika: “Need water… somewhere…”

  He swerved around—then spotted it.

  A full water bottle.

  To him, it looked like a water tank.

  Aboutrika: “Too thick to force open…”

  Behind him—

  Rat: “Give up! There’s no point in running!”

  Aboutrika veered around and spotted a cup of sugarcane juice.

  Aboutrika: “Liquid… Worth a try!”

  He pressed the blue button—thwip! The suction cup latched onto the shelf, and he flew up.

  He opened the Gyrosphere, touched the cup—turned it into a toy—and pulled it in.

  The rat leapt up after him.

  Aboutrika hurled the sugarcane juice at its face.

  Hissss!

  The rat shrieked again.

  He dashed away—but not before the rat slashed the back of his Gyrosphere, leaving a deep gouge.

  Aboutrika: “Damn it… Time’s running out…”

  His strength was fading. The poison was doing its job.

  He saw a large black ground fan. Steel blades spinning rapidly.

  The rat powered up again—green aura pulsing off it like steam.

  Aboutrika aimed for the fan.

  The wind from it nearly pushed him back.

  Rat: “This is the end, Mohammed Aboutrika!”

  The rat lunged with full force—shattering the Gyrosphere.

  But its own momentum threw it into the wind.

  It couldn’t resist. Its body slammed into the fan.

  SHRRRKK!

  Chunks of flesh flew.

  Yet it still lived—barely. Bones exposed. Aura blazing.

  Rat: “Impressive trick. But you don’t realize—”

  Aboutrika: steps from behind “—that I’ve already won.”

  He splashed the entire bottle of water onto the rat.

  SCREEEEEEEEE!!

  The rat shrieked in agony.

  Aboutrika: “Still not done.”

  He punched it square in the face, launching it back into the fan.

  WHIRRRR—SPLAT!

  Earlier, he had baited the rat with the damaged Gyrosphere. He wasn’t inside. He had turned the water bottle into a toy, snuck away, and came back to end it for good.

  The battle was over.

  Aboutrika returned to human form. Pale. Exhausted. But alive.

  The rat’s remains still emitted that eerie green glow.

  It stirred—

  STOMP!

  Harith had just walked in and accidentally crushed the last of it beneath his sandal.

  Harith: “Yo. Why you lookin’ all shaken?”

  Aboutrika: sweating “Ah… Nothing. Did you get the hawawshi?”

  Harith: “Yeah, just made it in time before the place closed.”

  He raised the bag like a sacred artifact.

  Harith: “HAWASHI.”

  The bag glowed as if a divine treasure had been unveiled.

  A hawawshi is a pita stuffed with ground beef—an Egyptian favorite. Quick to make. Always satisfying.

  The two of them sat down and devoured it together.

  Harith glanced at the clock.

  Harith: “It’s 2 AM. We leave at 9. Better sleep now before your yelling wakes everyone.”

  Aboutrika: “Right… right.”

  He tossed a blanket from the wardrobe at Harith.

  ?

  Meanwhile…

  On a rooftop not far away, Mutakamel stood still under the night sky, quietly watching Aboutrika’s house.

  Despite the late hour, he was wide awake—completely alert.

  Mutakamel: “Everyone here is ready.”

  Cut to a pair of identical twins drawn by his own hand. They stood nearby—dressed in sleek black armor. Their faces were white, marked with glowing numbers.

  The one peering through binoculars at Tariq’s house had the number 4 on his face, 0 on his chest. The one crouched beneath him had the reverse: 0 on his face, 4 on his chest. He tapped away at a tablet device.

  They were stationed atop Mutakamel’s own roof.

  Elsewhere, Sayria Nadine stood ready—fully armored in her icy Disposition. Her aura glowed a frigid blue, signaling a massive leap in her power.

  ?

  Character Spotlight:

  Aboutrika: “The dude uses toys as weapons—and they’re actually deadly? Try guessing his favorite Pixar movie.”

  The Rat: “Not much is known yet. Maybe it’s bonded to someone… or connected in ways we don’t yet understand.”

  Stand ready for Volume 2’s arrival.