The man raised an eyebrow when Eke showed him the scales.

"Ah... ah-hahaha..." he laughed, eerily calmly.

"A real dragon? A live one?" he asked.

"AH-HAHAHAHA! STUPENDOUS!" he then exclaimed.

"Keep your cool, doctor." Ryker responded.

"Take what you need. Remember why you were banished here in the first place." he told the man.

The man responded by simply sighing, shaking his head, and smiling unapologetically, but sheepishly.

Again, the man laughed.

"Strength and weakness are such absolute, archaic, and narrow terms." he said.

"And I didn't know what you were." he went on. "I don't make presumptions." he said further.

"Don't look like any other dragon I've seen." he then added.

With that, he took a device out that almost looked like it was from a horror movie. It looked like a syringe, but seemed like it had mechanical workings, and almost looked like it would bore straight through Eke.

The man just laughed again, as he grabbed Eke's wrist and placed his arm on the table.

"Now stay reeeeeeeally still." he said with a smirk.

The horrific device was brought even closer towards Eke, the needle part starting to rotate and spin quickly... mere seconds more it opened up slightly, and an extremely thinner needle came out, piercing through Eke's skin in a small pinch.

"...you always DID have a flare for dramatics." Ryker commented.

"I am a performer as well as a doctor." the man laughed, as blood was extracted from Eke.

"Yes, yes, of course." the man responded.

After a short while, Eke was starting to feel weak and woozy, just as the needle came out of his arm.

"All done!" the man said cheerfully.

"Now all you need are those petals?" Ryker asked.

"Indeed." the man responded.

"But is the poor boy in any shape to help you attain them?" he then asked with a smirk.

After a few seconds of Eke storming out of the shack, Ryker followed.

"Yo! Eke!" he called out, his voice showing that it wasn't the 'other Ryker' in control.

"Hold up!" he said.

"Seriously! I'm me right now, I promise!" he said further.

"Just hold up a sec!"

Ryker just sighed in response.

"I do." he said.

"And... um... for what it's worth, the other me apologizes." he then told Eke, before his eyes changed to red suddenly.

"I do." he confirmed.

"The doctor is... creepy and callous, even for demon standards." he told Eke.

"But... as loathsome as he is to deal with, we DO need him."

Ryker just chuckled.

"Your hatred of me is adorable." he said.

"But, since I'm feeling generous, be careful around the plants." he continued.

"One bite from them, and even a dragon will be feeling the effects." he told Eke further.

"Just remember that." he finished, before control was switched back to the actual Ryker.

"It's not." Ryker responded.

"And yeah, this is a biting plant." he said.

"You know what a Venus Flytrap is, yeah?" he then asked.

"It's that, but worse. A LOT worse." he told him.

"They react to any and all stimuli around them." he went on.

"And... they can do a LOT of damage if they catch you in their jaws."

"Yeah, sure thing." Ryker responded.

He then sighed, and shook his head.

"That damn sadist." he then muttered. "I saw how he was enjoying that." he went on.

"Yeah, even my 'other me' doesn't like him." he reiterated.

"So... while you might hate the fact that you and him share an opinion, at least you have common ground on something?" he added with a small shrug.

Ryker waited until Eke ha drank the water, before nodding.

"All right." he said.

"Let's go, then." he told him.

"If I recall correctly, we need to head west, so... guess that's the direction we're walking." he shrugged.

"Oh, and the plants are a case of 'you'll know it when you see it'." he then added.