Fic: Fangs and Fury, Chapter 3

[theropod]

I love this hybrid AU, I really do.


Alright, for my next trick, I present a whole lot of unconscious and missing Mindcrackers!

-0-

It became clear all too soon that whatever was happening, it was affecting most if not all of them. Avidya had called everyone and those who’d answered nervously had reported some kind of new addition or the beginnings of some kind of itch or pain or growth. Jsano wrote everything down, from the initial examinations with those already there to the reports coming in across the coms.

 

There was however the issue of several of their friends not responding. Guude normally would have shrugged and left them to it had they been missing out on something like a town meeting. This, however, was a little more urgent than a meeting. They needed to get ahold of the missing as soon as possible.

 

“Who’s unaccounted for?” he asked Avidya, who was glancing over the crossed out list of names in front of him.

 

“A lot.” Avidya sighed. “We got no answer from Bdubs, Pause, Rob, Pyro, Seth, Nebris, Ads, Vechs, Kurt, Aurey or Zisteau. Blame’s com didn’t even ring, I think he must have forgotten to turn it on or something.”

 

“Shit.” Guude groaned and rubbed at his face, trying to think. “We gotta get to them, see that they’re, y’know, okay.” ‘Okay’ was really the best they could hope for in the situation, ‘alive’ at a stretch.

 

“The ones I got ahold of will be coming here, Jeff should be fine with leaving them if we wanna head out.” Avidya wished he could help calm down Guude a bit, he could see the worry for their friends making him tense and it was putting him on edge just a little. Going out to do something to help might be enough to take some of the worry away. “You, me and Millbee. Faster with three searching I’d say.”

 

The wolf hybrid nodded, agreeing silently. “Get Jeff to ready some kits to take with us just in case, something small. Healing potions, painkillers, bandages maybe. We don’t know what we’re gonna find.”

 

“You got it.”

 

-0-

 

They started in the town centre, the three of them spreading out and going from building to building, checking each corner, down each ladder and secret passage, even checking the redstone tunnels under the roads to make sure no one had been doing maintenance when they’d collapsed or anything like that.

 

It was Millbee who found them first, pushing open one of the doors inside Blame’s flower shop apartments. Rob and Pause were both passed out in their bed and at first glance he couldn’t see any blood. It didn’t stop him hurrying to Pause’s side to give him a quick look over however. The native had managed to throw all the blankets and pillows to the floor, curling up in a ball near the bottom of the mattress. Millbee couldn’t see anything wrong with him immediately but when he went to touch Pause’s shoulder, he had to recoil at the heat coming off his friend. He went for the coms device hooked over his ear immediately. “I found Pause and Rob, Pause is burnin’ up though. Not checked Rob but just lookin’ at him, he’s probably the same.”

 

Guude’s curse came through the earpiece first, as crisp and clear as though he was there to swear at the situation personally instead of halfway across the town. “Fuck. Alright, check Rob, then call Jeff. Stay with them, I’m gonna keep looking. Avidya?”

 

“No one so far, your Monument is clear. Just about to hit Seth’s compound though.”

 

“Call in if you find anyone. If not, check the casino next. I’m about to hit the bakery and – shit!”

 

Millbee froze in the process of pulling out a thermometer from the kit Jsano had handed him. “Guude?”

 

“Found Bdubs, looks like he collapsed by the ovens – and he’s burning up too.” There was a grunting sound followed by a low groan of pain before Guude spoke again. “Easy John, I got ya. Millbee, I’m bringing him over, can’t leave him here.”

 

“Yeah yeah, alright. You want me to push another bed in here or something?” Millbee popped the thermometer into Rob’s mouth and backed away, heading for the door.

 

“Yeah you do that. It’ll do until we can move them to the hospital-”

 

“Found Seth,” came Avidya’s clipped tones. “He’s hot to touch, bringing him back. Better make that two beds Millbs.”

 

Millbee didn’t have the heart to complain, too worried about his friends to even make a joke about the situation.

 

-0-

 

Jsano had arrived by the time Avidya got back with Seth, laying him out on a bed for the nurse to see to. It seemed Guude had already dropped off Bdubs in the other bed beside Pause and had headed out again because he didn’t seem to be hanging around. Neither was Millbee.

 

“You leave someone in charge back at the hospital?” Avidya asked, ginger ears flat with concern over the whole thing.

 

“MC’s there, he’s got a slight headache but no other symptoms. I gave him some painkillers and he’s just taking notes from the others. Before I left he was seeing to Aureylian, we managed to get ahold of her. She was underground for a while mining. She’s got some kind of lump on either side of her throat and she was feeling cold and clammy.” Jeff frowned. “Opposite of these four it seems. Can you run me a basin of cold water and get me some towels? I wanna try and get their temperatures down.”

 

Avidya’s tail twitched at the mention of water but he nodded and went away to the bathroom to find what Jsano needed.

 

-0-

 

Guude found Zisteau next, laying on the floor in the underground map storage room, one arm dangling in the flow of water which protected the map copies he’d spent so long on. It was hard to tell how long he’d been there, but it was long enough that his floating camera had shut down and dropped to the floor beside him. Guude had to reach for the skin control button hooked onto Zisteau’s belt and flick it off, dismissing the pigman hologram so he could get a better look at how his friend was doing. Zisteau’s back was looking a bit oddly shaped through his shirt, so taking a chance, Guude carefully lifted the material. What he saw made his ears flatten against his skull, eyes widening.

 

All the way down Zisteau’s back, small white spines protruded from skin that was speckled with bruises and spots of blood around the base of these spines. The spines themselves seemed to be covered in somewhat fuzzy looking stuff but Guude was reluctant to touch them. He released the shirt and sat back on his heels, exhaling slowly. He wasn’t sure how he was going to get Z out of here but he doubted he’d be able to do it by himself. He tapped the coms unit tied awkwardly to his head with elastic bands (goddamn he hated these new ears) and spoke up. “Found Zisteau…need some help with this though.”

 

“What happened? He alright?” Avidya chimed in.

 

“He’s down under the map room, can’t get him up that ladder myself and I don’t know how long he’s been down here. Guy’s got stuff sticking out his back too, I don’t even know what that is.”

 

“Guude, I need you to check if they’re solid or if they’re soft.” Jsano’s voice cut in then. “I need to know if those are bone or something else like cartilage.”

 

Guude cringed and had to bite back the urge to whine softly but he reached out, lifting the shirt with one hand and hesitantly touched one of the slightly bloodied spines. “S-soft, they’re soft.” He exhaled in relief and dropped the shirt again. “Thank god.” The last thing he wanted was to touch bone.

 

“That’s good, he’s probably not going to be a hedgehog or something all that spikey then. Bad news is I haven’t a clue what he is right now.” Jsano mentally stuck Zisteau in the group with the others who were unidentified as to what they were yet. “Avidya, get down there and help him get Z out. If he wakes up, try and keep him calm and lucid until you get him back to the apartment block. This place is gonna have to be our temporary hospital until we can get them all back safely.”

 

“Who’s still missing?” Guude asked, getting his arms around Zisteau’s chest and beginning to drag him over to the ladder.

 

“We’ve heard from everyone except Pyro, Blame, Nebris, Ads, Vechs and Kurt.” Jsano replied.

 

Above Guude, the ladder creaked as Avidya started to clamber down it. “Spawn town is cleared out, looks like we need to start checking private bases now.” He hopped down the last few rungs and knelt beside Zisteau and Guude, visually checking the pair of them over. Zisteau showed no signs of waking despite begin dragged halfway across the stone floor and Guude was looking stressed, his new fuzzy ears flat against his skull. He had to fight the urge to bump foreheads with his friend to soothe him a bit. Cats are weird man. “Come on, let’s get him out of here.”

 

-0-

 

Once Zisteau was safely lain in a bed, they headed into the Nether, deciding to work together on this one. If they needed to carry someone back, it was easier by far with two people. Millbee jogged up as they were hitting the portal, clearly intending to join them. Guude had no arguments there. He did feel like starting up an argument however when for the second time that day he was crashed into by someone running in the nether.

 

“I’m sorry I’m sorry I wasn’t – Guude?”

 

Guude scowled up at the ceiling from the solid stone floor, debating on the merits of just lying there until everything went away. Unfortunately he wasn’t really allowed to do that, not with three concerned faces peering down at him. He sighed and grabbed the nearest offered hand to get to his feet. “Jesus Aurey, you’re supposed to be at the hospital with everyone else.”

 

Aureylian shifted on the spot, one hand reaching up to scratch an already red and irritated looking neck. “I got worried when MC told me people hadn’t responded. I was going to go help find them.”

 

“And what if you’d collapsed somewhere? Does MC even know you’re gone?” Guude felt like a parent scolding a child and the feeling wasn’t helped by the way Aureylian cringed and looked down at the floor.

 

“No…But I’m fine, honest, I just have an itchy neck, I’m not – not sprouting ears like you and MC and Avidya and – Millbee what’s coming out your head?”

 

“Uh, Jsano thinks its horns.” Millbee shrugged lazily. He was almost beyond caring it seemed, returning to his more relaxed state now that he knew he wasn’t dying and was actively involved in doing something useful.

 

“Horns. Okay.” Aureylian clawed at her neck a little more, trying to smile but unable to get through the worry she was feeling for her missing friends. “Look, I came to help and I’m going to.”

 

“I didn’t say you couldn’t.” Guude bit back a sigh. “I just wish you’d told MC first. People are passing out all over the place, what if we lost you somewhere? No one’s died yet but I don’t want to risk losing any of my friends to this shit.”

 

“How about we keep moving on and I’ll call MC as we go?” Millbee butted in before they could start a fight. Everyone was stressed and sore and this delaying wasn’t really helping anyone.

 

“Right. You do that. Come on, let’s hit Vechs’ place first, it’s closest.” Guude took point, leading the group of would be rescuers onwards.

 

-0-

 

Etho gave up trying to get an answer from Nebris after the sixth call. He’d already checked in with MC over the coms and while his head and lower back were aching a little, he didn’t pay it much heed. There was other more important things at stake, like the fact Nebris and several others hadn’t checked in at all.

 

Whatever was going around, it was doing things to them, changing them in incredibly painful ways. He’d been told to stay put or come into the hospital to wait for a check-up but Etho had something else in mind when he stepped into his portal. Mere minutes later and he was half regretting his decision to do this, the ache in his body growing worse by the minute. He gritted his teeth and pushed on, almost tripping through the portal to Nebris’ place. His control slipped when he reached the other side, wincing at the bright sunlight and only just holding back a curse at the pain it shot into his head. Nebris just couldn’t even put a roof on this thing could he?

 

He skipped walking down the path and just vaulted over the unfinished wall, growling when the landing sent more jolts of pain through his body. Maybe MC was right, maybe I should have stayed…no, Nebris is missing, he might need help. For all they were intense rivals in everything they did, they were fire forged friends first and foremost and Etho couldn’t imagine just leaving Nebris to his fate, whatever it might be.

 

“Nebris!” He called out as he approached the half built mansion home, past the iron based beacon and up the stairs inside. “Nebris! Where you at? Come on guy!” He reached the top of the stairs and had to pause to breathe through the pain for a moment. It was coming in waves it seemed, leaving stars behind his eyelids when it finally faded. He had to move quickly, pushing away from the support column and hurrying to the nearest room to check in on it. Empty. He didn’t spare time admiring the décor, instead rushing from room to room until the pain made him cling to a wall and groan lowly again. Again it faded but not entirely, the ache staying with him and growing the longer he stayed upright. He cursed his decision to make this trip and forced himself to the final room.

 

Nebris lay on the floor before him, looking as though he’d fallen down the scaffolding in the corner. One leg was propped up on the scaffolding while the rest of his body lay curled on the floor. His face was creased in pain, skin damp with perspiration and his coms unit halfway across the floor, looking as though it had flown from his outstretched hand when he’d fallen.

 

Etho dragged himself over to his unconscious friend, dropping to his knees and hissing at the jolt it sent up his spine. “The things I do for you Nebris,” he muttered, breathing harshly as he felt the next wave of pain grow. “Nngh…Nebris wake up, plea – aah –” he clung to his friend’s shoulder, shaking it weakly. It did little to help wake Nebris. A whimper escaped the ninja as what felt like fire raced through his nerves, leaving him curled over Nebris and shaking, vision growing black at the edge. Voice rough and desperate, he pleaded with his friend again. “Nebs, come on-” He bit back a choked cry, feeling himself fall sideways onto the floor as the pain became too much. The last thing he saw before his vision faded entirely was Nebris’ equally pained expression.

 

Comments

[theropod]

Soon enough :3