Chapter 3, Part 1

Chapter 3, Part 1—Infection: Thrax's Failsafe

"It's so much darker when a light goes out than if it had never shone." –John Steinbeck, The Winter of Our Discontent

Osmosis braced himself for the three—not two, but three— viruses to attack. C'mon, Drix, he moaned inwardly, what happened to there only being two? He regretted now giving up the element of surprise—but how the heck was he supposed to know they were going to need it?

Luckily, the viruses seemed just as surprised by their current situation as he was. The Yellow Fever virus holding the chain—this one male, and possibly a little older than Osmosis—wrenched his arm away from the female counterpart as he caught sight of Osmosis and Drix.

He raised his hands. "Whatever it is I didn't do it!"

The female Yellow Fever turned to stare at him incredulously. "Nice going, idiot. That might've worked, if you weren't still holding the chain!"

"Oh yeah? Well I don't see you having any better ideas!"

"Maybe not, but at least I couldn't think of one worse!"

What had started out as a tense confrontation was quickly devolving into a pretty squabble between the two Yellow Fever viruses. Osmosis debated on whether or not to let them fight it out or not when the third virus—who the other two had largely forgotten—broke in. He had a deep, rumbling voice that caught Osmosis off guard, although he wasn't sure why.

"Call off the cops, and we'll give ya back the chain." Yellow-red eyes glinted in the light, their expression bright and unreadable. The menacing virus took a step closer and Osmosis tightened his grip on the gun. Something twisted in the fearsome virus's features as he noticed, and his expression softened.

"Put down the gun," he rumbled, sounding less menacing this time. "I ain't planning on doing ya any harm."

The two Yellow Fever viruses had stopped bickering with each other just in time to realize what was going on.

"No way, Jose!" The male shouted indignantly. "We stole this chain fair and fair and square—there's no way we're giving it back now!"

"Yeah!" The female agreed, in a surprising show of solidarity. "I risked my neck coming all the way back here—I don't want to all to be for nothing!" She stood by the other Yellow Fever's side, glaring daggers at Osmosis and Drix. "Besides, I don't like you guys telling me what to do." Eyes narrowed, her crimson gaze settled evenly on Osmosis. "You think you're so high and mighty, huh? That just because you're a cell you're better than the rest of us. The truth is though, you have no idea. You're just scared of us. Scared of our looks. Scared of our power. Scared of just how dangerous we can really be!"

"I ain't scared of you!" Osmosis protested. He was a little scared, but not about to admit it. Besides, he bet the only reason this virus was cocky because she had them outnumbered. In a fair fight, she would've been running for her life!

The spotted virus gave him a sinister half-smile, lips drawn back to reveal whitened teeth. The claws on her right hand lit up. "Oh yeah?" She said, "Then why don't you PROVE IT!" On the last two words she sprung, her long, knife-like claws extended and crackling with heat.

Osmosis was preparing to jump out of the way when suddenly—

BAM!

A well-placed blast from Drix knocked the female virus off her feet and into the nearby wall, the ice from his gun drying quickly to plaster her in place. She cursed and struggled in response, but couldn't get free. Osmosis turned to look at his partner in surprise.

The cold pill raised his cannon and prepared for round two. "I can handle these two! Osmosis" He gestured to the still struggling female virus and the male virus who wasn't Yellow Fever. "You go after the chain!"

The male Yellow Fever turned and ran.

"On it!" Osmosis shouted, chasing after him. The virus looked over his shoulder, giving a cry of fright as he started running even faster than before. Osmosis forced himself to increase his pace as well. His heart pounded in his chest, every single one of his organelles racing with determination to keep up the chase. The distance between him and the virus thief was closing; he was close enough now that he could see the individual bumps and ridges along the length of the hypothalamus chain, most of which was swinging behind the virus thief as he ran.

They turned corner after corner, the distance between them continuing to grow steadily smaller.

When he was close enough, Osmosis lunged for the virus, tackling him to the ground. The virus gave a shout, but Osmosis was already reaching for the chain as they tumbled onto the floor. He felt a thrill of satisfaction as his fingers closed around the beaded knobs of the warm, living chain, the hypothalamus beads inside stirring faintly at the sensation of being touched.

"I'll be taking that!" Osmosis cried, stumbling to his feet as he yanked on the chain.

The virus didn't let go. "No way!" He responded, tugging back even harder on his own end of the chain in response. He rose to his feet, stepping backwards so that the mysterious black cord stretched thin. However, it was didn't feel anywhere near ready to break. "This chain belongs to me now! Get your own chain, loser!"

He gritted his teeth, wondering if he could still maintain his grip if he took one hand off to grab the gun. "No—this chain belonged to Thrax! And now that he's dead, it belongs to the cells of Frank!"

"No! It's mine!'

Looking furious, the yellow virus ignited his claws.

A red-hot burning sensation travelled through the chain. For a split second, Osmosis thought it was the Yellow Fever's infectious powers, traveling through the chain that served as some kind of conduit, but then he realized the heat was coming from the chain itself. The entire length of it was starting to glow; not a crackling yellow-white like the claws of Yellow Fever, but with a steady orange glow that undeniably reminded Osmosis of Thrax.

"What the heck?" The Yellow Fever virus yelped, dropping the chain as it began to sizzle.

Osmosis, however, found himself unable to let go. "What is happening to me?!" He cried as the pain burned into his membrane. Liquid heat coursed through his veins, radiating up his arm and screaming fire. I need to let go! He thought frantically, but found he couldn't move. His whole arm was paralyzed with terror and pain, his fingers wrapped around the chain. He looked down, feeling like he might be sick but unable to do anything but watch.

The air undeniably smelled like something burning. His membrane was melting, soft blue skin dripping away like wax, and from his hands he saw the what looked to be the beginning stages of claws begin to form.

Wait a minute, claws? He began to wonder, but then the pain drove every rational thought from his mind as the off-yellow, infected veins beneath his skin began to burst. White flashed before his eyes, as well as another wave of heat, forcing Osmosis to cry out in pain.

What was happening to him? Everything hurt so bad. Where was Drix? Was he going to get to see his partner one last time before he died?

However, even as he was burning, Osmosis realized with a stab of panic that he wasn't turning into goo. His membrane was melting away to reveal something hard and brittle and red.

His fingers were sharpening into claws, the pain of the transformation ebbing away as his changes became complete. From the elbow down his blue membrane was completely gone—burned away to reveal a hard, red capsid shell underneath.

"What the—" Osmosis gasped. Frank, he had claws! "No no no no no—this can't be happening!"

The heat wasn't killing him—it was changing him. He was becoming a monster like Thrax!

Through the haze of pain, Osmosis let out a choked, strangled cry and dropped the chain. With a twitch of his claws, it slid to the ground with ease; flickering once, twice, then a final time as it faded black and innocuous once again.

His hand and arm no longer hurt, but everything else continued to ache. The ground was splattered with half-evaporated cytoplasm. Osmosis swallowed, feeling rather than willing his hands to curl into fists, the clawed fingers on one hand curling around one another to interlock. He felt like he might be sick.

Dizzy and shaken, he took a step towards the Yellow Fever virus. "W-w-what did you do to me?!"

The virus watched him with wide, disbelieving eyes. "It wasn't me, amigo—honest! It was the chain! There must have been a built-in failsafe on it or something, in case another virus tried to steal the beads—"

He was cut off as Osmosis stumbled to the ground, letting out another cry of pain. His whole body was trembled with exertion as he fell to his knees. The ache in his cytoplasm was only growing worse, flashing in equal parts now between blazing heat and bitter cold. Strangely enough, the blazing heat was what he'd prefer.

His claws dug into the ground, yearning for a warm, lapping trail of heat. So cold. Warm. Need to be warm. Where is the heat? There is no heat, so I need to burn—

What? NO!

"WHAT DID YOU DO TO ME?" He roared again at the Yellow Fever, feeling his voice break. He got up off the floor, taking his hands off the ground before he could be flooded by another wave of instincts. "I-I'm not supposed to be like this. I'm a white blood cell, I'm a cop—I'm not meant to be a virus! Please, you gotta change me back!"

His heart sunk in dismay as he spoke the fateful words out loud. Oh Jones, what're you doin'?

The Yellow Fever took another hesitant step away from him. "I-I dunno, man," he said, his voice shaking. "I don't know what's wrong with you, but it's not my fault. I didn't do anything. You were the one who grabbed the chain—" The virus broke off, his eyes suddenly widening in dismay. Distantly, both could hear the sound of footsteps coming towards them. "Spit—Is that the cops? Forget it—I gotta get out of here!"

"Wait—" Osmosis shouted, but the virus had already slipped away and the infected cell was too weak to chase after him.

The sound of footsteps was coming closer.

Osmosis groaned, his terror reaching a fever pitch. "Oh no, what am I gonna do?" He started to hyperventilate as he looked down at his deadly claw. "Frank, I can't be seen like this!"

What was he gonna say to the Chief—to Drix—to Leah?

Leah Girl, something inside him mourned.

He only knew a little about cells that were infected viruses. Like everyone else, he knew they were handed over to the FPD, never to be seen again. But Frank, he was an FPD officer, and even they didn't seem to what happened to them after that! No one ever told him what happened. After turning themselves in, infected cells seemed to just disappear. Nobody ever saw or heard from them again.

I don't want that happening to me!

He glanced wildly around the room, his gaze falling on the hypothalamus chain. It was still lying harmlessly on the ground where they'd last left it, forgotten.

The chain—of course!

He picked it up with his infected hand, winding it around his claws. For the first time, Osmosis felt a flash of hope. The Yellow Fever had said the infection had been some kind of failsafe, to protect itself any virus who wasn't Thrax. What if it held the key to changing him back?

Yes! That's it! Osmosis thought, trying to ignore how the beads felt, nice and warm and living against his skin, his inner Thrax rejoicing as they stirred to life at his touch. Desperately, he tried with everything in his power not to enjoy it. Creepy, He decided. And as soon as we're through, this is thing's goin' straight back to the FPD!

His heart still pounded feverishly in his chest as he stuffed the chain and his infected virus hand deep in his pocket. It was just in time, too—at that minute Drix and a team of Frank's finest burst into the room, led by none other than the precinct's second in command, Deputy O'Cyte.

However, it was Drix who reached him first. "Ozzie! I tried to stop them but those two good-for-nothing viruses escaped! Were you able to catch the third one and bring back the chain?"

"Nope, he got away from me too, Drips." Osmosis wincing as pain shot through his good hand. Clawed tips began pushing their way through the membrane, fingertips pulsing with heat. He shoved them in his pocket as well, hoping no one would notice. The insides of the fabric were soon sticky and damp with cellular fluid.

"Is something wrong, lad?" Deputy O'Cyte asked, a bushy brown eyebrow arching in surprise.

The lanky older cell had always been relatively kind to Osmosis, but the younger officer couldn't help but feel a flicker of fear. He knew how Deputy O'Cyte had earned the nickname as the One-Shot-Wonder back in his younger years, using a single cytokine bullet to take down an entire gang of gingivitis cells on Frank's left bicuspid. As far as cells in the City of Frank went, the deputy was considered tough on crime.

He was a stickler for the rules- if Osmosis were to reveal that he had been infected, would he call the Mayor to send a team of Cytotoxic T's down when Osmosis refused to turn himself in?

Osmosis suppressed a shudder, thinking about the mysterious, elite task force. It was the job of the Cytotoxic T cells to travel around Frank, collecting intel on the body and taking down corrupt, cancerous cells. Their work was kept hush-hush, hidden from the rest of the public, but everyone on the Immunity force knew about them. Rumors spread fast, and Osmosis had heard they sometimes dealt with infected cells as well.

Not only were they Frank's Finest, but Frank's Fiercest as well. Each and every one of them was a lean, mean, cell-killing machine.

Realizing that Deputy O'Cyte was still waiting for an answer, Osmosis pulled himself away from those dark thoughts with a hasty shake of his head. "N-no! I'm fine! Why you ask? I'm just... I'm just mad about that stupid virus getting away with the chain. Yeah, that's it!"

He dropped his gaze, feeling dizzy and wondering how long how long it would take for the change to reach his eyes.

That did it. He had to get out of here- and fast.

Shouldering between Deputy O'Cyte and Drix, he raced down the hall, calling over his shoulder, "Don't worry about me fellas, I'll do the police report later! I—I gotta go, but I'll see you back at the precinct!"

"Osmosis!" Drix shouted. "Where are you going? I'm coming with you!"

Osmosis felt a bolt of panic. There was no way Drix could know!

"No, you're not!" He snapped, sounding harsher than he intended. "If you wanna do something useful go and check on the Mayor!" Something guilty twisted in his chest, but how else was he supposed to get the cold pill to leave him alone? He firmly resolved to make it up to Drix when he got back.

"Osmosis?" Drix called, but it was more of a question this time.

Osmosis didn't look back. He raced through the maze of corridors, his heart ticking away every passing second. He touched the hypothalamus chain again, reassured by its warmth.

No! What am I doing? Stop! He told himself, ashamed of his behavior.

He quickly pulling his hand away from the chain while making sure, however, to keep his claws carefully concealed inside his jacket's pocket. The changes were happening more slowly now, and he didn't want to make them any faster by touching the thing that had caused this nightmare to happen in the first place.

With every passing moment, he was becoming less like a cell and more like a virus. He could feel the capsid beneath his skin hardening, searing once again at his membrane. The claws on his left hand—the ones that had emerged later, and were not touching the chain—had almost fully formed. Heat stirred in his index finger.

With a jolt, he realized that was the same finger that ended up being Thrax's killing claw. I gotta get out of here! He thought, barreling through the back doors that lead out of Cerebellum Hall. The back streets looked almost empty, much to his relief.

Osmosis let out a sigh he hadn't realized he'd been holding.

It was now a race against the clock. He had to find a way to change back soon, or else it would be too late.

Author's Note: Hey all! Hope you enjoyed this chapter! I worked really hard to get it up as soon as possible because I wanted to give you guys one more chapter before going on haitus. (And yes, I know, it's a cliffhanger-please don't kill me!) I really enjoy working on this story, but due to a lot of things going on right now I'm not going to have a lot of time in the nearby future to read and write. So, I have decided to take a hiatus for the next two months or so before starting back up again in January. I just wanted to let you guys know that it hasn't been abandoned.

In the meantime, thank you for your understanding. See you all again next year!

Sincerely,

-Chasing Snarks

P.S. On a side note, Officer O'Cyte is the name I made up for the Irish-sounding cell at the front desk when Osmosis first enters the precinct in the movie. As this fic goes on, there'll be Immunity officers filling in minor roles in the plot as well. If you have any ideas for a name/character, feel free to send them in. Who knows... you might see them in upcoming chapters! ;D