Some Fantastic, Chapter Fourteen
By GirlX2
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Felix narrowly avoided slamming into his wife's leg when he plunged into the fray. She swung a sword at the slender monster, but it dodged. The stump of it's tentacle dripped something oozy and neon-blue onto the train, making the metal sizzle.
It was no longer laughing.
Felix managed to touch the hammer to Calhoun's leg as she tried to leap over him, the golden bloom flashing over her.
"Not now, Fix-It!"
"No other time!" He scrabbled back, ready to jump in if the thing so much as breathed on her.
"You don't have any attack power. Stay out of the way!" She landed a small hit on the thing's flank. It hissed at her as the blue substance began to slip out.
Ralph, still woozy and weak from his fight, tried to get to his feet. The world swam out of focus, and he dropped to his hands and knees. It didn't help that the train was whipping down the tracks at an impossible speed.
"Kid, the rules haven't changed. That thing gets the upper hand, you get out of here."
"Nuh-uh. Felix is back, and I saved your life with my powers. I'm not going anywhere." She crossed her arms defiantly.
"I know, but I had to at least say it."
Felix watched his wife work on the monster, mesmerized. She was scoring a series of small but deep cuts, and the thing hadn't been able to lay a hand on her. He'd seen her shoot cy-bugs before, but that wasn't like this. This was like a dance. She'd never picked up a sword before yesterday, but her programming made her a deadly threat with anything.
The thing jumped over her blade, twisted mid-air, and a drop of blue poison fell into her eyes as she turned her face upwards.
"ARRGH!"
"Calhoun!"
"No!"
"TAMORA!"
The shouts rang out together as she fell to the floor, hands to her face. Felix was at her side instantly, hammer gently touching her face, tiny golden blooms covering her. She rolled away from him, groaning in pain.
"Tammy, let me help you!"
Her hands dropped away from her face. Her eyes were red and teary, but otherwise unharmed. "I'm fine, it's residual eff-MOVE!"
The thing lunged at the couple, and time slowed down. Felix saw it coming at them, limbs grasping, the wheezing laugh starting up.
That thing tried to kill his wife and his best friend.
He saw red.
"You MONSTER!"
He heard a quiet roar begin, and closed his eyes, letting it wash over him. This time he wouldn't fight it. This wasn't some kid making rude comments, or a NPC doing its job. This was a monster, programmed to hurt, maim, kill. There might have been something inside, something that went to a bar with other NPCs when the game was in a lull, or told jokes at dinner with friends, but Felix didn't care.
He didn't.
It had pushed him to the edge, and he wasn't sorry to do this. Not in the least. He could kill this thing and not care.
If that was the lie he had to tell himself to save Tammy, he'd do it gladly. He simply wasn't programmed to hurt.
Ralph had proved programming wasn't everything.
The roar stopped, the red faded, and the quiet rush of air slipping past the train was all that remained. Felix opened his eyes.
His handyman clothes were gone again, replaced with robes. Devil-red skin peeked out from under the long, strange gloves.
Well, at least one of the monsters was gone.
"Are you guys okay?" Vanellope didn't leave Ralph's side.
"Been better." Calhoun grunted. "Its not a hit-point thing, but my eyes are gonna sting like a bad mega-man villain for a while. Plus everything's blurry. I'm not blind, though."
Felix helped her to her feet. "We've gotta get out of here before that thing's friends come along. How much longer is this ride?"
"Just a few minutes." Calhoun squinted into the darkness. "Worst possible time to be up here, with Ralph and I out for the count."
"Hey, I…I'm…" Ralph stood, wobbling unsteadily. "…I'm gonna sit."
"Good."
"Tammy, when we get back to the town I'll just cover up, and Vanellope and I will lead you to…to…where are we going?"
"Small hut, two clicks north of the railstation." Calhoun placed a hand on his shoulder, gripping tightly. "You get found out and killed when we're so Mother Brain-Loving close, I'll never forgive you."
"Of course, my Lady."
Whatever Felix had done to make the creepy thin guy go away seemed to keep everything else off their backs, Vanellope noted. They hit the station, Ralph and Calhoun managed to get down without breaking their necks, and Felix covered himself up. It should have been smooth sailing to get to the hut that lead back to game central station.
The arcade was going to open any minute, if it hadn't already. She'd sorta lost track of time. Her game would be fine, and with Fix-It Felix likely unplugged for repairs, Ralph and Felix would be cool.
That still left a half-blind Calhoun to get back to her game in time.
"When we hit the ground, just start running. If anything follows us back to game central station, they'll realize their mistake and get out." Calhoun ordered. She gripped her husband's hand tightly. "Felix, get that hood up."
Wordlessly, Felix replaced the hood. He'd almost forgotten that everyone around here wanted him dead.
He couldn't forget why, though.
"Ralph, can you walk?" Vanellope watched her friend sway woozily as the train slowed.
I'll manage." He gave her a thumbs up. His green scales looked a good deal paler than they had before the fight.
"If you puke, I'm so pretending I don't know you."
"Fair enough."
"On three." Calhoun squinted at the platform. More beings were crowded around it than she would have liked. "One—T—"
An icy pain stabbed into her back. She gasped as the strength fled her body, legs going limp. She would have tumbled off the train if Felix hasn't hauled on her arm.
"Tammy!"
Her eyes went wide as she saw their attacker. It was the same player that'd been turned to stone by Vanellope…and beaten Felix within a bar of his life.
This man had nearly killed her husband.
"YAHHHHHHH!" She tore free of Felix's grasp, strength coming from she knew not where. She was going to kill him. She'd find the strength.
Ralph lunged forward, trying to grab her. "Calhoun, stop!"
His fingers ghosted through her. She passed through the player too. The momentum of her attack carried her through the player. Her feet stumbled over the edge of the train, and she dropped from sight.
"TAMMY!" Felix leapt after her.
The player turned, ready to follow them over the edge and finish his work. Until Ralph tackled him.
"What did you just do?" The wrecker roared.
The player thrashed under him. "I was trying to kill that stupid elfling! It took me forever to respawn last time. Not my fault the stupid noob got in the way!"
"What the heck is this thing?" Vanellope wrenched a strange looking sword out of his hands. It glowed a faint blue.
"Geez, it's just a ghost blade! HP goes down, and you've just gotta wait cuz you can't grab a potion or anything. Minor annoyance!" The man huffed. "What the hell is wrong with you people?!"
"Don't call us people." Ralph smashed a hand on the man's head, knocking him senseless.
"Oh…Ralph…" Vanellope was peering over the side of the train, eyes huge. "Problem…"
Ralph dragged himself over. Calhoun was laying on the ground, her pale blue skin turning transparent. Her clothes, oddly enough, seemed as solid as ever. Felix's hammer could strike them, no problem. But it ghosted through her flesh.
"I can fix it, I can fix it…" Felix chanted urgently, trying to heal his wife. "C'mon, you've always worked before, fix it, fix it!"
"Felix, stop." Calhoun hissed. Her health bar was open, and dropping rapidly. "You can't fix it."
"Like fun I can't!" Felix looked up at Vanellope and Ralph. Tears were running down his face.
"No, you can't. Jerkwad just explained." Ralph eased himself over the side, Vanellope glitching beside him. "It turns you into a ghost before you die, so you just have to wait. He called it a 'minor annoyance.'"
"W…what are you saying?"
"They're saying I'm gonna die." Calhoun grimaced. "Can't be helped."
"We've got to get her home." Vanellope said. "If we get her home, it might stop or she could just respawn like norm—"
She found herself speaking to Ralph alone. Felix had grabbed Calhoun in a fireman's carry (it was the only way he could get her fully off the ground) and was running towards the outer rim of huts.
Ralph struggled to keep up, but he could only manage a fast trot. "Kid, even if she dies at home, we don't know how her code will react. She could still just…"
"I know." She matched Ralph's pace, itching to go faster, not daring to leave him behind.
"Felix…just…"
"Ma'am, with all due respect, I'm not about top entertain the idea of leaving you behind or trying to get away any slower to keep myself covered up." Felix said grimly as he rushed past players and NPCs alike.
"…You're perceptive today."
"Just hang on Tammy." Felix tried to ignore the shouts of the people behind them. "I'll fix it."
"I love you."
"I love you too." He risked a glance back; her health bar was down to 20%. "Save your strength, darlin'."
He wouldn't let her see how scared he was. He'd be strong for her as long as he had to be. Goodness knew she'd been strong for him.
He ducked through the darkened doorway. It was bigger on the inside of the hut than on the outside; a very good sign.
He plunged ahead, hoping that they wouldn't be separated like when they'd come to Magic Quest. If they were, it could waste precious seconds.
To his horror, everything went dark, and the weight was gone from his shoulders. "Tammy! Just hang on, it's like before!"
He groped blindly forwards, waiting for the blinding light, the robotic voice of judgment, anything.
What he got was the sight of Game Central Station, and his wife lying motionless on the ground. Her skin was still pale blue, although her garments were back to battle armor and laser blasters.
"Tammy!" He snatched her up. "Darlin', say something!"
"...something." She gave him a small smile.
"You never make jokes." Felix lifted her into his arms and ran for Hero's Duty. Her limbs would trail on the ground, but it couldn't be helped.
The health bar was gone., No way to tell how close she was to being deleted.
"Games have started." She hissed as they passed his entrance.
"I don't care."
"You'll wreck…everything we worked for." Her eyes slid closed.
He felt no regret or hesitation as he raced inside Hero's Duty. The super-sonic tram, so like the one in Magic Quest, took them almost instantly to the bunker.
"What happened to the Sarge?" One of her men stared at Felix in horror.
"She's dying." He snapped. "Keep an eye out for players. It what she'd want you to be doing."
The man snapped off a salute and hurried away.
Felix laid her in a quiet spot. She didn't look any better.
Now, he just had to wait for her to die.
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To be concluded…
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A/N Yep, one more chapter/epilogue thing coming. Sorry for the wait; I wanted to make sure I did this right.