Disclaimer: I don't own Kid Cosmic!
Title: The Brain Cells. Where Are They.
Summary: Jo makes the bright decision to fist fight a demon dog while falling off a cliff
...
Her body is faster than her brain. She sees Rosa's ring go flying. She sees Kid fly down to grab her. She sees the Demon Death Dog charge. Jo suddenly takes up contact sports and tackles the beast into a portal, and now they're falling down a sheer cliff. That's a thing. And the dog is pissed.
Movies always make self-sacrifice sound so complicated. A big last-ditch plan where the main characters realize what's happening just a second too late- and the person smiles and says a quick goodbye, content with the knowledge they're going out protecting people.
Jo's entire thought process is FUCKSHITNOTTHEFACEGODDAMNITOHGOD.
Teeth come at her, and she blocks, instinctively, with her arms. Blood is leaking down and up and everywhere (thanks to, you know, falling), warm and sticky, but it's clearly not anything vital or she'd be unconscious already. Jo kicks that sucker in the teeth, throwing him away from her, and summons a new portal. The sweet relief of not dying is a bit tempered by landing face-first in front of Kid's trailer.
Papa G has started stationing a few clones around the junkyard just in case someone comes by asking for repairs. She had three on her almost instantly; two to help her up, a third to go grab the first aid kit.
"Well," said the one on her left. "Bad day?"
"Just a bit," she agreed.
In the twenty minutes it takes for the gang to get back, Papa G washes her arms, disinfects, and wraps the scratches. Nothing deep, he'd promised. Her long legs had kept it far enough back to avoid worse. For once, being a scrawny teenager had some pros.
Jo didn't think she'd ever seen Kid fly that quickly- and for him, that was saying something. "JO!" he bellowed, slamming into her with considerable force. Jo went to return the hug but the sting of her wounds stopped her from fully wrapping around. "Jo, that was amazing! You were like WHPASH!"
"Is the dog gone?" she asked.
"Eeyup," Papa G- their Papa G- replied, tucking a hand in his pocket. "Fall broke his collar up nasty."
Jo let out a sigh of relief. "Good."
A tiny foot kicked her shin, and Jo buckled with a yelp, flopping back onto a stack of tires. Rosa had her arms crossed and her frown ready, but she knew that the wobble in her chin meant she was scared. "Jo disappeared! Thought you went smush!"
"No smush," she promised.
Kid had noticed her bandages by now, and had grown quiet. His fingers traced them with a surprising amount of gentleness, eyes far away. "You're gonna be okay, aren't you? You aren't- you aren't gonna leave?"
Jo felt her heart twist. This time, sting or not, she pulled him closer, giving Rosa the room she needed to climb up. "Nah. It's gonna take a lot more than a nibble to keep ol' Jo down."
Tuna hopped up next to her, muzzle twisted into a severe scowl- or, well, the closest he got to it, anyway. "Don't you go doin' that again, you hear?"
"I won't," Jo lied, knowing she probably would.
Author's Note: Now that Kid Cosmic has a page, I've been urged to post these here as well! I know the timeline in this one is... iffy (Tuna can talk? But they have their rings? But they're not in outer space?) but I still think it's pretty cute.
-Mandaree1