Summary: The aftermath.

Imposter

By Dark Ice Dragon

Part 31

Muzaka hurried to the medbay, Takeo cradled in his arms. Takeo was breathing, thankfully, but Muzaka wasn't sure for how long.

He dashed in, mouth open to call Frankenstein.

He halted instead, nostrils flaring at the stench of blood permeating through the air. Straining his ears as he looked around, he heard the steady drip of something...

One of the curtains was closed, and the lighting the medbay had meant he could see the inside was coated with droplets of a dark liquid. Under it, pools of blood grew with each drip.

He set Takeo on the closest bed as he strode over. It wasn't, was it...?

Muzaka yanked the curtain back.

A purple humanoid crouched over the remains of someone, their shoulder-length hair moving like snakes. It was hard to tell under all the gore and blood, but Muzaka could maybe see some gold left of the suit on the body on the floor.

The humanoid snapped their attention to him with a hiss. He had blue eyes surrounded by black.

Muzaka relaxed, seeing that. "Frankenstein?" Even looking like this, Muzaka could still recognise his eyes, and how Frankenstein looked at him.

Frankenstein blinked, and then exhaled, the transformation rapidly shifting back. "Did you find him?"

"Yeah, he's on the bed."

Frankenstein nodded, leaving the body where it lay.

"What happened...?" Muzaka said, hearing the sound of running water. With a clearer view, Muzaka could see that yes, the 'suit had been gold - that was the only thing left of the pieces strewn across the floor that could be identifiable.

"He came to finish the job," Frankenstein said. "I ensured that he wouldn't." He exhaled. "Could you call Em here? He'll be in the lab with Tao - I'll need his help for this."

"Sure."

When Muzaka entered the lab, he heard Em's growl before he saw him. Tao was laying on one of the beds, still pale, but the heart monitor seemed to be beating regularly. Em was perched on a chair at the foot of Tao's bed.

"Frankenstein wants your help with Takeo."

Em narrowed his eyes at him, frowning as he glanced at Tao again. So that was it.

Muzaka nodded. "I'll watch him for you."

Em glanced between him and Tao again, before nodding. "...Thanks."

"Heh, you'll be doing more than me." He patted Em's shoulder as he passed, Em not stiffening at the touch.

Muzaka let out a long exhale as he straddled the chair Em had been sitting on, resting his elbows on the back.

Now all he could do was wait and hope Takeo and Tao pulled through.

[-]

Muzaka looked over when he heard the lab doors open, Em scurrying in as he dried his hands on his suit.

"How'd it go?"

"Fine," Em said. "He's not dead."

Muzaka sighed, relaxing. "Good. Tao's doing well too," he said as he stood up, Em immediately taking his seat and watching Tao.

The smell of blood was stronger in the medbay, the blood on the floor dark and dry. The bed Muzaka had laid Takeo on earlier on was still wet, the blood only starting to darken. Takeo was now on a clean bed instead, one that had wheels on it, so it was clear where Takeo would be heading next.

Frankenstein was removing the labcoat he wore over his 'suit when Muzaka saw him.

"Hey," Muzaka said, walking up to him. "Go grab a bed and have a nap."

Frankenstein frowned at him, but Muzaka saw he was wavering on his feet. He opened his mouth, but Muzaka got there first.

"I'll clean up here, all right?" He might not know where everything went, but he could make a good stab at it. He could do the main clean-up at least. That was the easiest part.

Frankenstein squinted at him, making Muzaka smile softly. He definitely needed the rest. "Come on," he said, leading Frankenstein to the closest bed.

"A short nap," Frankenstein mumbled, laying down. "Then I'll join you."

"All right," Muzaka said. He doubted that would happen, and that was fine.

Frankenstein was asleep in seconds and Muzaka looked around at what he'd need to do.

Well then, he'd better get started.

He wheeled Takeo to the lab and put him next to Tao. "You look after both of them, okay?"

Em nodded, shifting his chair a bit so he could see them both.

One down. Now what to do with the body, or what was left of it. The lava pit was close to the medbay - not finding the body would be better than having to wake Frankenstein up and bring him to the meeting room. Muzaka wasn't sure if Em would even leave Takeo or Tao.

Right. Once he got rid of the body, then he could start cleaning up the blood.

[-]

Frankenstein woke up to the sound of a wet slap. They blearily squinted against the harsh medbay lights. They'd fallen asleep?

When they looked across, they saw Muzaka mopping the floor, which was a light pink.

...Ah. Of course. That was what happened.

Transforming drained them, but it had been a very long time since they'd transformed fully.

"You awake already?" Muzaka said, smiling at him.

"Apparently." They grimaced, and slowly sat up. The world tilted for a second, and then righted itself.

Muzaka set the mop against the wall, walking over. "Oi, go back to sleep."

"I need to...check on Takeo and Tao." Their tongue felt a little thick for the words. They were sure they would have been woken up if something had happened, but the pair might need something else that wasn't so obvious.

"Hnnn, all right."

Muzaka stuck close as Frankenstein stood up and, really, it wasn't... Frankenstein braced their weight back on the bed with a hand as the world span. Hm. Maybe they hadn't recovered as much strength as they thought...

Muzaka didn't comment on their lapse and Frankenstein closed their eyes. "I may need to borrow your shoulder for a moment."

Muzaka smiled. "Go ahead."

"Thank you." Frankenstein rested a hand on Muzaka's shoulder as they stood. It took them a second to adjust, leaning more on Muzaka than they liked.

Hm. It had been a very long time since they had fully transformed.

When they entered the lab, Em narrowed his eyes at them from where he was sitting. He frowned when he saw Frankenstein. "You're that tired?"

"Fully transforming on top of two major surgeries can be rather tiring, yes," Frankenstein corrected wryly. They should really get something to eat after this, but they could do that after they'd checked on Takeo and Tao.

They furrowed their brow when Em sucked in a breath, his gaze going wide-eyed as he snapped his focus on Muzaka.

Hm? Frankenstein glanced at Muzaka, but he looked the same as usual.

Was it something they'd said...? But there was nothing...

Ah.

Frankenstein shook their head as they went to check on Takeo and Tao. They really were tired if they hadn't even realised they'd inadvertently revealed they were an imposter. "Muzaka knows, Em, and has known for quite some time now."

"Yup."

Em didn't say anything, still studying Muzaka with narrowed eyes, before he turned his attention back to the pair on the beds.

Tao's colour had returned, thankfully, and his IV would need to replaced. Takeo's vitals were still weak, but for the moment the pair seemed to be holding steady where they were.

"They should pull through," Frankenstein murmured, and Muzaka was at their side again.

"An' you should go back to bed," Muzaka said.

Were they really-? They closed their eyes, the floor moving under them. Hm. "Yes, that would be a good idea."

"Right. If anything happens, we'll be in the medbay, okay?"

"Yeah."

The medbay? Wouldn't it be better if they stayed with Takeo and Tao?

They didn't argue as they were led out, and they groaned when they sat back onto the bed.

"What do you need?" Muzaka said, watching him.

They shuffled over so they leaned back against the headboard. "Some food should suffice," Frankenstein said. "But rest is largely all I need." The weakness would pass, eventually.

Muzaka nodded and left.

Hm. Maybe Muzaka wanted them to rest without the beep of the monitors? Maybe.

They looked around, their eyes catching the pink patch Muzaka hadn't finished cleaning up yet.

Ah, yes. They should clean the rest of it.

Frankenstein didn't wobble as much when they stood up again. They peered into the bucket and grimaced. No, that wouldn't clean anything now - it was only good for spreading more blood.

They picked up the bucket and poured its contents down the sink. They waited for a wave of dizziness or weakness to follow but it didn't. Good.

They were in the process of rinsing out the mop when Muzaka returned.

"That doesn't look like resting," Muzaka said, amusement tingeing his tone.

Frankenstein looked down at what they were doing, and continued rinsing. "Yes, well. You'd done most of the work and-"

"You still need to rest," Muzaka finished, closing the tap. "And food. Doctor's orders, heh."

Frankenstein didn't say anything as Muzaka led them back to bed. "But I'm not a doctor though. Not even close." What exactly were they, really?

"I think Takeo an' Tao would disagree with ya there," Muzaka said, sitting next to them on the bed, holding out food out for them to take.

"Yes, but those were procedures I looked up myself, not taught."

They blinked when Muzaka tipped his head back and laughed. Was it really that funny?

It took a few seconds for Muzaka to calm down, his shoulders still shaking. "Okay, so from what I saw, Tao had at least a broken arm, you'd needed to stitch up his torso, and you said he'd been poisoned too?"

Frankenstein nodded, not seeing where Muzaka was going with this line of questioning. "As well as cracked ribs." Yuri had done a lot of damage between the time Frankenstein had last seen Tao. They pursed their lips, holding onto their fury. It had been dealt with.

"All right. If I'd been the one who had ta take care of Tao and Takeo when they came in like that, do you think I'd be able to do even a quarter of what you did?"

Frankenstein was quiet as they mulled it over, which told them how tired they still were. But Muzaka doing major surgery...? "No," they admitted.

"Exactly!" Muzaka nodded. "I'd be able to see they're bleeding and where it's coming from, but aside from that?" Muzaka shrugged. "I'd have no idea how to stop it, or how to help."

Oh.

"I wouldn't know what to use if a bug was sweeping through the base either," Muzaka added, "or even how to use any of the machines here."

They knew because they had looked it up and observed the scientists but...the same was if someone asked them to look after the base's boiler room: they would have no idea where to start.

They huffed, picking up the food Muzaka had set down between them. "I suppose I feel even more like an imposter right now..." Their eyes were drawn towards the pink patch on the floor. Yes, at their base they were human, but it wasn't exactly normal to be able to transform their body and rip a man in half now was it?

Muzaka nudged them with an elbow. "You saved two lives twice over today by using knowledge and abilities the rest of us don't. I don't see how that makes you an 'imposter'."

Frankenstein smiled softly as they fiddled with the food wrapping. Of course Muzaka would focus more on their imposter syndrome than what they supposedly were. An imposter with imposter syndrome, hah.

They exhaled, and started eating. It felt good filling their stomach, and they leaned against Muzaka when he wrapped an arm around their shoulders.