3rd Precinct 7:34 AM
Osmosis Jones rolled up in his newly transformed car, music blasting from his radio. He didn't enjoy driving the "Thraxmobile" as he called it but the guys at the shop said they wouldn't be able to restore Ozzie's car back to it's former glory. After hearing that, he decided that if they couldn't fix it, he could at least get it repainted. The guys in auto detail were booked until next week so the new paint job would have to wait, much to Ozzie's dismay.
Osmosis Jones parked his car in his usual parking spot, turned off his music and got out of the car. As he did, The Chief walked over to greet him.
"Jones, I'd like you to meet Sirus, he's the commander of VIN." The Chief said while Sirus stepped forward and held out his hand.
Osmosis looked at it and reluctantly took it.
"Sirus, this is Osmosis Jones, one of the best cops on the force."
"Ah, very nice to meet you Mr. Jones." Sirus said in a deep and rather chilling voice that sent shivers up Ozzie's spine.
"Uh yeah, same here."
"Jones, Sirus needs an escort down to the stomach to confirm the deaths of Draco and Thrax."
"Well, I'm you man. Hop in." Osmosis said to Sirus as he walked towards the driver's side of his car.
"Nice car." Sirus commented.
"It's not mine."
"What?"
"What I meant to say was that my car was transformed into this…this…thing by Thrax and Draco. Those two hijacked my poor baby and transformed it into a driver's worst nightmare!"
"It's not that bad Mr. Jones."
"Maybe for you it isn't but that's because you're a virus man! If you were a cell, you'd feel differently about this subject!"
"Yes, perhaps I would." Sirus said, opening the door to the passenger's side of the car.
"So, what does your organization do exactly?" Osmosis asked, turning the key in the ignition. "You don't mind if I play some tunes do you man?"
"No, some music will be fine."
"Great."
When Osmosis turned the dial on his radio, the volume was cranked all the way up. Sirus' hair stood on end and he almost went through the roof of the vehicle.
"Would you turn it down please!" He shouted over Ozzie's rap noise.
"What! I can't here you! Let me turn the radio down!" Osmosis said, reaching for the volume control and turning the dial.
"Thank you."
"Anyway, you didn't answer my question from before."
"Sorry. I was a little preoccupied." Sirus snarled. "Now you asked what my organization does, correct?"
"Yeah."
"My organization's responsibility is to monitor and in a sense help control the human population."
"So you kill people?"
"Yes. We do."
"That's sick."
"It may be but that's what viruses were put on this earth to do, kill. We all play a part in this world and I'm just helping fulfill ours."
"You're still sick."
At this point Sirus was beginning to get a little annoyed at Osmosis.
"So how exactly did you manage to become Frank's top cop anyway? I hope it wasn't from shooting you mouth off."
"No it wasn't. I saved Frank and the lives off every cell in this body, twice."
"That's a pretty big accomplishment for a cell such as yourself." Sirus said with a snicker.
"Now if I wasn't held back by The Chief and my own sense of honor, I'd pull this car over and kick your sorry viral ass out of here."
Sirus laughed. "As if you had a sense of honor!"
"What did you say!" Osmosis yelled, almost stopping the car in the middle of the center lane.
"You couldn't kick a can, much less my ass!"
"Well why don't you put your money where your mouth is laughing boy!" Osmosis was about to pull over the car when The Chief's voice popped into his head and told him how much trouble he'd be in if he tried to kill this stupid bastard. Osmosis held back his anger and drove on in silence. The rest of the ride was uneventful.
The Stomach 8:15 PM
"We're here." Osmosis said, doing his usual bad parallel parking job and getting out of the car. "You got that detector thing?"
"Yes. I do." Sirus said, patting his pocket.
"Well then lets go. Stay behind me, I'll get us passed the security."
There was an irritated grunt from Sirus but he followed Ozzie's orders without a word of question.
As the pair walked through the stomach, Osmosis flashed his badge to get them through the security checkpoints. The two walked down a few sets of stairs before arriving at the stomach walls. Sirus pulled out a black, hand-held computer that looked a lot like a Palm Pilot. He turned it on and extended an antenna from the top.
"So, how does that thing work anyway?"
"It's much to complicated for your tiny mind but to put it simple, I've programmed Draco's DNA sequence into the computer. The antenna will pick up that sequence and if present, it will be displayed on this screen."
"Is it working?"
"I don't know yet Mr. Jones, it's still booting up."
"Well how long does that thing take?"
"Ten seconds to five minutes, depending on the amount of data stored on the hard drive."
"So how much data is on that thing anyway?"
"There are about 72 billion genetic sequences currently programmed and that's not even a third of the memory."
"Is it ready yet?" Osmosis asked, sounding like a 5-year old on a 12-hour car trip.
"Yes, it's ready Jones."
"Well would you hurry up and check the stomach acid already? I've got tickets to Wrestle Mania and a date with my girlfriend and I'm not going to miss it."
"You're not taking her to see pro wrestling are you?"
"That's none of your business!" Osmosis shot back, crossing his arms.
"Fine. The scanner is busy doing its job. We should have the results with in a few minutes. Can you wait that long?"
"Yeah, I can."
"Good."
Moments later the scanner beeped and the results appeared on the screen.
"Damn it."
"What! What did it find?"
"Nothing. The scanner found nothing. They really are dead. Damn it! Why does everyone always strive to ruin my fun!"
"Well now that you're happy, let's go back to the precinct so I can drop you off." Osmosis said, beginning to walk away from Sirus.
"Damn." Sirus said to himself, putting the scanner away and following Jones. "I was hoping to kill her myself."
As Sirus turned his back on the stomach walls, he began to curse. He was furious that Draco was dead. He had so much wanted to put an end to her life himself. He knew he would never have the chance to do so again, but he was wrong. Very wrong.
Draco and Thrax were both still alive, or at least they would be very soon. The DNA scanner was unable to pick up Draco's sequence because it was no longer the same. Draco's genetic sequence had been altered to the point that the current data the scanner possessed was rendered totally useless.
Inside the acidic soup both Draco and Thrax's DNA had begun the very painful process of replication and growth. By this time, Osmosis and Sirus were already doing twenty miles over the posted speed limit.
The DNA of Draco and Thrax had begun to merge together and slowly two dark forms were growing inside Frank's stomach. Only a few cells who were in the stomach noticed this, but they would all notice soon. At this point, Osmosis and Sirus were passed the halfway point for their destination. Osmosis was now doing 35 over the speed limit and had put his siren on to prevent him from being pulled over.
Inside Frank's stomach, the two dark figures were beginning to form limbs and heads. Soon the entire stomach area was filled with a pair of agonized screams. Everyone who was inside the stomach stopped what he or she was doing to stare at the dark blotches inside the lake of stomach acid. The children clung to their parents as the screams became louder and more painful.
Soon, two bubbling clawed hands breached the surface. As the skin on the hands seared together, the heads of the figures broke the surface of the acid and flung back, gasping for a first breath of air. Their hair flung splashes of acid against the inside of the stomach walls. The mouths of the figures were open and still screaming in pain. The figures' eyes were wide and went even wider as each mouth closed and then opened to let out a howl of pain. There was steam coming off the surface of the acid and the stomach temperature was rising a little bit.
Without warning, the figures stopped screaming. On the outside, no one could see them anymore because the inside of the stomach was engulfed in a mist created by the steam. The cells on the outside waited to see what would happen next.
What they saw was a clawed fist punch a hole through the stomach walls. The fist opened to reveal a deadly claw that glowed bright orange. The hand sliced a large hole into the stomach wall, releasing a wave of steam that poured out the gap. The cells in the stomach saw one of the dark figures emerge, the second one behind it. The figures stepped out of the steam so the cells could get a better look. There were screams from every man, woman and child in the place as the figure's identities were revealed.
"Hello Frank. Did you miss us?" Thrax asked grinning and holding his arms out as if to accept someone's embrace.
"Let's heat things up a bit, shall we?" Draco said, breathing a wave of fire from her mouth and blowing it like a kiss onto a few nearby cells. They screamed in pain and ran around the room, fanning the flames, until they were turned into ash. Then the ash began to burn as well.
Cells were now running towards the exit. Thrax leaped into the air and landed in front of the fleeing crowd. They stopped dead in their tracks as Thrax flung a fireball into the crowd. They all incinerated on contact.
Thrax and Draco then proceeded to kill every living organism inside the stomach, taking great delight in the magnificent sound of the screams from they're dying victims.
There was group of children selling cookies inside the stomach that day. Draco walked up to their booth and the children all clung to the nun who was supervising the sale. Draco picked up a box of cookies, opened it and took a cookie out. She then held it up to her mouth and then took a bite.
"This is very delicious children." She said kindly.
"Really?" The youngest child said hopefully.
"Yes." Draco said leaning in close to the child. "And so are little children."
The child gasped and buried her face in the nun's robe.
"You may kill us but when you die, God will avenge our souls." The nun said bravely.
Draco finished her cookie and then replied, "Well guess what? I'm an atheist."
Draco then closed her eyes and seven fireballs appeared in front of her. When she turned around, she opened her eyes, flicked her wrist back and the fireballs hurtled at the nun and the six children. She smiled as they screamed and then were burned alive.
Draco stopped to look at the chaos that had unfolded. There were burning piles of ash scattered about the room and the screams had all stopped. Draco felt Thrax behind her and she leaned backwards. He caught her and she rested in his arms.
"We're back in business baby." She said.
"Yes, and business is better then ever." He replied, leaning down. The two locked lips and kissed passionately.
The Scalp 8:45 AM
"Alright team, let's go!" Diego said into his headset. The rotor blades of the five helicopters whirred to life and began to spin. Soon, they had gotten up to their full rotation speed and were off the ground and in the air.
The team was going to enter though Frank's right ear and if anyone got in the way, they would pay the ultimate price. Diego had gone over the entry plan with the team before take off. Diego had to come up with the plan himself because he knew that Xion didn't feel up to it now. Xion's thoughts were still fixed on his last encounter with Draco.
He shifted a bit in the seat next to Diego, his claws fingering Draco's bracelet. Diego reached over and patted him on the shoulder. Xion smiled a bit.
"We'll find her Xion." Diego said confidently.
"I know." Xion replied, looking at Diego and giving him a smile. That was the first time Diego saw Xion smile like that since Draco left. Diego was glad to see his friend show some optimism for the situation. Diego himself was hopeful but was not quite an optimist.
"You gonna be okay?" Diego asked.
"Yeah, I'll be fine. Just concentrate on getting us in without crashing this bird."
"Right." Diego agreed, taking his hand off Xion's shoulder and shifting his concentration to the airspace ahead.
Diego lead the air convoy of helicopters in to Frank's ear. To their surprise, there was no security what so ever in this part of Frank. They saw very large clumps of earwax along the way but no guards. The team didn't even see a patrol car.
"Why are there no guards here?" Diego asked aloud.
"I'm not sure." Xion replied. "But perhaps the reason for the absence of security may be due to the fact that they're someplace else."
"You mean they're dealing with another situation?" Diego asked hopefully.
"Maybe." Xion replied, flipping open the cover of his laptop. "I'll go find out."
"Great, see if you can intercept-"
"-an NNN news broadcast. Already got it D."
"And?"
"Apparently they have a situation in the stomach. The police haven't released any further information on the subject yet."
"Sounds like a lead."
"You bet."
Diego got on his headset to relay a message to the rest of the team. "Okay guys, listen up. Xion's intercepted an NNN news broadcast. There is a large-scale situation in the stomach. Of what nature and who's involved, we don't know yet but we both think this could be a lead. We're deviating from our original mission plan and taking an alternate route, to the stomach. Diego over and out."
Diego turned off his headset.
"Let's just hope we're right D."
"Yeah Xion, let's hope, because that's all we can do now."