Carbuncle! The SD Gundam Story, Chapter 6
Meet the other victims of the Carbuncle's curse. It's not pretty. Neither is this chapter, but anyway, I have an excuse that I will elaborate later that has nothing to do with being dead.
Shute regained his vision after a few minutes of poking. It wasn't poking from a finger, either, it was poking from a paw. He knew it was a paw, too, because after a while, claws began to dig into his fur. He blinked for a while, but his eyes didn't focus right away, leaving him only with a light shape of Carbuncle blue before he gave up and went back to sleep.
"Hey, kid, can you wake up now?"
Shute shook his head, glad that he could finally see again. "Yeah, I think so."
Shute's eyes fell on a handsome-looking Carbuncle standing to the side of him. He stood relatively high compared to Shute, with long, well muscled (if furry) legs. His eyes were reflective and piercing, his entire body exuding the air of sharpness, almost as if he were a living sword. His fur was a much stronger hue than Shute's; an solid ocean blue instead of Shute's fluffy, cloud-like sky blue. The sharp Carbuncle took care to not point his nose towards the floor. "Good. Hey, whatever you do, don't look at the walls."
Of course, Shute (being previously human) immediately looked for a wall. "Why no- AAA!"
(Description edited for G rating, read FlikFreak's "Carbuncle!" for details.)
Shute collasped into a shivering fit at the feet of the pretty-buncle, trying (and actually succeeding) to rub the image out of his eyes.
"Told you."
The much larger, sharp-faced and furry Carbuncle that Shute happened to be sharing a cell with stretched, purposely spreading his tails so Shute wouldn't see Sephiroth's chair behind the prison bars. "Welcome to the holding cell."
Shute got a sudden chill, finally realizing that he was in a stone-walled prison cell, a complex system of fanning bars making up the door. His fur fluffed out and made him look like a blue marshmallow. He smiled weakly. "Um... hi. Nice welcoming comittee."
"Sarcasm, how original." Sword, as Shute was referring to him in his mind, sniffed loudly, tossing his head about like an agitated horse.
Shute bowed his head, sitting on his haunches. "I'm sorry."
"I'm Fox." Sword sniffed again, this time sneezing. "Sorry about... you. Just a little kid, and you're gonna be harvested for a ruby."
Shute gulped, taking a closer look at his surroundings. The cell was pretty dang dark, the only light coming from the barred prison door. Sadly, the lower bars were very close together, erasing the hope of escaping by squeezing through (at least through the bottom bars; the upper bars were large enough for a human to slip through). Just a bit outside the bars was a chair. A chair that Shute knew was Sephiroth's chair simply because he KNEW it was Sephiroth's chair. The walls extended into a long hallway past the chair, to where? Who knows.
"How lucky are the cursed, huh?" Fox monotoned.
Shute sighed. "Yeah..."
About five minutes later, Sephiroth dropped of a Carbuncle with a slender build and ruffled, dusty robin's-egg-blue fur. He scratched his name into the clay floor with his claws, identifying himself as "Toan". Past that, Toan wouldn't and/or couldn't talk to them, and instead retreated into a corner to nap. Luckily, Toan was nice enough to let Shute bunker down on his back, and Shute finally got a nice, 15 minute nap.
After that fifteen minutes, Sephiroth threw in another Carbuncle, this one barely the size of a puppy. His fur was incredibly dark, almost black when you looked at it out of the corner of your eye. This one could talk, his name being Vivi. Oddly enough, Vivi had not been touched by an actual Carbuncle, but had been sold a ruby at a store. Vivi hid underneath Shute's leg for a few minutes before cringing into the corner to be fearful for his life on his own.
And that's when Shute had an idea!
"Hey! We can't just stay here and wait to die!" Shute yelped. "We've gotta think of a way to escape!"
Fox picked up his Carbuncle ears, feigning an interest in what Shute was saying. "Really?"
"YES, REALLY!" Shute bounced to his feet and strode to the bars. "If we can stack ourselves on top of eachother, we should be able to squeeze out of the bars at the top and run to freedom!"
Then suddenly, a feeling of hope and warmth filled the room, with Toan and Vivi wagging their tails in happiness.
"Fox, Toan, you get on the bottom."
Fox, despite knowing for a fact this wouldn't work, stood next to Toan while Shute wiggled onto their shoulder blades, perching his forefeet on a crossbar on the door. "You're up, Vivi!"
Vivi began to jump forward, but quickly stopped. "But, how will I help you out once I get over there?"
Shute's ears drooped. "Oh..."
Fox jumped away swiftly, letting Toan and Shute fall to a heap on the floor. Toan sighed and left to try and find a better place to sit. Shute stayed, leaning his back against the bars and trying not to cry...
"It's a good idea..." Fox admitted, hearing Shute sniffle. "Just not a practical idea."
"Yes, sir..."
"I REMEMBER SOMETHING!"
Shute jumped up and slammed his forepaws into Fox's shoulderblades, waking up the still-miserable (and very tired) Carbuncle. "What now, Shute?"
"I'm magic!"
Vivi's head snapped up from his terrified stupor. "Magic? Whadda you mean?"
"I have magic powers! Like this!" Shute concentrated on the dirt floor. He pictured the sand-creature from Star Wars in his mind, and how the sand around it opened into nothing and formed a huge, inescapable pit-
RUMBLERUMBLERUMBLERUMBLERUMBLERUMBLERUMBLERUMBLERUMBLERUMBLERUMBLERUMBLERUMBLE...
The ground began to open up!
Fox, Toan, and Vivi all leapt to their feet, laughing in sheer joy! They all jumped into the center and began digging out the middle of the ever-widening ground. The sound was nearly unbearable, because the stones moved and shook and reverbarated every time they did it, but no one really seemed to care. Shute's throat fluttered; they were escaping! They were finally getting out, and they wouldn't be chopped up an-
POP! The ground broke open, and Fox fell into a cell filled with a bunch of normal-looking people (with weird-looking clothes, but that's besides the point). Vivi popped his head over the side of the manhole-sized opening in the ceiling/floor. "Zidane!"
A boy with blonde hair and a tail looked up from Fox's dazed form and caught Vivi's eyes. "Vivi! You're okay!"
"SIN HARVEST!"
New cell, just as dirty with identical bars, but a stone floor.
"Man!" Shute cried, thumping his paws against the floor.
Vivi dug his nose into his third tail. "How'd Sephiroth catch up with us?"
"We were only making more noise than a bulldozer," Fox smarted.
Toan slammed his head into the wall in desperation.
Not too much later, Sephiroth dumped a box full of one carbuncle and a ruined leather glove into the cell, mumbling about how his favorite glove was now Carbuncle chow. This carbuncle didn't look too much unlike Toan, except for maybe a hint of gold hidden somewhere underneath his long, blue fur. This Carbuncle had very broad shoulders and small eyes, perhaps made slightly smaller from the fact that he couldn't stop snarling. Shute tried to approach him, but the large-buncle snapped at him and nipped him in the nose with his teeth.
"OW!"
Fox jumped in front of Shute, holding out his tails like a shield. "You got a problem, punk!"
"Punk" snapped back around, his tails fanned out like Fox's and his teeth glistening. "Yeah, I got a problem! I've just been stuffed into a dingy cell with a bunch of losers waiting to be chopped into little pieces and sold to my worst enemy!" he rattled, speaking quickly and charging forward menacingly.
"Well, listen, Punk, we've got the exact same problem as you, and you have no right to take it out on the kid!"
Shute twitched at his mention and ran and hid in the corner of the cell, Vivi joining him and Toan barking from the other corner.
"Forget the kid, my own life's at stake here!" Punk screamed, pushing his ruby in Fox's. Spark flew out from between the two Carbuncles, bathing the cell in a sinister red.
Shute and Vivi yapped in shock and started shivering even more, a cold clenching feeling grappling both their chests. Toan bravely stepped forward, still barking (sounded a lot like a Chihauhau) and keeping a safe distance. Shute could feel a shout tugging at his throat, but he knew better than to say anything; he swallowed it away and pushed himself as far away from the dueling Carbuncles as possible.
"If you wanna stay here and wait to die, then go ahead!" Punk shouted, his ruby beginning to glow. "I'm getting out of here, and I'm not letting you get in the way!"
Fox's ruby then began to shower out sparks, one of which made contact with Toan's paw and set it on fire. He yelped and sat on his foot, extinguishing the flames. Shute's throat was now about to burst, and Vivi was hiding behind him, making him feel like some kind of human shield.
"We're not getting out with you be-"
"Stop it!"
Shute immediately covered his muzzle, burying his nose in the ground. Punk and Fox stopped fighting for about half a second before Punk turned to Shute and Vivi, his ruby glowing brighter than ever. He began to slink towards the two smallest Carbuncles. "What did you say to me!"
"ZIDANE, HELP ME!" Vivi shrieked as Punk reared his head. Shute knew that meant headbutt; he flinched just as Fox jumped in front of him and defected the blow.
"I said leave the kid out of this!" Fox roared. He rammed his forehead into Punk's jewel, sending sparks flying and Punk into the other side of the room. Punk counterred by repelling off the wall and ramming Fox into the bars of the door. The rest of the obvious violent and PG rated battle was soon drowned out by red lights.
Footsteps sounded from down the hallway; Sephiroth was coming! Shute and Vivi both heard the one-winged angel approaching and rushed into Toan's corner, the two of them hiding while Toan stood guard.
SNAP!
"ARF!"
SNAP SNAP WHIP!
"YAP ARF YOWLP!"
Fox and Punk, also known as Tidus for sake of me not having to introduce him, retreated into opposite corners, long, streaking bruises hidden by blue fur. Sephiroth wound his whip back over his arm and fixed his hair, his eyes twitching from the bright lights.
Vivi raised his little paw as high as he could. "Um, Mr. Sephiroth?"
Sephiroth glanced at Vivi out of the corner of his eye.
"Thank you."
The one-winged angel sniffed arrogantly and walked away.
At last, Sephiroth threw in what is going to be the LAST Carbuncle in this flippin' story (can you tell I'm tired of writing this thing?) directly on Fox's back. Still unconscious, this Carbuncle looked like a more muscled version of Toan, though not as big as Tidus. Shute and Vivi wasted a bit of time trying to drag the boy off of Fox, but after a while Fox admitted he enjoyed the warmth and made them leave him alone.
Shute nestled himself on Fox's shoulder, dieing for some kind of physical affection. Captain would, by now, be getting ready to leave Shute's house for the night; the Gundam would usually ask Shute to change into a rabbit so he could carry him around for at least an hour before he left. Shute would sometimes sit on his shoulder like a parrot, but Captain liked the feeling of fur between his fingers, so Shute usually wound up being held. Zero and Baku would usually say their goodbyes for the night as well, Zero ruffling his hair and Baku pinching his cheek so hard that his teeth hurt.
But, just like that, Shute was stuck in a dingy cell with five strangers that happened to be in the same, strange situation that he was. No Captain to save him, his magic was useless... he was a total goner. He was waiting for death. The thought of it made his stomache turn.
But Fox had been decently nice to him, he thought. Fox was the closest thing he had to a friend right now. He tried to look at the pretty-buncle without moving his head, but Fox was in his blind spot. "Hey. Fox?"
Fox did something unexpected; he put his head on top of Shute's, like puppy litter-mates would. "Yeah, Shute?"
"Do you think my friends are here like Vivi's were?"
Fox paused for a second. "We they nearby when Sephiroth sin-harvested them?"
The memory made the boy shudder. "Yes?"
"Then they are." Fox sighed heavily, partly because of the new-buncle weighing down his lungs. "I can smell my friends. They're not far from here. Krystal's gonna be worried sick about me... if she's not dead yet."
"Don't say that." Shute warned, not really meaning his usual words of encouragement. He didn't believe himself right now, but it was no reason to make everyone else miserable. "Something good'll happen, Mr. Fox."
"I'm no 'mister', kid," Fox replied, his jawbone moving awkwardly on Shute's thick hair. "I'm a fox, but I'm no 'mister'."
"Your last name is Fox?" Shute asked, a bit confused.
"My species is fox. Turned into a carbuncle in less than a day. Kinda liked having more than one tail, but... that's not important, why am I telling you?"
Shute was even more confused, until the realization hit him. He immediately jumped up and began backing towards the wall. "Yo- you're a dog!" he whimpered, shaking but feeling nothing, not scared, angry, or anything. His emotions had been turned off, leaving only a sack of organs and synapses to speak for him.
Fox raised his head, making the newest Carbuncle slip off of his back by an inch or so. "No, I'm a fox. My friend Bill's a dog, there's a differ- wait a minute." Fox's ears drooped on his head, and he began to study Shute's face. "Oh no. You're one of those cano-phobes, aren't you?"
He couldn't respond. Shute's throat was swollen with shock, fear, guilt, and a bunch of other emotions he didn't figure out until later. He felt very very very numb at that point. He hunched his shoulders and kept his eyes on Fox, who he now expected to jump out at him and attack him at any moment.
But he didn't. Fox just sighed and curled himself up again, leaving Shute to zone out and stare into space.
DONE! FINALLY! And the story's still got two chapters at least to go! MAN!
Introducing:
Fox-buncle: Fox McCloud of Star Fox fame, set after Star Fox Adventures.
Toan-buncle: Toan (name changeable) from Dark Cloud, part 1, set after Dark Cloud.
Vivi-buncle: Vivi from Final Fantasy IX, set sometime after Final Fantasy IX (I guess, I'm not the one who played the game, my friend Double F is).
Punk-buncle: Tidus from Final Fantasy X, set during Final Fantasy X (because there's no way he could come in after).
Nap-buncle: Sora, from Kingdom Hearts, set during Kingdom Hearts (specifically, sometime after Kairi is found).
