Chapter 5: The Intestines
The group of six made their way back to the Heart. The giant temple loomed over them once more as they made their way to the Left Atrium.
Red Blood Cell pushed her cart to the drop-off area and picked up the box of oxygen. Her jacket was now facing bright-side-out, and she prepared to enter the Heart again. She turned back to her friends.
"Alright everybody, stay together!"
She faced towards the Heart again, and felt White Blood Cell place his hand on her shoulder. White Blood Cell, in turn, was holding onto Eosinophil's hand, who was holding onto Basophil by his umbrella handle. The platelets sat atop White Blood Cell and Eosinophil, holding tight.
Red Blood Cell inhaled deeply and closed her eyes. No matter how many times she passed through it, the Heart was always a magical place for her. It was so full of wonder. She let her breathing synchronize with the steady heartbeat coming from inside the Heart, when-
"Ah, the Heart," observed Basophil, interrupting her thoughts. "A magnificent Temple to Life. The Crossroads of Sensibility. Never ceasing, it constantly-"
"Hey, shut it ya big-mouthed dingus!" shouted a very grumpy male erythrocyte. "Show some respect for the place!"
Even though Red Blood Cell was interrupted by Basophil's musings, and she agreed that one should show the proper respect, she felt that this other erythrocyte was being quite rude to Basophil. He didn't seem to mean any harm.
She scowled at the erythrocyte, but White Blood Cell was the one who spoke. "Maybe you need to learn some respect as well. There is no need for name-calling."
The erythrocyte grumbled, but was elbowed by the cell next to him into being silent.
With the interruption over with, Red Blood Cell faced forward again. Slowly, they shuffled into the Heart. The steady beat grew louder as they entered the Left Atrium.
Moving downward, they entered the Left Ventricle. Here, more blood cells gathered than in any other area of the Heart.
The left ventricle is the strongest of the heart's four chambers. It expels blood into the aorta, which then branches off to go to the various parts of the body.
"Hold on!" AE-3803 whispered back to her friends. They crowd seemed to sweep them along without effort, and immediately it felt like they were zooming out of the Heart. Before Red Blood Cell could even process what had happened, she found herself at the end of the aorta, with many different paths to choose from.
Looking behind her to make sure everyone was still together, Red Blood Cell walked over to the cart pick-up area and plopped her Oxygen down.
She walked back to her friends. "Okay, so I'm due to deliver this oxygen to the small intestine. Should we split up now?"
White Blood Cell looked downward. He didn't seem eager to separate now. Fortunately for him, Eosinophil decided to speak up.
"Maybe we should split up after visiting the Small Intestine. I want to check that it's not with a certain someone first."
"Who?"
Eosinophil grimaced. "Dendritic Cell."
White Blood Cell and Red Blood Cell inhaled sharply. They both knew Dendritic's habit of stalking immune cells, taking embarrassing photographs of them, and using them to activate those same immune cells later. If Eosinophil had anything even slightly embarrassing in her book, Dendritic would be the worst person to find it.
"Yeah, we should do that," said White Blood Cell. Red Blood Cell nodded in agreement.
"It appears a consensus has been reached. Onward, we forge ahead on this noble quest." Basophil indicated a blood vessel with his umbrella and started forward.
"Mister Basophil! Wait!" shouted Leader-chan.
Basophil stopped and turned around. Leader chan pointed at a different blood vessel exit.
"That's the right exit for the small intestine."
The group made their way down to the small intestine. At various places, they could see lactic acid bacteria playing with each other.
"Oh my gosh! They're so cute!" said Red Blood Cell.
The platelets scrambled down from the immune cells they were riding on and ran over to play with the lactic acid bacteria.
Nyu, nyuuu! cooed the bacteria.
"Ah, the springtime of youth, in which the little ones leap with carefree exuberance, oblivious to the harsh cruelties of fate," said Basophil.
Eosinophil and Basophil just stared at him.
"Oh my, Basophil, you have such a way with words!" came a cheery, motherly voice from behind Basophil.
"Miss Macrophage!" shouted the platelets.
"Oh, hello little ones!" said Macrophage. "It's so good to see you!"
The little platelets ran up to hug the woman in the large, flowy maid outfit.
"What brings you all to the small intestine? Oh my, there isn't a parasite about, is there?" asked Macrophage.
"We're looking for big sister Eosinophil's book!" said Leader-chan.
"Well, there was a parasite up in the lungs," said Eosinophil. "Gosh, now that I think about it, it may have come from the small intestine. I guess I was too focused on looking for my book, I forgot to think about the parasite's origin."
"Yeah, big sister Eosinophil was so cool!" exclaimed Backwards Cap-kun. "She jumped on the monster and stabbed it and then it died and just, like, disappeared."
"Oh, my! It sounds quite impressive!"
Eosinophil blushed again. "It… it's not such a big deal…"
Backwards Cap-kun turned around. "But big sister, you were soooo cool! I hope I can be as strong as you someday! Then I can help my team more!"
Eosinophil felt her mitochondria twist inside her chest. This kid is too adorable. She wished she could adopt this precious little platelet.
"Now, Eosinophil-chan, can you tell us what this book looks like? Maybe my colleagues and I can help find it!" said Macrophage.
"O-oh, well, it… it's pink, and it has red flowers on the cover…"
Macrophage smiled sweetly. "That sounds like a lovely little book! You sure have good taste!"
"T-thank you very much, Miss Macrophage. Um, you wouldn't happen to know if Dendritic Cell has it, do you?"
"I was actually just visiting Dendritic-sama! He showed me lots of new pictures, but I don't the he found any books. Would you like me to ask-"
"NO!" Eosinophil interrupted. "N-no, thank you. I think it would be best for me to ask him in person. Thank you."
Macrophage clapped her hands together, smiling. "Of course! Of there is anything I can do to help, just ask please!"
Suddenly, Eosinophil heard Red Blood Cell screaming.
"Ey, shut your mouth!" shouted a familiar voice. "And you, what're you doing chumming it up with a non-immune cell? How many times do I have to tell you-"
"Oh, dear, I think we should intervene," suggested Macrophage.
Together, Eosinophil, Basophil, Macrophage, and the platelets went over to where AE-3803, U-1146, and now Memory T Cell were standing.
Memory T Cell, formerly Killer T Cell, was shouting in 1146's face. "-We're killers! Don't forget it!"
"Oh, wow, it seems everyone is running into each other today!" said Macrophage.
Memory T looked at everyone. "What's going on here?! What's everyone doing gathering here?!"
"Why are you outside of the thymus, Memory T Cell?" asked Eosinophil.
The Thymus: the gland which produces and stores T cells until needed by the body.
"I have special orders to be down here."
Red Blood Cell looked at U-1146, frightened. "You don't think it's Cancer again, do you?"
A gloom passed over the group. Everyone remembered how a rogue Cancer Cell nearly proliferated and threatened the body some time before. It was also common knowledge that Memory T, NK Cell, and U-1146 had faced Cancer Cell again a second time. Memory T had to use a special, last-resort technique, and U-1146 had dealt the killing blow.
What worried everyone was that Cancer's last words on both occasions were "See you again," addressed to the Neutrophil.
"Fortunately, no," said Memory T Cell. "I haven't seen any sign of that buggy bastard recently."
"Please be sure to watch your language," said Macrophage with a serene smile. "There are little ones here."
Memory T glanced down at the platelets, as U-1146 and Eosinophil both blushed. The immune cells tended to use coarse language when fighting germs, whether or not there were platelets around.
"Fine," grunted Memory T Cell.
Suddenly, the ground moved.
"WHAT THE F-" as quickly as he had forgotten his agreement, Memory T Cell was cut off as White Blood Cell clamped a hand tightly over his mouth, while also grabbing the back of Memory T's head in his hand. At the same time, Red Blood Cell quickly covered Leader-chan's ears, while Eosinophil whipped off her pink cap, undid the earflaps in one swift motion, and clamped it over Backwards Cap-kun's ears.
"LANGUAGE!" they shouted simultaneously.
The ground moved again.
"Oh, dear, this doesn't look good," said Macrophage.
"Once more, the tenuous balance of life threatens to tip into darkness. Like the hydra of old, it is not enough to destroy on head, for more shall take its place."
The ground rattled worse than ever before. White Blood Cell let go of Memory T and whipped out his knife. Eosinophil gripped her bident harder. Memory T cracked his knuckles.
The source of the tremors was revealed as another Ascaris Lumbricoides burst through the wall of the intestines.
"WHAT THE HOLY HELL IS THAT?!" shouted Memory T, eyes wide with terror.