Chapter 6: Clostridium Botulinum

The Ascaris Lumbricoides in the intestines was only slightly smaller than the one in the lungs.

Which did absolutely nothing to make it less horrifying.

Eosinophil wasted no time in running towards the beast. The others ran away as fast as they could, except for Backwards Cap-kun

"YOU GO BIG SISTER!" he shouted "KILL IT HARD!"

Eosinophil didn't have time to focus on how cute Backwards Cap-kun was. She was chastising herself mentally.

If I wasn't so focused on my damn book, I would have known to investigate for more parasites!

She leapt into the air, whirling her bident around. Coming down, she let out a feral cry that almost matched the worm's in intensity.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!"

RRREEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAAHAGHGHGHHHH!

Her bident pierced the worm's head, and blood began spewing out. She twisted the spear, and her pink uniform started to turn a vibrant red as the blood splashed her. The worm's head fell to the ground.

Eosinophil reached into her jacket and began pulling out a granule, but the ground started rumbling again. Just as she looked in the direction of the disturbance, two more worms made their appearance.

Oh no… It's not just one parasite… It's an entire infestation!

Even as this thought was forming, more worms were coming from around a bend in the intestines. She had never faced this many parasites before.

Eosinophil pulled her spear out of the worm and tugged at her cap. She made sure she was quiet enough that the platelets didn't overhear.

"Shit."

"AAAAAAAHHHH!"

It was hard to hear Eosinophil and the worms over AE-3803's screaming.

White Blood Cell scooped both of the platelets into his arms. "Red Blood Cell, hurry!"

He had only ran forward a few micrometers when a bacterium burst through the ground. It had a bulbous head, a thin torso, and several long, thin flagella. It was a bright greenish-blue, and it had several eyes dotted around its head on all sides. It had a large, gaping mouth on its torso amidst the flagella.

"HAHAHAHAHA! I'M IN! COME ON, BOYS, IT LOOKS LIKE WE HIT THE JACKPOT! NOT MUCH OXYGEN HERE!"

Clostridium Botulinum: C. botulinum is an anaerobic, gram-positive bacteria that causes the disease known as "botulism." Most often found in improperly canned goods, C. botulinum can also be found in the soil. Symptoms can include nausea, dizziness, double vision, drooping eyelids, difficulty swallowing, and in severe cases, paralysis and death. Full recovery can take weeks, and in some cases it never comes at all even once the infection is over.

To avoid infection, it is recommended to avoid purchasing food in cans that are dented, bulging, or deformed in any way, and to wash the tops of cans before opening them.

More bacteria like the first one burst into the area, flailing their tentacles around to move.

White Blood Cell narrowed his eyes as his radar beeped. He let down the platelets, who ran over to Red Blood Cell.

I know already, he thought.

Leaping into the air, 1146 ripped his knives from their sheaths.

"ORE ORE!" he shouted.

Landing on top of a bacterium, he stabbed down with his knives. A spray of red cytoplasm spayed his uniform and his face. He did a front flip off of the bacterium and landed gracefully on the ground. He whipped around in a circle, slashing outward in a deadly arc. 1146 heard girlish laughter as his enemies' cries faded to silence.

"Hai-yah!" chirped Macrophage as she swung her extremely oversized sword in a perfect circle, obliterating the bacteria around her.

"HUU!" shouted Memory T Cell, as he punched some bacteria in the head. A loud crunch! sounded out as the bacteria crumpled, dead.

White Blood Cell heard a rumble as other Killer T Cells emerged from nearby.

"DIE, GERM BASTARDS!"

To his left, Macrophage's walkie-talkie crackled as she spoke into it. "This is Macrophage, I could be using some backup down here in the small intestine!"

"Oy, where did that useless moron Basophil sneak off to?" demanded Memory T as he pummelled another bacterium. "Lazy bastard is leaving us to do all the work!"

White Blood Cell slashed another bacterium as he frowned. "Don't talk about Basophil that way, I'm sure he knows what he's doing."

U-1146 ducked as a bacterium's flagellum nearly caught his head. Severing the appendage, he stabbed the bacterium before slashing another in one fluid motion.

"Well, he could do it with us instead of running away!" said Memory T.

U-1146 killed two more bacteria. "If you can whine, you can fight. Shut up and focus on our enemies, not our allies!"

"But-"

Memory T was cut off by a bacterium's flagellum wrapping around his arm. He immediately stopped talking and pulled the bacterium by the flagellum. Memory T whipped the bacterium around into its comrade, killing them both and severing the tentacle.

All around them, Killer T Cells, Neutrophils, and Macrophages swarmed to help, but the bacteria kept coming.

"Wha-? Oh no! My oxygen!" cried a familiar voice.

White Blood Cell looked up at the sound of AE-3803's voice. He saw her scrambling to get the oxygen canisters that had fallen from her box. She had her hands on two, and Platelet-chan held the third, but the fourth one bounced down towards him. Dodging two more bacteria, he he grabbed the canister and smashed it into one bacterium's multi-eyed head. Another grabbed the canister, and struggled to wrench it from U-1146's grasp. The canister slipped out of 1146's hands, and he accidentally opened this lid, discharging the oxygen…

"AAAAAAAAGGHHHH!" shouted the bacterium as it was hit by the life-sustaining gas.

Clostridium Botulinum are obligate anaerobes; this means that not only do they survive without oxygen, but oxygen is actually toxic to them. C. Botulinum can survive in low-oxygen environments, but high amounts of oxygen will poison them.

White Blood Cell could hardly believe his eyes. Oxygen was… harmful to these bacteria? The C. botulinum shrank away as the canister continued to leak. White Blood Cell wasted no time; he picked up the oxygen and started chasing them back to the breach.

Already, a small band of platelets were tossing fibrin over the small breach where the bacteria were trying to enter. The immune cells, now outnumbering the bacteria, managed to kill them all and end the infection.

Macrophage wiped her brow. "Whew. Good thing we got a handle on that before it got too out of hand!" she said with a cheery smile. "If we had arrived too late, who knows what might have happened!"

Their moment of victory was short lived, as the ground continued to rumble. The Ascaris were coming…