Chapter Nineteen: Blade Awake/Baby Torch
Blade woke up to find himself in a dim room. He looked around, spotting Jester sitting in a chair nearby, his position suggesting that he was asleep. "Jester," he called softly. "Jester, wake up."
Jester stirred around and shifted.
"Jester!" Blade called more loudly, trying to sit up.
"Blade . . .? Are you awake?" Jester mumbled, sitting up and stretching. "You're awake!" he said and went over to hug Blade.
"Where are the others?" Blade asked.
"They're still in the waiting room." Jester answered.
They were startled when the curtain was drawn back, revealing Chug wearing a doctor's uniform.
"Ah, you are avake." he said in a Dracula accent. "How are you feeling?" he asked in a normal voice.
Blade hissed and Jester cooed.
". . . Oh! Hang on a minute." he said and put an earpiece in. "Ok, start talking while I adjust this thing, savvy?"
Blade hissed, looked at Jester who shrugged and cooed back. "Just what exactly are we suppose to talk about while he's fiddling with his toys?" Blade asked.
"A-ha, got it! And it could have been any subject, why are you still mad at me? I didn't damage your leg." Chug said, slightly offended.
"No, but you could have made it worse with your little butchering toys!" Blade said, pointing his knife-less arm at him. "(Gasp!) Where's my knife?! What'd you do with it?!"
"I took it off so you wouldn't accidentally cut the IV cord. It's sitting over there in the corner." Chug said and pressed a button over Blade's head, his stats screen lit up and Chug started taking notes.
"You can understand us now?" Jester asked, looking in the corner to find Blade's knife in a black leather sheath.
"Yeah, I'm an alien, I have the technology." Chug smirked, making Jester giggle at the little joke. "Well, it seems your fever has gone back to normal levels. You were also a little low on your fuel, which has me worried about your brothers, and you had a small infection from the clay. But everything has been taken care of, and now I would like to make a proposal to you."
"I don't even have the slightest romantic feelings for you." Blade deadpanned, making Chug laugh.
"You're not my type anyway, just your fashion. But since we won the battle and are heading back to Earth, I could make you a new leg. The travel distance should give me plenty of time for the both of us."
"Why would I be working with you on the new leg?" Blade asked.
"I'm going to guess on why I would want you to work on the new leg with me and not the other way 'round. That being said, you could give your own opinions about what you would like for your new leg." Chug said in a slightly clipped tone, getting annoyed at Blade's attitude.
"Yeah, that's what I meant. So does that mean I'm going to be put under again when you do perform the replacement surgery?" Blade asked.
"No, I can numb the area if you want to watch the whole procedure." Chug answered.
"Okay then, let's go."
"Would you allow me to carry you and your brothers for faster transportation or do you guys want to ride the megalograptus again?" Chug asked.
"Megalo-what?" Blade questioned.
"The big red scorpion-like thing." Chug answered.
"That thing's scary." Jester said. "The ride's fun, but it's scary."
"It's a smaller version of the real thing, but it works on getting things through." Chug said, causing both Blade and Jester to look up at him faster than a whiplash.
"Real thing? The thing was once real?!" Jester squeaked.
"Yeah, about as tall as the average earthling, wicked poisonous spines in its claws and has two sets of legs. One for walking and one for swimming. It's tail is awesome too. It-" Chug stopped talking when he heard a soft thud and looked down to see Blade leaning over his bed, looking at the floor.
"He fainted." he said.
"You know, I'm starting to think that Jester has arachnophobia."
0~0~0
Blade gave the O.K for the new leg and the ride. He kept rubbing his knife-less arm, feeling a little defenseless without it. Chug had placed him and his brothers in the megalograptus ride, putting up a guard barrier when they saw that Jester was unconscious and tried to attack him. He told them that Jester had merely fainted while he was describing the meg to him and Blade.
"You know what B, you fill them in and I'll meet you guys at my quarters. I've got to collect Torch, the poor bairn is having a separation attack." Chug said and set the coordinates in the meg and set it on its way.
Six Shooter looked at Blade. "Bairn?" he asked.
Blade just shrugged.
0~0~0
Torch had stopped pounding the door when he knew the master could no longer hear him and ran over to the desk, climbed up into the chair and sat down, pulling his knees up and stared at the door. He stayed like that for a good twenty minutes when master finally entered.
"Master!" he called and jumped down from the chair and glomped onto a leg.
"Whoa, easy there my wee bairn." Chug said and lifted him up for a quick hug. "And please don't call me master. It makes me feel over-indulgent."
"But you're my master." Torch said.
"Aye, but I don't like to be called that. You can call me Kid, Doctor, Doc, Coon, The Younger Brother or Boss, just not master, savvy, my wee bairn?" Chug asked, smiling.
"Okay, uh, Boss."
"Now, I have a very important question to ask you."
Torch was at full attention.
"Did you miss me?"
"Yes, very much." Torch answered, burying his head in the crook of Chug's neck.
"I missed you too. Now, come along. Your brothers should be at my door now."
.
.
