:Flashback:

Gummadoon Sitting Room, Pre-Human Invasion Time

"My turn P'ucki!"

The eight year old cub giggled and tossed Gumlittle the ball. The cub was five, three years younger than Plucki, but he was almost as tall as Plucki was! Plucki was a squire, had been for one year already and Gumlittle was just newly a page but they had known one another a long time, mainly because their parents were friends. But as they spent more time together, they'd bonded.

"I got it! I got it!" Gumlittle chased the ball, slamming into a side table in the process, sending an old oil lamp onto the ground. It shattered on contact. Gumlittle winced and looked at Plucki as he ran over. Plucki made a horrified face and helped Gumlittle up. Scooping up the ball from the shards, he turned to Gumlittle and said,

"That was Mama's…"

"Tombe. Va le boom."

The two turned to see a new cub in the doorway. Small, about three or so, it looked like. He had rust colored hair and he was obviously foreign; they heard it in his thick accent. But he walked in, curious. He regarded the two older cubs with wondering eyes. Plucki wondered if this cub belonged to the cook and his wife they had coming from France.

"Hi," Gumlittle grinned cheekily, always glad for a new playmate. "My name Gumlittle…this P'ucki!"

The cub was obviously confused. He blinked, not understanding their words. Plucki, although he was worried about getting in trouble, he wasn't the type to leave a cub hopelessly confused. He knelt to his knees so he could be closer to this cub's height. Gum's sake, he was short! He looked the cub in the eyes, to make sure he had his attention and then he pointed to his chest,

"Plucki."

The cub blinked and Plucki repeated the motion. By now, Gumlittle had caught on and when Plucki stopped, he hit his own chest, saying, "Gumlittle!" The two kept this up for a while, before the cub's eyes lit up and he yelped,
"Ah! You P'wucki. You 'Ittle! Me Blastus!"

Plucki nodded and said the little French that he did know: "Qui, qui!"

Blastus clapped his hands, happy as if he'd found the secret to the wisdom of the world. He followed the two over to the remains of the lamp and looked up at them,

"La lampe importante?"

Thank Gum for some French that they could figure out! Plucki nodded and pointed to his chest,

"Mama's."

Blastus seemed to understand that and thought,

"La peau? La notification personne?"

Blastus tugged on Plucki's arm and darted through, reaching down to pick the glass up. Well, Plucki's mother and mentor had pounded into his head to never touch broken glass but let an adult handle it. He always thought it was dumb but when it had been repeated so often, he obeyed. He nearly repeated that to this new cub but his warning came a few minutes too late.

"OW!" The cub dropped the lamp, wailing at the pieces of glass stuck in his palm. But he grabbed the pieces again, throwing them into the trashcan and sweeping the rest under the rug. Gumlittle looked at Plucki,

"Maybe they won't notice?"

Plucki shrugged, "Worth a shot." He grinned at the small cub and picked him up, "I like you."

Blastus grinned right back.

:Present:

Opening the door, he had to laugh.

"Not funny!" Cubbi protested as he stood. Plucki just smiled and helped the cub to put the mop up. He set the bucket and sponges away and then gently led Cubbi over to the sink. Taking the cub's helmet off, he leaned him over and helped him wash some of the suds out of his hair. Cubbi pouted but didn't move. Plucki worked quickly and then dried the cub's hair with a towel and helped him comb it out.

Looking around the room, he smiled, "I'm impressed, lad."

Cubbi smiled, "This room is a lot bigger than it looks though."

Plucki laughed, "Oh, believe me, I learned that the hard way too."

"You got in trouble?"

"Oh, Gum yes…what, you think I was always an adult?"

"Aren't all adults?" came the cheeky answer.

His reply was an attack on his side with swiftly moving fingers.

"No fair tickling! No fair!"

"This is no fun, no fun, no fun."

"Perhaps you should have thought of that earlier, Toni."

Toni turned from his position of mopping the sitting room floor and pouted. Gumlittle had taken a seat in one of the chairs, viewing the cub's work. Toni stuck his tongue out at him briefly but went back to work. Gumlittle cleared his throat and took a sip of tea he had with him. He waited a moment, to see if the cub would take the hint and when he didn't he said,

"Add the hallway to your list of floors to wash."

"WHAT!" Toni whirled around, dropping the mop. "That's not fair!"

"You would have just had this room without that little tongue flash."

"We didn't mean to knock the stupid cabinet over. Most of those things were ugly anyway."

"That isn't the point Toni. Do you not know to ask for help if you can't reach something?"

"Yes…"

"And do you also know that you boys are supposed to stay clear of the cabinets?"

"Yes…"

"And…did you listen to any of those rules?"

"No…"
"I had a half-mind to turn you over to Spinwillow."

The cub pouted, saying again, "It's not fair."

Gumlittle chuckled a little, "It may not be fair but it won't take you much longer to finish. You're nearly done with this room and the hallway isn't the long, you'll survive."

Toni sighed but went back to mopping. As he finished the last corner of the sitting room and headed out into the stone laid hallway, an idea took shape in his head. He knew it certainly wouldn't work but the humor of it just might be enough to win Gumlittle over. Gumlittle could be stern if he felt the need but the knight was also the type to cave, if given reason.

On the way out the door into the hallway, Toni fell onto his side, clutching his stomach, in the center. "Gumlittle!"

The knight rolled his eyes but walked over, looking down at the cub,

"Yes?"

"Massive…pain…can't move."

Gumlittle rolled his eyes again but he smiled. Toni's eyes didn't have the sincere look they had when he truly hurt or was truly trying to fake it. He was joking around, which was fine. Gumlittle could afford to play around a little. No problem with loosening up! He took on an overly sympathetic look and knelt to his level, shaking his head, "Pain, is there, young squire? Where?"

"Here…" he grabbed the left of his belly, "The appendicitis is doing the tango…"

"First off Toni, you tried this earlier." He pulled the boy up and handed him the mop. "Oh and for future reference?"

Toni cocked his head; Gumlittle broke out in a grin and slapped the boy's cheek in a friendly gesture

"Your appendicitis is on the right."

"Well…it's on your right!"

Gumlittle laughed and ruffled the boy's hair as he went off to finish the hallway. Gumlittle thought a moment and then called, "Toni?"

The cub stuck his head back in.

Gumlittle chuckled and took the mop from the boy, "I suppose this room is punishment enough. I expect you to apologize to Councilor Spinwillow however and obey the rules in the future or next time, I won't let you off easy, understand?"

The boy flashed him a salute, "Yes sir!"

Gumlittle, all too willing to joke for a bit, gave the cub a salute back, "Dismissed, Sir Toni."

His laugh filled the room as he tore towards the playroom on the upper floor. Shaking his head as he put the mop up, Gumlittle chuckled fondly. That boy could be a mischievous child, crazy even at times but he was a good and stout hearted lad when it came right down to it. Rambunctious, yes but what cub was not rambunctious? In fact, Toni reminded him a lot of himself when he was child. Oh, how he had driven his parents nuts!

""Little!"

He turned, surprised to hear that voice. Coming through the door was Denni, one of his pages. Given that dinner was going to be served in a few minutes, it was rare for any of the pages to still be here; most went home after training was through, unless they were staying for the night. The pages did spend the night on occasion, to slowly wean them away from their parents. But tonight wasn't one of those nights.

"Denni! What are you doing here? I walked you home, remember?"

Denni sniffed, tears running down his face. "I lost my B'ankie."

Gumlittle thought a minute, translating his child-talk. "Oh, you lost your blanket?"

Denni nodded, his short black hair bouncing with each sob. His olive green fur was marred with tear stains. He sniffed, "I always bring with me. I dunno where it is!"

Gumlittle picked the small five year old up, "Okay, first off, Denni, calm down. We'll find it. Come on, no more tears."

Denni wiped his eyes and looked at his mentor who thumbed his nose.

"That's better." Setting the cub down on his feet, he asked, "Do your parents know you're here?"

"Big sister knows…said she'd tell Mama and Papa."

"All right, come along little one and we'll see if we can find Blankie."

Miles from Gummadoon

"So…my old magic is gone…there is always more…"

These were Lady Bane's words to herself as she searched through her old magic books, flipping through each one. It was an infuriating process. She had kept her Troggels, or the surviving and loyal ones, away with the threat of adding new rugs if she was disturbed. She wanted her beauty and strength back more than anything. That gem had been the magical amulet that had given her much of her power. However, everyone had some ability of magic. She was not about to let hers go unattended to…

"Ha! Here it is!"

It was. Spells of the ancient Latin tongue. Complicated spells to cast, they took longer but they could have devastating effects once the sorceress had mastered their power. Flipping through the ancient scribblings, she found the perfect way to test her new path to power. She took a sip of water, to wet her parched and older throat and spoke, her raspy voice full of anger and lust for revenge, but not the voice of an amateur sorcerer:

"Reverte temporis manus. Concede mihi adulescentiam meorum annorum praeteritorum ut iterum sentiam vires et potestastem quam olim possidebam!"

Immediately a golden light filled the entire room. Her throat felt stretched for a moment and then the pain left it. She lifted her wrinkled hands up, to view them. The varicose veins shrank and then receded beneath her skin. The age spots faded and then vanished completely. Her yellowed nails turned first ivory and then the white of youth. Finally, the wrinkles smoothed, ever so slowly as if being ironed out.

Her stomach toned, tightened, grew stronger. She felt the pain of her spine straightening itself and the muscles in her legs and back doubling up on one another, returning her posture to its previous state. Her breasts rounded and filled out, becoming firmer. The age spots and wrinkles vanished from her skin, turning it to its old ivory shade. The beauty came back to her legs and arms. But as she rushed to the mirror, the last of the transformation took hold and she watched with anticipation.

The wrinkles of her face vanished, as if someone had tightened her skin. Her chapped lips became full and smooth and the rosy shade returned to them. The bags beneath her eyes ironed out and merged with her skin. Her cheekbones defined and a faint peach color filled her entire body, save for the faint red on the cheeks. Her grey scrawny hair bleached first to white and then to the darkest black as it fluffed out and fell in waves to her waist. The transformation was done…

She was young.

Gummadoon

"You're telling me that it was at his house the entire time?"

Gumlittle laughed out loud and answered, "Yep, right under the bed, under some dirty clothes."

Plucki shook his head but smiled. That did not surprise him. Gumlittle had told Plucki about Denni's visit. They had searched for hours to no avail only to have Denni's father come and show up, saying that his blanket was under the bed and his mother had been washing it. Plucki knew that feeling all too well as with Aldi, many a toy had been lost in the mess in his room. He tried to imprint this lesson on the squires but to no avail.

"Maybe if he kept his room cleaner, that wouldn't be an issue."

Blastus looked up from where he sat on the floor with the squires. The knights had gathered in the sitting room for the evening, as they did after every dinner. The adults conversed and talked while the squires had dragged out some favorite playsets and were playing together. The toy of choice was a model of Gummadoon, complete with toy weapons and soldiers. Even Corvi was not ashamed to be playing with. Blastus, forever the child at heart, had left the adult conversation and joined the boys. He looked up at Plucki's statement and grinned,

"Ah, but mon ami, where is the fun in that?"

Plucki fixed his gaze on Blastus. "You could do with cleaning your room up a bit too, Sir Blastus."

Blastus just grinned, "Sacre bleu, surely you jest." And went back to playing with the boys.

Plucki rolled his eyes but smiled. Ramsei rolled his eyes too but not in amusement. Sometimes he couldn't believe that Blastus outranked him. He sure didn't act like it most of the time but for some reason that didn't bother Plucki or Gumlittle at all. In fact, they seemed to like his goofing off. But then, Ramsei had long given up trying to understand his brother-in-law.

"We win! We win!"

"Of course you guys win," Toni complained. They had divided into teams. He, Cubbi and Corvi on one team and Martinni, Flynn and Blastus on another. Toni saw that as exceptionally unfair. He looked at Blastus and pointed,

"You got a knight on yer team!"

Blastus smirked and tweaked the cub's nose, "And I suppose if you lose a battle, you'll complain too, n'est-ce pas?"

Cubbi laughed. "They might let us win so they don't gotta hear it!"

Toni took on a fake hurt look and then pushed Cubbi down. Cubbi pushed back and before long, a friendly wrestling match broke out.

Ramsei watched it, not amused. Looking at the clock he stood up.

"Boys!"

The squires turned to look at him. Blastus regarded the older but lower ranking knight with a warning glance. Ramsei didn't mind cubs playing but he got pretty picky this late at night. But Blastus saw a look on his face that was extremely alarming. He started waving his hands back and forth, whispering "Non, non!" If Ramsei saw it, he ignored it.

"It's getting late," he continued. "You all need to get a-"

Blastus covered his ears, "Non, non…don't say it."

"-bath."

Blastus threw himself across the room at that word, so he was by Plucki and Gumlittle's feet. "Trois…Deux…Un…"

"NO BATH!"

The room almost shook when all the boys except Corvi took off like a shot out of different doors. Ramsei stood there, stunned dumb.

The other three knights however, burst out laughing. Ramsei whirled to glare at them and Blastus stood up.

"Ramsei…mon ami… you don't say the 'b-word' around anyone younger than ten…" he gave the knight a "duh" glance as he headed out after Flynn, his youngest squire. Flynn never lost a chance to remind someone that he hated both baths and vegetables, both with an equal passion. Fortunately, however, he was also a klutz and pretty easy to catch. Blastus headed off that way, as Gumlittle started after Toni and Martinni. Plucki, standing to go after Cubbi, called to his youngest friend,

"Or to you, Blastus."

"Shut up."

Gumlittle laughed, "It's true!"

Blastus paused, turned around, stuck his tongue out at them and took off down the hall. But as he went, he had to smile. He wondered if they were remembering what he was. He'd never liked baths much but this particular memory always made him smile, mainly because of the loyalty they had for each other. As he pursued Flynn, he thought back a few years…

:Flashback:

Gummadoon Pre-Human Invasion Time

"Plucki! Little! You gotta save me, mes amis!"

Plucki, a ten year old, and Gumlittle, an eight year old, turned as their youngest friend, Blastus, a mere five year old, tore over to them, in a panic. He darted between the two, hiding behind them. Although, it was mainly Plucki he hid behind. The trio were close, like brothers, or as Blastus affectionately called them, his freres grands. Gumlittle and Plucki had picked up a great deal of French and they both loved Blastus to death. Plucki turned to the cub half his age and asked,

"What is it frere petit?"

Gumlittle broke in, "Yeah, who's trying to pick on you? Plucki and I'll clobber 'em!"

"It's my mama!"

Gumlittle winced. Fleuri was not someone he wanted mad at him and she wasn't even his mother! In fact, Gumlittle wouldn't want either of Blastus' parents mad at him. Blastus' mother was a florist who didn't seem to have any control of her temper whatsoever. She tried and she no doubt loved her son and children but sometimes it was hard to tell. Blastus' father, Vizzini, was a little better. He was one of the palace cooks but he was always a little disappointed his son chose not to follow his footsteps. Still, Gumlittle took a breath.

"Uh…what did you do?"

"Nothing! Mama wants to give me a bath!"

Plucki faltered, "A b…bath!"

Gumlittle made a face, "Ew! Poison!"

Blastus nodded, "Baths are bad for you! Hide me!"

Gumlittle and Plucki grinned, taking a hold of Blastus' arms and running out of the city, towards the woods. Blastus giggled, laughing like a loon. That was the best part of being the little one! He wasn't even running really. He had a firm grip on Plucki and Gumlittle's arms and they were pretty much carrying him. He grinned, hearing his mother calling his name as he and his friends vanished into the woods.

"Three…two….one!"

Blastus yelped as his two friends tossed him off a small tree branch. His surprised yelp turned to a happy cry as he landed in what he originally thought was a lake but he grinned when he saw it was a mud puddle that a lot of the boys in Gummadoon liked to play in. He waved up at his friends who grinned in response and jumped in after him.

Blastus, always the child and always the one to get the dirtiest first, jumped out and came back with a handful of pine needles and leaves. He threw them down on top of his two friends. They laughed and threw a handful of mud at him. He grinned, a gap toothed grin of a cunning cub and called to his friends, "I bet you I can get more leaves than you!"

The two other boys, never ones to turn down a dare, jumped out and tore past him, "I bet not!"

Blastus ran after them, calling, "No fair! Longer legs!"

The three cubs took off into the deeper woods, grabbing up handfuls of leaves and starting to throw them at each other. The dry leaves stuck to the mud like it was honey so before long, it looked like three little forest demons were running through the woods, instead of three cubs. Blastus, despite being shorter, had the most energy and before long he pulled ahead. Laughing, he called back,

"Catch me maintenant!"

Plucki, however, saw what was ahead, "Blastus! Stop!"

His warning came too late as the small cub ran smack into a leg. Falling onto his backside, he yelped,

"Tomie!"

Sure enough, it was a band of knights that the cub had run into. And not just any knight. Tomie, as Blastus called him, was Tomus, his mentor. Plucki and Gumlittle came into view, wincing. Tomus turned from where he stood, his face stern and serious. He pushed his rust colored hair back and regarded his trainee with a disapproving face.

"Sir Tomus!"

Plucki ran forward and pulled Blastus up. The small cub was grateful for it and Gumlittle and Plucki immediately came up with reasons for the current state, especially since they still had their uniforms on! Blastus wasn't the only one in trouble. Coming up from behind Tomus were two unicorns, each carrying another knight. Upon seeing the cubs, they both dismounted.

The older two cubs winced as they recognized their own mentors.

Sir Valei was Plucki's and he didn't look too happy. He was one of the higher ranking knights, actually in the blue rank. He was a tall gummi, with light tangerine fur and blood red hair. But he was also one of the few knights that had an eye patch. It was the same shade as his hair and half covered his left eye. Valei was one of the oldest of the knights, and also one of the strictest, especially when it came to etiquette.

Gumlittle may well have been the easiest off. His mentor, Sir Quintus, was one of the younger knights; Gumlittle was his first squire while both Valei and Tomus had taught many a squire and page. Quintus was a sky blue shade with long neon blue hair that he kept tied back in a low ponytail. He was the yellow rank, while Tomus was red and Valei was blue. However, even naïve Quintus didn't look happy.

"Explanation, Sir Plucki," came Valei's deep voice. Plucki winced,

"Uh…we, uh…you see…"

"They was saving me!" came Blastus' young voice.

Plucki nodded with fervor, "Y..yeah! That's what we were doing!"

Quintus fought to hold in a laugh. "From what?"

Gumlittle and Plucki exchanged grins. They might get away with this-

"From a bath! Mama trying to poison me!"

Uh...strike that. Plucki and Gumlittle hit their foreheads. Oy, Blastus was way too honest!

Blastus spied his two friends' expressions, "What?"

"Well, that explains a lot…" Tomus mused although he had to smile, despite the situation. He fixed his sights on the three children who chose that moment to run but not back the way they came. They plowed through the knights, grabbing Blastus as they went and darting between the unicorns' legs. The animals in response, whinnied, throwing their front legs up, panicked. The three cubs took off at a run, only to be stopped cold by a

"BLASTUS ARAUMAND GUMMI! Ne pas me faire vous appelle encore, le jeune ours!"

Blastus slid to a stop as his mother made her way through the branches. His two friends froze behind him. But despite the anger on Fleuri's face, Plucki chuckled,

"Araumand?"

Blastus sent him a harsh glare, pouting. "Tu fermes en haut." He turned to his mother and took on his pouty and cute face, moaning, "Mama! Je ne veux pas un bain ! Je n'ai pas besoin de l'un !"

"Gum comme mon témoin que vous faites ! Vous regarde !"

Plucki spoke out, on his friend's behalf, "Lady Fleuri, please ease up! We were just playing…"

Fleuri's glare stopped him short. "You are in zeep trouble too, Plucki…Gumlittle…"

The two boys exchanged looks. Fleuri growled and turned to her son,

"Quand vous avez des ennuis, ces deux sont toujours tout près." She turned her head and called behind her, "Ashlei! Gadi!"

Plucki froze as Ashlei, his mother, walked through the trees, followed by Gadi, Gumlittle's father. Plucki and Gumlittle tried to give them a sheepish grin but it wasn't helped by the fact that their knight mentors chose then to enter and tell what else had happened. Gadi stormed forward and looked at Gumlittle right in the eyes,

"Gumlittle Carrum Gummi, you better start explaining."

"Uh, well, Dad, you see…uh, we were helping and then this happened and…the next thing…oh, uh what was the question again?"

Plucki met his mother with his innocent look but it wasn't working this time,

"PLUCKI LITHIUM GUMMI! Look at you!"

"Moooomm!"

Gumlittle, despite his father's glare of disapproval, and Blastus, despite how close his mother was to turning him over her knee right there, burst out laughing,

"LITHIUM!"

Plucki whirled and gave both a dark growl and look, "Call me that and die."

"Call you what…Lithi?"

Plucki picked up a clump of mud and threw it. Blastus ducked but it soared past and nailed Valei right in the face. Plucki winced and both he and Gumlittle tore to Blastus, picking him up, "Actually, a bath sounds real good right now."

They ran back towards the city while Blastus whined,

"Non, I'm allergic to soap!"

"Then we shall die together!"

:Present:

Gummadoon

"…and so in exchange for their bravery, they were entrusted with the safety of their clan and city and guided it into peace for the rest of their days."

Cubbi grinned and Plucki shut the book. The Gummadoon knight smirked at the cub's eyes. Oh how he loved to see the cubs' eyes light up whenever he or one of the others broke into one of their stories. The squires adored it so every week, when the training and dinner was done; they'd gather in the sitting room and tell all the stories of their battles to the little trainees.

Plucki pushed Cubbi back onto the bed, tweaking his nose, "And now this little knight needs to get some sleep."

Cubbi smiled, faintly. Plucki was so casual about it that Cubbi felt silly being embarrassed. His dreams had dulled a lot and when they did come, before he could even yell out, Plucki was right there. It was like he was psychic or something. Still, Cubbi supposed he should have been able to cope with the dreams on his own…

"Sir Cubbi…what did I tell you?"

Plucki pulled Cubbi into his arms and started on his sweet spot again, saying softly,

"Lad, even the strongest of warriors lean on another at times. We all do it here."

"All of you?"

"yes, all of us."

"Even you? Gumlittle? Blastus? Ram-"

"Yes, all of us. We're all family here, lad. Ramsei and the others are like my best cousins. Blastus and Gumlittle are my brothers. And all you boys are all our sons."

"Really?"

"Yes, we stand by one another, no matter what."

"So…"

"We're never alone, lad. Tell me, what is the sound of one knight on the battlefield?"

"Uh…"

"Nothing. With only one knight to an army, there is no battle, nor no army. Only with a lot of people working together can there be victory. That is our strength. Not in standing alone but in standing together."

Cubbi nodded, "I think I understand." Plucki smiled and rubbed the boy's back until sleep overwhelmed the cub,

"In time you'll see, little one. In time."

Miles from Gummadoon

Lady Bane laughed and whirled around, letting her long skirt and black hair flare out around her, like a ripple of color. Her voice echoed through the room, vibrating off the tiles and stone. She danced about the room, happy as she had been since she had truly been young. This spell was not like the other spell which disguised age with youth. No, this was truly turning back the clock.

"And what better way to celebrate than with a little spell practicing?"

And she knew the perfect victims. Flipping through her spell book, she went over a few diseases. Disease spells were great practice because she could direct them to be lethal, to attack all or few or pretty much anything else she wished. She wanted to make those gummi knights and especially that child suffer but because he had suffered a sorcery inflicted illness before, she knew they'd be suspicious if she hit him. Besides, the way to fall an army was through the leaders. She needed to examine the way the knights and squires worked together and lived together. This could be done with a mild illness spell and then she could decide where to go from there.

"hmm…yes, this is perfect."

Cubs' Fever…a rather semi-common illness that had not been completely extinguished from Gummadoon. It would be not too uncommon. However, she wanted to try its serious form first. Any fool could cast a mild spell. This illness hit the older harder. Looking over her choices, she smiled as she selected her victim. Not only would he serve her purpose for a harder form of the illness but he was hardly unimportant to the knights. She grinned and released the first wave of her new magic:

" Fly from here, waves of Cubs Fever. Instill your pain and agony in one alone. One I desire. Sir Blastus, child adult of Gummadoon, fall victim to their pain. "

That said and done, she sat back to view her results.

Gummadoon

Blastus had been tossing and turning for hours on end. Looking over at his clock, he winced. He would have to get up for training and the other duties in less than three hours and sleep was just not coming. The pain had hit suddenly and swiftly at about midnight. It was a similar pain. One he had felt as a child. He tried to ignore it. Had he been younger, he would have complained to Plucki that he didn't feel good rather than go to sick bay willingly.

But this pain was too harsh, too powerful.

He stumbled to his feet and leaning against the wall, he walked down to sickbay where Sarrika was on duty. Given his hatred of medical exams, she was rightly stunned by his entrance and then alarmed by how he shook and how red his face was. Jumping up to rush to him, he'd only time to mutter,

"Tres mal…I don't feel good…"

Before he collapsed.