Chapter 5 - Schwanger:

Author's Note:

I know, Sunday is a very weird time to post, since I usually do it on Saturday… but I've had a lot of free time this week. Enough to finish a chapter of both the stories I've been working on. But since I had an exam on Friday, I wasn't able to spend as much time working on this on Thursday as I had wanted to. So you're getting it a day late, but it's still better than waiting another week, eh?

Anyways, this chapter we'll be focusing more on Ruby than anyone else. Basically, three days has passed since the last chapter. The squad Malakai sent to back up Ruby at the Jurassic Frontier has arrived, but Zim, Malakai, and Shiro are both still traveling to their destinations. So please, enjoy!

XXX

Thunk! "Bullseye." Thunk! "Another bullseye." Thunk! "Yet another bullseye." It was almost boring for Ruby as she pulled back on her bow again, aiming for the next target. It was just a simple training exercise she had set up to pass the time. Next time I'll make it harder, she grumbled internally as she scored another bullseye.

She wasn't sure what compelled her to set up a training regimen to pass the time, however. To her, shooting her bow had become second nature, and with her unnatural ability to never miss she never really had to worry about training. But whatever the reason, she had swiftly gathered an audience.

Chief among the audience, however, was the squad Malakai had sent to back her up. There were four of them, three males carrying various weapons, and a female with a bowgun. They were gathered around the smithy with their arms crossed, all of them watching her with narrowed eyes. Though she could swear the female was muttering about being able to do the same with her bowgun.

Ruby knew she wasn't exactly their favorite person in the world. Ever since Malakai made her his lieutenant for the battle of Dundorma, most members of the Knights of the Wolf didn't like her. She had only met their goddess and had been given their mark only a few months ago, and she outranked all but two of them.

Though she was used to jealousy and envy like that. When she was apart of the Hunter's Guild, she was one of the top ten hunters in the world, and outranked many older, more experienced hunters. Thunk! "And one more," Ruby sighed, before placing her bow on her back. The response from her audience wasn't exactly cheering.

They stared at her, silently watching her as she went to collect her arrows. She had set the targets all over the small town in lots of hard to reach places, but even then, it wasn't much of a challenge for her to hit them. No, the real challenge was retrieving the targets.

She made her way around the small town, grabbing her arrows and targets, until she only had three left. All of them were fairly close to each other, but they were in the hardest to reach place of them all. On top of the smithy. It had been easy to get up there to place the targets earlier in the morning, as the forge hadn't been on, but now that it was, the smithy was sweltering.

Ruby was wearing a warm armor set made out of some type of fur. It didn't provide a lot of defense, but it was warm in Bherna's frigid climate. But now that she was exposed to the blistering heat of the forge, she could feel the sweat dripping down her forehead, getting in her eyes. She grabbed ahold of the first target before tossing it off the roof. She'd worry about it after getting all three.

She grabbed the second target without much hassle, but the third and final target was hanging against an exhaust pipe. The closer she got to it, the hotter it became. The metal of the pipe was blistering from the forge below, causing her to hesitate as she reached for it. But she steadied her feet and, feeling dozens of eyes still on her, snatched the target off the pipe.

It took a few seconds for her nerves to realize what she was holding was scorching hot, but once they did, she let out a shriek of pain. She dropped the target, and luckily it bounced off the roof and rolled onto the ground. But she was in for a similar fate, as she involuntarily took a step backwards, flinching from the pain. She lost her footing and ended up slipping off the roof.

She resisted the urge to scream as she fell, as the roof wasn't all that far off the ground, but the impact was surely going to hurt. And she'd likely have some vertigo once she righted herself. She never felt the pain of hitting the ground, however. All she heard was a loud grunt as a pair of arms caught her.

"Well would you look at that, boys? Angels are just falling out of the sky these days!" Ruby looked up at the tallest of the soldiers Malakai sent her. He was smirking down at her, not letting go of her despite her glare.

The female of the squad let out a growl, before ramming her fist into the tallest male's kidney. The man let out a yelp, dropping Ruby unceremoniously to the ground, like a sack of rocks. "I thought we talked about this," the female squad member hissed.

"Hey, I was just teasing! There's no need to be hurtful," the man replied, rubbing his side with a grimace.

Ruby let out a growl as she pushed herself off the ground. Not one of them offered a helping hand. She stood up and dusted herself off, frown etched onto her face. "You're pretty good with that bow," one of the two remaining males said, taking a step closer to her. He was carrying a sword and shield and was wearing what Ruby assumed was low rank armor.

"Obviously," Ruby grumbled as she went to collect the targets she had tossed off the smithy roof. She didn't really have anything to say to them.

"No need to be rude," the sword and shield carrying male said, a small smirk on his face. "I was just curious how you got to be so good."

"What else? Practice and training," Ruby huffed as she removed the arrows from the targets and slipped them back into her quiver. That and a serum that makes it impossible for me to miss, she chuckled internally.

"I don't know what I expected," the other male said, stepping forward next to his comrade. He was carrying an insect glaive. Along with the sword and shield user and the bowgunner, the tallest male carried a longsword to round out the group.

"Though I guess I admit I'm curious if you're as good with a sword as you are with a bow," the sword and shield carrying soldier said, unsheathing his blade.

"Is that a challenge?" Ruby growled, narrowing her pink eyes at him. In truth, she was pretty bad with a sword… it just didn't click the way bows did. She had tried for years to learn how to use a blade, but she had never been able to even garner a basic grasp of the technique.

"Yeah… yeah, I think it is!" the sword and shield carrying male grinned, twirling his blade around. "And you know what? I'm confident enough that I'm going to win, that I'll make a little bet…"

Damn it… he called my bluff, Ruby grumbled internally. "I don't think betting is necessary…" she muttered, not wanting to outright refuse the challenge. That would only make her look weak.

"Ha! There's no need to fear, if you're as good with a sword as you are with a bow, you'll do fine," the male with the longsword said.

"But I doubt you'll win! Because I'm willing to bet my life saving's on this match," the soldier carrying the sword and shield said. "And all you have to do if you lose is resign. Go back to Dundorma and tell Malakai that you no longer want to be his lieutenant."

"You know I can't do that," Ruby snarled, already feeling the frenzy welling up inside of her once again.

"So what are you, chicken?" the man carrying the insect glaive asked. He made a noise imitating a chicken, while putting his hands under his armpits to make it look like he had a pair of 'wings.'

"I don't have a sword!" Ruby protested, crossing her arms, now just searching for any way out. She already didn't have any respect from her subordinates… to have them think of her as a coward would be even worse. "I only have bows!"

"Well then you can borrow my sword," the man with the longsword said, pulling his blade off his back. He offered the sword to her, but she didn't immediately take it. And he knew exactly why. "Though you'll have to change out of that gunner's armor in order to use it."

Damn it all, Ruby grumbled. There was a vast difference in gunner armor and blademaster armor, and not just the skills and protection they offered. Blademaster armor was just too clunky to use a bow or bowgun with, while gunner armor was just too restrictive to use a blade. She would have to strip out of her gunner armor… and she didn't exactly have any blademaster armor hanging around her temporary home either.

Reluctantly, Ruby began shedding her armor. Even though it was still nice and warm by the smithy's forge, she knew that they'd have to step out into the freezing town center to actually fight. And she'd be in her underwear.

She stripped down until all that was left was a pair of red short shorts and a matching red bra. It was more like a strip of fabric wrapped around her chest, but at least it offered some protection against the leers she was getting from her soldiers and the townsfolk. She snatched the longsword from its owner and strode away from the smithy.

The female with the bowgun slammed her fist into the longsword user's kidney again, sending him down onto the ground crying in pain. Clearly, she didn't like him gawking at other girls. The insect glaive user followed behind the sword and shield user towards the center of the town, where there'd be more space.

This isn't good… Ruby growled internally as she struck a rudimentary stance. One that she remembered Shiro teaching her all those years ago. I'll have to get lucky, she sighed. "What's your name again?"

"Shamus," the sword and shield user said, twirling his blade again, before striking a stance. They both held their positions for a few seconds, before Shamus leapt forward with a lunging slash.

Ruby blocked the attack with the longsword, tightening her grip hard enough to make her knuckles white. She pushed against his sword, trying to use her weapon's weight to its advantage. And she was making progress, if only slightly. She didn't quite have the leverage to crush his defense.

But she kept pushing down on his sword, hoping that her frenzy-enhanced strength would come through for her. But in the end, it only led to her downfall, as Shamus shifted his blade and jumped to the side, causing her longsword to strike the ground harmlessly. She turned as quickly as she could, her blade arcing and gathering momentum, preparing to bisect him.

He stopped her with a quick jab against her ribs with his shield, causing her to falter. He swung his blade at her while she was still recovering, forcing her to hold up her arm in defense. He didn't slow down, even though she wasn't wearing protective armor like he was. His weapon bit into her left forearm, slicing the Wolfsangel frenzy-tattoo she had gotten from Nova in half.

She screamed in pain, rolling away from him as she did. She held her bloodied arm with her good one, having dropped the longsword when she disengaged. His weapon had struck bone, and her arm was badly hurt… though it was nothing a potion or two wouldn't sooth.

"I win," Shamus grinned, twirling his sword again. He smirked down at Ruby, who was doing her best to hold back the tears threatening to fall from her eyes. "You know what that means! You'll have to resign. Don't cry about it, though… I'm sure Malakai or Zim will still keep you as their personal whore."

Progress to Ruby's explosion: 100%

A deep, guttural growl escaped Ruby's lips as her pink eyes turned blood red, narrowing them as she did. A hissing sound filled the air as her flesh and muscle began to sew itself back together. Ruby lifted herself off the ground with a loud roar of, "I am no one's whore!" before rushing back into battle.

She snatched the longsword off the ground and raised it over her head. Shamus let out a loud curse as he raised his sword and shield together for extra defense. Ruby brought the longsword down so viciously hard, the blade snapped in half. The force of the blow still caused Shamus to drop to his knees, but the upper half of the blade that broke free went spiraling away from both combatants, injuring neither of them.

She shoved him backwards with all her might, before dropping the sword and cocking her fist back. He managed to regain his balance and hold up his shield in time to block her punch. Crunch! The sound of bones breaking echoed throughout the town as Ruby not only shattered Shamus' shield, but broke both her hand and his arm.

Shamus was thrown across the small town, crashing into one of the few shops. The man who had lent Ruby his longsword rushed to help his friend, but the insect glaive user yelled out, "Hey! That was uncalled for!" He took his weapon off his back and launched his Kinsect at Ruby.

The female with the bowgun let out a curse, she was the only one who seemed to know what was actually happening. She took her gun off her back and loaded sleep ammo into the chamber just as Ruby caught the insect glaive user's Kinsect and crushed it in her hand.

The insect glaive user let out a roar of rage and launched himself at Ruby. The almost nude woman sidestepped his attack, before ramming her fist into his stomach. He tried to block with his glaive, but it shattered against the force of her blow. He let out a ragged cough as her fist connected with his stomach, causing him to drop to his knees, puking up his breakfast.

The female bowgunner took aim and fired off a volley of sleep shots towards Ruby, who was slowly advancing towards the longsword user, who was trying to help Shamus up. Ruby let out a low growl as she felt the bullets pierce her skin. She turned on the female bowgunner, fangs bared as she tried to close the distance.

The female bowgunner rolled out of the way, reloading another few rounds into her gun as she did. When Ruby rounded on her again, she began firing, this time aiming for the frenzied female's chest. The bullets struck true, and this time there were some results.

Ruby wobbled slightly, before falling onto the ground. She panted, exhaustion creeping up on her. She tried to fight it, but it was too late. The bowgunner fired one last sleep shot into Ruby's head and everything went dark.

XXX

Ruby's eyes snapped open. She glanced around, seeing only a bright white room. She tried to sit up, but she found she was chained to something. Glancing down, she found that she was tied down to some sort of operating room. "Let me up!" she roared, struggling against the chains that held her down.

"Calm down dear, you're safe," the soothing voice of Dr. Steele sounded from one side of the room. Ruby strained her neck, trying to find the good doctor, but she was standing behind Ruby's head, outside of her field of view.

"Safe?" Ruby asked, halting her struggles. Though she did continue to try and twist her body to see Dr. Steele. "Then what are the chains for?"

"Ah, those are for my safety," Dr. Steele said, stepping into Ruby's field of view once she was sure the chains couldn't be broken. "You had a little meltdown."

"Meltdown? I… I don't remember what happened," Ruby admitted, looking up at the good doctor's face. "All I remember is… losing a bet I had to win… and then an intense rage."

"I thought as much. You put two of the four soldiers Malakai sent you in the hospital," Dr. Steele explained. "And you broke a third one's weapon."

"He has others, I'm sure," Ruby rolled her eyes. "And at least one of them deserved it. I can't remember… why. But he did."

"I'm sure," Gloria chuckled.

"Where am I?" Ruby asked a moment later.

"Ah, you're in a special room inside of the Wycademy. After your little… incident in Bherna, I had to contain you."

"Contain me?"

"You've been unconscious for about five hours. And I wasn't sure if you'd still be… unstable when you woke up."

Ruby raised an eyebrow. "Unstable? I don't feel… any different than I usually do," she muttered. "Can you take the chains off now?"

"I'm afraid not… at least not yet. I have some bad news…" Gloria trailed off. "You see, I'm not sure how long the serum I gave you will last. And I'd like to keep you here until I'm sure I know the answer to that question."

"Serum? For what?" Ruby asked.

"Yes, and that's the bad news. You've been afflicted with the frenzy virus," Gloria explained. "Normally, that wouldn't be much of a problem. You could cure it by waiting just a few minutes, or by taking a nice nap… but for some reason you've been infected with the full virus."

"I thought only monsters could be infected with the full virus," Ruby said, narrowing her eyes. She had known for awhile that she was feeling the effects of the frenzy… but she had been sure it was from the mark Nova gave her. Not that she had actually come down with the virus.

"Yes, normally humans can't be afflicted with the full strength of the virus. There's just not enough nutrients in our body to sustain it. It incubates faster in us than in monsters, but it only prevents natural recovery and they become a bit more vulnerable to frenzy-based attacks," Gloria nodded. "But in a monster, the frenzy drives them mad… forcing them in a near constant enraged state, before inevitably killing them."

"How did I manage to contract the full strain, then?" Ruby asked, suppressing a growl as she did. It had to be Nova's fault.

"Well… that's bad news part two," Gloria admitted, scratching the back of her neck. "But before I tell you… do you know what the purpose of the frenzy is?"

"Besides being a virus? No."

"The virus has three purposes besides being an actual virus. For one, it's made up of a Magala's scales, which allow Gore Magala to see, since they don't have eyes. Two, it's also a weapon, but I'm sure you knew that one," Gloria chuckled. "And thirdly… Shagaru Magala can fertilize their virus and spread it around like spores from a plant."

"…" Ruby wasn't entirely sure how to answer that last point. "What… what does that mean?"

"Well, Ruby… there's no easy way to put this," Gloria sighed, scratching the back of her neck again. "But you're pregnant."

"Uh… what?" Ruby all but squeaked, her eyes widening as she stared up at the good doctor. She hadn't expected… that to come out of her mouth.

"Well… kinda," Gloria would admit that it was a slight exaggeration. "You're not pregnant in the conventional sense… but ever since you let the frenzy take over, you've got an egg growing inside of you."

"But… but how?" Ruby asked. "I thought you said humans didn't have the proper nutrients to support the virus… I assume they can't incubate the egg properly either!"

"Yes, I did say that. And yes, you're right… the virus typically fades before the egg ever has a chance to start incubating," Gloria sighed. "But there's something… in you… that's helping the full virus incubate and has allowed the egg to start growing as well."

"What exactly is in me?" Ruby hissed, narrowing her eyes.

"I have no clue. Zim contracted the full strain of the virus because he's about thirty percent Rajang. His body had more to offer the virus," Gloria shrugged. "I can tell you that you're definitely not a hybrid. So what caused you to contract the full strain of the virus is beyond me."

"This is Nova's fault," Ruby snarled, her eyes glowing red again as she began struggling against the chains. "She did this to me!"

"Hmm… that's not very long at all…" Gloria muttered as she made her way over to a desk behind Ruby's head and picked up a syringe. She walked back over to the frenzied female and inserted the needle into her neck. She pressed the plunger down, pushing the blue liquid inside into Ruby's neck.

Ruby's struggles ceased, though violent shivers wracked her body. She let out a violent bout of coughing as her eyes turned back to their pink color. Still a sign the frenzy was inside of her, but at least the virus no longer had control. "What… what was that?" she managed to ask between coughs.

"That was a serum made from nulberries and a few other special ingredients. In a normal human, it cures the frenzy virus… but for you, it looks like it's only suppressing it momentarily," Gloria sighed. "It didn't last very long, unfortunately. Oh, and this wasn't Nova's fault. When she gave you the mark, she didn't know you would react poorly to it… though I doubted she meant to give you a fertilized version of the virus."

Goddamn, fucking… shit, Ruby grumbled internally. Things were looking bleak. "Well? Give me some options. What should I do?" she asked.

"Well obviously you don't want to sit around and wait for the Magala to hatch. It'll eat you from the inside out and burst out of your chest," Gloria rolled her eyes. "So I'd say you've got three options."

"Then just fucking give them to me! Goddamn it!"

"No need to curse. You know what Shiro would say…" Dr. Steele couldn't help the smirk that spread across her face.

"You're asking to get mauled when I'm finally free," Ruby hissed dangerously.

The good doctor rolled her eyes at the threat. "In any case, all three options are equally difficult and dangerous. The first one is that we wait a few weeks… or months, however long it takes, and right as the Magala hatches, I cut you open and remove it before it has a chance to eat its way out of you. It'll be easier to heal an incision I make than whatever the Magala eats."

Ruby grimaced at the idea of being cut open. Though being eaten alive wasn't exactly a better option. Though being cut open right as the Magala hatched still sounded dangerous. "What are the other two?" she asked, hoping for alternatives.

"Well… the other option is to wait until right before the egg hatches and then I give you some drugs to induce labor. You'll give birth to the Magala before it hatches," Gloria explained. "The Magala will still be alive, but it'll hatch terribly hungry."

"That… sounds better… though it's still weird to think about," Ruby muttered. "What if it hatches during… labor?"

"It could do a little bit of damage to your insides, but nothing a few potions wouldn't cure," Gloria shook her head. "But the main problem is that I'm not entirely sure where the egg is. For all I know, it's not actually in your uterus. It could be attached to your intestines or the outside of your stomach or something like that. And considering how long we'd have to wait to give you the proper drugs, the Magala could hatch and we couldn't remove it while your body tries to give birth to nothing."

"Hold on… how big is this egg?" Ruby asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Not very big at all. It'd be difficult to see even if we cut you open," Gloria shook her head.

"So… I won't look pregnant then? I'll still be able to fight and all?" Ruby asked, suddenly not quite as worried.

"Not until the Magala hatches and grows rapidly, no," Gloria explained. "And don't think that you can have a 'miscarriage' either. That egg, wherever it is, is glued on tight. It'll only come loose right before it hatches. And before you ask, no, I have no idea how long it'll take… we'll have to closely monitor you."

"Ech. Nothing can be easy, eh?" Ruby grumbled. "So what's the third option? You've been avoiding talking about it."

"Well the third option is overcoming the virus and going apex," the good doctor sighed. "Which is probably the hardest option."

"Going apex, huh? How hard could it be? Zim did it," Ruby huffed, shifting on the table a bit to get more comfortable. "I could just ask him."

"I doubt Zim knows how he went apex, it was an accident, or so I recall," Gloria shrugged again. "No one really knows how a monster goes apex. But, what I can assume is that it has something to do with the Magala inside of you. Maybe by absorbing it somehow, they gain its frenzy powers for themselves, and cure their disease. But that's just a theory, and I wouldn't know the first thing about actually doing it."

"Well it sounds like that's still my best option!" Ruby exclaimed. "It's the only one that doesn't involve sitting around and waiting to do risky surgery."

"Yes, but it's equally as dangerous. Don't forget that the reason you're even stable right now is because of my nulberry serum… I assume in order to go apex, you'll have to stop using the serum. Which means you'll be a danger to everyone in Bherna… not like you already aren't, though," Gloria chuckled.

"Then I'll head down into the frontier," Ruby growled. "I'll be far enough away from town to not be a danger, and I'll have free reign to do everything my frenzy-induced mind comes up with to go apex."

"Ruby… if you do that, then you could be too far away or too far gone for either of the other options to work," the good doctor said. "I urge you to reconsider."

"I can't… and I won't," Ruby shook her head. "I'll figure out how to go apex, I promise."

Dr. Steele let out a loud, annoyed sigh. There was no arguing with her. "Then I at least suggest you take a backpack full of rations, supplies, and nulberry serums. I want you to slowly wean yourself off the serum, and you should still have enough extra that you'll be able to stabilize yourself if something goes wrong."

"Whatever you say, doc," Ruby rolled her eyes. "Now… are you going to let me out of these chains?"

"Not yet I'm not," Gloria smirked. "I still have a few tests to run. I want to see if I can make the serum last a bit longer. Then I'll let you go." Ruby could only let out a frustrated groan.

Schwanger: Pregnant

XXX

And that's where we'll leave this chapter! I know that I only really focused on Ruby, but as you can see, she's going through something very important. I was a little worried that the… concept might seem a bit strange. But I figured after Zim practiced cannibalism in the prequel and that no one batted an eye at the idea that Shiro was fucked by a Rajang (and that there's more weirdness to come), I figured you all could handle this little surprise. Which is why I hid the translation of the title until the very end. Clever me, eh?

In any case, Ruby's in a bit of a bind. The virus that's infected her actually contains a Magala egg… will she be able to prevent the Magala from hatching and eating her inside out? Will she be able to achieve the apex state? Or will she have to resort to another option? All that and more, next time!