John looked at the star-dappled creature before him with a deep look of fear. Never before had he seen a monster so horrible looking.
The creature raised a shaking hand and pointed it towards John.
"You. You. You. You." It repeated.
It didn't have a mouth. But somehow, it still spoke.
A bead of fire grew on the tip of its finger.
John's heart was thumping. His breath was screaming through his body. He was still tired from his leap last time. And on top of being tired, he was afraid. What could he do to avoid this creature? Could he do anything?
I need to leap.
If John didn't kill this thing now. Then he would be dead. There was no doubt about that.
While John was wheezing heavily, he brought his foot into the air.
He had only a few moments to send himself towards his enemy.
And he would need to use those few moments well.
Cracks spread across the pavement beneath John as he shot towards the Creature.
Wind caressed John's face, and everything started to feel a bit strange.
He would crush it. With his mass, he would crush this being into dust.
But what would happen to him as a consequence?
What was that fire on it's finger?
John shot face-first into the bead of fire at the creature's finger. Flames engulfed him.
There was a bit of a disconnect as John's body was engulfed in flames. He felt the burning. But it was almost like it wasn't happening to him. It was like someone else was getting burned, and he was just there feeling it with them.
After a few moments, the fire left John's body. He was left staring at the sky. The sky was grey with smoke. And John could smell that smoke in the air.
You need to get up, John. You need to stand.
John grit his teeth. He forced himself to his feet with every bit of will in his mind.
But he did not stand.
What?
John looked down at himself.
He couldn't see his legs past his belly. So he didn't know what happened to them. But what John did know was that he couldn't feel his legs.
Were they even there?
Shit. Thought John numbly.
Being without legs. Or immobile in any other way in a warzone. It would only result in death. That could be the only conclusion.
"BAND-AIIIIIIIID!" John screamed into the sky. He needed to be healed. But would Band-Aid even be able to save him?
It could take Band-Aid upwards of a few hours to heal horrible burn wounds or something like that. This could be the end for John.
"YIP!"
"YIP!"
"YIP!"
Stove Landed atop John. It stood there with its mouth open and foaming with fire.
Continuing to circle, John was refrigerator. It shot a blast of frost at any threat that tried to approach.
While they stayed and protected John, Band-Aid went about healing John.
It sent rays of healing light into John's body.
Shit. Shit. Shit.
John laid there for at least an hour. Chanting the word shit in his mind.
He wasn't sure if he was going to survive this one.
As he laid there and waited for Band-Aid to heal him. Something unexpected happened.
Staggering towards him was a woman with a thin frame and light blond hair. She had blue eyes and pale skin. But most importantly. She was covered in blood.
"Haaaaaa." A wheeze escaped her throat.
John knew this woman. It was Cassandra.
"John—-" She splatted face-first into the ground beside John.
John grit his teeth. He couldn't stand up. He was too weak. Cassandra would die if she stayed weak and vulnerable in a war-torn place like this. John was barely getting by with his Dragon's help. And even then, there were a few times that John had to take a bullet or two.
John reached out for Cassandra. He dragged her to himself by the ankle and hugged her to his body. The dragons were too focused on protecting him to pay attention to Cassandra. And Cassandra was the one in the most danger. Unlike John, she wouldn't survive a stray bullet.
John reached up to touch Cassandra's neck. He let out a sigh of relief when he found that She had a heartbeat.
This is all because I was too slow. I would have found her by now If I could Just move a bit faster. And endure a bit more.
John bit his lip in frustration. In fact John bit his lip so hard that blood ran down his chin.
SLAP! SLAP! SLAP!
Three more stray bullets slapped against John's flesh until he had finally regained sensation in his legs.
One bullet even grazed Cassandra. Which damn near gave John a heart attack.
As soon as John felt sensation in his legs, he stood up. The pain in his legs was severe. In fact, it hurt so bad that it almost made him want to throw up, which was a big thing for John. Almost nothing made him nauseous.
I need to get Cassandra out of the war zone.
John wouldn't let his friend die. Friends didn't come often. So he would cherish them.
John grit his teeth and ignored the pain. Slowly, he began to walk.
Band-Aid gripped John's leg with its claws and continued to heal John as John walked.
Isn't this what walking is supposed to be like for people my size?
John didn't relish it. He didn't relish it one bit.
"AGHA!"
John furrowed his brows at the sound. Standing across from him was a large Troll that held an actual tree trunk in its hands. It was looking at John's blacked and charred form. John could see the evil serpent of lethal intent nestled within its eyes.
John put Cassandra down.
He turned and looked to Stove.
"Protect her," John told the Dragon.
Stove gave John a slight nod of its head.
Refrigerator was still up in the sky, sending ice blasts at people nearby.
Let's get down to business.
This was just another thing he had to cut down to save his friend. There wasn't a chance of it stopping him.