Chapter Text
“You idiot, you fucking idiot…” Google hisses, helping Dark onto one of the empty beds, Dark hissing in pain at the movement. Google was one of the only ones who could talk to Dark that way and not face consequences. Dark opens his eyes once he’s on the bed, his face, while monotone in color, looks flushed and pale.
“I will…be fine…” Dark hisses through clenched teeth, Iplier running to his side.
“You were shot!!!” Iplier yells, grabbing Dark’s jacket, pulling it open. Dark adjusts, and weakly pushes Iplier’s hand away.
“This will not…kill me…help Simon-”
“I don’t care if it won’t kill you, you’re still bleeding out! Hold still and let me work, damnit…” Iplier hisses, moving to unbutton Dark’s shirt.
Dark growls, and his aura weakly flickers, though he ends up squeezing his eyes shut, hissing in pain as a jolt of hurt courses through his body from the wound on his side.
“I will work on Simon, Iplier will help you.” Google says, Dark shooting him a venomous look.
“I am fine-”
“Dark, if you say that again, I’m sedating you…” Iplier grumbles, Dark avoiding eye contact with a scowl as Iplier works on the wound on his side, black blood quickly staining the white sheets below him.
Google rolls his eyes at Dark’s constant protesting. He never lets Iplier look him over for anything. Google walks up to Simon, eyes flashing a brighter blue as he scans him, looking him over.
Simon wasn’t moving aside from the occasional twitch of his hand or tail, his eyes shut. Google walks around him, narrowing his eyes. Blood was covering the bed around him, though Google couldn’t see any obvious wounds on Simon’s body. Not that it was easy to tell. He looked as if he didn’t have any skin at all, his body red and matted with blood, torn flesh, black veins, and sharp jagged bone sticking out randomly. He did see blood dripping from Simon’s mouth, between his sharp fangs, the flow steady and slow, so not immediately concerning.
He could see the white bony spikes sticking out of his back, seemingly extensions of his spine. He could see the torn flesh at the base of them, where they grew out of his back. Google knew humans had a lot of pain receptors and nerves. He couldn’t even calculate how painful this mutation must have been for Simon.
Google’s eyes flash again, and he sees Simon’s chest begin to rise and fall irregularly, his breathing becoming audible and strained. Walking closer, Google looks Simon over, placing a hand on his chest. He feels his chest rise, and he feels it rise a normal distance for a human. So why did he seem to be struggling to breathe…
He looks down, and his eyes widen when he notices several dark red slits on Simon’s side, blood seeping out of them slowly. Google frowns, and stands back.
“Doctor, where do you keep your blood supply?” Google asks, Iplier looking up in confusion from where he was closing Dark’s wound.
“Uh…over there, in storage…why?”
“Simon needs it to breathe.” Google says flatly, Iplier’s face paling.
“I’m sorry WHAT?!”
“He was forcibly mutated to adapt to an ocean of blood. He breathes blood in this state. He will suffocate soon if he is not given more.” Google says firmly, walking to the secured storage room.
Iplier blinks, face pale. He looks to Simon, and sees his chest rising and falling with broken, wheezy breaths, his hand twitching occasionally.
“You know what, fine, whatever, fine. This is fine. This is normal.” Iplier says jadedly, going back to his work, letting Google handle this.
Dark just keeps his eyes away from Iplier as he stitches his wounds closed, his face hot. He looks to Simon instead, keeping his mind off the pain in his side. He sees Simon lying there, inhuman, in pain. Dark feels his heart twist painfully in his chest, overriding the pain of his bullet wound and the stitches Iplier is giving him.
This is all his fault. He should have expected Simon would arrive. He should have been ready. If he had been smarter…Simon wouldn’t be suffering right now.
Things would have been different…
~
Google just stares at Simon, seeing his breathing mellow out now that fresh blood was given to him. He has gills. Humans shouldn’t have gills. Google did not enjoy the illogical nature of this situation one bit.
He turns, and sees Dark resting on his back in his own bed, eyes closed as Iplier bandages his side.
“You’re lucky it went through you, honestly. No bullet to remove.”
“Mm…” Dark mumbles, not opening his eyes. Iplier sighs, and keeps working.
“I don’t know what your aversion to medical treatment is but you gotta get over it.” He huffs, securing the bandage. “You can’t hide every injury and expect your body to just…be fine. I know you’re not…exactly like us, but you’re human enough.” Iplier says, eyeing the black blood staining the bed. “You can still be hurt.”
“How I handle myself is my business, doctor.” Dark huffs, opening his eyes. “Though…I suppose I should thank you for this.” He says, watching Iplier pull away, Dark’s side bandaged and clean. Dark quickly pulls his shirt back over himself, hiding his chest and wound.
“Of course. Now to uh…work on this hot mess that you brought me…” Iplier groans, walking over to Simon’s side, next to Google.
Dark slowly pushes himself up with a hiss of pain, propping himself against the headboard of the bed. He puts a hand over his injury, and lets out a breath, calming his racing heart.
“I noticed something concerning.” Google says, Iplier looking over Simon.
“Beside the teeth and spikes and gills?” He huffs, Google frowning.
“Yes. Look…” He says, moving closer to Simon’s head. Iplier follows him, looking around him as Google puts his hand on Simon’s neck. “There is inorganic matter here…” He says, Iplier’s eyes widening. “Some sort of metal collar I think. But his flesh has grown over it to a degree…”
“I’m-...I’m gonna throw up I think…” Iplier mumbles, seeing what Google was talking about. Indeed there was some silver metal collar around Simon’s neck, but Iplier hardly noticed it due to the red blood staining it, and what looks like flesh and veins growing over it around the edges.
“I shouldn’t have to explain why this should be removed before we turn him back.” Google says, running a finger along the collar. “If it’s still on him, there’s a chance it will stay matted into his neck…”
“Christ…” Iplier groans, turning away. He runs his hand through his hair, his mind reeling, face pale. “This is too much…”
“And how do you think he feels?” Dark asks flatly, Iplier looking his way. “I found him in a crate. A cramped cage. Actor probably kept him in it for the past two months while he mutated him…Simon was terrified!”
Iplier groans, and puts both hands to his face.
“I know, I know! I’m sorry, I just…I’ve never dealt with something this intense before…”
“None of us have. But Simon is one of us, and he deserves our help…” Dark hisses, Iplier nodding, lowering his hands as he takes in a sharp breath.
“I know, and I’ll do all I can for him…alright, let me start with removing the collar, one thing at a time-”
The group startles as the door slams open, Host leaning against the doorframe by a shaking arm, his face covered in blood from his eyes. His bandages were stained solid red, soaked all the way through. Red and Green were behind him in the hall, looking concerned.
“Host-” Dark starts, but Host cuts him off, pointing to Simon’s bed.
“T-the Host says to get the collar off of Simon NOW!!!” Host screams, staggering clumsily into the room, the door closing behind him. Iplier’s face pales, his heart dropping in his chest.
“H-Host, if we take it off now it’ll hurt him-”
“SIMON WILL DIE IF THE COLLAR IS NOT REMOVED IMMEDIATELY!!!" Host screams, before wavering. Google runs to him in an instant, grabbing Host as he collapses, hanging lifeless in his arms, head slumped forward. Iplier looks to Dark in worry, Dark looking visibly rattled.
“D-do as he says!” Dark orders, knowing full well Host can see things they can’t. And if he saw a future where Simon dies from this collar…it will happen if they don’t do something about it.
Iplier groans, and runs to Simon’s side, suddenly feeling pressure from the time limit they now have. Host didn’t say how long they had until something bad happened! He stares at Simon’s neck, not sure where to even begin-
“Let me do it!” Google hisses, lying Host down on the ground carefully before stomping over. He pushes Iplier aside, and his eyes flash as he scans Simon. “This will hurt him badly, be prepared to stabilize him…” Google says, Iplier swallowing a lump in his throat before nodding.
Google reaches down, and scans once more. He sees the point where the collar connects to itself, a weak spot. He grabs it with both hands, one on each side of the rift. He pauses just a moment, almost wanting to verbally apologize to the new ego for what he’s about to do. He sighs, and focuses, gripping the collar tightly.
He pulls apart the connection point, and it snaps, the collar opening. Blood immediately seeps through the crack, Simon’s body twitching for a moment before going still again. Google looks down and sees the collar, while open, is still fused and stuck to Simon’s neck. He grips each edge of the collar tightly…and yanks outwards.
Simon’s body convulses weakly, a pained wheeze of a groan escaping him as Google rips the collar off his neck with a wet tearing sound, pulling bits of torn, sticky flesh and loose veins with it. Hot blood rapidly begins seeping around his neck from the damaged areas, running down his front and pooling on the bed below in dark puddles. Google grits his teeth and yanks once more, before the collar is fully removed from Simon’s neck. Simon’s body jerks once more, before he goes still, Iplier running to his side with a towel.
Google stares at the device in his hands. It’s indeed a mechanical metal collar, some lights on the side of it, and needles on the inside. They had obviously gone into Simon’s neck. Bits of torn bloody flesh still remain attached to the device, blood running down Google’s hand as he studies it.
Google jolts as the collar suddenly buzzes in his hand, and he drops it to the floor in surprise.
Iplier, who is holding a towel under Simon’s neck to soak up the blood, looks down to the floor, as does Dark. The collar is buzzing, the lights on the side now glowing green. Google narrows his eyes, and kneels down, looking at it. He sees sparks of electricity on the needles inside the collar.
“It’s a shock collar…” He says, Iplier’s eyes widening. “A bad one, lethal if used too long…”
“And that is why I never doubt Host…” Dark mumbles, looking to the middle of the room where Host lay unconscious.
Google stands, and with a growl, slams his foot onto the collar, shattering it. The buzzing stops, and Google nods, rushing to Host’s side.
“If everyone could stop almost dying for five minutes that would be GREAT!!!” Iplier yells angrily, tossing a blood-soaked towel aside as he grabs a roll of thick gauze, hurriedly rushing to bandage Simon’s neck, his skin all but peeled off where the collar had been.
The door opens once more, and Dark looks up jadedly as Engineer strolls in, a smile on his face.
“Thanks Ollie!” He says, facing the door as it closes. Engineer hums in confusion. “Weird. They didn’t look happy. What’s the issue guys? Sorry I’m late, I had to lock up the…ship…”
Engineer pauses, his smile fading in an instant as he stops dead in his tracks. Before him, he sees Google, hands covered in blood, an unconscious and very bloody Host in his arms. He sees Dark on one of the hospital beds, sitting up, his jacket missing, black blood staining his white shirt. He sees Iplier, looking frazzled…
And he sees him tending to some sort of…humanoid…blood…fish monster thing.
Engineer blinks.
“Nope.” He says flatly, turning around. He tries to open the door, but it doesn't budge.