Chương 35: Ratatouille Ruined.

Ch. 35: Ratatouille Ruined.

Dory's pale skin made her a nurse's dream. Dory pulled her hospital gown to the side as an unprofessionally large needle went into her hip to extract the bone marrow. She let out a soft curse. The nurse pummeled her with small talk.

"Your brother's coming in to test soon right?"

"Yes."

"Fun! You excited to have a donor?"

"He's going to come in tomorrow. I guess there's a 25% chance? If not, I'd have to go on the donor's list. So, here's hoping."

"Well, I'm sure." Dory crossed her fingers as the nurse pulled a viscous yellow serum into her syringe.

"Gross," Dory said.

"Yep. Not the grossest thing I've seen today, mind you. This is 'the goods.' Let's try to be very careful wi- woah!" A vibration quaked through the office and violently tugged them in the same direction. Medical equipment fell off shelves onto the ground. The lights turned off and in the darkness, they could hear glass shattering from the fallen objects.

"What was that?" Dory asked.

"Don't panic," the nurse said, "There's a backup generator. There must have been a power outage." The humming of the ac turned back on first, then the lights came back on section by section. The nurse stared as the tube lights came back on.

"Earthquake?" Dory asked.

"Sounds like it. But it was only for a second." They both looked at the vial in the nurse's hand. Unscathed, thank god. A rumble followed. It caused a ripple within the syringe.

"We better get this secured." The nurse placed it in a kind of insulated fabric that looked like a lunch bag your mom gave you. She zipped it up and said, "Wait right here while we find out what's going on." Dory watched her nurse open the door to the lab they were in and walk outside. She saw through the window on the door as her nurse looked down the hallway. Dory's mind took a moment to process what happened as fire blitzed her nurse's head.

As if her body had already been given the orders, the nurse's body opened the lab door. Her head was on fire and her skull had begun to show as she dropped dead. Dory screamed. She ran up to the nurse and rocked her body, as if the problem had only been a bout of narcolepsy. A hulking body galloped past the hallway, leaving behind a trail of fire. Dory turned and ran toward the other lab door. There was water pouring through the crack as she opened the door. More water sloshed in as she stepped out.

Her head turned both directions, in one, was another trail of fire slowly being put out by the water at her feet. In the other was the exit sign. Just as she was about to run toward it, the long tubes in the ceiling farthest from her burst. Dory yelled and covered her eyes. Then the tube lights in front of those burst. Leaving a trail of lightning to something around the corner. Dory turned and ran as the steps of that thing sounded closer. As she did, the next set of tube lights burst.

She ran toward the other corridor. As Dory approached, the window above the corridor was over taken by a giant yellow eye with a blurred black dot on its center. Dory yelled as she continued to run. People were panicking, running through the hallways. Some were on fire, others were bloodied and laying against the walls. Dory took another turn where the large inflamed thing was turned and looked at her. It stamped its hoof on the ground as it prepared to charge.

"A cow?" She asked.

"Holy cow! That purple dress you wore to that movie premiere? God, you looked so good in it," Nelo said to Kayla.

"Thank you! My friend is a designer so I repped her. She's amazing. I could send you her profile."

"Yes! But I can't buy dresses right now. I've got to pay for school."

"I get it. Honestly, I get free clothes all the time from brands who want me to wear it on my insta. If you ever want you can come over and pick out some stuff you like." My eyes darted between the two of them.

"Love! Yes! We can get some matchas too!" I threw my hands in the air.

"I'm just going to get ahead of this!" They both noticed me again.

"Kayla and I are just friends."

"Why would you bring it up?" Nelo asked, "It's so much worse that you brought it up."

"I thought I'd get ahead of it," I said"We've been talking for 20 minutes," Kayla said. If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

"I was debating. Debating whether or not I should get ahead of it." Kayla sighed and said, "I'll go get some punch. Maybe you two have some things you need to talk about."

"Okay. Kayla, did I fuck that up?"

"We'll… talk about it." She walked away and I said to Nelo, "No way I didn't fuck that up, right? If I didn't, she would have just said so."

"I think you're right," Nelo said, "I guess I'll start-""Techinally I started when I got ahead of it."

"I guess I'll… start for real. I haven't heard from you in a week. I wondered if you were alive if we were still friends." I flinched.

"Of course we're still friends."

"Would you say you've been a good friend to me?" I flinched again.

"Go on," She said.

"I think if you asked me if I was a good friend in general… I would say no." She chuckled before saying, "You've always been ambitious. It's one of the things I've loved about you. But I could tell it made you bitter. Like… your ambition made you think you deserved more than you had. And I think that made you resentful of me. I had something you didn't." I sipped from my little tiny cup of white wine that had been served. I looked at her in complete shock but I didn't rebuff anything she said.

I was overwhelmed by her take. So much so that I stared in silence. She took my silence as some kind of confirmation before saying, "Congrats on becoming a champ. I read about it in the trades. You don't need me anymore. Anyway, I'm not here for you. I'm here for Mia. It's her night." She turned around. My fear of her leaving outweighed my fear of talking. And in the dim shine of the coffee shop's many accent lights, my cowardice looked like bravery, "I always wanted to be your hero."

Penelope turned back, waiting for more.

"I'd be dead if not for you. Many. Many times over. You've kept me alive and… I… I feel like I'm in debt to you too. You're there and you're helping and you do it with a smile. I just feel so powerless around you."

"You know I care about you, Drake. But I'm getting tired of seeing my friends cringe when I mention your name. And I mention your name a lot." After some silence she broke the emotional standstill by leaving to greet Mia. Kayla was staring up at the painting of the Silicon Cyclops. I approached her.

"Hey," Kayla said, "How'd it go?"

"Uhh… I'm not good at this stuff."

"What stuff?"

"The normal stuff. Put me in a cave with ten grizzlox. I don't care. Just… don't… put me in a coffee shop with people." Kayla nodded and said, "Hmmm. I can't eat French food without crying."

"Really? Not even a croissant?" I said.

"In my first dungeon, there was a rat I killed. It looked just like Remy from Ratatouille. Blue fur. Expressive eyes."

"Probably liked food."

"That's the same thought I had when I killed him. I thought about the life that rat had. Its rat friends. Did it go to rat culinary school or was it more of an apprenticeship? Of course you're not good at normal stuff. None of us are."

"Do you think I'm irredeemable?"

"No." We looked into each other's eyes. I found comfort. I said, "Tacos aren't french."

"Nope. Not last I checked."

"There's a taco truck that's open late a few blocks from here. You want to go?" She mulled it over before she said, "Did your life get any less complicated since we last talked?" I let out a coarse laugh and said, "Maybe next time, then?"

"Thank you for inviting me. Let's go on a raid soon."

"Hey, what Disney movie do you think the pits are going to take from you next?" An angry buzzing erupted from her phone. Then my phone. Then a third phone. We looked at our screens. It was a Silicon alert. The name given to when monsters escape Tartarus into our world. It read: BREACH! Any champ in the immediate area please report to Wilshire and Lucas Level: Charlie Threat imminent!

"Wilshire and Lucas… that's… that's right by the hospital my sister is staying at," I said. Kayla stared up at me and soon Nelo joined us. Nelo said, "Should we carpool?"

Dory ran from the hospital, the fiery bovine still chasing after her. She closed the glass hospital doors behind her and the creature smashed right through them. Dory attempted to run down the stairs but the pain in her hip caused her to trip and fall. She looked up at the creature. It was hooved, large, and was partially made out of fire. It's torch-like horns pointed down at her ready to attack.

"Scorpion's Sting!" The champ's jab went into the bovine's neck. The bare arm spiked out from the other side. The bovine's fire quelled and it dropped dead. I well-to-do voice said, "Be careful, little lady. There are some powerful beasts out and about." The ripped man wore a tight polo shirt. He wore sunglasses even though it was getting dark.

"They're… they're in the hospital," Dory said.

"Yes. Seems that's where the breach is. Samson! Paulie!" Two men of similar stature dropped next to him, one carrying a sling, and the other, a halberd.

"Where to?" One of the lackeys said.

"The hellmouth must be nearby. But we've got some that got into the hospital," Said the man who killed the fire cow.

"We're on it," said Samson, a man with acne scars, short gelled hair and frameless glasses.

"Then of course, there's the big guy." Just then, an earthquake jostled them again. Dory fell and the champion caught her.

"Easy. You're distressed," the champ in the tight shirt said.

"My.. my brother. I need to call him. He'll help."

"Why, little lady. Unless he's a champ, he's not going to do us much good."

"He is! He should be close by."

"What's his name?" Exley asked.

"Drake. He's an NPC named Drake. Do you know him?"