BEYOND 3A: BloodRed and ScaleBlack

The Thirty-Seventh Feather: Wounds and Bruises

The situation was quite grim. Jake was locked in an unwinnable battle against a powerful elite with no visible ways out. Corna snapped out of her panic induced stupor and was very confused. Tony shouted from the outside: "One of us is going to get tired of this shit eventually, and I've got a pina colada in my hand!"

Corna: "Jake... Jake! What's going on?!"

Jake: "...(I'm sorry... There's not much I can do for you now...)"

Corna: "W-What?! What are you talking about?!"

Jake: "...(The Elite... He recognised you...He wants to abduct you... I won't let him...)

Corna: "J-Jake! This bird body is just my left hand! Let him take it and save yourself!"

Jake: "...(No, I promised to never let anyone harm you. I am not willing to go back on my word any time soon!)"

Corna: "Then what can we do?! We're stuck like this! There has to be a way out! There has to be!"

Jake: "...(...I don't know... I'm scared, Corna... I don't know what to do...)"

Incidentally, Tony had just ran out of patience, proclaiming: "Okay, this is getting really uneventful, so I'll just take the bird now." and in a split second, Jake's entire body was cut in half with the elite's metal wire. The halves fell on the ground, Jake's intestines slowly slithering out of his body, and Corna tried to fly away in a panic. Unfortunately, Corna's wings were cut off in the blink of an eye before she could go far.

Meanwhile, Imogen, who was left by herself at the lowest layer, woke up after being accidentally knocked out by Jake. She stood up, scratched her head, and heard the sirens blaring in the background. She noticed the unconscious Caitlyn and the absence of her two companions, indicating that they had forgotten about her and presumably fled. The girl grunted and decided to head to the exit and hopefully run into someone who'll assume her to be an innocent victim and escort her to the surface. However, when she passed by The Wound's door, that abomination called out to her: "Hey, Imogen! Hey! Hey! Imogen!"

Imogen: "What do you want now?"

The Wound: "Take me with you and let's get outta here!"

Imogen: "I think you're missing a small detail, my guy. Mainly the sheer difference in our sizes, among other things?"

The Wound: "I know, here me out. I'll live inside your arm and give you as much information as you want and in return, I want to see something spectacular."

Imogen: "Well, that's stu-"

Immediately, Imogen realised the infinite possibilities of having an all- knowing tumour in her arm, so she replied: "On second thought, that doesn't sound half-bad. How do I do it?"

The Wound: "Stick your hand in my mouth!"

Imogen: "Ew."

The Wound: "Do it!"

Imogen: "Okay, fine. If only they had some hand sanitizer on standby."

The girl rolled her sleeve back and inserted her left arm inside the gross, fleshy insides of that creature and immediately, she felt something latch onto her and melt into her skin. She pulled out and realised that her forearm became a host for a fun-sized version of the Wound, along with its creepy eyes and wound-mouth. The eyes popped out after a few seconds and the new Wound asked enthusiastically: "Tell me, American! Is it true that in capitalist America, you're not allowed to NOT drink milk?!"

Imogen: "I don't think so."

The Wound: "FASCINATING! Now, let's get out of here!"

Imogen: "I'm gonna need you to shut up for now."