The first thing I felt when I stepped out of the Man Copter was the bitter cold, wrapping its icy hands around me.
"Jesus it's cold!" I complain. I wrap my arms around me.
We had been given a mission up in the Arctic of all places.
Evil Science Corp's dimensional gateway thingy malfunctioned and opened a door to an unknown realm in the Arctic. This wouldn't be too big of a problem except big, monster, wolf like things were coming out and destroying research faculties up there. So of course, we had to put an end to it.
Schwoz had given us the thermal suits. The looked exactly like our normal suits but they had puffy and warm jackets, the gloves were lined with fluff, the boots were made for trekking through the snow, and they came with cute little pom pom hats.
"You'll be fine." Rai says while passing by me.
"Easy for you to say, you're indestructible, you literally can never be so cold it hurts." I grumble.
"True, but we have a job to do. So get over here." Rai orders.
I groan but follow suit. When I get to where he's standing. I immediately realize the severity of what's happening her. In the valley just down the hill, was a big black and blue portal, several research houses and a crap ton of snarling demon beasts.
"Ok, what's the plan?" I ask.
"We just go in and start shooting. Try to get as many through the portal though. But if it comes down to it, kill them." Rai said.
I nodded and leaned over the hill.
I ran towards the portal with my laser gun drawn.
I push the three portal guards through the portal.
I look over my shoulder to find Rai fighting against a overly large wolf beast. I shoot a laser through it. Black blood stains the snow.
"Thanks." Rai says through the coms. I nod.
I'm about to push a demon wolf through the portal when I'm tackled to the ground. I aim my gun at the beast but it beats me to it. He goes to slash my neck but I raise my arm to protect myself.
I feel 4 long gashes slice through my arm.
I gasp out in pain and cry out.
"Kid!"
I shoot my gun through the beast. It falls to the ground, dead.
Blood pools at my wounds.
"Kid, are you ok?" Rai says through the coms. He was currently busy fighting off a monster.
"I'm ok, I think. A demon hurt my arm, but I'll just bandage it. I'll be fine."
"Whatever you say." Rai sighs.
After being injured on the job so many times, I began to keep bandage wrap in my pouch.
I wrap the cotton tightly around my arm. I clench my teeth as not to scream.
Once I'm bandaged, I run back into battle.
I burn through 5 at once. This needs to end quickly.
"Kid! A little help?" Rai shouts.
I turn my head.
A snarling, growling wolf was on top of Rai. It slashed and bit at Rai, of course it did nothing though.
I run over and pull it off.
In the wolfs surprise, it sinks its teeth into my shoulder.
I choked out a grunt. I blast the creature off of me.
"Kid? Are you ok?" Rai asks, seeing the blood pooling at my shoulder.
"Ya, ya, wolf thingy bit me." I say, my head was starting to feel woozy from the blood loss.
"Get that bandaged, I'll get you back to Schwoz when this fight is over." Rai says. "In the meantime, if you can still fight, that'd be great."
I nod and begin wrapping my shoulder.
Once I'm done, I catapult towards a monster and push it through the gateway.
There seems to be a never ending supply.
I tackle more and throw them through.
"Come on Kid! Only 11 left." Rai yells into the coms.
"Ok." I slur. I throw two through the portal.
I check my arm quickly, to see the blood had soaked through the bandages.
"That's not good." I mutter.
"Kid? Are you ok? What happened?" Rai asks.
"My arm, it's in really bad shape." I reply.
"Kid, let me finish this. Please, I don't want you to get hurt anymore." Rai begs.
"No, Rai, I've got this." I say.
"Henry, please."
"Rai, I'm fine." I persist.
I continue to push the wolves through the portal.
"Fine, just be careful." Rai surrenders.
"I will." I reply.
I lied.
Just as we had 7 left, the portal began closing.
"Rai! The portal! It's closing!" I yelled.
Rai looked over to me so fast, I thought he might have whiplash.
"Hurry Kid!" He yells.
I began to push more through the portal but in my haste, I begin to get sloppy and oblivious to the fact that they could still hurt me.
As I went to grab the third, it bit down on my wrist.
I grunt and try to pull it out, but the wolf launches me towards the portal.
I land just before it. I grunt from the force, but I'm soon up. I tackle it to the ground.
It growls and swipes it's paw at my cheek.
I dodge the attack narrowly, and punch its muzzle.
Unfortunately though, I feel a clawed paw kick me through the void.
I feel myself slam against rock. Stars float around in my vision.
"Henry! Are you alright!" Rai yelled.
"I-I don't-'' I slur. My head was spinning.
I open my eyes wearily. I see the portal finally close.
"Henry? Rai to Henry, are you there?" I hear Rai say.
"Ya, I'm here."
"Kid! Thank god. How's your arm?" He asks.
"Not good Rai. It's in really bad shape."
"What about your shoulder?"
"It's not that bad. It's really painful though."
"Where are you, like what do your surroundings look like?"
I look around. The sky was navy and the ground was covered in ice. It was freezing, so much colder than the Arctic. Everything was in ruins.
"Um, it's really dark and cold. Really cold. And um, it's in ruins."
"Ok, um, do you see any of those demon things?"
"No, not yet. Rai, I'm running out of bandages. My arm is incredibly torn up and it's uh, starting to go numb and I don't think that's a good sign." I say.
"You're right, that's not good. I'm trying to get Charlotte, Schwoz and Jasper up in the Arctic now, to figure out how to get you back. In the mean time, I'm going to add Schwoz, Charlotte and Jasper to the channel. Schwoz'll give you a run down of what's going on with your arm."
As I listened to Rai talk, I was unwrapping my arm. The sight gave me shivers. Well more than the cold did. Blood was staining my arm and it was bloody and torn up.
"Ok, ya, you're gonna want to get me back as soon as possible. My arms in really bad shape." I say.
I pull off my mask and place it between my teeth. I scoop up some snow and press it to my arm.
I scream but the fabric muffles it.
"Henry? Henry are you alright?" Rai said in a panicked voice.
"Ya, I'm fine. I'm just rewrapping my arm. Get Schwoz online." I reply.
"Hey Henry." Charlotte greeted.
"Hi Henry." Jasper added
"Hello Henry, explain to me what's going on with your arm." Schwoz asks.
"Hi Schwoz." I say with clenched teeth. I wrapped my arm in fresh cotton. "It's really torn up and bloody, and uh, I can't move it anymore, it's still super sore though and I'm 100% sure that's not good. And Jesus is it ever cold here."
There was a long silence.
"You're right. That's not good." Schwoz agreed grimly.
"So what can I do?"
"You can't, I just need to get you out of there before it's too late."
"What do you mean too late?" Rai asked, panicking more.
"Well, Henry said it was cold there so he could freeze to death before we can fix the machine, or his arm could die and he could lose it. Or worse it could get infected and he could die from infection. Or worse again, he could be killed by one of the monsters."
"Ok, that's not good. How long until you guys get to the Arctic?"
"We're almost there. Schwoz rented a helicopter." Jasper replies.
"Ya, hey, I see you guys!" Rai cheered.
"Right, so how are you guys getting me home?" I ask. My arm was starting to throb more and more.
"Charlotte and I are going to try to fix the interdenominational transporter so we can get you home." Schwoz explained.
"Wait, what do you mean 'try'? You can fix it, right?" I ask nervously.
There was another long silence.
"I don't know." Schwoz admits. "It's very temperamental tech, it opens dimensional doorways, which is very hard and risky to do, so one wrong move, could seal the portal to that dimension forever."
"Which means, I might die here if you don't fix it." I say.
"I'm afraid so." Schwoz agreed.
"Ok, um, Schwoz and I will get started on the machine, in the meantime, stay online, we don't no if disconnecting could sever the connection." Charlotte explained.
"O-Ok." I say, teeth chattering. "It's
s-s-s-st-starting to get really cold here."
"The thermal suit should keep you warm. Why are you cold?"
"W-When the t-thing hurt my arm, it t-tore the arm off-ff my s-s-suit, so that's pretty much gone. W-When the monster bit my
sh-shoulder, it tore half-f of the sleeve of my sweatshirt. And when one k-kicked me off, into the v-void, it tore my front. Oh and when a wolf b-bit my wris-st, it stole my glove. So basically, I'm just w-wearing my s-sweatshirt, pants, boots and my hat." I stutter from the cold, fiddling with the black fabric. "Also I can't f-f-feel my arm anymore, it doesn't hurt though. S-So, fun?"
"That's not good." Jasper deadpans.
"Ya, that's not good." Schwoz agreed.
I pull my hat down over my ears and shove my hands in my pockets.
- time skip -
So far, nothing had happened. My arm was getting worse and worse. Schwoz and Charlotte were still trying to fix the machine. Meanwhile, I was so cold that my skin was beginning to turn a bluish-white. I could barely feel any of my limbs.
"Ok! I fixed the machine! I'm looking for the dimension you're in!" Schwoz cheered.
I cracked a smile, but it only lasted a second because I suddenly heard a rumbling growl.
I snap my head up.
About a dozen wolves were surrounding me.
"G-Guys, there's a lot of wolves." I say shakily.
"How many's a lot?" Charlotte asked.
"12." I say nervously.
"12? Schwoz hurry! Kid can you fight?" I hear Rai ask.
I push my self shakily from the ground.
I feel like I might fall.
"R-Rai, I can barely stand." I reply worriedly. I raise my uninjured arm, and shoot a wolf. It falls dead. I clutch my shoulder. It's hurting so much.
They lunge at me. I shoot three more.
"H-H-Hurry!" I shout.
"We're trying!" Schwoz yells back.
A few of the wolves tackle me.
"I found it! Henry, we're coming, just hold on for five more minutes!" Schwoz yells.
I shoot as many as possible but they were overpowering me.
"R-Rai! Pl-Please!" I stutter. Blood dripped down from my temple where a beast slashed it.
"I'm coming! It's open!" Rai yelled.
I feel the weight of 7 wolves lessen as they continue to slash at me and bite.
I could barely breathe, everything was a blurry red. Most likely from the blood.
Everything was wavering in and out of sight.
I see Rai blasting beasts off of me.
Schwoz appears in my line of vision.
"Henry! Henry can you hear me?" He says.
"Ya." I groan.
"Ok, Charlotte, Jasper, I need you to help me get him to the chopper. Rai will hold them off." Schwoz orders.
What happens next is a blur. I might have passed out.
I was in a bright room that we called the Man Med. My head hurt a lot.
"Hi." I say hoarsely.
Charlotte, Jasper, Rai and Schwoz look up quickly.
"Oh thank god!" Charlotte sighed.
"Hey Kid." Rai said smiling.
"Henry!" Jasper said grinning from ear to ear.
"How are you feeling?" Schwoz asked.
"Better. My head hurts a lot though."
"You had a slash on your temple, I had to stitch it up." Schwoz explained.
"How much do you remember Kid?" Rai asked.
I scrunched up my nose.
"I remember the fight in the Arctic. I remember my arm getting super torn up. I remember being trapped in a dimension. You guys saved me but the rest is blurry." I explain. "How is my arm anyway, is it sewn up?"
I see their eyes shift away from me.
"Rai?" I say nervously. Rai's eyes dart away. "Charlotte?" Hers do the same.
I pull my injured shoulder arm that was resting in a sling up, and pull the blankets down from my shoulders.
It's not what I saw that shocked me. It's what I didn't see. I didn't see my arm. From the shoulder down, there was nothing.
Tears brim my eyes.
"I'm sorry Henry, there was nothing I could do to save it. It was too far gone." Schwoz apologizes.
I wipe my tears with my other arm.
"It's fine. I'm sure you did your best." I say bravely.
Schwoz cracks an apologetic smile.
"So, how long was I out?"
"7 hours." Jasper says.
My eyes widen.
"7 hours?" I ask astonished. They nod their heads.
"By the way, about the arm thing, or lack there of, Schwoz has a bionic arm you can have. It's totally responsive and super strong. It's kind of like the Winter Soldier's ™️." Rai explains.
"Oh that's so cool!" I say enthusiastically.
"Only you would love that." Charlotte mutters.
I smile at her weakly.
- time skip -
So, my bionic arm is super cool, it's super strong so it helps in fights.
I told my parents that I was in a lawn mower accident. They bought it.
They asked a few questions about the arm though. I said since it was Rai's lawn mower, he got me the arm.
It was a little hard to get used to, and the phantom pain's a bitch. But I got through it.
With my friends, I got through it.
So that's that. That was a bit darker than some of the original plans but I think it's good. I hope you guys liked it, I'm always open to requests. I'm starting one, The First Shot.
Thanks for reading!