Chapter 6: No Small Parts...
"You... I remember you..."
"I'm sure you do. I was quite the popular fellow."
"I was sure I'd never see you again."
"Usually you wouldn't. I died, remember? God only let me come back this way to let you in."
"Let me in?"
"On this whole business."
"What business? McJesus, just tell me..."
"The zombies. There's something huge happening. Much bigger than you think. You are needed here."
"Am I a tool of the Lord, now?"
"Yes. You are vital. You are one of the most important. You must save who you can."
"But... but I can't save them all."
"Many were not meant to live through this. Above all, however, you must save the child."
"What child?"
"The child. He, too, is vital."
"We, the child and I... have we met?"
"I've said all I am allowed to say. I have to leave."
"No... But, McJesus! I'm clueless! Come on! I need more help!"Nekrozoa awoke and jerked up to sit. He was breathing hard. The room he was in was one he had never seen before now. At least it was surprisingly clean. He looked down to see himself under a bed cover. One of his hands slid across his head to feel a bandage wrapped around it. In the corner of this all white room was a chair. Someone was sitting in the chair. It was the green-haired figure he saw before he last blacked out.
"'Bout time," this figure said. He cupped his mouth and shouted "Hey guys! Sleeping Beauty is finally awake!"
One hand wrapped around the side of the door that was the room's exit/entrance. A head followed that hand and poked around the corner. Nekrozoa recognized this fellow as well. It was the one with bright red eyes. For the first time, Nekrozoa could pull out a name.
" Hey, Bulet... long time no see."
"You have no idea," Bulet said. Bulet lurched forward and then looked behind him to see what pushed him. The blue face-masked, blue caped figure ran into the room to look at the startled Nekrozoa.
"Oh, cool I haven't met this one before!" he said. "What's his name? What's his powers? Is he new here? C'mon, people! Give me the down-low!"
"Oh dear lord, Zylix, shut up!" someone said from behind the door. The camouflage-wearing figure walked in behind Zylix. "If you just sit down and relax, we'll let you know! Dang!"
"I'm sorry, Chip. I'm just excited! I haven't met very many of these guys! I'm happy I get to see a new one."
The figure in the corner that greeted Nekrozoa before was watching this spectacle with a smirk on his face. "Oh, yeah. Nekrozoa, meet Zylix. He's a new guy to the Brawl."
Nekrozoa rolled his eyes and emitted a sarcastic smile. "What a time to come to the void..." Nekrozoa felt the new Brawler latch on and press into his body. It was the strongest hug he has every gotten.
"Oh, Nekrozoa. That's a sweet name, right there! Now what're your powers? Huh? Do you shoot lasers from your eyes or, or, or fly through the air... Oh Maybe you can-"
"No, no, none of that. I can manipulate plasma."
"What?" Zylix huffed. "That's a lame power."
"Shows how much you know," Nekrozoa told him. "You'd be surprised how much damage ionized gas could do to people if used correctly."
The green-haired figure looked from Zylix to Nekrozoa. "I'll bet that's pretty handy against the zombies."
Nekrozoa turned to look at the figure. "I'm afraid it's not. Plasma will do damage to mechanical equipment, circuitry, and living tissue. Zombies aren't composed of living tissue anymore, and obviously not the first two either."
"Yay..."
"Why can't you be like one of the cool Brawlers, though?" Zylix shouted. Bulet and Captain Chip were looking at Zylix with annoyed faces. "Like McJesus! Making explosions wherever you wanted to... that would be sick!"
"Yeah, that got him really far, didn't it?" Captain Chip mentioned.
"Oh, whatever," Zylix snapped back. "You're just jealous."
"No I'm not!" Captain Chip said, sounding offended.
"Oh, wait!" Zylix shouted again. His face looking up and his hand held in the air as a sign of revelation. "What about Balto-Boy? That guy is cool He can turn evil or dark and-"
"Dude, don't even get me started." Bulet finally said after constant silence. "That son of a bitch is the reason this all started in the first place!"
"Oh, not this again..." the green-haired figure moaned, his hand held in his face. Nekrozoa, having nothing to say, just darted his eyes back and forth to look at whoever was talking at the time. The statement about Balto-Boy, however, managed to grasp his attention.
"Shut it, Assassin. I'm telling you guys, this whole thing is Balto's fault. He was working for Illidon the entire time. You remember that, right?"
"Yeah, and he helped us kill him, you remember that?" Smokin' Assassin retorted.
"It was all a scheme Balto wanted us dead as much as Illidon or Ron. This was the perfect way to do it. No actual confrontation or anything!"
"You know how retarded that sounds?" Zylix asked in his naturally loud voice.
"I believe it." Captain Chip mentioned.
"Oh, not you too, Chip," Smokin' Assassin said in his moaning tone.
"Well, who else had access to that drink stuff?" Bulet asked them all.
Now Nekrozoa knew what they were talking about. About 4 years ago, Balto released a new kind of sports drink for testing. It was supposed to be a sports drink using a new form of chemistry that helped Brawlers train themselves. It was a low-key release, but was supposed to become a large-scale product. Some skeptics believe that testing of the drink is what caused the original outbreak, seeing as its testing and the first zombie attack were dated oddly close to each other.
"You have to be a moron if you believe a beverage could create a legion of undead," Smokin' Assassin told Bulet, somehow remaining calm.
"That's what he wants you to think..." Bulet said while pointing one of his stubby fingers at Smokin' Assassin. "He knows the idea of a sports drink doing that much damage is absurd, that's why it's the perfect plan."
"I smell bullshit." Zylix almost whispered.
"I'm telling you," Bulet almost yelled, "It all makes sense! Why do you think Balto was so anxious to found Brawl City anyways, even though Mega found the void? It was all his plot! He was planning this all along! He played us for chumps!"
Smokin' Assassin has been looking down at the floor and shaking his head while this conversation ensued. Nekrozoa was listening to Bulet, running this information through his head and trying to see if any of it could be plausible. Right now, it didn't seem likely. It really didn't seem possible. Balto-Boy's giddy reaction to Nekrozoa's idea of a cure was sticking out in his mind more than anything else. Either Balto-Boy had nothing to do with this, or he was a really good actor.
Now Captain Chip, Zylix, and Bulet were arguing. Smokin' Assassin was still ignoring the three. Most of the argument was between Bulet and Zylix. Captain Chip only added a comment on what he thought about the issue here and there. Bulet was angry and starting to yell at Zylix, who was just looking at Bulet with a sarcastic smirk and squinted eyes the entire time. Smokin' Assassin was starting to find this whole thing entertaining. He was watching the three converse, sometimes holding back laughs. Nekrozoa was looking on at the same three people without any sign of emotion.
Finally, the argument about Balto-Boy's dirty work came to a close.
"I don't care what you guys say, I still believe Balto's the cause of this," Bulet said angrily.
Zylix laughed. "I still say you're a retard."
Bulet looked away and waved his hand up at Zylix. "Whatever. Balto's probably got some big, underground shelter where no one can find it! But when I see Balto again, I'm going to kill him myself!"
"I'm afraid you won't get that chance," Nekrozoa told them grimly.
All eyes were now on Nekrozoa. Most of them looked at him with a face full of wonder and question. Bulet, on the other hand, still looked angry. After an awkward silence revolving around the staring, Bulet finally questioned Nekrozoa. "What are you saying?"
Nekrozoa looked Bulet eye-to-eye. "He's dead."
Shock ran across everyone's face. Zylix had a hint of sadness to his face. Bulet's angry expression eased slightly.
"What... what are you saying?" Bulet asked.
"I mean what I said. Balto-Boy is dead. He got zombified. I had to kill him."
Smokin' Assassin's surprise made him stand. Everyone was still looking at Nekrozoa. Zylix looked even sadder than he did previously. Bulet was no longer angry and stood with his eyes wide and mouth open.
"How..." Bulet started, "How would we know you aren't lying."
Nekrozoa gave Bulet a serious glare. He reached under his bed covers and into the ammo belt he was still wearing. Out of the large pocket he pulled out Balto-Boy's glove for everyone to see.
As the glove dangled in Nekrozoa's hand, everyone nearly gasped. Bulet, Smokin' Assassin, and Captain Chip looked on with shock and awe. Zylix had a similar look, but you could tell he was excited as well, as he was holding back a smile he was getting at the idea of wielding Balto-Boy's powers.
"That's how you know." Nekrozoa grabbed the glove and stuffed it back in his ammo belt.
They all still stared forward as if the glove was still dangling where it was when Nekrozoa held it up in the air. Smokin' Assassin eventually snapped his neck to look at Bulet.
"Would Balto-Boy get himself infected if he was behind the zombies?"
Bulet stalled his answer. "...no. I guess not." There was a silence throughout the room. No one said a word. Most of the Brawlers in the room were looking at the floor. Nekrozoa just look forward and Zylix was glancing around at everyone's morbid state.
"...can I wear it?" Zylix finally asked.
Smokin' Assassin looked up. "Zylix!"
"What? I thought I might ask. He's not gonna need it again."
"It's still not yours."
Zlyix looked disappointed. "Alright... fine...". He suddenly perked his head up. "Oh, that reminds me," Zlyix looked back to Bulet. "Who were you looking for again? Some Brawler that had something important or whatever...?"
"Oh, you mean Blue?" Captain Chip asked. Nekrozoa's ears perked.
"Yeah! That's the guy! You could ask Nekor... Nekoo..."
"Nekrozoa." Captain Chip said dully.
"Yeah, that."
"What's so important about Blue?" Nekrozoa asked.
Smokin' Assassin answered this question. "He knows something, that's for sure. We don't know what, but when he camped with us a while back, we've never seen so many Robos in our lives during that time."
Nekrozoa was a little confused. "Wait... the Robos? What are those?"
"Mechanical soldiers. At least we, personally call them 'Robos'. They arrived in small scales shortly after the zombies started showing up. We have no idea where they came from, but they've been after us ever since we got a hold of Blue."
"They're after him because of something," Bulet added. "It might have something to do with how we found him."
"How's that?" Nekrozoa asked.
"He just... he just dropped out of the sky by one of the entrances to the void on top of me," Smokin' Assassin told. "He wouldn't talk about where he was up there. He just acted as if falling out of the sky was normal. Speaking of which, you have something to do with Blue? Those things were about to attack you, right?"
"I barely saw them before I got knocked out," Nekrozoa responded. "But that
was what it looked like..."
Nekrozoa's mouth slowly opened wide. He figured out his dream... "the child"...
He hopped out of his bed. "We've got to get to the city gates!"
"What? Why?" Captain Chip asked.
"Blue! He's in danger! And he
does know something..."
Nekrozoa ran through everyone and headed through the doorway. Smokin' Assassin yelled after him. "But how do you know-"
"There's no time!" Nekrozoa yelled back. "We've got to get there
now!"
The other 4 Brawlers looked around at each other. No words were spoken, and they silently agreed to follow him.