Static Reflections: Book 1 of The Mortal Guard Series

Chapter 37 - Nick: Corrupted Reminiscence

Chapter 37 - Nick: "Corrupted Reminiscence"

"Richard!" Nick yelled, getting to his feet and staring at the mask that covered the face of his friend. But it had changed. Now, the mask was no longer in the shape of a sheep, but it had morphed to fit the form of a raccoon with Richard's exact pattern. Tears spilled from the actual animal's eyes, falling down the mask, somehow.

"No . . . no, no, no. . . let me go!" Richard cried, Nick unable to see his mouth moving under the mask. The animal's body flipped onto his back.

"Richard! Richard, snap out of it!" The hyena came forward, grabbing his arm. He tugged, but it was like the other animal had a considerable weight on top of him. There was a scraping sound against the fabric of the couch, and Nick's eyes widened as he realized Richard's legs were moving across it, then lifting off of the surface, his body lifting into the air very slowly.

Nick yelped at the sight, Richard's brown jacket hanging down from around his torso. He continued levitating, higher and higher.

No. Not him. All Nick could do was watch and repeat this in his head. Was Richard really about to face the same fate that Jack did?

Fuck no.

The hyena leaped forward, the couch sliding back a bit as he collided with it. As fast he could, he stood up, his boots sinking into the cushion below. This was going to be a very awkward move, but Nick had to save Richard. He wouldn't lose him like this.

Reaching his hands up to Richard's floating body, which hadn't gotten too far into the air yet, Nick pressed down with reasonable force to make sure that whatever was holding him would keep doing it when he pulled the next motion. Bending his legs and then springing into the air, Nick threw his torso over Richard's.

Surprisingly, his body held Nick's weight as it continued to lift. The hyena moved and wiggled himself until he was straddling the hovering raccoon. He quickly fumbled his thin digits to his face, trying to dig his claws under the clay mask as they got closer to the ceiling, ever so slowly. "Come on! Fucking thing!" he cursed. There was no fortune found there, as it was like Richard's face was a magnet. "Damn it!!! Get the fuck off of him!"

Suddenly, Richard's hand launched forward, curled into a fist, connecting with Nick's left eye. The hyena's head snapped back, and he heard a small crack in his neck. "Yagh!" He knew that would leave a mark almost immediately.

Before Nick could recover from the shock, Richard gripped the sides of his arms and threw him off, tossing Nick onto the floor, right onto his left arm. CRACK! It was louder than the one in his neck, and then Nick's arm was on fire, the hyena belting out a yell. He twisted to move, and the pain in his arm shot through his body. It was broken.

Nick felt tears run down his face as the floating figure of Richard dropped onto the couch. He quickly got up, stepping toward the hyena.

"Urgh! R-Richard?" Nick looked up.

Everything in his body told him to get out of the way. He braced himself and rolled as the floor next to him was ripped open by an invisible force, splinters of fake wood spewing out. The stabbing in his arm made him scream, and he groaned. By this point, Nick's left eye had swollen shut. "G-get away from me!!!"

Richard stepped closer, still mumbling behind the mask. Nick sat up, using the heels of his boots to push himself back.

The air shifted, and he spread his legs just enough to where he barely dodged the ground bursting open again. The hyena stood up, his arm hanging to the side, still in immense pain. Nick panted heavily, sweating bullets as he pulled out his phone. Dodging another swipe from the force, which cut the couch's arm, the hyena contacted Disaster Sect to return as soon as they could. He knew it would still be a few minutes until they coordinated.

"RICHARD!!!" He yelled. "I don't know what it's doing to you but come back to me! You can fight this!!!"

Lightning flashed outside, and thunder rolled as the storm raged on. The raccoon threw his body left and right, then, clearly trying to fight back. Nick continued to sob from the pain and from the chance that he could lose his friend.

Richard rushed forward and grabbed Nick's legs, pulling him up and hanging him upside down, then bringing his knee into his gut. The hyena felt bile rise in the back of his throat as blood began rushing to his head. His arm was screaming. The raccoon swung the limp animal around, smashing him into the screen of the television headfirst, knocking it back against the wall with a loud bang.

Nick fell on his arm again, crying out and then quickly getting up, getting as close to the raccoon as he could before thrusting his good hand into his jacket and pulling out Richard's Prism Pistol. The room was spinning, and he was sure he was about to lose any food he had previously eaten. He couldn't even tell which way was up and which way was down.

Richard continued to try and attack him, and the hyena dodged out of the way as best as he could, only able to see out of his right eye. He had never felt this hot before, this sick, this hopeless. "Please, Richard! Wake up! You'll kill me if you keep this up!"

"No, no, no, no . . . ." Richard muttered quickly. "Don't touch me . . . LEAVE ME ALONE!" He yelled, pulling out his curved knife and swiping at the hyena, cutting across his spotted cheek.

Nick stepped backward, backward, as fast as he could. There was no way Richard was going to be able to break out of this alone. He had to save him. But he was so weak, and it was so painful. And the mask wouldn't come off! What the hell do I do? What do I. . . ? A spark flashed in his mind.

Nick tightened his grip on the gun, moaning and breathing heavily as he whipped his head around, finding a space on the wall. He stumbled over, finding the strength to mount it. The gravity boots switched his orientation, and he glanced back at his possessed friend, who looked confused. The creature didn't know how to use the gravity boots, and it couldn't risk hitting Richard into the wall.

"R-Richard!" Nick called as his cheek bled out. "I . . . I'm gonna save you. I . . . I hope I do . . . ." He sniffled, panting heavily. "Fuck!" He glanced at the weapon in his hand, then at Richard. "If you can hear me, I care about you a lot. I hope you know that." A feeling rose in his chest, and his head swarmed with cloudiness as he lurched forward, spewing bile onto the ground. His throat burned like fire and he thought he might lose his balance. The wall was then slashed by the invisible force with an enormous swipe, trying desperately to reach him.

Using all of his strength and mind left, Nick ran onto the ceiling and lined himself up, right above Richard. With only his good arm, the hyena pushed off of the ceiling with great force, and as he fell, the creature slashed again, meeting his wrist and cleanly severing what was there. The hyena landed on Richard, most likely snapping some of his ribs with his knees. But he couldn't think about how he was hurting his friend at that moment. This was his last shot.

Taking the gun he had stolen from the raccoon, Nick raised it over his head, and his open emerald eye met Richard's brown ones, which were pleading with everything they had.

The younger animal brought the gun down, into the mask and Richard's face, hard. He lifted it and then slammed it down again, and again, and again, yelling out as he did so. The mask began to crack, and Richard's blood leaked through as Nick assaulted it, nonstop. He was completely numb, not even noticing the pain but feeling like he didn't exist anymore. Nick continued to hammer the weapon into the face of his companion until the clay thing finally shattered into pieces, releasing its hold on Richard.

Both of the animals were panting, sure that they would die in the following moments, with all of the injuries Nick had overwhelming him and Richard's mashed face and broken ribs making it hard to breathe. The hyena's vision started to blur, only seeing red and gray below.

The front door breached, and there were what seemed to be hundreds of heavy footfalls that filled the room.

"Right there!" Someone yelled. The words echoed in Nick's ears, and he slowly looked to his left arm, where blood was gushing onto the faux wood of the ground. He registered that his hand was gone, his broken arm ending at the wrist. The red liquid pooled. The hyena's eyes closed. He just wanted to sleep.

There was the feeling of something under both of his arms, and he knew he was being dragged along the ground. He couldn't take it any longer; the pull was too strong. He let his mind go and slowly faded away.