VVVVVV Shorts (Dead)

Pulse

  "So, Cap, what are you going to do with that trinket?" The Officer inquired as he walked down the hallway.

  "Give it to Victoria for research? I'm not sure, I really don't need it myself anyways," Viridian answered from behind him, clutching the shining artifact in his hands.

  The two strode down the hall, at ease, until they exited and were now back in the signal range of the ship's scanners, which for some reason couldn't detect them in the building. Viridian opened his mouth to question why, but he couldn't get the words out. His whole brain was a sudden mess. His body was frozen like a statue, and the trinket had fallen from his hands.

  "Cap-" Vermilion turned around and drew in a breath, almost screaming at the sight of his best friend standing there, with a confused, helpless expression on his face through the visor, as a spike slick with blood and organ poked through his chest, with the back attached to a sort of wire.

  It was a trap.

  Vermilion dashed back and grabbed his shoulders, hissing. "Cap, hold onto me, and whatever you do, don't fall down," he commanded, and the wounded villi put his trembling hands onto the red villi's shoulders and braced himself as the Officer quickly equipped his plasma blade and cut the cord.

  With the support gone, the spike began to slowly slip out, and a look of agony appeared on his features. Vermilion reached around and held the back of the spike. "Cap, thanks for still standing." A disturbing gargle was all he got in response, and he glanced over at the slate villi's face to see blood running from his mouth and splattered on the inside of the visor. For a brief moment, they made eye contact, and all Vermilion saw were hopeless, grieving, glazed over orbs of black staring at him, begging him to just end his misery.

  Out of the corner of his eye, Vermilion could see the dropped trinket, and he slid it over with his foot. Then they teleported back to the ship.

  Verdigris went in to greet them, but froze, mouth agape. He could only watch as Vermilion gently laid the captain onto the ground, with one hand holding up the spike and the other his head. The Chief finally snapped and screamed, "HELP!!" At the top of his lungs.

  The other three dashed in, and they were all now gazing at him in shock and fear. Even Victoria was completely silent.

  "No sign of any virus or poison," Vitellary said before putting away the scanner. This obviously meant that, of course, Viridian would simply respawn at a checkpoint, and they wouldn't have minded him much if it wasn't for the fact that they were seeing his suffering.

  His clouded eyes searched their faces, and then he smiled softly. "Hi," he rasped. "How was your day?" He winced, then forced up blood from his lungs. If he remembered anatomy correctly, the spike displaced his heart and spine and ripped through his lungs and diaphragm. Something along those lines.

  "Captain....." Violet trailed off, withholding a shriek. She knew that it was beyond her capability to fix his injury. They would have to wait for him to perish and come back. She instead reached over and detached his helmet from the suit he was wearing. The spike had have to be going at an insane velocity to be able to rip through him like that.

  It was then that Victoria seemingly lost her composure, and she wailed in despair, and oh so gently hugged the mortally wounded male. She had seen the look in his eyes. They all had, in fact. Just Viridian's eyes alone proved to show that he could care less about this temporary death anymore, as he had already suffered so much. His kind, softhearted interior was caged inside a battleworn, ragged shell that protected him from the outside.

  Weakly, he lifted up his arm and let it go limp on top of her as a sort of hug. "Guys..." He gurgled. "It's ok...... I'll come back." Violet wiped away her few tears. "Don't cry..."

  "Captain, you are so full of bullshit sometimes it is unbelievable," Vermilion huffed, scratching the back of Viridian's head and neck. They both smiled wanly at each other.

  Feeling something grip his hand, he looked over at Verdigris. "Guys......" His eyelids drooped, then sprung open again. "You are my family......... You are the most important friends I have....... And it's my job to protect you....... I'm dying to help you....... Because I love you." His body jerked from almost falling asleep, and tears welled up in his dim eyes. "I love you so much..." Violet reached over and wiped his eyes. "I wish I always died like this...." He paused when he heard Victoria's muffled sobbing.

  He flinched when he felt the spike shift downwards, and he instinctively looked up at Vermilion and got a look of wonder in return, along with what appeared to be a white aura around him. Confused, he moved his gaze back to his wound and stared.

  A fluffy white glow was surrounding the hole, healing it slowly. He looked at Victoria, who had the same glow around her body. "Oh my God..." Vitellary murmured, placing his hands on Viridian's armored chest and watching as the healing sped up.

  The others all placed their hands on him, with the Officer slowly sliding the spike down and lifting Viridian up until eventually, he kicked the thing away.

  Viridian stood up, his eyes sparkling, before he grinned. "This was the cheesiest moment I have ever experienced. But wow," he said, then spreading his arms and hugging his crew. "You guys should be proud. You just used me as a guinea pig to figure out how to pulse."

  And they laughed and laughed until tears were streaming down their cheeks as they embraced one another.

  Because love.