Sky rushes into the woods, the silence setting off alarm bells in his head. True hardly ever screamed. He screamed with joy the first time Lox had opened his eyes, and then with panic when the barn filled with smoke. True never screamed. he took things calmly, tried to find the logic, and if he couldn't, would find a new perspective.
Sky skids to a stop, maintaining his balance despite the muddy forest floor. He was always more graceful when he could actually see. He relaxes, shoulders dropping and a light smile reaching his face. True stands with his back to Sky, not moving, but not appearing hurt.
"True! I was worried, you okay?" Sky asks. True turns around, and Sky's heart skips a beat. True stares at him, but by moving, Sky is now able to see another True. "True" sighs, their form shifting. Skin darkens, hair grows, clothes weave into new patterns, until finally Sky is looking at a copy of himself. Behind his mirror, Sky can see his friend frozen in place. Fear grabs at his entire body as he takes in the horror of what has happened to True.
True's entire form is covered in what appears to be some form of smooth, clear crystal. His eyes are wide with panic, mouth agape, hand outstretched. Sky has the horrible realization what he had time to scream before this. He might have felt the crystal encasing his body. Sky gasps, hands flying to his mouth upon realizing that, if True was still alive, he might suffocate in the crystal.
"Lox! Get over here! Please!" he calls. Panic seizing his mind, Sky dismisses his clone copying the end of his sentence. In a desperate blind act, he tries to reach True, only for his clone to move with him.
Sky chokes up. His fabricated twin is freezing cold and damp. He starts to pull his hand back, only for it to lock into place. He tries to turn, hopes Lox might have seen so he won't meet the same fate, but his body burns with cold. He watches as white lines spread up his fingers, turning clear as they thicken, and he realizes it isn't crystal surrounding his friend, but ice. His body burning, unable to move, and terrified that this is the end, Sky shuts his eyes.
Lox sighs, swinging his arm up and down. still a millisecond too slow, but it should have to do. He sits back down in the car, casually shifting through granola bar wrappers and water bottles, finding Seto's book. He sits for a moment, contemplating if he would really need it. Finally, he sighs, tucks it under his arm, and gets out of the car.
"Lox Get over here! Please! .... Please!" Lox looks up, trying to focus on the woods. It was Sky's voice, but something felt off. He sets off into the woods, shifting his vision in hope of having an easier time finding his companions. With the sun setting, he switches his focus to thermal vision, sure that heat traces would be easy to spot. Instead, he frowns, seeing a large area ahead with below freezing temperatures. He switches back to clear vision, but sees nothing but trees. The average temperature is actually a bit warm, a little humid for him to properly function. There shouldn't be anything that cold.
"Sky? Where are you?" He looks around, switching between thermal and clear vision, growing closer and closer to the cold mass. As he gets near, it becomes more obvious that it isn't one mass, but three, separate, humanoid masses. If he had a heart, he's sure it would be doing something dramatic.
Lox clears his vision up once more, concerns confirmed. Sky stands frozen, a hand outstretched to True, who looks shocked and horrified. The ground it beginning to melt around True, but Lox is sure that if he just lets it go, they'll both freeze or suffocate before he can get them out. Instead, he turns his attention to the third source of cold- a still figure with the appearance of Sky. Lox flips open Seto's book, trying to remain as quiet as possible. He remains unnoticed. He looks for cold things, Sky-looking things, any weird tidbit that might help. He glances up. His friends remain frozen. Panic begins to rise in Lox as he realizes he might not figure this out in time.
"Hey. Ice bitch."
The other Sky doesn't turn around. Lox looks around for some kind of weapon, anything to help, but nothing except branches litter the forest floor. Lox sighs, shakes his head, and steps toward the mirror. He sends a silent prayer to whatever might be watching, and punches the fake Sky in the back of the head.
Ice shatters everywhere, destroying the still replica, but Lox wastes no time for celebration. More carefully, he chips away at the ice around True. Once free, True falls face first into the mud, deathly still. Lox doesn't check. He gets to work helping Sky, freeing his chest and head first only to be greeted by loud swearing.
"Shut up."
"FUCK!"
"I said shut up."
"... is True okay?"
"Shut up before I leave you here."
Sky gets quiet, and Lox finishes breaking him out. Quietly, Sky gets down in the mud and picks up True's wrist. Lox waits. Sky sighs and carefully scoops up the unconscious engineer.
"He's okay."
"No he's not."
"He's alive, you downer."
Lox frowns. True doesn't move. His breath is shallow. Sky smiles, gold glowing and giving the effect that he has too many eyes. It's too dark, anyway. Lox tries to convince himself that True will be awake and fine in the morning, that he's joking, or just fell asleep in his ice block. He picks up Seto's book, laying discarded in shattered ice and freezing mud.
"Let's get back. Maybe that'll have something to help us!" Sky chimes, nodding at the book. Lox frowns, looking at the cover. It has seen better days.
"Yeah. Maybe."
YOU ARE READING
Well That's Not Good
FanfictionA programmer, his robot, and an alien walk into a zombie apocalypse. When the government raids Seto's house and Seto vanishes with it, it's up to our classic trio to try to find Seto and stop his creations from causing too much harm before it's too...
