Little

Chapter 18

The male Zealot, which Stephen had originally trapped in the rainforest, had managed to come back, and had thrown the sword which stabbed Stephen in the chest.

Stephen, now crawling on the floor, his blood splattering everywhere, was desperately trying to get away from the Zealot, who was coming after him. Peter, teary-eyed and shocked, was trying to help him get up on his feet to get away, but it was no use. 

Peter instead tried to stop the Zealot, trying to divert him, but that was also of no use. The Zealot was way bigger and stronger than him, and used this to his advantage. He shoved Peter out of the way, causing Peter to bang the back of his head on the wall. Hard. He fell to the ground, dazed.

The Zealot now made his way towards Stephen. He raised his sword, ready for the kill.

The Cloak came to Stephen's rescue yet again. It smothered the Zealot, effectively trapping the Zealot. While the Zealot struggled against the cape, it tossed a sling ring towards Stephen. His sling ring.

Stephen shakily stood up, the world a blur. Using the sling ring, he opened a portal to the place he knew he would get help: the hospital. If he could find Christine...

He remembered that Peter had fell to the ground. He knew he shouldn't leave Peter behind, but he was on the edge of death...

Forcing his legs towards Peter, he bent down and picked him up. Even though he was light, carrying him nearly made him collapse. He stumbled through the portal, which was in a supply closet, and towards the door.

Opening it, he staggered into the main hallway of the hospital. A nurse noticed him and rushed to his aid.

"Sir, can I help you?" she asked. 

"Doctor Palmer, where is she?" Stephen choked out.

"Sir, we need to get--" Stephen cut her off. "Where is she?" he demanded.

"The nurse's station!" the nurse said. Stephen hobbled down the hallway. "Christine!" he shouted.

Christine noticed him and ran towards him. "Stephen!" she said. "What happened?"

"Get me in an operating theater now. Just you." Stephen demanded. He could feel his consciousness slipping. "And have someone look over Peter until I'm fine," he added. "Please. Anyone."

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Peter woke up, squinting at the bright lights around him. He immediately closed them again, but cracked them open a bit when he heard a door opening. A female nurse and a male doctor entered.

"Good, you're awake," the doctor said. The nurse took a clipboard and left the room, but the doctor remained behind.

"Where am I?" Peter asked, sitting up and rubbing his eyes. "Did I...die?"

The doctor chuckled. "No, you're still alive," he said.

"Where's Stephen?" Peter asked. "Who are you? Can I have a cookie?"

The doctor smiled. "Slow down, one at a time," he said. "I'm Dr. West, and Stephen is fine. We don't have any cookies, though."

Christine had taken Stephen into an operating room, and had stopped the bleeding. But there was another threat. The Zealot had escaped into his astral form, and he and Stephen were locked in an astral-dimensional battle. But when Stephen had gone unconscious and needed a defibrillator, it worked to his advantage, as the excess energy helped him in the astral plane. He'd defeated the Zealot, who was now dead.

Back at the Sanctum, the Cloak relaxed its grip on the Zealot's lifeless body.