Just a Flesh Wound
Chapter 1
Danny’s not doing so hot.
Tucker can see him wavering in the air when he glances up from his PDA, and he winces as Skulker gives Danny a nasty cut across the chest with his machete.
Sam shoots Skulker with an ectogun, giving Danny time to fly back and catch his breath. “Can you hurry it up, Tucker? I don’t think Danny’s going to last much longer!”
Tucker huffs, fingers aching with the speed at which he’s typing into his PDA. “I’m going as fast as I can! I think Technus or Plasmius upgraded the security on Skulker’s suit!”
“Yeah? Well go faster! Danny needs — Danny!”
With an explosion and a cry of pain and a shout of glee, Danny falls from the sky, crashing to the ground. Skulker’s diving after him — Tucker can hear the whir of his engines and his triumphant laughter — and Sam’s sprinting, shooting desperately at Skulker, but she’s too far away and they both know it — but Tucker can’t concentrate on that right now, he needs to break through this last firewall, reverse the polarity of the neutron flow, deploy the Trojan horse he’s so thankful he had the foresight to make beforehand, and—
“There!”
Tucker slams the enter key and watches with bated breath as the Trojan uploads itself into Skulker’s hardware. Danny’s put up a shield, but it won’t last against Skulker’s momentum, and they all know it.
50%
They’re both running now, Sam still shooting at Skulker, Tucker hoping the decreasing range will speed up the process. Skulker is 50 feet above Danny, but closing that distance quickly.
75%
Sam gets a shot in on Skulker, and then another. His flight destabilizes a little, but he’s still bearing down on Danny, 25 feet and closing in.
99%
Tucker hears the crack as Skulker’s machete makes contact with Danny’s shield.
100%.
Skulker’s suit freezes in place, the blade of the machete stopping inside the crater Danny created when he fell. Tucker runs as fast as he can, hoping he wasn’t too late, hoping he won’t find Danny with Skulker’s machete stabbed through his stomach or his head or—
Sam gets there first, and Tucker barely hears her breathe, “Oh, thank god.”
With a burst of energy, Tucker sprints the last 15 feet to stand by Sam at the edge of the crater. Panting, he bends over, catching his breath and taking in the state of his best friend.
Danny looks terrible. His body bears burns and scratches, bruises and cuts — marks that make something roil in Tucker’s gut. If he’d been a bit faster with his code, none of those marks would have to pepper his friend’s skin and face. The cut in his chest is still bleeding green — he and Sam will need to take care of that before Danny transforms back. But before that, they need to take care of Skulker.
Skulker looms over Danny. Only the fire that makes up his hair and beard move, flickering in the wind; the rest is frozen in the air. His face leers down at Danny; his hulking figure casts a shadow over him. But Danny isn’t looking at Skulker. His wide eyes are crossed, staring at the machete pressed to his neck.
“Holy shit, that was close!” Tucker gasps, staring at the point where the machete touches Danny’s neck.
“Yeah.” Danny’s voice cracks on the syllable. “No shit! Um, Tucker, could you…?”
Danny points to the machete, and Tucker’s eyes widen. “Oh yeah, let me just—”
He trails off, concentrating on typing the commands into his PDA. First lift the machete — no, not like that! More like — yeah, better. Then up, up and away from all of us.
Sam points a thermos to the sky, capturing the frozen Skulker in one fell swoop.
Good riddance.
Tucker tucks his PDA into his pocket and slides down into the crater, careful not to land on Danny. Sam follows, sliding next to Danny and pulling a first aid kit from her backpack. Danny tries to sit up, only to wince and hiss. Tucker helps him lay back down.
“Careful, dude, you don’t want to make that cut on your chest worse,” Tucker says.
Danny scoffs. “It’s just a flesh wound, it’ll heal.”
“Yeah, but that takes time, Danny,” Sam retorts. She pulls out gauze, alcohol wipes, and bandages, handing some of them to Tucker. “Skulker beat the hell out of you.”
Tucker pauses, and then sighs irritably, ripping open several alcohol wipes and making a face at the smell. “I should have pushed through Skulker’s security faster.” He carefully swabs at the cut on Danny’s bruised chest. It probably needs stitches. The thing in his gut squirms a bit more. “You didn’t have to get beat up like that.”
Danny’s hand grabs Tucker’s, and Sam’s hand follows after. Tucker looks up from his work to see Danny staring seriously at him. His toxic green eyes pierce Tucker’s, and Tucker finds he can’t look away.
“I’d be dead if it wasn’t for you, man. Don’t beat yourself up.”
Danny’s eyes move to Sam. “You too, Sam. You both saved my afterlife today.”
Sam smirks down at Danny. “Don’t I know it.” Then she looks up at Tucker. “But you’re the real MVP here, Tuck. Without you, Danny would have been toast.”
Tucker is at a loss for words. The thing in his stomach clenches, and he feels his eyes go blurry. He reaches up with a free arm and swipes at his eyes, shoving his glasses up onto his forehead before letting them fall back to his nose. The hands holding his other hand tighten, and he sighs heavily. If his throat catches, they don’t say anything.
After a moment, he gently pulls his hand away, reaching for the needle and thread.
“Let’s get you stitched up.”