The Cryptid Club, Finale

World Creature Wars was a comedy of errors from start to finish, a bootleg that tried so hard to copy the magic of Zoofights since their rise to fame. Their tournaments did not nearly bring in enough fans to generate steady profits, nor did their merch catch the attention of tourists. Who would want plushies of pigeons with laser shotguns for heads when they could have a full-sized sculpture of Playing Mantis in their living room? Even after Zoofights had long stopped, it took a change in scenery and leadership for them to become the pinnacle of monster mashes.

So it was no wonder that their Manhattan labs were absolutely abandoned, with no security to guard the secrets hidden in the depths.

As the group entered the facilities, Emily and David switched their phone flashlights on, revealing the grimy, rusting steel walls, the blown out lights, and two signs pointing towards different labs: The Organic Surgoneering Ward to the right, and the Cybernetic Ward to the left. Water dripped from the ceiling, startling David as a single drop touched his nose. The whole place reeked of something foul, something like meat that sat around in the freezer for far too long.

“I-is it okay if I start to have second thoughts?” David asked as he cowered behind Hannah when another drop of water dripped onto his head. “This place is probably full of esoteric stuff BUT it could also be filled with ghosts. And bugs. And ghost bugs. I don’t like ghost bugs.”

Julie shot him a glare and yelled, “Oh, wasn’t it YOUR suggestion that we hunt for the esoteric? What kind of Cryptid hunter are you if you’re afraid of bugs and ghosts?!”

“Not ALL Cryptids are bugs! Like… like Bigfoot! Bigfoot is a nice choice. Why couldn’t we go to Jersey and hunt for that, instead?”

“Yo, man,” Emily said, crossing her arms and frowning at David, “if you didn’t want to come in here, you could have just said no.”

David held up his hands, flustered. “I-I mean, um, I thought it would be less, uh, um…”

“Like a horror movie waiting to happen?” Hannah piped up cheerfully, pulling out another bag of chips to chow down on. “It is pretty creepy, you know! And it even has a branching path!”

“And that’s why I suggest we all stick-“

“-that we all SPLIT UP, right~?” Julie said with glee. “We’ll explore more and find the esoteric little buggers faster! We all have phones for a reason, riiiiight?”

The color drained straight out of David’s face as he replied, “No, that’s a terrible idea. I watched enough horror movies to know where this is going.”

“Aaactually…” If David could turn any whiter, Emily could have sworn he would have become a ghost as Brandon spoke up, a timid smile on his face. “I think it’s a good idea! This place isn’t really too big, and Julie has a point: we do have phones! As for the teams…”

Emily saw Julie scooting slowly over to Brandon with a sly smile that reminded her of a fox before it snags a chicken and runs off with the goods.  She saw Brandon cast a worried look over at her before turning back and forth between Julie, David, and Hannah. Her blood boiled as Julie hardly waited for an answer, reaching out-

Without even thinking, she grabbed Julie by the shoulders, wrapped her arm around her, and grinned like a shark as she said, “Yo, best friend, how ‘bout we go be best friends in the Cyber-somethin’ Ward? Gotta promote that dank best friendliness, best friend.”

Each word was dripping with so much malice, Hannah dropped her chips in surprise. No doubt she could see what Emily was really thinking. She was glad Hannah didn’t blurt it out, because the shocked look Brandon was giving her was already bad enough.

“Uhm, give me twooooo seconds to talk to Emily here for a moment,” he said in-between nervous laughter. “Emily kind of gets ahead of herself sometimes, you know? Ahahaha...” Then, he pried Emily right off of Julie, dragged her to a corner, and whispered in her ear, “A-are you sure that’s okay? You already hate Julia’s guts!”

“Damn right I do.”

That certainly didn’t inspire confidence in the least, judging from Brandon’s panicked expression. “Then why’d you offer?!? Seriously, I can go with her, and you can go be cute with Hannah and David! We’d still have someone who can actually fight on each team, and-“

Emily scowled at him in defiance and hissed, “I offered because she’s clearly stepping in your personal space and making you uncomfortable, bro! You think I’d let her get away with that?!”

Brandon stared at her, opening and closing his mouth several times as the words he wanted to speak simply didn’t come. Finally, he sighed, grasping Emily’s hand tightly in his as he looked at her and said, “If you’re sure, then… I can’t really stop you anyway, can I? Just… don’t get into too much trouble.” Afterwards, he hurried over to David and Hannah and brought them in for a big hug as he said cheerfully, “Looks like we’re touring the Organics Ward together, guys!”

As Hannah cheered and David shuddered at the thought of seeing big battle bugs, Brandon added, “Make sure to keep an eye on your phones, guys. We’ll text if we see anything esoteric, okay?”

 The trio set off for the right side of the labs, Emily giving them a thumbs up as they disappeared into the darkness. When they were out of sight, Em turned her full attention to Julie, who was glowering at her with the fury of a million stars.

“Oh, wonderful, I’m stuck with you,” she said, as bitter as a cup of espresso.

“Feeling’s mutual, best friend,” Emily replied with a shark-like grin as she grabbed Julie and dragged her to the Cybernetics Ward.

 The girls were quiet as they walked down the corridor, passing by desks covered with smudged, illegible notes and enough dust to make Emily sneeze. Faded posters of WCW champions lined the walls around the ward, motivational notes scribbled at the bottom of each one by the mysterious ‘M.C.’. There were several smaller rooms with pods that have been long since abandoned, and a small break room with a coffee pot home to more mold than either girl cared to look at for more than a second.

 After a few minutes, they managed to reach the end of the hallway. There was a giant door, with the words “AUTHORIZED PERSONEL ONLY” written in big, red letters. A keypad was on the left side of the door, most of the buttons worn down and barely readable. As Emily walked over, ready to deal with the door her own way, Julie hurried in front of her and glared.

“Move, bi- best friend,” Emily said through gritted teeth. “I got this.”

“Oh, and have you set off the alarm and make me look like a total dunce?” Julia snapped back. “How about you leave it up to someone like me, hm?” She turned towards the keypad and inspected it from every angle as she continued, “Besides, opening it should be a breeze if I find out the passcode! All I have to do is find out which buttons are the most worn out, just like in the movies!”

All the buttons look worn as hell, you dumbass, Emily thought as she watched Julie press a few numbers and the asterisk key. When the doors didn’t open dramatically and reveal the truth beyond, Julie tried another set of numbers. Then another. And another. Her palms started to sweat as she typed in “2011*”, to no avail.

“If… if it’s not that, then it’s 2012!” Julie declared as she attempted the passcode again. Nothing. “Th-then it’s definitely 2013!” Nothing. “2014? 2015? 2016?!? Those are the most worn numbers, so why isn’t it working?!?”

After watching Julie’s attempts for far too long, Emily yawned and backed up, loosening up her shoulders a bit before she rushed at the door with a shoulder tackle. The door flew wide open, slamming into the wall and scaring Julie out of her wits.

“And that,” Emily said, dusting herself off and putting her hands in her pockets, “is how it’s done.”

She didn’t wait for Julie to stop gawking at her in fear that some alarm was gonna go off. If it hasn’t yet, it never will, Emily figured. She just walked right in, holding up her phone to get a good look at the room. There were several computers lined up in the wall in front of her, all the monitors shut off from disuse. A surgical table sat in the middle of the room, a tray of surgical tools still caked with blood sitting on a stand next to it. Welding and electrical equipment was scattered around the room, although Emily had no clue whether or not they were still working. And on the very far end, there were several chambers lined up, each with a designation like “GBXL-175” or “RC-300-C”.

 Emily walked over to examine the chambers a little more closely when she heard Julie yell, “Oh, break down a door without warning! That gets you everywhere, doesn’t it, you little brute? It’s not like there could have been an alarm or anything!”

 She whirled on Julia and snapped, “And you’re saying you wouldn’t have, with all your pin code fuckups?! Dude, it’s a fucking abandoned lab! Nobody’s payin’ for security anymore! Nobody but fucks like us would even think of coming in here!”

“And you think that excuses just rushing in and being all ‘teehee’ about it?” Julie flicked her black hair back and huffed. “And to think, a nice boy like Brandon has to deal with a brainless brute like you. You must be such a handful with your bad temper.”

In an instant, Emily lunged at Julie and grabbed her by the collar of her gaudy clothes, a vein threatening to pop out of her forehead. “The fuck did you say, you bitch?!” she said. “I didn’t fuckin’ catch that the first time!”

“Oh, there you go, proving my point exactly!” Julie tsked with a sneer. “You get so violent at any moment, just like the old guard Kobbers! It’s a miracle Brandon even hangs out with you. After all, he seems a bit too sweet to be hanging out with a brute like you!”

The urge to break Julie’s face was so strong, but Emily fought against it. Not now. Not today. She gave him her word. To break that trust now…

She grit her teeth and let Julie go as she growled, “Better he hangs out with me than some bitch like you.”

SLAP.

Emily staggered backwards into one of the control panels for the chambers, hand holding her cheek as Julia looked down on her like an ant.

“You actually think for a second that you’re better than me?” she asked coldly. “You don’t even come close. I am the president of a club and a brilliant actress, someone who accomplished so much and leads with confidence! And what are you? You’re nothing, that’s what. You haven’t founded a club. You haven’t starred in a play. You are just a little no-name on campus, nobody worth mentioning. You have no right to say ANYTHING to me, never mind all your disrespect. So how about you shut up and let me handle everything, hm?”

Emily’s blood boiled as Julie sneered at her again. Then, for a moment, Julie had that look of realization. She slapped her forehead and said, “Oh, whoops! Looks like I outright disrespected you! However will I get the logo for my club now?” She laughed it off, then leaned on another control panel casually. “Oh, it’s not like he has to know about this. Then again, you started it… I’m sure he’ll understand why I got so frustrated in dealing with you! Ohohohohoho!”

She held back tears of anger and the urge to scream at Julie and punch the ever-loving shit out of her. And for a moment, she wondered if she could get away with it just like Julie could pretend the conversation never happened. If she just slapped her really, really hard instead of breaking her nose-

Her thoughts were cut off as she heard a loud whirrr, coming from behind the chamber closest to Julia.  The door opened slowly, piquing Julie’s curiosity as she took a peek inside.

Thump. Thump. THUMP.

Julie shrieked and immediately hid behind Emily as a massive chicken squeezed its way through the door, steel bending and walls crumbling as it forced its bulk on through. When it was freed, it towered over the two, looking down on them with one glowing, red laser eye. Its wings were plated with metal, and there was a microwave built into its torso.

All Emily could really think of as Julie cowered behind her were two thing.

One: Dollar Store Murducken. It didn’t even have the muscly arms! WCW fuckin’ skimped out on this one like the losers they really were.

And two?

Thank FUCK I can actually PUNCH this fuck in the face!

“Hold my phone for me,” she said as she handed her phone to Julie, grinning ear to ear. “I got work I gotta do!”

Julie looked at her as if she were ready to jump off the top of the Empire State Building. “What?! You can’t possibly try fighting that thing ALONE!”

“WATCH ME, BITCH!”

The chicken’s laser eye glowed for two seconds before firing off a laser beam at Emily. She rolled out of the way and pulled out the pipe she saved just for this occasion, jumping on top of the surgeoneering table and leaping up to try to smack the beast in the face. It held up a steel-covered wing, her pipe bouncing right off and leaving only a tiny dent. It whirled around and slapped Emily with the other hard enough to send her flying into a computer screen. Undeterred, she got back on her feet and tried again, smashing it harder against the wing’s steel plates and seeing just how much damage she could do.

Unfortunately, it wasn’t doing much. She narrowly dodged another laser beam coming for her, ducking right under it before rolling over towards Julia. She shot her a glare and asked, “Yo, you just gonna stand there or are you gonna B.C. and pals know what the fuck is up?”

“Excuse me?!” Julia snapped. “I don’t even know your passcode! How am I supposed to contact them?”

“Oh.” As the chicken charged up another laser, Emily grabbed Julie and rushed out of the room just before it launched. Where it hit, it left scorch marks, melting bits of wall where it struck. A second later and they would have been toast. Hastily, Emily slammed the door shut, then unlocked her phone, handing it back to Julia as she hissed, “Alright, get typing already! And make it quick; that fuck’s about to chase us any minute now!”

“And whose fault is that?” Julia huffed, typing at speeds Emily could hardly understand. “I’m not the one who stupidly tried to fight a giant chicken with a pipe!”

“You got any better ideas?”

Julia opened her mouth to speak before she closed it and typed even faster on Emily’s phone. Did she even hit the send button yet? There wasn’t much time to deliberate, though, as something THUMP, THUMPed on the door separating them from certain death. One last THUMP, and the chicken’s beak pecked right through the door, screeching loud enough to make Emily’s ears ring. That breath was something awful, too; smelled like Death’s doorstep with a side of sewage.

Emily seized the moment to smash its beak in with her pipe, the beast reeling back and clucking in pain. If nothing else, it bought her some time to drag Julia into the break room they passed and shut the door. She could hear the sound of a laser beam melting right through something, and the thunderous footsteps of the feathered fiend.

She cursed under her breath, damning her inability to do much of anything at the moment. Damn thing was huge and had those weird metal plates on its wings. If it kept using those as shields, then she’d have a hard time doing damage. The microwave looked like a good weak point, but if it was anything like Murducken, that microwave could activate and melt her pipe and arm right off. The eye? Maybe?! Then again, it could blast her just as easily as the microwave could melt her.

After deliberating on something far too long for her liking, she heard a ding. She looked over at Julie expectantly and asked, “The message went through, didn’t it? Did B.C. send something?”

Julie raised an eyebrow and replied, “No, he didn’t! Not YET at least!”

“Wait, if that wasn’t B.C…. Then what the fuck was that noise?”

“It sounded like a microwa-“

The two girls exchanged looks before looking at the door, feeling an angry gaze upon them. Emily swore under her breath as she flipped over a steel table and hid behind it with Julie as several fireballs burned through the door and soared above their heads. Emily swore as the table endured the onslaught, steadily melting into a pile of goop until the fires stopped. The chicken stuck its head inside, trying to reach in and peck at the duo. Fortunately for them, its neck just wasn’t long enough to reach in completely.

Annoyed, Emily grabbed a steel folding chair and slammed it on its face over and over until it pulled its head back and charged another beam, focused on the remnants of the table that Julie was still cowering behind.

“THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING, YOU IDIOT?” she yelled as Julie stared death right in the face. “RUN!”

When it was all too obvious that Julie was paralyzed with fear, Emily dived in, grabbed her, and then tossed her out of range before the laser fired out. It ripped through Emily’s right shoulder, Emily cringing as the smell of burnt flesh hit her harder than a monster truck. She wasn’t going to let that curb her anger, though, as she grabbed another steel chair and hurled it at its face.

Unfortunately, it grew tired of Emily’s face-smashing antics and smacked the chair away with a wing. Well, it was worth a shot! Emily glared daggers at the chicken, standing in front of it like a knight facing off with a gargantuan dragon. Julie was absolutely useless with her wailing and crying, and it would be a bit before the others got here. So it was time to do what Emily did best.

Whack it with a pipe.

She swung and swung and swung as much as her arms would let her, ignoring the searing pain in her right shoulder and how her blows weren’t doing much of anything. This thing was several times her own size, shooting lasers from its eyes, stomping around with its stupid chicken feet, and launching barrages of fireballs from its microwave torso. But damn it, she was not going to let this thing kill her, or David, or Hannah, and not little crybaby Julie over here, either.

Once, she thought she couldn’t be a Kobber. She wasn’t strong enough. She didn’t have any special powers. She had no ties to any different universes, she wasn’t a robot, she wasn’t anything. Just like Julie said, she was nobody, nothing but a plain girl who did punk girl things.

But…

“You think there’s nothing special enough to make you like the Kobbers, but there is! There is something, I know it! The way you keep trying over and over, even when you’ve failed so many times, even when things look impossible to overcome… That determination is what makes you JUST like the Kobbers, Em!”

She remembered his voice. It was wobbly, cracking a lot in spots it shouldn’t have back then. But those words gave her confidence in a darker, uncertain time. They bust open a door of possibilities she thought had closed on her forever.

That’s right, Emily thought as she slammed her pipe right into the chicken’s toes. I’ve got determination in spades! Who the fuck does THIS chickenshit think he is, thinking they can stop ME?!?

A fire lit up in Emily’s heart, even as flames seared her skin and powerful wing slaps bruised her body. No matter how hard this monster tried to push her down, she got back up and kept swinging. It wasn’t nearly enough to take it down, but even Julie could see what used to be a small dent on its wing the size of her palm become one bigger than her torso, ready to cave in. Emily was an absolute mess with burns and bruises Julie could hardly keep track of, exhausted from all the acrobatics she had to do to avoid getting outright killed. But even exhaustion wasn’t stopping her.

As the chicken reared back, Emily stood steadfast as she glared at it and yelled, “Is that all you got, chickenshit?!? Is that it? You think that’s enough to stop me?! Now I can see why you didn’t even get seeded in their Vegas Tournament: You fucking SUCK!”

If Julie wasn’t worried already, she was now as the chicken screeched, its laser eye pointed right at Emily.

“YEAH, THAT’S IT! COME AT ME, BRO!  COME AT ME!”

 Her voice was trembling. Her body was shaking, ready to collapse. She might actually die. But she refused to show that fear.

No. She took that fear, told it to shut the fuck up, stuffed it in a corner, and shielded Julie as that laser came for her.

She closed her eyes, waiting. Huh, she thought after a couple of seconds. Thought I woulda felt something…

Then she heard something SCREECHING in pain, and realized that definitely didn’t sound like her. She opened her eyes and saw a thick wall of ice standing between her and the monster. As the wall melted away, she could clearly see the hole in the microwave, smoke belching out from it.

“EM!”

Emily turned back and saw Brandon sweating and panting, arm lowering to his side. David and Hannah were behind him, Hannah waving at her while David was gawking at the monstrosity in front of them.

“Jesus Christ, what the fuck is THAT?!” he asked nobody in particular, pointing a shaky finger at the chicken. “And why in the world does it have a fucking EZ Bake Oven in its chest?!?”

Julie scrambled over and hid behind David as she screeched, “What the fuck does it matter?! That thing’s been trying to KILL us, so shut the hell up and DO SOMETHING!”

“With WHAT?! I didn’t bring my tennis ball launcher! Do you know how expensive those things are?!?”

“You idiot! You actually came here without a weapon?! At least Emily had the sense to bring a pipe!”

“You didn’t bring anything, either, aside from your gaudy fashion sense!”

“Um, guys?” Hannah asked, looking towards the feathered fiend before turning back to her friends. “Mr. George here isn’t very happy, so um, we should definitely do a thing?”

While the trio bickered, Brandon rushed to Emily’s side as he asked, “Em, are you okay?!? Y-you’re not too banged up, are you?!” After glancing at her for a moment, he corrected, “N-nevermind, you look like a hot mess. Sorry I’m late, but now that we’re here…”

Emily smirked and slapped Brandon on his shoulder as she said, “Don’t worry about it, homie! We’ve got this! With your brains and my brawn, we’ll kick this guy’s ass to the curb!”

As ‘Mr. George’ stood upright and clucked angrily, Brandon held out his hands and formed an ice sword, grabbing it and handing it over to Emily. As she held it in her hands, he whispered, “Honestly, I’m not sure if brute forcing a wannabe Zoofighter is a great idea, so I’m gonna see if we can freeze it in place. You know where to aim, don’t you?”

Emily felt as if her teacher just sprung a pop quiz on her. She was tempted to say ‘Everywhere’, but obviously that answer was shit. If that worked, then she wouldn’t be so banged up. She thought hard as Brandon held the chicken back with ice and snow, even piercing its laser eye with an ice spear when it tried to fire another laser. Where should she aim? There’s a fucking microwave in-between her and that fuck’s heart, so where…?

“And to think, a nice boy like Brandon has to deal with a brainless brute like you.”

I’m not fucking brainless, you dumbass bitch, she thought back at the memory. I got this! I… I…

“Brainless brute.”

FUCK YOU! I’M NOT-

“Brainless”

Wait. Brains? Does this thing even have a brain? Just about everything had some brain, right?

Brandon must have noticed her look of realization, given his smile in spite of the chicken breaking through ice walls with its beak. “You know exactly where to aim now, don’t you?” he asked again, this time with a lot more certainty.

“Damn right I do!”  Emily replied with a grin.

“Great! Now, we’re gonna need a water source…” he said as he brought one hand to his head. “All this conjuring out of nowhere thing is really starting to make my head hurt.”

“That, B.C., I don’t fuckin’ know about.”

The chicken’s microwave was turned on now, charging up for another barrage of fireballs in spite of all the smoke bellowing within. Brandon broke into a sweat as he turned to Emily and said, “Uh, guess it’s time for a tactical retreat?”

Emily didn’t bother answering; she took off running with her friend, the other three following suit soon as those fireballs started flying.  They flew haphazardly, most of them flying over their heads or down at the floor, while one grazed Brandon’s neck and another landed squarely on Emily’s already scorched shoulder. It wasn’t long before they were back at the entrance, considerably less enthusiastic than they were when they entered.

“Mmmmaaaybe it’s time to get the fuck out of here,” David said in-between gasps of breath. “We had fun! We saw things! We found a bloodthirsty cock with a microwave in its body! More than enough excitement for one day, rig- AAAH!” He yelped as another drop of water landed on his nose, jumping back and hiding behind Hannah.

Julie glared at David as she put her hands on her hips and snapped, “I get chased by a fucking chicken and nearly DIED, and you get scared by a tiny drop of water? Really?!? Pull yourself together! Besides, do YOU want this thing in your backyard trying to eat you?!?”

Hannah was about to chime in before she saw David look up at the ceiling where the water was dripping. She squinted at him a little bit, focusing everything she had before she turned to Brandon and said cheerfully, “Maybe you should aim up here!”

Brandon looked up, watching where the water dripped before his eyes lit up in delight. “Might want to back up a little,” he said as he held up a hand, “because things might get a little wet and wild!”

Julie barely held back a giggle before David and Hannah dragged her into the Organic Ward’s hallway. Good thing, too, because the moment Brandon fired off an ice spear at the pipe, it burst wide open. Water sprayed everywhere: on the floor, on the walls, right over the chicken-beast as it busted right in. It screeched in pain as water got into its microwave, sparks flying from its chest. Once it was soaked from the neck on down, Brandon focused all his energy into freezing it solid. The chicken struggled as ice climbed up from its toes to its wings, angrily clucking as it tried to heat up the microwave one last time to melt it away.

“NOW OR NEVER, EM!” Brandon shouted, grabbing Emily by the shirt and throwing her up at the chicken’s face.

Emily focused all her anger, gripping the hilt of the ice sword tightly as she imagined the chicken’s face as someone. Someone who used her best friend and didn’t even give a shit about his feelings. Someone who saw him only as a means to an end. All those people who didn’t even bother trying to be a good friend as much as they should have.

“ONE, TWO, FUCK YOU!” she boomed as she drove the blade right through the chicken’s skull with all the anger she could muster. She landed behind it with a thud, watching it spasm and cough a mix of blood and oil all over. The world was a blur now, all the strength she had fading away.

As everything went dark and silent, she smiled, clinging on to the pride of a battle well-fought.

She woke up to the smell of chicken noodle soup wafting into her nostrils, a pillow soaked in drool. For a split second, she thought she was back home, what with all the commotion around her. Her brother was probably having a big stupid party and blaring reggae all over the place-

“Hey, hey, she’s awake!”

“After THOSE injuries? How is she even alive?”

“Shut up, David! Stop being so loud!”

“What?! You’re being louder than I am!”

“EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEM!”

Emily barely opened up her eyes when Brandon pulled her into a hug tight enough to break a bear’s back. God, it stung, but she wasn’t about to tell her friend off. Especially not when tears were rolling down his cheeks like waterfalls.

“Oh god, Em, thank goodness you’re okay I was just so worried when you passed out and for a moment I thought you were dead and oh thank goodness you’re alive!” he said, burying his face in Emily’s shirt as he cried. “I’m just so glad you’re okay!”

From the corner of her eye, she saw Hannah smile. “He’s been like that ever since we got here! We were all pretty worried, really. The nurse said most people wouldn’t handle being burned like that very well, and Julie thought you were actually-“

“AHEM.”

Hannah stopped as Julie gave her an icy stare. It didn’t wipe the smile off her face, though!

Emily looked around, noticing the white, sterile walls and the not-really-cozy bed she was laying on. Must be at the hospital, if Hannah was speaking to a nurse earlier. She tried to think of something to say, but the only thing she could think of was, “Well, uh, thanks.” After a moment, she added, “Though it takes more than some stupid dollar store Murducken to take ME out.”

“Considering you nearly died,” David pointed out, “I don’t think that’s the best thing to say. Though I have to admit, how you toughed it out is a mystery to me. That’s some Kobber-level survivability, man.”

“W-well, she is a big fan.” Brandon stood back up, wiping away his tears with the sleeve of his hoodie. “A-anyway, um, how are you feeling?”

“Like I need another dose of morphine or something,” Emily said, feeling every pain and ache come back to her in an instant. “How long was I out?”

“About… four, five hours?” David said, pulling out his phone and checking the time. “Yeah, five hours! It’s 9 now, and our little trip ended around 4. Which, I have to say, was pretty damn exciting!”

“Of course it was exciting!” Julie said with a huff, putting her hands on her hips and puffing up her chest. “We defeated a monster worthy of Zoofights fame by ourselves when no one else could! Or, shall we say that we gave that cock a good KOBBERING?!?”

David groaned, holding his head in his hands as if Julie murdered his first born baby. Emily snorted, hiding her smile behind the blanket while Brandon giggled like a little schoolgirl.

“Anyway,” Julie continued, “our trip was a great success! We should do more of these! Especially if you’re going to be staying~!” She fluttered her eyes at Brandon, although he was hardly giving her the time of day. “You’ll stay, won’t you?”

“I’ll be stayin’!”

Julie opened her mouth to snap at Emily, but instead, she smiled and said, “Of course you will! After all, we are best friends, riiiight?! Best friends that save each other from imminent death! But right now, I’m asking Brandon, bestie.”

Brandon glanced over at Emily with a look that said, The fuck did you two do while my back was turned? Then, he turned back to Julia and said sweetly, “Oh, I don’t know… I don’t think I could be a full-time member, buuut I could be moral support! I’m a busy man, you know?”

“Right, right, of course you are! Silly me!” Julie fanned herself wildly and laughed like a noblewoman. Emily could tell she was hiding her disappointment, just from how wobbly her voice was. “But you are mooore than welcome to attend wheeneeeever you want!”

“It’s not like we’re getting any other members yet,” David admitted before he was swiftly conked on the head by Julie’s fist.

“And everything’s better with friends!” Hannah said gleefully as, to no one’s surprise, she brought in a bag of chips to munch on. She did look over at the bowl of soup before she asked, “Are you gonna eat that? You must be pretty hungry by now!”

Emily looked over at the bowl of soup for a moment before she shrugged. “I dunno. I don’t feel up to it, bro. My appetite’s thrown all outta wack, yo.”

“Awww, but now it’s getting cold!”

“Hannah, it’s nothing that can’t be resolved with a little love and a microwave,” David said as he patted Hannah on the back.

“But…”

The room door creaked open, a nurse peeking her head in with a frown. “I’m sorry to ruin your fun, guys,” she said, “but visitation’s nearly over. Miss Alvarez needs her beauty rest!”

“Well, darn!” Hannah sighed as the Cryptid Club trio packed their things. She turned over to Emily and said cheerfully, “Well, we’ll definitely visit you tomorrow, or whenever you feel better, okay? You’re one of us now!”

“And we’d feel bad if we didn’t visit our newest member!” David added with a thumbs up. “Have a good night, alright?”

 Julie said nothing, simply handing Emily her phone back, then leaving with the rest of her friends. Emily blew a raspberry at her before she laid back and said, “Well, I had my fun being a Kobber for two seconds. That was some good shit, yo.”

“Gee, I wonder why?” Brandon asked with a smile. “It’s not like you’ve looked up to them for, oh, I don’t know, the last six years?”

“Same went for you too though, B.C.”

“Well, you knoooow…” He laughed it off for a bit before he gently took Emily’s hand in his. “Anyway, is there anything you want to do tomorrow? You know, before your Cryptid Club meeting?”

Emily placed a finger on her chin for a second before a grin spread across her face. “We gotta watch Kamen Rider, bro! The one with the video games! I think that’s… OOO?”

“That’s the tokens; Ex-Aid’s the games. I’m not sure if I’d be too into it, buuut I’ll give it a shot! Until then, though…” Brandon leaned in and gave her another firm hug before turning towards the door and waving goodbye. “Have a good night, Em! Take care, okay?”

As he left, Emily waved back and sank back into bed. She certainly wasn’t bored anymore. There was a lot more ahead for her than she realized, even if that meant dealing with a snob for the rest of the semester. She really did have the potential to be a Kobber, and do all those Kobbery things with the Cryptid Club.

But as she laid there in bed, she wondered…

Maybe I should finally get to work on becoming a Kobber?