Kendra landed a final, solid punch to the alpha gobdog's already dented head. The creature shuddered and collapsed, its legs twitching before going still.
"Fucking finally," she gasped, her armored skin receding back to normal. She was bruised underneath, but nothing was broken.
Vasa lowered her hands, the ice that had been encasing the alpha's lower half melting into puddles on the floor. "That took longer than it should have." She sounded tired but, as usual, composed.
Then they both saw it. Nox was down, Yeda beside him, and there was a lot of blood. A lot.
"Shit, Nox!" Kendra yelled, forgetting her own aches and sprinting across the gym. Vasa was right behind her, her usual calm facade cracking just a little around the edges.
They skidded to a halt beside Yeda, who was sobbing, her hands covered in his blood as she tried to press down on the massive tear in his stomach.
"He's... he's not breathing right," she choked out, looking up at them with wide, terrified eyes.
Kendra dropped to her knees, her gaze fixed on the wound. It was bad. Really bad. She had seen injuries in fights before, but this was different. This felt... final.
"What the hell happened?" she asked, her voice rougher than she intended.
"He killed it," she sobbed, gesturing at the dead boss monster a few feet away. "But it got him... it got him good."
Vasa was already examining Nox, her expression grim. "The bleeding is too severe. We need to stop it." She looked around helplessly. They didn't have a first aid kit.
Kendra just stared at Nox's pale face, at the blood soaking into his ruined clothes. A strange feeling twisted in her gut. Why did she care so much? This was the guy who had been a complete asshole to them, who had treated them like dirt half the time.
He had practically insulted them into getting stronger. So why did seeing him like this, so still and broken, make her feel like she was going to be sick?
'He's a jerk,' she thought, her mind racing. 'A cold, indifferent, sarcastic jerk. But… he didn't lie. He didn't pretend. He just was who he was.' Maybe that was it. In a world where everyone else was either panicking or trying to put on a brave face, Nox had been brutally, refreshingly real.
He hadn't coddled them; he had pushed them. And they were alive because of it. They were stronger because of it.
Vasa was thinking along similar lines, though her thoughts were, as always, more structured.
'He's abrasive. Inefficient in social interactions. But his assessment of situations is usually accurate, and his methods, however unorthodox, yield results.' She watched Yeda try to staunch the flow of blood.
'He never asked for our loyalty. He never tried to be liked. That indifference… it was infuriating, but it also meant he wasn't playing games. When he told us to fight, it wasn't for his ego; it was for our survival.' Why did that make her heart ache now, seeing him so vulnerable?
"He's so cold," Yeda whispered, her hand brushing his forehead.
"He's losing too much blood," Vasa stated, her voice tight. She looked at the wound again. "If this was anyone else, they'd be dead already."
Kendra swallowed hard. "Yeah, well, he's not anyone else, is he?" She looked at Yeda. "What about that glowy thing you did? Can you do it again? Heal him or something?"
Yeda shook her head, fresh tears welling. "I don't know how I did it the first time. And... and I think it took everything out of me. I can't... I can't feel it anymore. Not to mention, I don't think it can be used for healing."
Just then, Nox's body gave a small twitch. His eyes, though still mostly closed, fluttered. They all leaned in closer. He coughed, a wet, ragged sound, and a little more blood trickled from the corner of his mouth.
Then, he was still again.
"Nox?" Kendra said, shaking his shoulder gently. "Nox, you son of a bitch, don't you dare die on us."
She shook his shoulder again, a little harder this time. "Nox, come on, man. Wake up. Don't be a dick and die right after you saved us."
Vasa gently pushed Kendra's hand away. "Shaking him won't help. His injuries are too severe." She looked around the destroyed gym, her gaze lingering on the smashed-in doorways. "We can't stay here. More of those creatures could show up at any moment."
"So what are we supposed to do?" She shot back, her voice tight with frustration and something that sounded a lot like fear. "Drag him out of here? He's barely breathing. Moving him might kill him faster."
Yeda sniffled, wiping her eyes with the back of her bloody hand. "We should stay. Right here. Until he wakes up. We can't just... we can't leave him like this."
Kendra looked at Yeda, then at Nox, then back at Yeda. "Stay here? Are you nuts? Vasa's right, this place is a death trap. Those dog things, or worse, could wander in any second."
"But Nox needs time," she insisted, her voice gaining a little strength. "He saved us. We owe him that much. We can barricade the doors or something."
Vasa considered it, her expression thoughtful. "The main doors are completely gone. Barricading them effectively would be difficult, and we don't know what other entrances there are. But Yeda has a point. Moving him in his current condition is extremely risky." She looked at the massive wound in his stomach.
"He's lost a significant amount of blood. Any further jostling could restart severe bleeding, assuming it's even stopped."
Kendra ran a hand through her hair, looking stressed. "So we're stuck between a rock and a hard place. Stay here and risk getting swarmed, or move him and risk him bleeding out on the way." She kicked at a loose piece of debris. "Damn it all."
"We stay," Yeda said, her voice firm this time, all trace of her earlier panic gone, replaced by a quiet determination. "We watch the entrances. We fight if anything comes. He'd do it for us... well, maybe not willingly, but he'd do it."
Vasa nodded slowly. "It's the less predictable risk, but potentially the only chance he has. If he doesn't wake up soon, or if his condition worsens, then we'll have to reassess."
Kendra let out a long breath. "Alright, fine. We stay. But if I get eaten because of this, I'm blaming you two." She didn't sound entirely serious. She looked down at Nox again, her expression softening just a fraction.
"He better wake up, the stubborn bastard."
Just as they seemed to settle on the decision, a hoarse, weak voice cut through the quiet.
"How sweet of you shitheads."
All three girls jumped, their heads snapping towards Nox. His eyes were cracked open, just slits, and they were focused, albeit hazily, on them. A faint, bloody smirk was trying to form on his lips.
"Aren't you going to leave me behind like everyone else?" he rasped, each word sounding like it was scraped out of his throat with sandpaper.