Butterfly Apocylpse: Boundaries

Mesay opened her eyes as a pale blue light shone in through the tent. She quickly got up and opened the zipper door. In the distance she saw what should have been the sun. But it was a bright blue. Waving neon flames whipping into the sky took the normal cloudy haze. Replacing it with the familiar black void she once saw in Home. The earth bumped and moved around her forming large roots.

"Mesay!" Muse yelled.

The roots started to move. They twisted and tangled themselves around each other. Mesay frantically looked around trying to find Muse. She tried to call out but nothing came from her voice. The shifting roots forced her to concentrate on staying upright. Everything was lit by the giant blue light source. The sun shifted and seemed to be moving closer. Mesay was terrified. She did not want to face that thing. 

"Papilio...." a strange voice echoed. "It's time."

"Mesay!" Muse yelled again. "Please!"

The foreign voice started echoing all around her. Muse was yelling her name. Then she could hear the others. Screaming for help. Screaming out of pain. Mesay didn't know where to go or what to do. She just wanted everyone to be safe. She just wanted everyone to go home again. She put her hands over her ears but the noises just got louder.

"Mesay, come on!"

"Mesay!"

"MESAY!!!"

***

She jolted up out of her sleeping bag. She felt two hands holding her shoulders. She jerked until her eyes focused on Muse above her. He was shaking her trying to wake her up.

"Mesay? Finally, you're awake. Can you hear me?" Muse asked.

Mesay blinked a few times, trying to regain her bearings. "Yeah. What's going on?" She moved around Muse and stumbled out the tent. Outside she could hear Kyle screaming. And a bunch of others rushing toward the woods. Natalie was outside her tent. Mesay tried to hurry her sleepy body toward the commotion. She was bumped into by Caught.who was also rushing to help. Mesay quickly grabbed his shoulders and stopped him.

"Caught. You can't go. We don't know what that is. Stay with Natalie please." She insisted.

"He's hurt!" Caught yelled.

"We can't afford to lose you to anyone Caught. You need to stay here." She turned to Muse. "Muse stay with them. And zap yourselves out of here if there is any trouble."
Muse nodded and turned to Caught. Motioning for him to get back.

"Don't worry. Whatever it is, we've had worse." Mesay assured. Then ran off toward the trouble.

***

In the woods, Tiq, Starling and Wren were first on the scene. All they had were their flashlights, and respective weapons. Starling with her gun, Tiq with an axe, and Wren with her smaller sickle. The three were on watch so they were luckily armed for instant trouble. Since they didn't know what their abilities were yet they had to be prepared. They heard Kyle scream but couldn't locate him.

"Kyle! Where are you?" Tiq yelled.

Starling suddenly straightened. She felt a bit odd. Something was pinging a certain sense in her. It was the screaming. She could feel the screaming. And she knew exactly where it was coming from. 

"Over here!" Starling yelled and she ran off deeper into the forest. The other two butterflies following fast behind her. They rushed through the dark trying not to stumble or fall. Starling didn't have such a problem. It was like she could sense everything around her. But only from the direction of the sounds. As it got louder it became more tangible for her. Almost like a force being pushed and moved through her body. She "seeing" what was ahead from the sound. It was like a type of echo location. This must be her power. She sensed what the earth was shaped like in front of her. It looked like a eight foot drop and at the bottom was the source of the sound. It was Kyle. She could see him. He was writhing in agony. Three other things were around him. But they constantly faded away and then appeared again.

Without thinking she yelled, "Stop!" 

Tiq and Wren quickly came to a halt and Starling jumped off the mini cliff and into the fray. When she closed her eyes and landed just before Kyle. The ripples of sound coming from him were thick now. She moved her arms in giant sweeping motions around her. As if she was brushing them away. And as she did the three things disappeared. And Kyle's screams turned into moans of pain. Starling opened her eyes and saw Kyle bloody and broken.

"Kyle! What happened to you?" She asked.

"Sweet God just get me out of here!" He pleaded.

"What is going on down there? Starling are you okay?" Tiq asked.

"Kyle is hurt pretty bad. I could use some help." Starling called back.

"We'll be down in a second." Tiq replied.

Soon more screaming came from Kyle. His bones cracked back into place. His muscles tore and reformed. A minute later Kyle was sitting upright. Trying to mentally catch up to his physical recovery. Starling was standing next to him. Tiq and Wren walked up to them.

"What on earth was that?" Wren asked.

"Yeah! You just jumped down like some kind of badass. How did you even know that was there Starling? It's dark as hell out here." Tiq continued.

"I think I figured out my power guys! It's some kind of sound thing. Like I could hear the sounds but then see with them too. Like echolocation. And then I took the waves and moved them. It was really cool but really weird. I didn't even think I just....did." Starling stopped in thought of what just happened. Elated at her ability finally showing up but confused as to what happened.

"What about Kyle?" Wren asked again.

"He can't talk right now. He's still recovering from his body reforming. He was beat up pretty bad though." Starling answered.

"Kyle?" Tiq started. "Kyle buddy you okay?" Tiq shone the flashlight in Kyle's unblinking eyes.

Kyle blinked a few times then finally reacted. "Get that fucking shit out of my eyes!"

"He's fine." Tiq quipped.

"Far from it." Kyle countered. "Looks like my boyfriend finally came a calling."

"Showtime?" Wren asked.

"Yeah, he was having a good time of me. He was...hurting me pretty bad and then would wait for me to recover before doing it again. Little shit. Something was holding me down though. It was like there were multiple versions of him. I don't know. Fucker needs to buy me flowers next time." Kyle was doing his best impersonation of himself. He couldn't tear his mind away from what he saw or felt. It was a horrible experience that he was pretty sure he wasn't going to live from. He was dragged so far and fast into the forest that he didn't know what was going on. Let alone if anyone was going to find him.
Just then they heard a loud squawking. Lucy darted past the others and strait to Kyle's shoulder.

"A lot of good you did!" Kyle poked at the bird. It lovingly cooed and nipped at his finger. Kyle was happy to see Lucy again. "You little shit." He smiled.

"Guys! Is everything okay?" Paul asked over the hivemind.

"We have Kyle, he's okay." Wren answered back.

"Well good but we need you to hurry back. Someone's attacking the camp." Paul retorted.

***

"Chula! We need you by the food tent! It's on fire again!" Mesay yelled. "Apple! Red! I want you two to search the perimeter and find out what is going on! Blue! We need to get everyone into the bunker NOW!" As everyone separated Mesay went to check on Muse. She ran to their tents but was greeted by a ton of fire. She raised her hands and it banked away from her face. Still feeling the intense heat from the flames. Suddenly the flames in that corner dissipated as Paul walked past them and to Mesay. 

"How did this get started?" He asked.

"I don't know, but this isn't just a normal attack. I feel like we're being kept busy." Mesay answered. "Have you seen Muse? He was with Caught and Natalie."

Muse materialized beside Mesay. He had Natalie with him. She dropped franklin, her baseball bat and fell to her knees coughing. Muse had a bad cut across his forehead. He stumbled back a bit in his stupor. Mesay quickly moved to help him keep his balance while Paul checked on Natalie.

"I'm okay." Natalie insisted. "I'm just....not used to getting punched in the gut."

"You got punched?!" Paul asked.

"Some huge guy. And a masked woman." Muse spurted out. "They have someone starting fires around camp."

"Where is Caught?" Natalie panicked a bit.

Muse looked around confused. "He isn't here?" Muse started to sink. Mesay tore part of her pajamas and wrapped the cut on his head. 

"He was right next to us." Natalie insisted.

"Muse? I need you keep talking okay? Mesay worried.

"I'm okay. I just.... am a little tired." Muse retorted.

I need to get Muse back to Blue." Mesay said. "Paul, you need to find Caught and get him back here."

"I'm on it." Paul assured.

"I'm coming with you." Natalie said.

"You really shouldn't. Just stay...."

"I'm not going to just leave him in this mess." Natalie held up her Franklin. Whatever blow she took was shrugged off quickly. 

"Alright slugger. Let's go find Caught." Paul quipped. And the two ran off toward the far end of camp. Paul dispersing flames as they went.

***

"Natalie! Muse!" Caught stopped his calling out to cough. The fire was starting to close him in now. And he had to find a way out. That Muse guy must have vanished without him. He's probably would have been able to get away if it wasn't for the creepy woman who attacked them. The three of them just had a run in with what looked like the proxy of the month. All he knew is that he had to get back to the dragonflies. 

Or butterflies. 

The bug people. 

Whatever.

As the fire raged Caught tried to find another way out. It was then when he felt a familiar pain on the back of his head. He dropped on the ground. His eyes hazy. A brick was laying near his head. Trying to look up a pair of boots came into view.

"Trying to find a memory in a dark room. Dirty man....I know you well." She said.

"Oh great. A poet." Caught retorted. His vision getting wobbly. Even his arms and legs felt shaky. But it felt like it was coming from beneath him. A rhythmic pounding that almost felt like giant footsteps. "What the..."

A loud battle roar came from the woods just beyond the fire. Suddenly jumping over the flames was an inhumanly tall 15ft man. Bald and burly. He landed in the ring of fire grinning madly. He held an average sized woman on his shoulder like a child. She threw her sickle at the masked woman. It expanded into a full length scythe. Wren's weapon of choice swooped down, spinning toward the proxy. It spun to the side and nicked her in the arm before crashing to the ground.

"How do you like that you proxy piece of shit? Get the hell away from him!" Tiq yelled. And he clenched his two fists together and threw them down on the proxy. Wren went falling to the ground as this happened. And the woman tucked and rolled out of the way.

"Hey!" Wren hollered as she got up. "Did you forget something there big man? Do you want to see me hurt?"

"Chilly wind you're piercing like a dagger. It hurts me so....yeah." The woman retorted.

"That's enough out of you!" Another voice called. Suddenly Red was right behind the woman. She grabbed her by the arms and held her back. Wren hurried to Caught's side but not before getting kicked in the head by the proxy. Wren fell to the ground near Caught. The woman struggled viciously. Red held on but this woman was considerably taller than her. And strong too. In the struggle the proxy's hoodie fell to her shoulders revealing tangled black hair. The proxy twisted and the two fell to the ground. Red made sure to never let go of her grip. The proxy seemed to calm a bit now. Tiq walked up to the woman and Red. Shrinking down to his normal size. 

"Let's see what kind of face we find under that pretty mask." He quipped.

"Nobody needs to discover me." She retorted. 

Just then Tiq found himself in a sleeper hold, by another. Red stood shocked at the sight. Somebody with a Mexican wrestling mask was trying to wrestle him back. He was huge. And Tiq couldn't get out of his grip.

"Drop the puck, time to go."

"What?" Red said. 

The woman leaned her head forward and slammed it back onto Red's face. She released to nurse a potential broken nose. The woman quickly recovered and pulled some twine from her coat. She quickly tied Red's ankles together. And then her wrists.

The woman got up and watched as the other proxy man finished the job. Tiq passed out and the man dropped him. She turned around to only find Wren coming at her with the scythe. She swept it forward and caught a small chunk of the mask. Tearing it revealing a bit of the face. The woman rushed Wren and grabbed the handle. fighting with her for the scythe.

"Nobody needs to discover me. I'm back again." the woman said. Quickly moving a leg behind Wren knocking her on the ground. The woman took the scythe and pointed it at Wren's neck. The string on the mask came undone a bit showing a bit more of the woman's face. The fire all around them lighting the corners. Catching the reflection off an exposed eye. Wren tried to make out the face. It looked familiar.

"You feel the ashes from the fire that kept you warm. Its comfort disappears."

"....Natti?" she asked. Then she felt a hard knock to her head and went limp, unconscious. The woman looked up and saw the Messenger come around Wren after having kicked her. She had her flamethrower pack on. She looked up at the half masked woman and held up the brick. The man came to meet them and they all looked at Caught. Trying to drag himself away from the scene. The man walked up to Caught, picked him up as if he was a toy. And put him over his shoulder. Caught didn't protest. He could hardly stay awake.

"The barn is full, our teams in town. So put em up boys." The woman proxy walked over to Red still nursing her wounds. "And knock em out." She raised the brick but suddenly heard voices. 

"Over here!" Paul yelled.

The woman backed off and motioned for the other two to follow her. The three proxies, disappeared into the woods.

Paul and Natalie came though the fire. Paul dispersing it as they walked along. They found Tiq unconscious, Wren waking up, and Red with a bloody nose struggling through her bonds.

"Get this fucking shit off of me!" Red yelled.

The smoldering remains still crackled around the group.Paul quickly got the bonds off of Red. Red cursed up a storm yelling about proxies and explained how they took Caught. 

"Caught is gone? Where did they take him?" Natalie asked Paul. 

"Really? Really Paul? Isn't it obvious?" Red started. "Fucking Help3r! Asshole has found a few fucking followers for his shit. And now he's turning them on us. Asshole."

"I had no idea! These are people we don't even know." Paul said.

"I think we know one of them." Wren finally spoke up. She slowly walked over to Paul and Red.

Just then Blue rushed over to the group. She came up to Wren and helped her sit down. "Today's a day for head injuries huh?" She chimed. 

"What about my broken nose baby?" Red mildly complained.

"Concussions first sweetie." She smiled back. She turned to Wren. Not being able to exactly pinpoint where the pain for Wren was. Mostly because of the concussion of her own. "What are you feeling right now Wren?"

"Oh Blue, you're hurt too." Wren wavered a bit and then grabbed blue to steady herself. Suddenly a rush ran through her body. Her hands shined brightly for a second. She moved her hand up to touch Blue's head and it began to heal. Blue stood there a bit shocked. Was... was Wren healing Blue? Did they have another healer in the group?

Wren moved back and saw that Blue's head wound was all healed up. She looked at her hand and her eyes opened up wide. 

"That's my power? I can heal stuff like you Blue?" Wren smiled at that before bumping into Paul. She put her hands onto Paul's shoulder and then felt another rush. Her hands shined again, and fell over from dizziness. She was on her knees holding herself steady with her hands on the ground. Sparks of blue flame suddenly rose out of her hands and engulfed her. Everyone screamed in shock. Paul quickly picked up Wren but the fire wouldn't stop. He did everything he could to lessen it but to no avail. The fire didn't even feel hot. It was cool almost to the touch. The fire went away and suddenly there was Wren. Wide eyed again. But perfectly fine. All of her wounds were healed. And she felt clear headed. 

Everyone was dead silent for a moment.

"What....in the hell........what that?" Red finally said.

"Holy shit." Paul answered noticing her healed self.

"What? What did I do?" Wren asked.

"I think you just combined our powers." Paul retorted. "I think you just made up a new power. By combining ours.

***

The three proxies were making good time getting back to Help3r. Occasionally The Messenger would stop and look back. As if she was expecting someone to be there. But she couldn't see anyone. They marched on, with Caught.

Apple breathed a sigh of relief. That was too close. They were really good at making sure they weren't being followed. They almost lost her a few times. But Apple had to see where they were going. Where they were taking Caught.

Butterfly Apocalypse: Reunited

A warm summer night held tapered clouds and a cool breeze. The full moon shined down on the forest. Acting like a spotlight and making everything very easy to see. Everyone was fast asleep, except Natti. Who kept watch as she did every evening. Keeping the visual cloak over the camp and watching for trouble. A faint tune pierced the quiet evening. Someone singing in the distance. Natti immediately stood at attention. The direction it was coming from was fairly clear but she couldn't see anything. It was getting louder and closer. The music was beautiful, but unknown. And Natti knew that anything mysterious out in these woods is not to be considered automatically benign.
Natti's look out tower shook a little bit. Someone was climbing to the top. Natti created a ball of light in her hand. She rushed over to the ladder and threw the ball down to see who was coming.

Chewie quickly pushed himself up against the ladder."Natti! It's just me." Chewie whispered loudly.

Natti relaxed and let him reach the top. "Sorry Chewie. I guess I'm just a bit jumpy. That music is here again."

"I'm just going to assume you are talking about the music." Chewie was getting better at translating the butterfly Roivas talk to words. But he still needed work. Especially when he had just woken up. "Have you seen anything?"

"No, and you'd think it would be easy with this moonlight." She answered. Chewie still looked a bit confused. So she tried to word the next question as slowly as possible. "What do you think it is?"

Chewie thought for a second before answering. "What do you think it....is. Oh, what is this singing? I don't know. But I feel a tad uneasy about beautiful singing coming from seemingly nowhere."

Natti nodded. Maybe it would just be better to keep things to yes and no answers. At least then they could understand each other better. The music was quite obvious now. They should have seen someone or thing nearby by now. But they still couldn't see anyone. Just then a strange noise and flash of light came from beneath them. Natti and Chewie craned their necks over the side and saw a man walking into camp. Chewie  rushed to the ladder and went down it as fast as he could without being heard. Natti thought she could hear a faint whisper. Something that wasn't audible. It was sounding though the hivemind. She made sure to maintain the illusion around the camp. And she got ready to light up the entire place if need be.

Chewie sneaked up on the intruder. He didn't seem in a hurry. Didn't even seem like he had a real destination. The singing was very close now. Almost sounded like it was directly in front of them. Chewie couldn't afford to let this stranger get further into camp. He tackled the man on the ground and pulled his arms behind his back. The singing instantly stopped and the wind seemed to pick up a bit out of nowhere. At that point Natti brought up the lights which prompted everyone to get up. The entire camp was outside, in their pajamas, in a few moments. And everyone got a chance to see the intruder.
Muse on his knees, dirt smudged face, eyes red from crying kept his head down. Everyone was shocked. Chewie instantly released him.

"Muse!" Chewie helped him up. Are you okay?" Izzie and Beat ran up to him.

"I heard her." Muse responded.

"Muse, where have you been? We were all worried." Izzie asked.

"I've been searching for Mesay. I know she's here. I heard her." he responded. "She said for me to meet her here."

"You saw her?" Beat asked.

"No, I just heard her." Muse shut down as the emotions overcame him.
Izzie looked concerned at him. She didn't doubt what he was saying but she couldn't figure out what was going on. And clearly he wasn't in any real state to talk.

"Let's get him inside somewhere."Chewie said. "Come on Muse. Let's get you fixed up." Chewie escorted him and asked a few others to help him set up one of the spare tents and gather a few supplies for Muse.

Dox approached Beat and Izzie. "Well, that's unexpected."

"Yeah, in a good way. I didn't want to tell anyone. But I was considering the worst with Muse." Izzie confessed.

"I think we all were." Beat continued. "But he said that he heard Mesay. That means that she is okay too right?"

"I hope so. But we haven't seen either of them since Home was destroyed." Izzie offered.

"And to the best of our knowledge Mesay has been held by Help3r all this time." Dox continued. "If she has escaped then she may be reluctant to coming back. Or worse, Help3r released her and now we have something else to worry about."

That made Izzie very concerned. "I know what your saying Dox. But I can't even think about that right now."

"You think that Mesay turned bad or something?" Beat said. "There's no way! She would rather die."

"I don't know. But we need to be careful anyway. Help3r hasn't found us yet, which is surprising. Which could mean he's been busy doing something else.  His main goal is trying to kill the infection. If he can re-create the antidote then he wouldn't have to resort to his normal methods. I feel like we've only see half of what he is really capable of. And we need to be on our guard for anything new."

***

The next morning proved to be a gorgeous day. The sun was out. The breeze was cool. A wonderful day for two people to go for a hike.

"Walking though the woods. Again! It's always though the woods with these people isn't it? At least the ones are home aren't as mountainous." He said

"I just don't want to run into....you know....." She hesitated to finish that sentience.

"Oh please! No, that would be great. It would make my fucking day. We could hold hands and sing magical songs while learning important lessons." He snarked. "We're off to find the butterflies! Tra la la la la la la la!"

"SHHHHHHH!" she insisted.

"No. I don't care. If they really are in these woods like the crazy stories said, then they'll find us a lot easier if we make a ton of noise. Hey butterflies! Come out, come out where ever you are!" He yelled through the forest. He was met with silence. 

"This is dumb. We should have never come out here."

"It was your idea. You are the one who said those stories started to make you remember things." she pointed out. "So let's actually stick with a plan for once and keep going."

Just then, they heard a soft singing. It seemed to be coming from behind them. They both turned and noticed a hooded figure standing not too far away from them. The face was not visible. And moments later a doll walked up beside him. It's eyes focused and moved. Analyzing the two.

The woman turned around and looked at the figure. "Is that the Help3r guy?"

"Subjects 001 and 003 have been located." The doll started. "Subjects will now be listed by their given names. 001 will now be inputted as Caught. 003 will now be inputted as Natalie. You two are not safe here. You should follow us."

As the singing got louder the figure looked up. As if trying to locate where the sound was coming from. It then looked at Caught and Natalie. Waving his hand as in a motion to quickly follow them.

"I will stay behind you and watch." the doll said. It pointed at it's companion "He will lead you to safety."

Suddenly the doll flew though the air. As a large shadow sped across the ground.

"Move it!" The figure insisted. Caught and Natalie ran as the hooded man led the way. They rushed past the trees and rocks. The hooded man had to constantly stop and wait for them to catch up. Behind them a large pounding sound rhythmically moved though the forest. Tripping on various rocks and branches they tried their best to get through the forest quickly. Nobody was quite sure what had attacked the doll. Or what was trying to get them now. But it sounded large and clearly meant business. The figure paused and let Caught and Natalie pass him by.
"Keep going strait! Right past those trees!" He pointed."That's where you'll find them." Then the man turned and fumbled with something in his pockets.
Caught and Natalie kept running but turned when they could hear and feel the heat behind them. The hooded man was missing but fire danced above the tree tops. Setting a few on fire. There was another loud thud, this time it sounded only feet from them. And a large swooshing sound of wind. Followed by a number of dirt and rocks raining down on them. They ran for another minuet, hearing the noises getting a little further away.

"Where are we going?" Natalie asked.

"Away from whatever THAT is!" Caught answered.

They passed through Natti's hidden forcefield and suddenly there were tents and people. They came to a halt wondering what had just happened. They were still in the woods but a camp seemed to appear out of nowhere. Who were all these people? Why didn't they see the camp before now?

"Caught! Natalie!" Red exclaimed. She ran up to them and looked like she had just seen a miracle. Everyone  started to gather. But then Natti interrupted running into the crowd.

"Everyone get to your positions! We have a fight coming our way!" She yelled.

Just as she did something crashed into the ground in between a few tents. It left a little crater and scattered rocks, dirt and dust everywhere. All the butterflies and friends alike scattered just like they had all planned in case of an attack on the camp. Red had ducked with Natalie and Caught. Red raised her head and immediately saw a very scared stiff Crow just standing there covering her head.

"Crow! Take them to the bunker! NOW!" she ordered. Crow didn't understand the exact words being said to her. But the intention was there. And she knew when to get the hell out of the way when crazy superpower stuff was going on. She grabbed Natalie by the hand and pulled her away and Caught followed. She led them to the underground bunker that was prepared just in case something like this happened. They rushed down the steps as Chewie held the opening for everyone. Dox and a bunch of others rushed in. Anyone who wasn't directly involved in the defense plan of the camp was sent into the bunker.

A handful of the butterflies went to go investigate the sudden crater in the camp. Just before they got there a hand raised up and clasped onto the ground. The hooded figure was pulling himself up. As he did he threw over his other arm. In that hand was a bottle with a fairy on the top. As he dragged himself to level ground he did his best to stand up. And placed the bottle in his pocket. He finally got a chance to look around and saw Red, Chula and Natti standing a few feet away. Staring at the strange man. All ready to attack if needed. He raised up his hands in a defensive posture and started to walk toward them.
Then the singing started again. This time it was one note. That seemed to rocket through the air. The man was suddenly thrown high up in the air and a another quick moving figure rushed where he was once standing. She had made drag marks where her feet dug into the ground for her stop. Her back to the three she looked up at her now airborne combatant.  Many of the other butterflies came to help.
Envoy rushed up and screamed with a fury before being stopped dead in his tracks and smacked against the ground. By a seemingly invisible force. She then started to hum loudly as she raised her hands to the sky. She waited one more second before thrusting them down beside her and launching into the air at the other man who was now falling back to earth. Just before she reached the tops of the trees, a giant fireball turned into a fire blanket that rushed from side to side. The tops of the trees had been set on fire and little charred bits came falling to the ground.
Chula took her stance and summoned her water supply to rush up and quench the fires. One large branch broke off and fell. Closely approaching Natti and Red. Red pushed Natti out of the way and immediately shrunk down. The smoldering branch crashed and Natti was safe. Red, now the size of a mouse, had just ducked out of the way enough to not get hurt. The chunk of tree was an inch in front of her. And she fell back trying to catch her breath from the adrenaline rush. Natti quickly collected her in her hands and ran out of harms way.

"Everyone back away! This area is too dangerous!" Natti called. And everyone retreated back a ways.

Chula finished quenching the fires when the hooded man made a fire re-entry into camp. Himself being on fire caused much of the camp to start up. Making Chula rush to put the new fires out. She made quick work of it before finally dumping what was left of her water over the man. He stood up and tried to shake off his soaked clothes. Looking toward Chula.

He finally said."Geesh Chula. Go easy on the waterbending there." 

Hivemind. The man spoke though the hivemind. That means that....

"Paul!" Muse yelled. "Don't hurt her!" Muse was running toward the man.

Just then two large hand shaped prints pressed themselves onto either side of the hooded man. Followed by a punch to the face from the female attacker. He fell to the ground and the woman pinned him.

"Stop...." He didn't get another word out before getting another punch to the face. She hit him again before Muse reached her. Trying to put his arms around hers. She grabbed in his hood before being pulled away. The cloth dark mask was removed revealing Paul's face. The woman struggled against Muse. Chula saw her. Hair much longer and wild. Her eyes glowed that familiar bright blue. Looking feral almost. She was barefoot and the only clothes she wore were tattered remains of some kind of jumpsuit. Exposing most of her legs and arms.

Chula put her hands to her mouth in shock. "Oh my god. Mesay?" Chula sputtered in the hivemind. That got every butterflies attention.

Muse held her close. Mesay still thrashing a bit. "Mesay, it's okay. It's alright. We're all here now. Everyone is okay."
Paul sat up and rubbed his cheek. She had hit him pretty hard. He looked on and saw Mesay.  Someone who looked like they had been though hell and came out different. She was much stronger than she was before. Then he realized. He was in Help3r like garb. They both had seen each other as a threat. Him for going after Caught and Natalie. Her for attacking Rio and him.
"Speaking of, what happened to Rio?" He thought.

Rio limped into the camp. One leg was torn to hell. "Hello butterflies."

"You okay Rio!" Paul yelled from the otherside of camp.

"Sustained considerable damage to this unit's right side. Otherwise systems seem nominal." She retorted back mechanically.

Paul got up and walked to Rio to take a look. "I'm sorry Rio. You won't hold it against Mesay will you? She didn't know it was us."

Rio glanced at Mesay now being held in Muse's arms. She looked more pained than aggressive now. She was coming back to herself. Clinging desperately onto Muse. And realizing what she had done. "This unit fully understands the condition of subject Mesay's mental state. Her time in Help3r's care has been noted."

"You'll have to go into more details about Help3r's "care" later Rio."

"Never mind me!" Chimed Envoy from the distance. "No I'm great! Peaches and lollipops over here! I didn't just get pounded into the ground by an ally. Nope not me." Envoy's rib-cage had finally repaired itself after being crushed by Mesay. He stood up and brushed the dust off his clothes before being tackled again to the ground. On his chest was a familiar white bird. It squawked and cooed at Envoy. Moving to his hair and nipping at it.
"Lucy!" He screamed.

Three little orange and white cats rushed up to Mesay and Muse. Meowing and purring. Desperately calling for their adoptive mother's attention. The others who had hidden away in the bunker had finally emerged outside again. Just in time to see everyone getting back together again. The family was reunited.

"Just hold on one second!" Chimed in Caught. "Since when did the butterflies become the X-Men? Is this what you guys have been doing for over a year? Because last time I checked, I was the only one who was suppose to be having problems. Besides I didn't get any special superpowers. So, does anyone want to explain? Anyone want to fill us in? Because I feel like this is the biggest mess I have ever seen in my life."

Natalie stood a bit dumbfounded at their surroundings. Everyone else just looked around at each other. Dox put a hand on Caught's shoulder.
"Why don't we go have a seat. A little something to eat. And I'll do my damnest to explain what is happening. With the assistance of Chewie of course." Dox assured.

"Yeah, this should be just as easy as trying to fight off the doll armies." Chewie quipped.

Slender Haven High School: It Was All A Dream.

She gasped frantically as her eyes rushed open. Realizing she was on the ground she quickly pushed herself up. Sitting on the dirt and brushing off the grime off her clothes. Shadows couldn't see a thing. Her hand rested on something metal. She picked it up and flipped a switch. The flashlight shone in front of her. It's light illuminating a number of trees before succumbing to the darkness again. She wasn't sure where she was or how she had gotten there. Standing up she did notice one thing.

No sound.

Not a bird, or bug. No animal noises. No breeze to make the trees' leaves shake or the branches creek with movement. It was still and quiet. Then a dread came over her. A sick feeling that made her stomach drop. The sudden realization that despite the lack of sound, she wasn't alone. Her primal senses kicked in and told her, RUN!

She rushed through the trees. Stumbling over rocks and downed branches. But luckily never falling. Looking behind was not an option. The only thing her fear let her focus on was running. She could feel it anyway, getting closer. She didn't know what it wanted, but she knew she didn't want to be around when it found her. Up ahead was an old cabin. She rushed up the wooden steps and tried the door. It opened right away. Quickly shutting the door she felt a little safer. Though logically she had no real reason to. As she moved the light around she could see the makeup of the place. It was a large room with what looked like two other rooms on the opposite end. One had an open threshold, probably for the kitchen. The other had an ajar door. The whole place looked abandoned save a few basic furniture pieces. She turned to her left and found a desk with a chair. As she walked up to it Shadows could see a tiny shiny object. She reached down and picked up a flashcard. Examining it for a second she put it in her pocket.

Then there was a large bang on the door. Shadows quickly turned her attention to it. The door started on fire. Smoke filling the air. It made her cough. Getting worse as she ran to another room. She fell, unable to breathe properly from the coughing. She glanced up and in front of her was the horror. A tall, faceless man staring back at her. She wanted to get away but she couldn't move. Before it was all she could do to keep herself up and breathing. Now helpless she just tried to breathe. She could feel the heat from the flames now. Nothing left to do.

Shadows sat up in bed. Trying desperately to catch her breath. She was greeted by a smoke filled room. Shadows quickly flew off her covers and ran over to her automatic toast making machine. She turned it off. Unplugged it and popped the toast. She ran over to the only window in the room and opened it. Sticking her head out to get some fresh air. Once she did she jerked her head around trying to assess her new location. Then she remembered. She was in her dorm room at her new school. She turned back inside and saw unpacked boxes of her belongings of home. A picture of her family sat on the adjacent desk. Shadows put her hand to her head and calmed her breathing. 

“Come on Shadows. It was just a dream. You just need to get used to your new room at your new school and....” Her eyes shot open again. She looked at her clock next to her bed it read 7:55am. “Oh my god! I'm going to be late for orientation!”

Shadows flailed around her room for a while before haphazardly changing into her new clothes. Flinging her pajamas onto her bed she announced:

“I'm ready for school!”

She looked at the floor and noticed something had fallen from her pajamas. She reached down and picked up a flashdrive. The same one from her dream.

“How weird.” She said. “Wait! I need to get to orientation right now oh my god I'm going to be so late!” She hollered before grabbing the burnt toast. Finally rushing out of her room and down the hallway.

***

In the gymnasium were all the students. New and old. The school was huge and it took a little while before Shadows finally made her very late entrance in. Despite the size of the building the amount of staff and students paled in compassion. In front of her was the sign in table.

"Uh...hi. My name is Dark Shadows." She said to the teen at the table.

"Well this should be easy. You are one of two people I haven't crossed off yet." the teen said.

"Well great. This is my first day. I'm sorry I'm late." Shadows apologized.

Well you are actually one minute from us closing the doors. Mr. Mann doesn't like late comers. So you are in luck! My name is Life." she introduced.

"Oh, nice to meet you Life. I'm Dark Shadows." She paused. "....oh I guess I just said that." Shadows blushed.

Life laughed. "It's alright. We have all shapes and sizes here. Just be yourself and I'm sure you'll do well."
Life handed Shadows the yearly notebook, her course schedule, and name tag. "You better get going. The orientation is about to start.

Shadows quickly walked down the center aisle. Bunches of chairs sat in rows on either side. There were far too  many for the number of students present. One boy sat in the back all by himself. His feet were propped on top of the chair in front of him. Seemed to not have much of a care as to what was going on.
At the head of the giant room was a large stage. A couple adults (most likely the teachers) sat in chairs as stiff as boards. They weren't moving or even acknowledging anyone's presence. Despite all the noise by the other students. It was kinda creepy.
She finally sat down in a seat next to a few others. Two girls, upperclassmen were talking and giggling about something with each other. Shadows was about to start a conversation but the lights grew dim and the stage ahead was lit.
A tall, thin, man in a suit walked up to the podium. The room seemed to become darker. And the lights focused on the man. Every student drew quiet and their attention went strait to the him. The teachers each put on a mask or hood and everything seemed to get fuzzy. As if Shadows couldn't see right. She couldn't even see the face of the man at the podium. She felt sleepy and unable to keep her eyes opened. And everything went black.

"Wake up freshman!" A girl hollered. Shaking Shadows by the shoulders.

"Man I thought I was bad." A boy chimed in.

"Thank goodness the principle didn't see her fall asleep like that." Another girl said. "She would have gotten in trouble for sure."

Shadows blinked her eyes open and saw three new faces. "Oh...I'm sorry. I must have dozed off. What happened?"

"Orientation is over." The boy said. "And you slept though it."

Shadows blinked at the boy, still trying to get her mind back in order. He was the one who was sitting in the back.

"Not that I'm surprised. The guy can either be scary as hell or plain old boring." He continued. "Sometimes he catches you off guard and you end up jumping out of your skin. Other times it's so predictable he's coming your way."

The girl who was shaking Shadow's shoulders was now gripping her in a tight hug. "Hi there! I'm Joie! I'm just so happy that you didn't get in trouble!" She finally let go of Shadows. "We hardly have any freshmen this year. I didn't want you to get into trouble. They have a one strike policy."

"One strike?" Shadows questioned.

"Yeah you get one goof up. Then you get detention. And you don't want that." the other girl added. "I'm Izzie. He's Zander." She pointed to him.

"Izzie is the student class president." Joie explained.

"Oh...." Shadows said. Still a little unsure as to what exactly had happened.

A sudden loud screeching, fuzz sound echoed in the auditorium. Shadows covered her ears. The others glanced up at the speaker until it stopped.

"What was that?" Shadows asked.

"The damn speaker system is on the fritz again." Zander retorted. "The principle likes to make daily announcements but we'll be damned if we ever hear his voice. This entire place is falling apart."

"It's probably time for class. We better get going." Izzie added.

Joie picked up Shadows' class list and looked at it. "Oh oh oh! Can I help her find her class?" She asked Izzie. "We both have a free first period. As part of the welcoming comity of the SHHS student body I need to formally guide her through the school." Joie announced.

"Sure. Just don't be late to psychology. Mr. Kevin has a surprise for us apparently." Izzie said.

"Alright! I get to show you around now!" Joie grabbed Shadows' hand and the lead her into the hallway.

***

About forty five minutes later Joie had shown Shadows a good chunk of the right wing of the school. Everything from the research lab run by Hooligan, a senior. To the cafeteria were the nice Miss Blue prepared their food. She showed her the various classes. And talked on and on about all sorts of things. 

"Our school mascot is the Hornet and the colors are black and white. But I guess you knew that already with your uniform and all. If you see any odd graffiti just ignore it. We have a few jokers around here who like to spray paint their symbol all over. Nothing gross or offensive. Just weird stuff. There is a lot of weird stuff here. Oh! No one is allowed in the tower and anyone who is smart stays out of the woods at night. Did you get all that?" Joie asked. 

Shadows nodded. "Got it."

Joie and Shadows approached an open hallway in the center of the building. Just beyond it, and a few floors down was a courtyard. "Oh and we have the courtyard but almost most nobody goes in there except maybe the janitor."

Joie continued talking but Shadows noticed someone standing alone down there. A girl wearing the uniform, clearly a student. She had long dark brown hair and was carrying an umbrella. She looked up at Shadows. She then got a quizzical look on her face. Then started jumping up and down waving her arms. As if she was trying to get Shadows' attention. Shadows politely waved back. The girl seemed to get all excited and she danced around a bit.

"Who are you waving to?" Joie asked.

Shadows looked at Joie oddly. "The girl down there." She pointed. But the girl in the courtyard was gone. 

"You saw someone down there?" Joie asked. 

"I thought I did." Shadows responded. "This whole place is kinda weird huh?"

"Yup. But you get used to it." Joie responded. "Zander says it's just because it's an old school but Izzie and I think....." Joie stopped herself. "Well that's actually something I can't tell you about. Not yet at least." She smiled at Shadows. 

Joie looked at her watch. "Oh wow how time flies. It's almost time for second period. Now, I'll take you to your class and you can make lots of friends okay?"

"Alright." Shadows agreed. Joie was a lot more talkative than she was used to but she liked her enthusiasm. She wondered what Joie was about to tell her before she stopped herself. When they reached Shadows class, Joie put her hand on Shadows' shoulder again. This time being a lot more firm and with meaning.

"Shadows. I like you. And I just hope you have a good time here. But remember, things are not all what they seem here. So just be careful and make sure you don't go where you aren't suppose to. We only have so many students here. We need as many as we can get." Her tone was very serious. Much unlike the rest of the time Shadows has spent with her.

"Okay! Have a good first day!" Joie said cheerfully. She walked down the hallway humming. 

Shadows turned to walk into her classroom when she noticed an odd symbol on the closed door. It must have been that graffiti Joie was talking about. She moved closer to examine it when the door flew open. A shadow stood in the door frame. It nearly scared Shadows half to death.

"Oh hey there." The woman greeted. "Sorry, didn't mean to scare you.....much." The woman laughed. "You're early. What's your name?" 

"Dark Shadows, miss." She responded.

"Well well Shadows, you can call me Coyote. All the kids do. Come on in, you can help me set up the cooking stations for each table. Today we're going to be making cupcakes and muffins for the Boss."

"The Boss?" Shadows asked.

"Oh yeah sorry. I mean the principle." She corrected with a huge smile on her face.

Cruser's Dream: Rosemary comes to visit.

This is a dream I had just last night. Blue suggested that I write it down and share. This will be easy because all the dialogue is still in my head. Totally unrelated to any other fanfic I've been writing. Enjoy.

It was a normal evening in the tinychat. Most all the regular chatters were on. Casually conversing and derping about whatever came into their heads. Getting along and having fun. It was nice when nothing unpleasant was happening. Though they all had wanted to hear from Rosemary again. Crusay enjoyed the lack of crazy things. If only for an evening. It seemed like everything was escalating again. And any peace she could get was welcome. A new person had entered the chat. And the usual welcomes and introductions were being handed around. And now Crusay was being prompted to get on mic and do her infamous fangirling. It was such a harsh and annoying voice she made up. It made her laugh that anyone would actually WANT to hear that occasionally. Even for joking purposes.

"ERMAGERD IT'S STARLING! I STARLING HI! I AM SUCH A HUGGGGGGGE FAN! YOU SHOULD COME OVER AND....AND I CAN MAKE COOKIES AND WE CAN SHARE THEM OH MY GODDDDD!" She had to stop and laugh.

But then a chill ran up Crusay's spine. It left an odd look on her face. Like she had just been told horrible news and was trying to process it.

"Crusay? Are you okay?" Andre asked. She didn't answer. Just sat there searching with her eyes but clearly all in her head.

Chewie got on camera. "Mesay? What is wrong?"

She shivered again. The chat room began to fill with concerned words. Her video froze for a second. Then she was turned around and out of her chair staring at the doorway behind her.

"Are you guys seeing this?" She yelled. But there was nothing on the camera but Crusay. Everyone asked what she was seeing. "Rosemary. But how....how did you get here?"
The entire chat room was quiet they couldn't believe it. Was this a joke? She had pranked them once before. But this was CNS stuff. And she never joked about that.

"What do you mean through the doorway?" She continued.

"What is she saying Crusay?" Chewie asked.

"She says that she was walking though the dark place and suddenly she got here." Crusay stopped and turned again. "Can you guys really not see this?"

"We can only see you." Rene responded just having gone on cam.

"Wonderful. Now I'm going crazy." Crusay spat. "Calm down Rosemary! Good lort your verbal mashboarding."

Crusay kept trying to talk to Rosemary. Having to translate everything the whispy blue light was saying. It took a while but she was finally getting somewhere with the conversation.
"This is just a doorway Rosemary. I can see right into my kitchen." Crusay started to walk toward the doorway but then stopped just short of it. She heard an odd sound. It echoed faintly. Then the house began to shake. And the sound got louder. It was that music. The Searching_for_Loxura music. Everyone in the chat started yelling and pleading for Crusay to get out. Rosemary was pleading for it to stop.

"I can't just leave! The only exit is blocked by a damned portal to the dark place! What am I suppose to do? Jump out the window?" Crusay yelled. The music got louder. Crusay ran into her bedroom and grabbed her machete. She came back and yelled. "You said you wouldn't go after us you fuck! I am Papilio and you will not stand in my way!" Immediately her camera went off. She had been suddenly logged off of the TC. Most likely her electricity went out.

About half an hour went by before Crusay logged on again.

"Holy shit! I can't believe this is working on here." She typed.

"Crusay are you okay?" Many people typed. A lot of mashboarding and relieved sentiments flooded the chat.

"Yeah I'm okay. I'm on my cellphone. I couldn't get out the windows they wouldn't open. So I rushed the doorway and I got outside. So I think Rosemary was wrong." She typed. "I'm outside now but there must be some thick cloud cover because I can't see a damn thing out here. Where are all the house lights?"

Chewie got a sick feeling in his stomach. "Mesay? Are you sure you are outside your home?"

"Yes Chewie. I ran into my kitchen and out the front door. There wasn't a portal to the dark place in my home. Thank god." She continued. "Rosemary's light is the only thing keeping me from tripping over my feet. Stop it Rosemary. Just use your words. I cannot understand verbal mashing."
Another cold chill rushed up Crusay's spine. She could hardly see anything but she had that sinking feeling again. When she looked up from the phone a hideous black face with red eyes was being lit from the light. A large hand with long claw like fingers stretched out. Crusay was frozen with fear. Chewie was right. She wasn't outside her home.
Crusay felt her legs fly out from underneath her. She landed with a hard thud on the ground. It hurt like crazy and she could hear Rosemary playing her song trying to get it's attention. Miss Longfingers, as the chatters had come to call it, had Crusay. And was dragging her away. Crusay's phone was gone. And she couldn't get away from it. Rosemary desperately tried to help Crusay but whispy hands aren't good for grabbing. She could hear the others now. Talking to Rosemary. Trying to figure out what was happening. And Crusay was left to wonder what fate she would be finally meeting. For becoming a butterfly.

And that's when I woke up. Yeesh!

Butterfly Apocalypse: Out of Options

It smelled like sweat and metal. It felt hot and I couldn't move at all. When I opened my eyes I could only see darkness. I tried wiggling my fingers and toes but they didn't respond. I could hear plenty though. Lots of machinery moving, water hissing. And the heat was almost intolerable. My brain was still adjusting but it felt like I was on a table that was angled almost upright. The entire scenario was confusing as hell. Getting my bearings was going to be a trick.

"Where am I?" I thought. "Chewie? Paul?....Muse." I used every ounce of strength I could call up and screamed in the hivemind "ANYONE!" What I received was an intense ringing in my head. Like someone has just blasted me with an airhorn. It forced me to yell out in pain and it echoed constantly for a long time afterward. As the pain slowed down to a throb the ringing in my ears started. It wasn't consistent though. More like various bursts. I thought that was odd until my hearing came back fully. It wasn't ringing I was hearing. It was a voice. A high pitched voice.

"Did you hear me?" It said.

"No. I was too busy getting my ear drums pulled out of my head!" I yelled back. At least that didn't echo.

"Infected subject #020 did not understand. Permission to repeat." It droned on. Sounded mechanical  But that voice seemed so familiar.

"Permission granted. Repeat message. You can not use the hivemind here subject 020. If you do, the M1330R programming will just echo it back. Any non verbal communication will be met with a complementary response to deter future events." It rattled off the statement similar to Rio. But it seemed a bit more human like.

"Get this shit off of my head you assholes!" I hollered. I strained and struggled. Trying to use my ability to knock little miss barbie voice into next tuesday. But it wasn't any use. I couldn't move my hands or arms. And I needed to do that to get the spirit hands to imitate what I wanted to do. That must have been my weakness. I could move huge objects and throw them like toys. I could stop giant machines dead cold with a stare. But without my eyes or hands, I was just like any normal person.

"Permission denied. Subject 020 is too aggressive and must be restrained." It responded.

"Oh great. A doll." I chided. "I bet your creepy creator is hiding in the backdrop somewhere there. Hey Help3r! Let me go you son of a bitch!" I probably shouldn't be taunting my captor. But this was my first experience being kidnapped and I wanted to make the most out of it.

"It was for your own safety 020. We were about to collect a few samples when you woke up."

"Samples?" I asked. "What kind of samples?"

"This will only take a minuet. Please hold still."

Hold still? Cute, real cute. Like I could actually move at all. There was a whirring noise of some machinery moving. It sounded close. I could hear two sets of footsteps. I was sure one belonged to the doll and the other to Help3r. It sounded like they were trapsing on metal grating. Lots of beeps and other noises sounded around me. More machinery. I doubted I was in Help3r's lab. That was destroyed. I suppose he could have rebuilt it. No, that doesn't make sense. Everyone would have known where I was then. No, we were somewhere new.

"Now collecting samples for infected subject #020." The doll said.

I'm not one to be afraid of much. But despite my hard words, I was terrified. I couldn't see or move. I couldn't contact anyone. I wasn't able to defend myself in any way but here were these two twerps, collecting samples. And I'll be damned what that meant.
I felt a needle jab into my left arm but it hardly hurt. At least they knew how to find a vein. They must be taking blood. For testing no doubt. The needle was removed and I felt a plastic gloved hand put something soft where the needle has been put and strapped a piece of tape over it to hold it on.

"That's sweet of you Help3r. I didn't know you cared." I sarcastically taunted.

"Now testing sample three from infected subject #020." The doll dryly announced. I could hear some various work being done. A few minutes later it finally said "Testing complete. Theory confirmed. Subject #020 is now in the final stages of infection. Further testing required before termination. Subject will be detained until then."

"Termination! You asshole! Let me out of this god damned thing!"

"Permission denied. Subject is still hostile. Testing still needed for study. Subject 020 will has a nutritional requirement. Doll 423 will be in shortly with your supplement." The two sets of footsteps walked off. I yelled and screamed every creative obscenity I could imagine. It wasn't to scare or threaten. It was to keep me from being afraid. The door shut with a heavy slam. And I could hear the locks clunk in place. Where ever I was it didn't seem like I would be leaving any time soon.
Everyday was the same routine. I was blind and immobile. Everyday they would poke me with needles and feed me the supplements. For a week, I spat them out or pretended to swallow. But after the seventh day I was pretty weak. And I guess they needed me to live long enough to finish testing. So they set me up with a feeding tube. Had to knock me out first for that one. When I woke up I could feel it in me. It was pretty annoying. My body knew there was something that didn't belong in it. And it never ceased to remind me of that with twinges of aches or pains. Someone always came in to feed me and keep everything clean.
Every week they would take a sample. Every few days they would give one too. Some kind of anti-serum. At least that's what Dollface called it. That was my nickname for Help3r's favorite robot lacky. It seemed appropriate enough. The anti-serum's effectiveness varied. It was anything from a horrendously searing pain to a mild bee sting. It made sense now. He was trying to "cure" me. But every week he would take that sample. And I would still be infected.
Any other time I had was alone. With my thoughts. And that was a whole other torture that only I could deliver. The first week I had constantly worried about the others. Wondering if they had made it okay. I couldn't help but think of Paul and Chewie. What happened to them? Did Help3r kill them? And what about Muse? He had to be alive. Had to have gotten out.
Sometimes when I slept I would accidentally call out to him in the hivemind. Whatever this thing on my head was it made sure to mentally slap me back. It would wake me up and usually I couldn't get back to sleep for hours. As the weeks went on it was more and more clear to me that I was on my own. It didn't matter if they were alive or dead. It didn't matter that everything went to hell. The one thing I had prepared for but never ever wanted. I was alone.
This was the way it was suppose to be. I had known all along. It was better perhaps. Help3r was focused on me. And the others either couldn't get to me or couldn't be bothered. Of course they can't. If they do then Help3r will kill them. Maybe I deserve to be here. Maybe I just made everything worse.God...it won't stop. Are they still thinking about me? Blaming me even. Blaming me for everything falling apart. I don't care how irrational it sounds. It's all I can think about.
This is the fifth week now. Dollface and Help3r are in for the testing and sample. They stick the needle in my arm again. I don't bother struggling. I just want them to get it done and leave me. I can feel the serum flow though my veins. It feels cold this time. Cold and clearing. As if every vein is being washed out. It's like someone dropped me in ice water. It makes my body shake from the frozen water rushing around. This might have been the worst yet. I was freezing and it's not like I was going to be offered a blanket. I didn't even feel them take the sample. I heard the door lock and I figured I was still infected. Sampled out and left for however long it would take for them to make another serum. But then I fell.
I landed on the hard floor. Weak and cold. My body shook and I curled myself together to try to get warm again. I could feel my arms and hands. I could feel my feet move by my legs. My stomach hurt. I smelled rotten. My fingers searched the floor and seemed to find the metal grating I had guessed at week prior. Finally I opened my eyes. Bright streams and harsh hues of red flowed in. A few shadows seemed to be looming over me but if I hadn't known who they were I wouldn't have been able to tell otherwise. A few minutes passed and I was moved to an upright sitting position. Leaning my back against the table that one held me. I looked up at my captors. Help3r and Dollface. Dollface was actually a doll. Not the robotic monsters that we usually saw. She looked like an actual doll. It was Help3r's doll. With the blond curls and baby face. The black and white soccer uniform with the number thirteen on it.

"Testing complete. Anti-serum confirmed. Subject #020 is no longer infected." She rattled off. "Sending new anti-serum to the lab to be mass produced."

He had done it. I was no longer a butterfly. I was cured, seperated, alone.

"New directive initiated to all dolls and drones. Containment of all infections. By force if nessary. Subject #020 will now be terminated." She turned and walked off with Help3r. They clearly were no longer worried about me causing trouble. I was too weak to do much of anything but crawl which was hard enough with the floor the way it was. The door shut and locked again. A hissing sound etched though the floor. Followed by gas. It choked my airways but there wasn't much left for me to fight back with. I felt myself get sleepy and uttered my last full breath.

                                                                                                                                   
I don't wish that none of it happened.                                                                              
I do wish that I had been stronger for what had come.                                                      
I'm just not that strong.                                                                                                 
Was it worth the trouble?                                                                                              
...maybe.                                                                                                                     
                                                                                                                                   
                                                                                                                                   
"....Papilio.                                                                                                                   
                                                                                                                                   
                                               "I have finally found you."                                                
                                                                                                                                   
                                                                                             "Have you decided?'         

***

A few of the dolls had cleaned the room and taken Mesay's body out. She had been placed in a body bag. When the cleaning was done, two of them walked over to the bag to dispose of it. The bag twitched. The dolls paused and focused on it. The body in the bag moved and hands pushed and twisted the plastic fabric. Then it stopped. Just as quickly as it had started. They waited few minutes. Then one of the dolls unzipped the bag. Mesay laid there, immobile. One doll looked at the other one and suddenly attacked. The first doll started tearing into the other. Separating it apart piece by piece. Mesay sat herself up and watched. With the most wicked grin on her face. When the doll was done it jerked. As if it had been released from being controlled. It turned and looked at Mesay. It's eyes glowing red. It ran toward her. It didn't get a few feet before it just collapsed to the ground. Smashed, as if it was just put in a trash compactor. Mesay was now propping herself on one knee. One of her hands was flat on the ground. She stood herself up and walked over to the crushed metal that was once a doll. A machine that she had been so scared of before. 

An alarm sounded the lights changed to an bright red. Around the corner came a number of dolls. The hallway was quite wide and could hold a great deal more than the hallways of Home. Mesay put her hand up and walked forward. As she did the dolls came to an immediate stop. They had hit an invisible wall. Try as they might, they couldn't pass it. The machines collected together and the scraping of metal on metal screeched through the hallways. As she reached the intersection to the new hallway she pushed the dolls up against the wall with her spirit hands. They pressed and stuck together in a large block. She then spread her hand to one side. Moving them all to the left. They stuck there and created a barrier for anything coming down that part of the hallway. A few of the dolls, still somewhat operational, flailed any limbs that seemed to not get stuck with the other metallic pieces.

Mesay turned and walked down the unblocked part of the hallway. She slowly made her way around the facility. It just had this one long tunnel. Far larger than she had thought. Every doll she encountered she smashed or tossed. Any door that closed got torn open. Red eyes went dim. Oil spilled. And bits and pieces seemed to fly everywhere. It was easier, simpler to take care of these on her own. Her eyes were wild with anger and pain. Realizing she didn't need anyone else to help her. This was something she was capable of. A true strength. And nobody was getting hurt. Nobody she cared about.

"Not like that really matters anymore" she thought. "I have nothing left to lose Help3r. You better run."

Mesay's attention turned down the only other tunnel that she had come across. A loud roaring noise echoed. There was the smell of fresh air and what looked like sunlight on the other end. Walking a little faster as the promise of the outside became more real. She came to a large grate and reinforced bars blocking the path. Peering outside she could see the great outdoors. A large river coming from this giant structure she had been trapped in for weeks. Beneath her she could see water being emptied into the river. She was in a dam. Suddenly the feeling of being watched came over her. She turned and found Help3r standing a few feet behind her. No dolls in sight.

"What? Did you run out of toys?" She chided. "Or have you finally decided to start getting your hands dirty?"

Help3r just stood there. Breathing heavily though his gas mask.

***

Miles down the river Mesay struggled to swim in the rapids. She finally dragged herself onto a pebble beach. Turning herself around she looked up toward the dam. Large black plumes of smoke rose from the ridges. She laid flat on her back and tried to catch her breath. But not a moment later, two large silhouettes flew over her and rapidly descended. Mesay stared at them and they immediately stopped only a few feet away. She slowly raised a hand and motioned to grab one of the machines. As she squeezed her hand shut, the drone balled up like a wad of paper. She casually tossed it into the rock wall on the other side of the river. The other one she shoved down into the ground a few feet away. Blocking any rocks that happened to fly by her. The drone sputtered and groaned in protest. And was stopped by a large boulder she dropped on top of it. 

Mesay laid there and closed her eyes. She took a deep breath and made a scooping motion with her hand. Beneath her, the pebbles stirred and moved. Mesay saw her spirit hands in her mind. Collecting her and the rocks beneath her and rising her upwards. She saw the other hand climbing up the rock face of the opposite cliff side. She looked like she was floating while large chunks of rock seems to chip away at the rock wall by the invisible force. At the top of a mountain she opened her eyes and moved upright. She lowered herself to the ground and looked out at the land. Worn and tired, she used the moment to take a deep fresh breath. 

"Sometimes it really is better to be alone. If only because you don't have to worry about hurting others. Or others getting hurt. I'll be alone in this from now on. It will just be easier that way.

I'm not sorry.

I never will be.

I'm not angry anymore, but I won't ever be sorry for this.

I did right by me.

It's too bad it had so many consequences."

   

Butterfly Apocalypse: Running

The camp was fairly well established now. A few weeks had gone by since the destruction of Home. Everyone did their best to make sure the camp stayed functioning. Chewie had taken the lead with preparing everyone for however long they were going to be out in the woods. With the success of CJ drawing up vehicles for Apple and Red, getting around wasn't difficult. She worked with Hoop to draw and set up a slew of traps and barriers for the camp. Natti furthered the defenses with finally being able to have full control of her power. She found out what her ability was much later than the others. She called it Light Manipulation. She was able to take any light source and work it to her advantage. The best use of it in the woods was creating a holographic barrier closer to camp. She would absorb the light during the day while she slept. And used that to bend the light from inside and around camp to make it invisible. It was a lonely job but one she didn't mind doing it. Essentially she was the last line of protection for the group. And the only things that would even be this far out in the woods would be Help3r related. Lonely work but fairly easy.

 Snorlax, Hoop and Red made weekly drives into the nearby town. They took odd jobs to afford supplies that weren't available from the woods. The small town was getting used to the three. Some rumors had started that there was some sort of cult in the woods. But not many of them seemed to bother looking for them. Not like they would find much.
Sunni took care of the animals with Blue and occasionally got them to help as well. Those who weren't doing everyday chores were trying to find a way to get Mesay back. Dox, and Anna were crowded around a map of the area. Dox had circled the key areas for reference points. Home's remnants, Help3r's abandoned lab, and various other mini circles dotted around the area. They pointed out where more of Help3r's little hideouts were. Like the one Rene had lived in when she first got there. Her and Xil had found about ten of them spread out around the desert. Some at the base of the mountain ranges. Everyone had something to do.

"I don't know guys. Maybe there isn't a pattern." Dox sighed in frustration as he fidgeted with his immobile wings.

"I'm sure there is something else we can gather from these places. We just haven't found it yet." Anna encouraged.

Dox looked up from the map as Chewie approached. "Done with the firemaking classes?"

"I'm taking a break. It's hard to teach when you can't understand a word anyone else is saying." Chewie admitted. It seemed that the injection that Help3r shot at him back at Home was some sort of anti-butterfly serum. His powers had been nullified. And like the others, he couldn't understand a word any of the butterflies were saying.
"It's just nice to be able to understand both sides of the conversation. Have you guys gotten anywhere with the map?"

"Hardly." Dox reported. "We have a lot of locations that appear to be random. The most we are getting out of Rene and Xil's outings are more clues for Rene to analyze what was in that syringe Help3r shot at you."

"Well clearly it took my abilities away." Chewie said.

"Yeah but we thought it was just Mesay who could do that. Even then it was just with a look. Not by injecting something into us." Anna added.

"So that means that Help3r found a way to create some reversal of our abilities." Chewie continued.

"Like a cure?" Dox offered.

"Help3r made a cure." Anna reiterated.

"Do you think that's what the vials were for?" Chewie asked.

"Yeah. Help3r collects samples and then makes something from that." Anna continued.

"If he did, he couldn't have had enough for everyone." Chewie theorized. "I bet that's why he took Mesay. To make more."

"Even more of a reason for us to find her as quickly as possible." Dox said.

Rene was running toward them followed by a deer. The deer morphed into Xil and the two reached the  group at the same time. Rene took a second to catch her breath.

"You cheated Xil." Rene complained.

"You said I couldn't change into something I've already been." Xil smiled. "Besides we tied."

"Yeah well..." Rene was still breathing hard. "Next time you have to be a two legged creature."

"What's going on?" Dox asked.

"Rene found something in the lab." Xil stated.

Dox has become quite accustomed to translating the coded words from those who had not been Debuttered, as they called it. He thought it was a silly word. But it stuck with the group. They all had learned to translate to a degree but Dox was the best at it. Seeing as how he was the first to be debuttered he had the most experience. It made sense. In a weird sort of way.

"What did she find?" Dox asked.

"A jar with this bright blue liquid inside it." Rene responded. "It looks just like the stuff that Chewie was hit with but it's chemical component is different."

"How so?" Dox continued.

"Well the genome for the original serum that hit Chewie is a circular moasic virus. Where the RNA is coiled in a helix of repeating protein sub units. Whereas this jar has a single stranded genome. Which has a positive sense which is complimentary to the mRNA and thus must be converted to a positive sense RNA before translation of the cell." Rene spouted.

"Okay, I have no idea what she said." Dox admitted. 

"They are different." Xil translated. "Meaning that they are different chemically so they probably do different things."

"A translation of the translation. That's a new one on me." Dox sighed. He turned to the others and explained what Rene found.

"Do you know what the other thing does?" Anna asked.

"Nope." Rene plainly responded. "But it may have been some initial byproduct when he was trying to make the anti-butter serum."

"So there might be all kinds of different experimental things out there?" Chewie said frustrated.

"If there is, it's hidden." Rene replied. "This is the only different one I've found."

"Well we better keep it with us. At least then it won't hurt anyone else." Chewie said. Rene handed it to Chewie and he put it in his satchel. 

***

Sunni had spent the better part of the morning trying to herd cats, literally. Mesay's cats were being more ornery than normal. Every day their catmom was away it seemed to make them more restless. But Sunni had been able to keep them calm for the most part. She would have run into Envoy if she hadn't looked up at the right time.

"Woah Sunni!" Envoy hollered.

Sunni stopped and watched the cats run off. She sighed. "What do you want Envoy?"

"Well that's a hell of a greeting. How about, Hello Envoy! Wonderful day we're having!" Envoy chided.

"Seriously what do you want? Can't you see I'm busy?" Sunni insisted.

"You know why I'm here." Envoy said.

"No. I haven't seen Lucy." Sunny admitted.

"Did you call out to her this morning?" Envoy asked.

"Yes. And I haven't been able to hear her." Sunni continued. "You always had a better connection than I did. And besides, she was with you during the fight." 

"I know that. I just figured with you being Dr. Doolittle that you could find her or something." Envoy argued.

"I'm not some kind of sonar for animals Envoy! I just talk to them okay?" Sunni yelled back. And she stormed off past Envoy. When she passed she took a second to clear her head. That bird was everything to Envoy. Lucy was the reminder of what he left behind. Before Roivas and Help3r. Before Home. She had gone missing for a little over a month now. And Envoy had no idea where she was. That's probably why he started asking Sunni to call out to her. Because the only other person who could understand Lucy was the one person who could talk to animals.

Sunni took a deep sigh, stopped and turned around. "I'm sorry Envoy. If I hear or see anything I'll let you know."

"Yeah, sure." Envoy snarked. And he walked off.

***

That evening the trio had come back from their trip with a treat. Snorlax had found a temp job with the Five Guys in town. It was the only eatery nearby so it was pretty popular. Snor's help was welcome and as payment he got enough food for everyone to have dinner with. When they got there it required a bit of reheating but everyone was welcome for something other than canned food. 

The night brought darkness and with that, the groups fear of being attacked. Instead of using fire, Natti would make little light balls that would float around camp. Luckilly tonight the moon was full. So it was as if someone had put a giant floodlight on the forest. It made it easier to see everything including what may be out in the woods.

As everyone ate, Xil took a bag of food up to Natti. She had taken an almost permanent residence on top of a lookout tower CJ had drawn for her. It reached high up into the treetops. Just beyond the leaves. Enough room for her to lay down during the day, and keep watch at night. 

"How are you doing Natti?" Xil asked.

"I'm better now. A hamburger and fries!? What a treat." Natti exclaimed.

"You can thank Snor for that." Xil answered. "So, I heard you haven't seen anything since we got here."

Natti answered with a full mouth. "Not a thing." She swallowed. "It's like we're the only ones who know or care that we are out here."

"Not even a drone or doll?" Xil continued.

"I think Help3r has his hands full. At least that's what I hear." Natti took another big bite out of the burger.

"That's what everyone is saying. If it's true, I don't think I want to know what Mesay is going though." Xil admitted.

"Me either." Natti stopped chewing and peered into the dark forest. She could see some faint light coming from a ways away. "Do you see that?" She asked Xil.

The light seemed to be making some noise as well. Sounded like a bunch of people. "Yeah, I can hear them too. Their making plenty of noise." Xil said.

"If they're locals then we need to get them away from camp. If they're dolls...." Natti said.

Xil took that as her cue and quickly shapeshifted into a hawk and flew down to the camp. She cried out and that got the attention of everyone. Any of the games or talk that had gone on instantly stopped. They all took their various positions hiding while Chula, Xil, Joie and Chewie  went on to investigate. 

They passed the holographic dome that concealed the camp from normal eyes and moved quietly toward the growing noise. Whatever they were, they didn't mind being loud. The noise became more apparent as voices. People's voices. Clearly they weren't dolls but that didn't mean they were friends. Chewie signaled to the others to spread out and allow the people to come to them. 

As they waited, the footsteps got closer. The voices got louder. And each person was ready to attack. Chewie drew his sword and stood by behind a rock. He listened closely until they were right beside him. Then sprung out yelling. On the other side the man in the head of the group screamed and fell back. Bumping into the others and knocking two others to the side. The fourth just stood there as Chula, Joie and Xil as a wolf cornered the other exits.

"Good lord Chewie! You nearly scared the piss out of me you Celtic twit!" Tiq exclaimed.

"What?" Chewie asked.

"Tiq! you knocked us over!" Pink yelled.

"Oww...", frequency said rubbing her shoulder.

"Joie?" Andre said from the back. 

He looked on and saw what looked like his girlfriend. But she was all hunched over with wild eyes. She looked like their cat. Ready to pounce. When Joie realized who was in front of her, that's exactly what she did.

Joie leaped over and into Andre's arms. It almost knocked him back. She squealed and said unintelligible things while squishing her face into his shirt. Andre hugged her back. 

"Wow. I wasn't expecting this at all." He said.

"Wait. Are you all butterflies?" Chewie asked. 

"I'm not." Frequency raised her hand.

"Me either" Andre hollered while still holding Joie. 

"You're not?" Joie repeated. 

"Joie? What are you saying?" Andre asked.

"You two won't be able to understand them. You're not butterflies yet." Chewie explained. Chula,  and Xil walked closer to them. Xil transformed back into herself at the shock of the four newbies.

"What the hell?!" Tiq exclaimed again.

"She has the ability to transform into any animal. You guys have them too. You just don't know what they are yet." Chewie continued. "Come on, lets get you guys back to camp." He silently cursed himself as turned to walk back. Even debuttered he was still finding lost lambs. 

When they arrived back at camp, Xil gave the all clear. Everyone emerged to see four new faces. There were many hugs and some mild confusion over basic discussion. Dox walked over to Chewie during the greetings.

"So, new people huh?" Dox offered.

"Looks like it." Chewie answered.

"I guess this means it's not over yet." Dox continued.

"Not by a long shot. But we knew that." Chewie responded. "Apparently Roivas has more in store for us. Though I'm afraid to imagine what that could be."