#mindtrapped chapter five

[bee-snail]

I've brought a sneak peek of chapter 12 of Moonrise mwahaha. Maybe I'll change it. Maybe not. I like it, but I am very brain-fried at the moment so hahahe

[...]

"So... you were planning to use a super powerful, potentially super dangerous talisman on Hector, to control his mind without even knowing if he'll survive it?"

Edmund glares. "I don't think he'd survive either way. Unless Adira miraculously succeeds in convincing him to drop the Moonstone, the Mindtrap is his best chance of survival. Surely you see my point, son?"

Eugene is visibly taken aback. Really? That was his view on things?

"Listen to me, Edmund." Eugene snarls. "You don't know the risks of that thing and by the sound of it, using it on Hector will kill him. Your inaction on me has made me a thief, not a murderer. I'm not gonna sit here and let you treat a person like they're some puppet—"

"But your inaction will make you a murderer either way, because there is no way Hector will drop the Moonstone until he dies holding it."

Eugene hesitates, but quickly regains his resolve. "Hector really wouldn't let go of the Moonstone. But that wouldn't make me a killer, because I didn't make him grab it, nor did I order him to keep it. Letting you use that talisman on him though? That would be inaction. That would be me enabling you to attempt murder on him—"

"He tried to murder me!" Edmund yells.

"Then don't stoop down to his level!" Eugene yells back. "Stop acting like mind control or murder or war or any of that is going to fix anything! Stop acting like a heartless bastard and use your head! I don't want to lose my family! I don't want to lose my only fucking family when I just found out I had one!"

Edmund freezes at his outburst. Eugene stares at him just long enough for him to see the tears he tried to blink away. He then shakes his head, wipes off his unshed tears, turns on his heel and leaves.

Edmund reaches out for him and almost asks him to wait, but quickly pulls his hand back. Hor—no, no. Eugene needed space.

But as reality slowly downs on top of him… hadn't twenty-five years been enough time for space?

[gt-fluffy-vore]

Mindtrapped Chapter five: White Pain

Sanders Sides fanfiction

Warnings: Open talk of blood, blood transfusions, severe pain, angst but when is there not, self harm technically?

3183

Virgil forced his eyes open and immediately re-shut them against the excruciating pain. The first type of pain he felt was the stabbing, then came the throbbing, then the white-hot pain sunk in, and he didn't even try to hold back a scream. He clutched at the source of the pain and cried, and then suddenly something was holding his hands down.

"You can not disrupt the process or it may not take correctly." He forced his eyes open and there stood Logan, who was holding his wrists down, and Patton standing behind him chewing on one thumb nail. On a table in the back corner, there was a wet cat Roman with a couple of red stains in his fur. Virgil groaned against the pain and kept crying, struggling weakly against Logan’s grasp.

“Hey, it’s alright. Slow down a bit there, kiddo. Logan’s got you. You’re alright. I know it hurts, but it’ll heal better if you don’t touch it. Alright? Can you hear me? AngelStorm?”

“I hear you.” His voice squeaked with tears. “Wh-What happened?”

“You don’t remember?”

“It is not uncommon to temporarily or even permanently lose memories of traumatic events. But to answer your question, Virgil, you mishandled a kitchen knife and severed your left pedipalp as well as cut your upper chest. You… are you aware of what the death curl is?”

“Like what spiders do when they’re super hurt? Yeah?”

“You had partaken such a position when I arrived. We performed a skin graft on the inflicted area, but the wound has yet to accept the new skin. Until it does the process must not be interrupted.” Virgil slowly lifted a hand to the severed pedipalp and froze. His face went pale.

“You’re not lookin’ too great. Ya alright there, AngelStorm?” Virgil glared at him through unceasing tears. “Oh, right, no nicknames. Sorry! But really, how are you feeling?”

“Like garbage. How do you think?”

He hung his head slightly and he slowly sat on a couch nearby. “What hurts the most? You look really tired.”

“Yeah, no shit I’m tired!”

“It is going to take a considerable amount of time for the exhaustion to fade. You lost the majority of the blood in your body. An estimate of seven and a half liters to be precise.”

Virgil winced. “How many liters am I supposed to have?”

“Given your size, I would estimate ten or eleven.”

“Great.” He sighed through gritted teeth and sobbed once against the pain. He almost couldn’t feel the entire left side of his head. Almost. And every time he moved his whole chest burned. After another excruciating shift in position, he let his frustration get the better of him and screamed. “Jeez, how bad did it get?!”

Logan took this as a serious question. “As I previously mentioned, we performed a skin graft on the severed pedipalp. We also stitched the wound on your chest and applied an I.V. for blood transfusion.”

He looked down at one arm, where an I.V. was inserted. “I didn’t even notice that before.” He gasped again as the movement sent a throb of white-hot pain through the left side of his face. “Ow! Damnit!”

“Can’t we give him something for that? Or, I don’t know, get an ice pack?”

Logan nodded, already leaving the room. “Yes, I shall see if we have any morphine.” He returned a moment later with a bag full of a clear fluid, which he began attaching to the  I.V. beside the blood bag. Fifteen minutes later Virgil was asleep.

“That’s good, right? That he fell asleep so fast?”

“Yes. Especially given how much trouble he’s had falling asleep easily in the past. It is best not to disturb him.”

Logan made to leave. “But wait! I can stay here with him, right? As long as I’m quiet?”

“If you wish. And you as well, Roman. I personally find it a rather pointless action, but if you so wish, I simply advise you do everything possible to stay silent and not disturb him. He needs rest if he’s going to recover from this.” With a simple nod, he left.

Roman meowed loudly and left his table to curl up on the couch beside Patton, laying his head on Patton’s leg. “I know. I’m worried too…”

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Virgil forced a few eyes open and stared as the room slowly came into focus. He opened his other eyes and stared. A dull ache had overtaken half of his face and his chest. More than anything he was exhausted. Not tired. Not really. But exhausted. A kind of exhausted more sleep couldn’t help. He looked down at the incredibly oddly shaped medical bed he was on, at the I.V. in his arm, the two bags hanging beside his bed. One was mostly full of clear liquid, the other an empty blood bag. He groaned. His head was pounding and he felt so weak he could barely lift one arm. Then the hunger kicked in, and he realized that despite his many attempts he still hadn’t eaten once today. And of course, now that he had time and wasn’t almost being eaten or being dropped from mid-air or cutting himself open, now he was so weak he couldn’t even move to get himself anything. He moaned loudly and heard a shift beside him. He looked over and there was Patton, still in the same spot on the couch he’d sat down on earlier. Roman, still stuck as a cat apparently, was curled up in his lap asleep. He noticed Roman’s fur was still stained with blood. But more urgently he noticed Patton blinking awake. “Oh! You’re awake!” He was whispering.

Virgil tried to force a smile but decided it wasn’t working between those stupid fangs anyway and gave up. “Yeah. I just woke up. What time is it?”

“Uh…” He glanced around and found a clock in the corner of the room. “Ten forty-five. Oh no!” He had noticed the empty bag and rushed to his feet. He rushed over and grabbed the bag. The I.V. tube was still full, but the bag itself had barely a fourth of an ounce left. He sighed with relief. “Sorry I freaked out a bit. I thought it was empty-empty!” Smiling at Virgil, he stepped over to a cabinet of some kind and pulled out a new blood bag, then stumbled and caught himself against the wall before continuing. He disconnected the old bag and started attaching the new.

“What’s wrong with you?”

“Hm?” Patton looked up from the successfully replaced bag, stared blankly for a few seconds, then shook his head and blinked a few times before finally focussing on Virgil. “Oh, nothing.” He grinned. “Just a bit… tired. Logan said we took more blood from each other than you’re supposed to, but…” He shrugged.

“Oh.” He looked over at the new bag, then noticed movement out of the corner of his eye and looked the other way to see Roman slinking around the doorframe.

Patton noticed too. “Roman, wait! He knows you would have helped too if you could! Please?” After a moment, Roman turned back and curled up in the doorway, hiding his face under a paw. “Logan wouldn’t let him give you any blood. He said it wouldn’t be safe and the amount he could give wouldn’t… make much of a difference.”

“He wanted to?”

“Yeah! We all did. You… you really scared us. We thought… since we can die like this… we thought we’d lost you for good…”

He hung his head. Wow. If that wasn’t comforting… “It was really that bad?”

Patton nodded, tears already threatening to spill over. “Logan was… really scared. He wasn’t acting like it, but I could tell. You scared him — scared all of us — when we found you like that…” He sniffed and wiped his face. “But anyway! Can I get you anything? A blanket? Is the pain back? I could get you an ice pack or something. Or are you hungry? We never finished that-”

Virgil interrupted. “Ugh, yes, I’m starving!”

Patton smiled. A genuine smile. “I’ll be back then. Can you watch him, Roman?” Roman walked over and hopped back up onto the couch. “Thanks, kiddo.” He smiled one last time and left. When he got to the kitchen, Logan was already there, sitting at the table scribbling something down in a notebook. “Oh, Logan! I was just about to go find you in a minute. Virgil’s awake. I just came to make him… something. Got any ideas? We were working on a smoothie when... “

“I had the impression he doesn’t care for sweet foods?”

“He doesn’t. We just couldn’t come up with anything else.”

“Did he express any particular distaste for vegetable juice?”

“Oh. No, we didn’t even think about that.” Logan nodded once and they dumped the blender, rinsed it out, and started gathering ingredients. Once they were satisfied they blended the mixture, poured it into a cup, and grabbed a straw before heading back to the medical room.

Virgil glanced down at Roman, who was staring at him intently. “What?” In answer, Roman hopped over to Virgil’s odd bed and got up on his back legs, balancing against Virgil’s human waist and pawing at him. “What? Do you want something?” Roman shook his head and pawed at the I.V. tubes gently. “What?” Finally, he yowled, bit his own paw, and dragged it across Virgil’s arm, leaving a tiny trail of blood. He pawed at the tubes again. “Oh! The blood thing cause Logan told you no.” Roman nodded. “Why does that matter? I mean, if both of them are… giving me blood, then I don’t need yours too.” Roman gave him no response and instead curled up and tucked his nose under Virgil’s hand. After a while, Roman’s ears perked up and he hopped off the bed as Logan and Patton came into the room.

“Hey, kiddo! Logan helped me make you something so it’s not sweet.”

They both stepped up beside the bed. “Yes, we made vegetable juice. We used apples, carrots, kale, and-” He looked down. Virgil had grabbed the edge of his shirt and was staring him dead on, his other hand lifted just barely, fist clenching and unclenching.

Virgil didn’t even care how humiliating it was that he couldn’t even hold his own cup, he latched onto the straw and didn’t take a second to actually decide if whatever he was drinking tasted good or not; he was so hungry he didn’t stop for air until the cup was empty. Finally gasping for air, he leaned back against part of the bed and closed his eyes. “You really were hungry. Do you want more?” He nodded.

Patton left the room. “Roman, would you mind accompanying Patton while I ask Virgil a few questions? I am… uncomfortable leaving him alone should anything happen.” Roman left. “Virgil, how is your pain at the moment? Is the morphine strong enough?”

He nodded and reopened his eyes. “Yeah, it’s fine. I mean, it still hurts, but barely.”

He nodded. “Ah, I see Patton has replaced the blood bag already.” He stepped over and glanced into the cabinet thing. “As I assumed, that leaves only one left. After the last one, we will have to disconnect the tube altogether and you should be able to replenish your own blood over time. And that brings me to ask, how is your mobility?”

“I can barely move.” He lifted one hand about six inches before dropping it back down weakly. “I mean, I can move my fingers and stuff, but I can’t handle the weight I guess.”

“That is completely normal. With your level of blood loss, I was afraid…” He cleared his throat. “Under normal circumstances that percentage of blood loss would be lethal. I expect you will be unable to move properly for at least a week, maybe longer.”

“A week?! And I’m just supposed to sit here until then?!”

“Yes. I am quite sure Patton would be willing to entertain you and you can be moved to a different room if you wish, to make it less unpleasant.”

Virgil groaned. He liked Patton, he really did, just… a week of nothing but him? Non-stop? And he wouldn’t be able to move right until then? Then, what? He had to ask someone to make him something every time he was hungry? And what would he do when he needed the bathroom if he couldn’t so much as lift an arm by himself?! He sighed and leaned his head back and just then Patton and Roman came back. Patton tried to hold up the cup for him again, but he spoke up. “Wait. Let me try.” He slowly lifted an arm, inching it higher as it shook. It got about halfway there when it fell back and he cursed. “Hey, it’s alright. It’ll get better.”

“No! No, it’s not! It’s not alright! You say it’ll get better and that’s all well and good but what about now?!”

“Well, now you just have to rest. That’s the only way it’ll get better…”

“Rest. I’ve-” He tried to stifle a yawn and failed miserably- “I’ve done that already.”

Logan raised a single eyebrow at him. “And you will do more if you wish to heal properly.”

He groaned in response and after a long moment Patton held the cup up for him. He gripped around the bottom edge with his remaining pedipalp and let Patton hold the top. Now that Virgil actually took the time to taste it, this juice thing actually… wasn’t that bad. When he was finished Patton set the empty cup on a table and flinched when he turned back. Virgil had moved a few of his tarantula legs, which felt impossibly heavy. He felt a pang of guilt at seeing Patton flinch like that. How had he already forgotten that? Patton’s scared of spiders. He knew he couldn’t control it, but he felt like it was his fault. He was the one who had asked Logan to spike his adrenaline in the first place. Actually, that got him thinking… “If I freaked you guys out as much as you said why haven’t you changed?”

Patton gave him an odd look. “I have. You didn’t notice?” He half-turned and wagged a long tail covered in light blue, short fur that was half curled and perked up. Then he sat down and took off his shoes to reveal feet covered in fur.

“As have I.” Logan sat down as well and removed both shoes. A set of talons replaced what used to be human feet.

“The only one who hasn’t changed is Roman…”

“If my hypothesis is correct, however, animal shifts are less likely to change.”

“That… actually makes sense now that I think about it. I mean, it doesn’t make sense, but I C-A-T the connection!”

Virgil put on a poorly-executed smirk and Logan held back a snort and quickly changed the subject. “Virgil, have you regained any memories of the incident that caused this?”

He shook his head. “I remember right before it, and I think I remember someone… Patton I think… someone running off super worked up? But that’s it. It’s nothing to be excited about.”

“Well, that’s plenty to be excited about! You’re starting to remember something! Even just a bit is good, right?”

“If he wishes to regain said memories, yes. Even the smallest amount of progress is progress. I would not suggest dwelling on the subject until you are in a better state of health, however.”

“That might be easier if someone wasn’t forcing me to sit here and watch the wall.”

“Well let’s get you distracted then! What could we do… Oh! Oh! I just got the best idea! We should have a movie night! We haven’t had one of those since we’ve been stuck here!”

“That… is a considerable idea.”

Virgil answered with a shrug. “Whatever, just not Frozen again.”

Roman jumped up enthusiastically and puffed out his chest with a yowl. “Well, it’s decided then! Me and Roman will go pick out snacks and choose a movie and you can wheel Virgil’s bed into the living room!” With a grin, he jumped up and left the room, Roman right behind him. Logan shook his head and strapped the I.V. pole to the side of the bed before stepping behind it and starting to wheel it into the hall.

“Alright, first we gotta pick a movie.” They stopped in front of the movie shelf. “Got any in mind?” Roman nodded and hopped onto a partially empty shelf to knock a case off. “Oh? I thought you didn’t like that one.” He hopped back down and hissed at the case to assure him that no, he did not like it. Then he hopped over and tucked his head under a blanket, then grabbed it with his claws and pulled it in tight, so it sat on his head like a hood. He put his ears flat and hissed, and hung his head low. Finally, Patton understood. “Oh! You wanna watch it for Virgil!” He nodded. “Aww! That’s so sweet!” Roman jumped out from under the blanket and hissed, pawing at him, then sat down and perked his ears and tail defiantly. “Alright, alright, fine.  It’s noble. Is that better?” Roman nodded once and pawed at the case again. “Alright, I’m goin’.” He turned on the TV and the disc player, then slid the disc in and closed the disc drive. “Now let’s go get the snacks while it loads!”

They returned a moment later, just after Logan had gotten Virgil’s bed situated beside the couch. “We’re… we’re watching The Nightmare Before Christmas?”

“I too am confused by this. Is this movie not one of your least favorites, Roman?”

Roman turned his head away and Patton giggled. “He chose it ‘cause he knows Virgil likes it.”

“You chose a movie… you don’t like… for me? Well, now I’ve seen it all.”

Roman hissed and turned away from him indignantly. “Aw, Roman, he didn’t mean it. He meant to say thank you, right Virgil?”

“Yeah, fine, okay. Thanks.”

“See? Now come on!” Patton moved over to the couch and sat on the side closest to Virgil’s bed, then dumped the mound of snacks he’d brought. “Oh, Virgil. I didn’t know what you’d want but since you liked the stuff me and Logan made earlier, I thought maybe…?” He held out a large bottle of some kind filled with something orange. It had a collapsible straw built into the lid. “It’s carrot juice! And I got you a cup with a lid so you can try to hold it yourself if you wanted.”

Virgil reached out a shaky hand and gripped the bottle tight. After setting it down in front of him, he turned to Patton and hoped that he could tell he was trying to smile. “Uh… thanks.”

“Is everyone settled?” At their nods, Logan picked up the remote and hit play.

[gt-fluffy-vore]

Mindtrapped Chapter three: Wings

Sanders Sides fanfiction

Warnings: Mention of death, mention of suicide, GT, panic attack, fear

3547 words

Logan rushed to the kitchen, Roman in tow. That was definitely a scream. And it was definitely not Virgil. What could have happened? He thought they were just getting something to eat! What could have gone wrong? He froze in the kitchen doorway. That wasn’t good. Patton rarely let himself act so upset around anyone else. And… He watched for a moment, perplexed, then finally shook himself to his senses and stepped forwards. “What on earth is going on here?!”

Patton looked over at him and let out a sob, dropping his face into his hands. “Logan! I-I’m sorry! I’m so sorry, I… I wasn’t watching, I just-! I’m so sorry…”

Logan was shocked silent, but Roman was already moving. He leaped up onto the counter, then leaned his furry head against the underside of Patton’s chin before sitting down and meowing loudly, head turned to one side in question. Patton sniffled and wiped his eyes again. “Thanks, kiddo. I-I’m sorry, I just… I’m not even the one who really needs comforting right now…”

A very tear-filled explanation later, Logan was pacing in front of the counter, slowly shaking his head. “So what you are telling me is that you, Virgil, found yourself trapped inside of Patton’s bowl… And Patton, you were starting to take a bite of your meal, and you didn’t notice Virgil… in your spoon… and… you almost… ate him?” Patton nodded, trying desperately not to start sobbing again, and Logan groaned and ran a hand over his face. “Oh, what would Thomas say…?” He noticed Roman laying on the floor, head on the tile, paws pressing his ears flat. What a vote of confidence. He took a deep breath and returned his attention to Patton and Virgil. Forget what Thomas would say. Thomas wasn’t here. “What seems the most crucial to me at this moment is to be aware if you are of sound mind, Virgil. Are you able to speak to me?”

Virgil’s tiny form shifted, so he knew he’d heard him, but he still wasn’t speaking. His body was shaking violently and he could see if not hear that he was breathing much too heavy, and much too strained. But he wasn’t tense. He was limp, heading lolled on its side, and Logan realized too late that he was about to pass out. “Virgil!” He sighed in frustration.

“What happened?! I-Is he okay?! Did I hurt him?!”

Logan sighed again and reached past Patton to gently pick up Virgil’s unconscious form and lift it up to examine it further. “No, he doesn’t appear to be physically harmed in any way. He very likely passed out from sheer terror.”

Patton clasped both hands over his mouth and started crying again, and Logan knew he’d made a mistake. Shouldn’t have said that. “He passed out from terror?! And… and I did that?!”

“U-Unintentionally…”

Patton cried out and Logan desperately wished Roman wasn’t currently stuck being a cat. He was very much not good at all of this emotional stuff. Roman would fair so much better in his place. “I’m s-so sor-ry!” As soon as Patton spoke, he lept off his chair, breaking into sobs, and ran from the kitchen.

“Patton, please!” But it was too late — he was gone. Sighing, Logan spoke miserably to Roman before leaving the room as well. “I apologize, Roman, it appears your predicament will have to wait…” Normally, he would have gone to the lab to wait for Virgil to wake up, but he didn’t want to be disturbed right now, so he went to his bedroom and locked the door behind him. He carefully set Virgil on his personal desk, then collapsed onto his bed and slipped his shirt off, letting a ginormous pair of golden brown wings unfold. He noticed he had feathers spotting down his side and could assume his back had a thin layer of feathers as well. At least it was just the wings and some feathers. The other three sides had been experiencing a number of different types of unwilling morphs and changes, most common being size difference or the occasional turning into some kind of animal. For some reason, he had not been experiencing the same things. He had been experiencing changes he could not control, but never did his size change, and never did he turn back after merely a single day or a few hours as the others always did. On top of that, adrenaline had no effect on him whatsoever. He had purposefully raised his adrenaline levels many times, but could never force a change. And he only ever gained aspects of one species, of one type of animal. A barn owl. The first change merely covered his back and the back of his neck with feathers, and that lasted three days before not changing him back to his normal self, but turning completely into a barn owl, which lasted five days. He managed to keep himself hidden from the others for the first two days of that. He knew these changes did not match what the others had been experiencing, and he did not want them to start worrying about him because of this. But on the third morning, he had taken a risk and left his bedroom, sneaking through the halls to the thousand-foot room. He needed a change of scenery and was admittedly getting stressed about how long it would take him to turn back. And he had been so distracted that hadn’t even noticed Virgil walk up beside him. Looking back on it, it was completely his fault he had been discovered. Still he hadn’t been expected to be found. He had gotten a little bit flustered and snapped at Virgil’s pant leg and accidentally left a hole in it in the process, but it was enough to convince him to follow him back to his bedroom, where he opened his computer and typed out an explanation. Since then Virgil had been helping him hide this secret he’d found, and had been admittedly kind about it. But he still hadn’t told the others. He wasn’t sure if he wanted Roman or Patton worrying about him, plus telling them would only provide them with more questions and fewer answers. So he kept it hidden. He groaned slightly as he stretched out his wings and rolled the added set of shoulder blades they gave him. It made them increasingly sore to be shoved and squished beneath his shirt all day. That was not the only thing he disliked about them either. For one, the casings of each feather kept falling off in his shirt, which was extremely itchy, and on his bed, which was just a mess and a nuisance to have to re-clean every morning. After the fifth day of being a barn owl, he turned back to normal and was like that for a few days before gaining these wings a week and a half ago. They clearly still had not changed, and he was beginning to wonder if they were going to become permanent. Sighing again, he leaned back against the wall and felt his eyelids dropping. He'd found that now that they all had bodily functions and needs he got tired very easily, more so than any of the others. He shook his head hard. He wanted to be awake when Virgil woke up. A few minutes later he noticed his eyes had closed and shook himself again. He sat up straighter and stared intently at Virgil, shaking his wings a bit. It felt good to move them, after having to cramp them under his shirt all day. He tried to focus on his wings, stretching them out and folding them again repeatedly to try and work out the cramps. But it didn't work. A few minutes later he found himself leaning against the wall again, eyes closed and head leaning to one side. He shook himself. This was starting to work less and less. In mere seconds he was half asleep again. Soon he had turned and laid down on his stomach. If he was going to fall asleep anyway, he might as well be comfortable.

Virgil groaned. Immediately he noticed how sore he was. He felt like he'd just fallen off a small cliff. Then he started to remember. He gasped and curled in on himself, heart racing madly. Where was he? Where was he?! What happened? Why was it dark outside? How long had he been out? He stared at the dark window, trying to remember how to breathe. Okay. Okay. Breathe. Where was he? He took a deep, shaky breath and looked around. He immediately knew exactly where he was. Logan was sprawled out on his bed, one wing hanging over the edge and the other tucked against him. Now came the question of why? Why was he in Logan's bedroom? When had he gotten here? And how? Suddenly his stomach dropped. Logan had carried him, hadn't he? Logan carried him here. Probably in his hands. He tried and failed to breathe as his mind forced him through one worst-case scenario after another. No, but he was fine. He wasn't hurt, aside from when Patton had dropped him on the counter. Nothing bad had happened. Of course nothing bad had happened. Logan was careful and well-thought-out and he had the most stable hands out of all of them. Of course he was fine. Right now. But what happened when Logan woke up? What was he going to do? He had brought him to his bedroom, but why? His heart skipped a beat. Had he decided they didn’t trust him anymore? Did he somehow think this whole mess they were in was his fault? And if they did? If they did somehow think this was his fault? If they thought it was his fault they were all stuck here? Unable to control their powers and having to deal with real-world functions? In essence, being humans? If they all thought it was his fault, what would they do? What would they do to him? Were they going to force him to fix it? He had no idea how to fix this! Because he didn’t do this! And when he told them that, would they get angry, if they weren’t already? Were they angry? Were they mad at him already? Did they all think it was his fault or just Logan? Had Logan told the others he didn’t trust him? Was it because he knew about his wings? Was he afraid he would tell the others about his wings? Or was it something else entirely? Had he ever trusted him? Or had he been pretending? Had any of them ever trusted him? Had they just been pretending for the videos? Now that he thought about it, he never visited any of their rooms. He never saw them except for the videos. They had all been pretending this whole time, hadn’t they?! And he actually thought they’d accepted him! He never thought they saw him as an equal, except maybe Patton, but he’d actually let himself think they didn’t hate him! Why wouldn’t they hate him? He never ceased to take his work way too far and always ended up just stressing Thomas out and making his day worse. How could he have let himself think any of them didn’t hate his guts?! Of course they did! And if they thought he was the reason they’re all stuck here like this, then what now?! What were they going to do to him when he told them he couldn’t fix this? Would they torture him?! His face dropped and his whole body seemed to pale. Were they going to get rid of him? How were they going to do it? Was it even possible to kill them, since they were all just figments of Thomas’s imagination? Except right now… now they could get hurt and they had to wait to heal just like any human. Virgil’s throat felt eight times too tight as he barely managed to force sharp, painful gasps out. He could feel each half-gasp tearing at his throat and the sort-of gasps were so loud in the silence he wanted to rip out his voice box, anything to just shut up for two minutes. If they killed him like this, he would probably never come back. He would die. Actually die. He’d never been able to actually die before now.  That was never something he had to think about, but now… now… he could die. He could die. And never come back. Just die. For good. Forever. Like… like a human. Like someone in the real world. Like Thomas. He had always, always been desperately, miserably aware of how easily Thomas could die. If one tiny thing went wrong, that was it. He would just cease to be, and all that would be left would be his body. He had finally managed to half come to terms with that, but now he could die too. He had to do that all over again. Learn that all over again. He couldn’t. He couldn't re-learn how to live. With a mixture somewhere between relief and horror he realized he wouldn’t have to if the others were going to kill him anyway. He wouldn’t have to re-learn anything. He could die now. And stay dead. He wouldn’t be forced back into existence, forced to… live. Living was just… so hard. Suddenly he realized why he used to make Thomas think so highly of death. Why he had spent so many nights during those times just finding new ways to kill himself, regenerating, and doing it again. It just… the idea of dying and never coming back, never regenerating, sounded so… comfortable? Was that the word he was looking for? Maybe, maybe not. He didn’t care. It almost… almost didn’t hurt to breathe when he heard a groan and a loud sort of dull creaking. He looked up, and suddenly his throat was tighter than he thought possible, and every breath rasped out loud and jittery and painful. The bed. The bed had made that sound, and the soft groaning… that was Logan. He was waking up. This was it. He was going to die. He was going to die and never regenerate. Never come back. He was going to die and stay dead, and Logan was going to be the one to kill him. That’s why he was in Logan’s room, he realized. He could lock the door here, and then Patton or Roman wouldn’t have to watch him being killed. He wasn’t sure about Roman, but he knew even if it was someone he hated Patton would probably break if he had to watch Logan kill someone. His thoughts were brought to a halt when Logan slowly stretched his wings out and sat up. He stared silently, trying hard not to blink, still rasping out pathetic attempts at gasps instead of breathing. Logan froze for a moment, then turned to look directly at him. “Virgil. You’re awake.” Then he noticed the window. “I... apologize. I must have fallen asleep. I was intending to be awake when you regained consciousness… Virgil?” After a moment, Logan stood and stepped towards his desk, and Virgil scooted backwards, then stumbled to his feet and ran for the back corner of the desk. “Oh… my…” Realizing that Virgil had run from him, Logan slowly took a few steps back, and Virgil half-turned to look at him. “Virgil, it appears you are… unwell at the moment… Can you hear what I’m saying?” Virgil didn’t answer audibly or even nod, but he shifted immediately, which meant that he had heard him. “Very good. I would like you to listen to me for a moment. Can you do that?” This time Virgil nodded just barely, but his voice was still barely a rasp and Logan was afraid he would pass out again if he continued this way. “I need you to take a deep breath and hold it for as long as you can.” Virgil listened, and held his breath for about half a second before letting it out. “Very good. May you repeat that?” Again, Virgil took in a sharp breath, and held it for nearly a second this time before letting it out. “Good. Continue.” Virgil obeyed. It took nearly twenty minutes of Logan repeatedly coaxing Virgil back into the breathing exercise for Virgil to finally breathe normally. His whole body was still shaking, and he still refused to move at all, but he was breathing again, and that was what mattered. Logan could not risk anything getting too off-balance while they could actually get harmed. Especially when it came to breathing properly. “Virgil.” Not a single movement. “Did the incident with Patton… do this?” Virgil shook his head. “Oh.” He was shocked silent for a moment. He was almost certain that was why he was so upset. Being almost eaten could do that to anybody. “Then might I ask… what is the cause?” No response. He wondered what could possibly be the cause of something so terrible Virgil couldn't breathe. He stepped up to his desk and was perplexed when Virgil squeezed his eyes shut and pulled his hood tightly over his face. Was he… afraid of him? That just didn’t make any sense. “Is there something I have done wrong to you…?”  He shook his head and Logan was surprised to hear him actually verbally respond to him, though he barely heard that he had spoken at all. “Could you repeat that?”

This time it was just loud enough that Logan could understand the words. “Not yet.”

“I don’t understand. Are you saying you believe I’m going to offend you in some way, or…?”

“Just stop it. If you’re just gonna pretend you’re not planning to do an awful lot more than offend me, than just shut up!”

“More than offend you?”

“So we’re just gonna pretend we don’t know what you locked me in here for? I know you didn’t just come in here to hide. I know what you’re gonna do.”

“And what exactly do you believe we are here for?”

“Cut the crap! Just do it already!” He sighed and tried and failed to hold back a loud sob. “How is this gonna go? Are you gonna use a knife? Rope maybe? Chemical burn? I vote you just drop me and get it over with.”

“Virgil, I truly don’t understand what you are talking about.” Virgil had never seen Logan so confused before. And in an instant, he wasn’t confused at all. Virgil saw the change the second Logan seemed to realize what was going on. He had never seen Logan emotional before, but now his face clearly displayed both offense and sorrow. “Knife, rope, dropping you, you thought I brought you to my bedroom to… Virgil!”

“You’re…” He slowly turned around but refused to loosen his hood, which covered more than half his face. “You’re… not gonna kill me?”

“Of course not! What could there possibly be to be gained by us losing you, especially at an already stressful time?!”

“But I thought you guys hated me…”

“Have we not concluded this in a number of the videos?”

“Well, yeah, but… those are the videos. That’s different. I didn’t think you guys actually… you know, meant any of that. Wasn’t that whole thing just a ploy to get more viewers…?”

Logan looked more offended than he’d been in a long time. “I am… truly disturbed that you would even begin to think… you assumed that we’d been lying to you this entire time?”

“No? I just thought it was like a generally understood thing. We never talk outside of the videos so it’s not like I knew what you guys acted like around me when there wasn’t a camera. I thought it was like a mutual agreement sort of thing.”

“You simply assumed that we disliked you? Why did you not speak to one of us before making this conclusion?”

“If I brought it up in one of the videos I’d just end up ruining the whole thing. I thought you guys already hated me, so I didn’t wanna mess up the video and make it worse.”

“And you never came to our rooms to speak to us why?”

“I thought you hated me! I wasn’t gonna let myself right in just to be yelled at or something.”

Logan sighed. “I simply wish you had let one of us know so we could have taken care of this misinterpretation before you assumed… why did you think I was going to be the one to… to do it?”

He shrugged. “Woke up in your room. Besides, I don’t think Patton could kill anything, even if he did hate it, and Roman… I don’t know, he’s capable… but I guess you just seem… better equipped for it? You don’t get emotional like he does. I don’t know…” He shrugged and tucked his knees against himself.

“I suppose that is… reasonable… I am still disappointed that you didn’t come to one of us first…”

“Well, it wasn’t your decision, was it?”

Logan huffed angrily, but answered calmly anyway. “I suppose it wasn’t.”

[gt-fluffy-vore]

Mindtrapped Chapter four: Pedipalps

Sanders Sides fanfiction

Warnings: Blood, severe blood loss, accidental self harm, spider transformation, fear, drider transformation, tricking people into being afraid, severed appendage

3880 words

It was nearly twenty minutes before either of them did anything but stare at the floor. Logan cleared his throat awkwardly. “I am going to find myself sustenance. Would you like to leave or remain here?”

“Uh, I’d rather not be down and… underfoot…”

“Ah. Of course.” He nodded once and began tucking the tips of his wings into the waist of his pants. After forcing his shirt back on over his wings he left without a word. Roman and Patton must have both been asleep at this hour. Even if they weren’t asleep he didn’t encounter them. When he had sat down with his meal a thought suddenly occurred to him. When Virgil and Patton had left the lab, they had been going to eat. And then the whole situation with Virgil and the spoon had happened, then… He glanced over at the countertop and his suspicions were confirmed. Neither Virgil nor Patton had eaten after the incident. Both bowls were still sitting on the counter, exactly as they had been left. He shook his head at the mess, but then again who would have cleaned up? Virgil had been with him and was too small at the time anyway, Roman was… well, Roman was a cat, and Patton was an emotional wreck. Which brought him back to the fact that they were both probably still hungry. Of course, that wasn’t his problem. They could come back and get their own food if they wanted. Oh. Except Virgil couldn’t… He stared at the miniature bowl on the counter as he ate and by the time he was finished taking care of his dishes he had decided he should probably help Virgil. But even if Virgil was still hungry, would he want to eat? Usually, after traumatic events, it was common to lose appetite or even get nauseous. Was that the case? Would he even eat if Logan brought him anything? After a moment of thought, he decided it was worth a shot. So he took care of the bowls on the counter and refilled the smaller one with just a few grains of rice before bringing it back to his room. He carefully slid the tiny bowl and silverware onto his desk, then retreated to his bed with a yawn. He hated these… bodily functions. He had slept already. Probably not long enough maybe but he shouldn’t be tired again already. He took a deep breath and slipped his shirt back off, wincing as the action pulled a few feathers out. 

Virgil stared at him as he untucked the tips of his wings from the back of his pants and began stretching them out and re-folding them repeatedly. “Sore again?”

“Ah. Yes.” He stood and collected the feathers that had been pulled, tossing them in a nearby trash can. “I wish I knew what the cause of this is…”

“We all do.” He simply nodded in response. “Ya know how you messed with Patton’s adrenaline or whatever and it changed him back?”

He hesitated. “Yes?”

“Could you do that again? Try to fix me?”

“It is likely that raising your adrenaline levels would merely shrink you further or cause a different unsatisfactory result…”

“I know.” He hung his head. That was exactly the problem. He knew. He knew it could just mess him up further, but if by chance it didn’t… if there was a chance it could return him to normal… “I want to risk it.”

After a long moment, Logan sighed and nodded. “Under the condition that you remember that you are the one who requested this.”

“Yeah, I know. It’s not your fault when it goes wrong.” At the odd look Logan gave him, he corrected himself. “If… it goes wrong.” Logan nodded again and reached out for him. He flinched back but let himself be picked up by the hood of his shirt, clinging to the rim so he wouldn’t fall out. Already his heart was racing. He had to stop himself from telling himself to calm down — this was why he was doing this. He looked around and realized he was hanging above Logan’s head, which was tipped back mouth held open. He could have sworn his heart stopped for a second, but before he could react he was airborne. He let out an involuntary scream and squeezed his eyes shut. Then he landed… on something hard? He forced two of his eyes open and realized he was on the floor. And he was normally sized! It worked! He opened his other six eyes and sighed around… what was that? There were two small appendages growing from the corners of his mouth. He shook his head and tried to focus on breathing.

“Virgil. I need you to take a deep breath and hold it for as long as you can.” He nodded and obeyed. “Good. Repeat that.” He obeyed again and kept repeating the process until he found he didn’t have to force it and finally he stopped and let himself breathe normally.

Virgil had to force himself to talk, and when he did his voice sounded odd. “Thanks.” It whistled out as if there wasn’t enough space to get the words past his lips. To test it he tried to stick his tongue out and realized there was barely enough space to do so. The new appendages on his mouth blocked the use of most of his lips, leaving just enough space for a single finger to fit between. He reached up and shoved a finger sideways into the tiny space, then reached around the appendages and his fingers bumped into something else. Something long and furry. He stretched out the new appendages, then held his arm out and realized at full length they reached just behind his wrists. He shifted his jaw and watched the new appendages shift with it — they were growing from the back of his jaw, just below and in front of his ears. Taking a deep breath and realizing it was impossibly difficult, he let the appendages rest, half curling, the tips resting against his chest. Then finally feeling started coming to his new limbs and his face went pale. 

“Virgil?” He ignored him and burst out of the room. He didn’t stop running until he ran right through the open bathroom doorway and was met with a shriek. The fact that the door was already open should have been a red light in itself. He shot straight to the mirror, ignoring the figure pressed against the back corner of the shower in an attempt to get away. His stomach dropped. From the waist up was generally human, if you didn’t count the fangs and whatever those other appendages were on his face, not to mention the eight shiny eyes scattered across his face, and the fur. But if you didn’t count any of those things, his top half was for the most part completely human. But his bottom half… He was sure Thomas had seen something like this before… what was the word for it again? Whatever. He had the bottom half of a humongous tarantula. He was so overly long and wide, in fact, that he barely fit in the bathroom comfortably. He stared at himself in the mirror. No, no, no! This wasn’t happening! What was he?! His hands shot to his hair and he grabbed it in handfuls. This was temporary. All the changes were. They were always temporary. But how long would this last? Logan had had his wings for over a week now and they still hadn’t changed! Oh, no! Would he ever be normal again? And if he wasn’t? If he was stuck like this forever? What would the others think? What would they think of him? No, no, no! What would Thomas think of him?! And even if he did change back? Logan had already seen him like this! And when the others saw him? He stumbled backward towards the door and heard a small whimper. He looked to the back corner of the bathroom, where someone was pressed into the wall of the shower. Where Patton was pressed into the wall of the shower. He shook his head, remembering how he’d reacted to the simple cartoony images on his curtains last time they had been in his room. No, no, no! He turned and ran out the door, but was stopped when he ran right into someone. Logan. He’d followed him. Why did he follow him?! No no no no no! He turned around and ran down the hallway, not to anywhere in particular. Just away. “Virgil!” Logan sighed.

“Th-That… that was V-Virgil?!”

Logan whipped his head around. Patton was slowly stepping closer to the doorway. No, his wings! He forgot to hide his wings. He would have made a run for it but by the expression on Patton’s face he had already seen them. He sighed. “Yes, it was.”

“And I freaked out like that, I gotta go apologize!”

Logan stopped him before he could leave. “Let him stay alone.”

“Did I do that? Was that because I scared him so bad? This is all my fault, isn’t it?!”

“No. That shift was not because of how you scared him… It was caused by me scaring him. He asked me to raise his adrenaline levels in order to cause an involuntary shift. I warned him of the consequences…”

“But he still wanted you to try.” Logan nodded and subconsciously fluffed up his wings. “When did those show up?” 

Logan was confused for a moment before he remembered his wings. “Yes, these… They… they appeared precisely one week and four days ago. Or given the time I suppose five days."

"What?! But the changes don't last that long!"

"They do for me."

"And… and how did you hide it this long? And why?" He whispered the last words and Logan could hear the tears building in his voice.

"I… I saw no reason to worry you with my problems. You all have been experiencing your own involuntary shifts. You had no reason to concern yourselves with my own experiences as well."

For a long time, neither of them spoke. Then Patton spoke up, glancing down the hallway Virgil had run down. "Are you sure we can't just go see him? Make sure he's alright?"

"Are you sure you want to?"

Patton fell silent, staring down the hallway. "I mean, I want to go apologize to Virgil, but…"

Logan nodded in understanding. "Both of you need time." Patton nodded, still looking solemn. “If you would like I could check on his wellbeing in your stead?”

“Aw, really?” Patton pulled him into a quick hug. “Thanks, Logan!”

Logan cleared his throat awkwardly. “I will be leaving then.” He nodded once and turned down the hall. He went straight to Virgil’s assigned bedroom and knocked once. No answer. “Virgil?” He was about to turn and go search somewhere else when he finally got a response. It wasn’t even a word. It was a muffled, whistling grumble. But a response. “Patton sent me.” He waited for a moment, no response. “He wants to apologize. He also sent me to check if you are well.”

“Well you can tell him no, I’m not. Why would I be? Half of me’s a freakin tarantula!” His voice sounded odd as if he were talking through something, but Logan could hear his voice right on the other side of the door. After a moment he realized those fangs must be constricting the use of some of his mouth.

“May I come in?”

“Why? So you can laugh at me and leave? I know it’s my own fault, you don’t have to tell me.”

“I don’t want to tell you whose fault it is, I simply wish to see you. I may be of some assistance.”

“With what? What is it exactly you think I can’t do on my own?”

“Based on my limited information, eating.”

He heard a muffled curse. “Fine.” A lock clicked and the door swung open. Virgil threw up his arms miserably. “Well?”

“Firstly, did you have any particular questions before I explain anything in detail?”

“Actually, yeah. What the heck are these?” He gestured to the long, furry appendages growing from the back of his jaw.

“Ah. Those are called pedipalps.”

“And what are they for…?”

“They are used to hold prey still while the spiders suck out their victim’s insides.”

“While they what?!”

“That is how spiders eat… Spiders do not contain teeth of any kind so they are incapable of chewing their food.”

Virgil groaned, rubbing a hand over his many eyes. “Oh, great…”

“I assumed you would have known that much.”

“Why would I know?! I get I’m creepy, but jeez! I like spiders, but I’m not obsessed.”

“I apologize. I only assumed because of the decorations we witnessed when we visited your room.”

“Yeah, whatever… So what? I’m supposed to be sucking out the insides of random beetles now or something? Honestly, I would rather starve.”

“Not necessarily. You are still partly humanoid. You will likely have to make yourself protein shakes or something of the likes which is drinkable because of the restricted movement of your lips.”

He shrugged miserably. “Better than beetles I guess…”

“What would you like to discuss first?”

“Like? Nothing.”

Logan blinked in confusion. “You don’t want to know more about your new form?”

“Well yeah, I wanna know more, obviously! I just…” He shrugged.

“You ‘just’ what?”

He shrugged again. “I don’t want to talk about it. About this.” He gestured to himself. “I’ll talk about it, just… later. Alright? I’m gonna go find something to… drink, I guess.” 

Logan watched him leave, then slowly left behind him and closed the door. He went back to the hallway in front of the bathroom, where Patton sprung off the floor. “Is he okay?”

“Physically he appears well. Mentally… less so, but there does not appear to be any serious faults.”

“What do you mean ‘less so’? How less?”

“He is stressed, reasonably. This newest shift allows him very minimal use of his lips. He is unable to eat any normal sustenance. He only has enough use allowed to drink.”

“So he can’t eat anything at all?”

“Not until another shift alters his form, no.”

“Well can’t we just go cause another shift? Wouldn’t anything be better than that?”

“In my opinion, no. There are innumerable outcomes worse than what has occurred already. So if you are going to cause Virgil another shift, then I will not attempt to stop you. However, I refuse to assist. My… assistance has done enough harm already.”

“You were just trying to help.”

“I am aware of what I was attempting. And you are well aware of what came of it. If you would like to speak to Virgil I assume he is in the kitchen at the moment.” He fluffed up his wings nervously, then nodded once and walked away.

Patton hung his head in the silence. What else could possibly go wrong? When he got to the kitchen that question was answered for him. There was something spilled across the counter where Virgil had clearly been trying to make something in the blender. Virgil was currently standing near the counter, slowly inching away from it as Roman stood still in cat form on the counter beside the spill, hissing and clawing at Virgil as best he could. “What’s going on?!” They both froze and turned to look at him, and he couldn’t help but flinch at Virgil’s new form. “What happened?”

“Ask him,” Virgil growled, the sound coming out as more of a muffled blow. Roman hissed again and pawed at Virgil, then pawed gently at his tail and hissed again. “I don’t know what that means!”

“Hold on, I might… You’re saying something about your tail, right? Oh, that’s so fun to say!” Ignoring his last comment, Roman nodded, pawing at Virgil. “Did Virgil do something?” He nodded again and pawed at his tail. “He did something to your tail?” Another nod. “Well, what did he do?” Roman stomped a paw down violently, then gestured to his tail again and let out a whine. “He… stepped on it?” Roman nodded vigorously, then stomped a paw down four times in quick succession and yowled angrily. “Four times?” He nodded and hissed at Virgil again. “Well, that explains it! Virgil probably didn’t even know he did it, right kiddo?”

Virgil shook his head quickly. “I didn’t even feel anything! Then again…” He looked down at his legs. Would he have? He thought spiders’ legs were supposed to be pretty sensitive, but at the moment he still couldn’t feel most of his lower half.

“Then neither of you meant it! Virgil didn’t know he stepped on your tail at all and you were just acting out of pain a bit, right? So no one’s at fault!” Virgil could argue that Roman was definitely at fault for overreacting like that, but he kept quiet. Roman nodded silently and hung his head. After an awkward moment, Patton stepped around Virgil, maybe a little too far around, and grabbed a towel. He handed it to Virgil then grabbed himself one and forced himself to step just a little bit closer to start wiping up whatever was spilled everywhere. Virgil took a step forwards and began wiping off the counter, careful to try and keep his tarantula half still. He could tell Patton was tense. He was clearly trying not to be afraid of him, but he was, and they both knew it. “What were you making?”

“Does it matter…?”

“Oh… I guess not. I was gonna get some stuff back out for ya!”

“Oh. Sorry. I don’t really know what I was making.” He shrugged. “I’m just hungry.”

“Well, I can help! What about like a protein shake? And now that you mention it, I am too! Oh, right! We never did eat earlier, huh? Sorry about that. Again.”

He smirked as best he could around the fangs. “Could we figure out something with fruit or something at least?”

“Oh, yeah of course! I keep forgetting you don’t like sweet stuff much. Alright, what kinds?”

“Uh…”

“Oh, how about mangoes? Those aren’t always as sweet.” He set down a large can of protein powder and began digging in a basket of various fruits. “Oh, blueberries aren’t that sweet!”

“Uh, sure?” He laid the rag in the sink and began rinsing off the blender cup.

Patton put two small mangos on the counter, then dug in the fridge for blueberries. After setting those down, he turned to Virgil and flinched. “Uh, c-could I have that?” Virgil silently handed over the blender cup. “Thanks. Alright!” Patton clapped his hands together and pasted a smile on his face. “Could you cut the pits out of the mangos?” Virgil nodded and grabbed a knife. Smiling still, Patton filled the blender cup halfway with ice but heard a whistling curse when he turned back to the counter. He gasped as the knife hit the counter. One of the long appendages attached to Virgil’s face was bleeding. He had a first wrapped around it and the appendage was spasming. “Oh, oh, oh! Um… um… Okay, okay, I’m gonna go get some help or something, um… Oh, no, oh no, oh no! Um, okay! I’ll be back!” Patton ran as quickly as he could. “Logan!” He pounded on the locked door. “Logan, it’s Virge! He cut himself! He cut the-” he gestured frantically- “the things of his face!” 

The door opened and they both raced towards the bathroom. “What did he cut?”

“The long-” he gestured again- “things on his face!”

“How deep is the cut?”

“I don’t know!”

“Patton, did he cut it off?!”

“I don’t know! It’s just bleeding really bad!”

Logan cursed under his breath as they rushed back to the kitchen with the supplies. “He must have cut himself off of a break point.” When they reached the kitchen it was clear he cut himself in more spots than one. He was collapsed on the floor, forehead against the counter, each leg peaked and leaning inwards towards his human torso. He was resting in a rapidly growing pool of blood and clearly half unconscious. Roman was on the counter in front of him, his entire front half coated in blood, yowling miserably. The pedipalp that had been cut was bleeding so badly it was hard to tell how far it had been cut, but it was clearly more than halfway. Logan’s entire face went pale.

The death curl.

 “Oh, no. Virgil, no! Can you hear me?! Virgil, you need to stand back up!” He ran over and held his human half off of the counter. “Virgil! Patton, towels!” Patton didn’t move an inch. He was frozen to the spot, crying. “PATTON!”

“O-Okay, okay!” Logan took the first towel and tried to straighten the cut pedipalp, then jumped back in surprise when the entire second half of it fell off into the blood with a splat. Patton sobbed nearby. “We can’t come back like this, can we? He’s gonna die, and he’ll never regenerate! No, no!”

“Patton, if we want him to survive this you need to keep a level head. Firstly, I need a strip of cloth. Then open that first aid box. There is something in there that looks somewhat like a razor. Get that. We will also need a metal contraption that should be with it. Set those aside.” Patton tore a strip off of his shirt and handed it over, and Logan wrapped it around the severed pedipalp above the cut, pulled it as tight as he could, and tied it even tighter. Then he leaned Virgil’s human torso back until it was laying against his tarantula half and gripped a hand around the severed pedipalp, squeezing it as hard as he could. He used his other hand to press a thumb hard against the spot just behind where the pedipalp joined the rest of the scalp. After twenty seconds, finally, the bleeding stopped. “Patton, I need you to untie that fabric.” Patton nodded shakily and forced himself over to Virgil’s arachnid body. His hands shook so bad it took him half a minute to untie the fabric and remove it, and when he did the severed end spurted blood through Logan’s fingers. Patton let out a cry. “That is completely normal. It should stop again in a few seconds.” And in a few seconds, it did. Logan counted two minutes, then slowly removed his thumb, leaving just the hand around the severed end. He counted to four minutes this time before very slowly removing the hand. The wound dribbled for a few seconds before finally stopping. “I need another towel, Patton. A wet towel.” In an instant, he took the towel and began very carefully dabbing the wound clean.” Finally, he stopped and turned to Patton. “Now comes the time we will need to use those tools I asked you to remove earlier.”

Patton was still crying. “What is this one for?”

“That is called a Dermatome. It is a tool used in a surgical process called skin grafting.”