The Silence of a Somber Day

Dandelions in the Breeze

Tempest kept steady eyes on the car that the Cult took. There wasn't anything outstanding about it that set it apart from the rest of the crowd. It was a standard MineCart, the best selling car brand in most of the continents. It was no Elytra, but not everyone could afford a luxury car that expensive, so a MineCart would blend into the crowd better. It was a black color, too, one of the most popular colors and the easiest to blend into the streets.

Tempest switched lanes as he tried catching up to the car. He didn't have a plan in mind. He could try to stop the car to talk some sense into Bad in the middle of the street. A better idea would be to follow them to their base. That would backfire if the base had traps set up around it. Tempest knew how powerful Bad and the Egg could be. Through their combined efforts, Tempest would be walking into a minefield. Tempest would rather keep civilian casualties to a minimum, though, so following them all the way to the base would be the best idea.

The car started to slow down before switching on the blinker. Tempest watched the car pull into a parking lot of a store that was closed for the night. The car parked near the middle as Tempest rolled into the parking lot. All three members of the Cult stepped out of the car as Tempest halted to a stop a few parking spaces down from them.

"Tempest! I am so happy to see you!" Bad clapped his hands together. He gestured towards the feline who growled at Tempest and the man in the white hoodie who looked disinterested. "This is Ant Frost and Punz! They're my new friends! I'm sure you haven't seen them before, so I took this opportunity to introduce you all! Ant, Punz, this is the stupid child who failed the one job he was given!"

"I'm not fucking getting into this shit with you, Bad. I'm taking you back to the Heroes Association," Tempest snapped with a snarl hidden by his mask. Most of the time, Tempest was glad the mask hid his emotions. Moments like these is when Tempest wished that he could show his emotions to the person he was talking to.

"Language, you muffin-head! There is no need to take me to the Heroes Association! We are actually planning on killing you since your blood is immune to the Egg. We can't have that, now can we?" Bad said with an over exaggerated frown. He seemed like a child more times than not. Tempest sometimes wondered how Bad was the Dad of the group.

"I'm smarter than you, and this is why: I know that Bad is somewhere in you. If he wasn't, you wouldn't have this compassion. You would want to torture me for my blood to find a way to counteract the effects. I know what you plan to do, fucking twats. I won't let you succeed," Tempest said as he tapped the side of his head like that was proof.

Bad's face contorted into displeasure before he motioned his hands forward. Tempest ducked to the side as Punz came swinging with a sword that lodged into the ground. Tempest did a back bend over the sword with his legs kicking up to hit Ant in the jaw as he came startling forwards. Tempest gripped the handlebars of the motorcycle to twist his legs to slam against Punz's face. The white hoodie man dodged the strike, grabbing Tempest's legs to throw him across the parking lot. Tempest aimed with his hands for the ground right below them to keep his balance. As Punz released Tempest's legs, the former hero wrapped them around Ant's throat to throw the feline to the ground. He heard an animalistic squeal from Ant as Tempest bashed his head against the ground. Tempest judged the hit right because all that formed on Ant's head was a bump. Maybe a concussion, but definitely no internal bleeding. Ant had merely passed out.

Tempest had a new threat to worry about. Ant was out of commission, but his partners weren't. Tempest was stabbed in the arm while he was checking on Ant. Tempest hissed in pain as he brought out a knife to slice Punz with. He managed to get a small cut on the leg while Punz dodged. Tempest gripped his arm, blood pouring from both sides. He estimated that he had a few minutes before it became a problem.

Tempest launched himself forwards to tackle Punz, but he turned in the air late enough that Punz got confused. He dodged right into Tempest's hold. Tempest grabbed Punz's head to shove his forehead into Tempest's knee. Punz fell to the ground, unconscious, when Tempest released him.

Tempest didn't get time to think when a rune flashed right in front of him. Tempest's eyes widened as he tried getting out of the way, but the explosion sent him flying backwards. Tempest rolled across the parking lot before crashing into the ground. He groaned as he tried lifting himself up. When he was on his hands and knees, Tempest discovered in he was on a glowing blood red rune. Before Tempest could curse, he was shooting straight up in the air. Tempest's back slammed against a rune painted in the sky, and he started free falling towards the ground.

If Tempest had his powers, this wouldn't be a problem, but he was defenseless at the moment. Tempest recalled what he told Fundy about not relying solely on one's powers. Tempest thought this was a bitter way to take his own advice.

Thankfully, Bad had more mercy than that. Blood red vines shot out of the runes to latch onto Tempest's limbs. They pulled his limbs away from his body until Tempest was squirming in pain. It felt like Bad wanted to rip his limbs off. Tempest would have rather the fall than this pain. The vine around his left arm lifted up before plunging into his wound. Tempest felt his entire mind scream as the vine went into his body. Tempest felt his breathing deepen as he squirmed and fought the entire time.

"Shush! This is for your own good! If you weren't immune, you could have joined me, Tommy! We could have been together like a family! You, me, George, SapNap, Clay, all of us could be together without some meanie XD separating us," Bad said with a heavy sigh. "It almost isn't fair. I hope this works. I miss you. We all do. I want you to come back."

"N... not like th-this, Bad. You're fucking hurting people. You're hurting me! You need to stop this!" Tempest said as tears came to his eyes. He knew that the vine was nearing his heart. All his limbs felt an immediate shut-off. His brain was prioritizing the organs. As a last ditch effort, Tempest's body experienced a rush of adrenaline. All the pent-up from his power's inactivity became raw energy that Tempest could choose what to do with. Tempest yanked at the vines before reaching his knife. With fluid slashes, Tempest freed himself from the vines. As he landed on the ground, Tempest had to pull the vine from inside his arm out of his body.

Bad growled out something as he rushed towards Tempest, his fingers creating runes as he ran. Surprisingly, Bad fell onto his knees with his eyes rolling back into his head. There was a list of people it could have been that knocked Bad out. Drista and Purpled knew he was chasing after the Cult of Red. The Warden, Pato, and the woman all had reason to suspect the Cult was up to something. The other Muffinteers were investigating this case. Totem had mentioned that he was allied with Hannah, so maybe she came to deal with Totem's mission.

Whatever the case, Tempest didn't expect to see Fundy's shit-eating grin as he placed a foot on Bad's back. "I bet you missed me!"