Claus X Reader

Chapter 8

Once we were in New Pork City, Claus landed. I hopped off of his back and examined the surroundings. A cold breeze swept through the night air. "It sure is dead here." I suggested. Claus nodded, "It's as if nobody is here..." Then it hit me that all around there was rubble. Black soot and clouds of dust were stirred by the wind. The only things standing were a few stores that were empty. "Let's just head for the Empire Pork Building." Claus offered his hand and I took it, blushing a bit. Hand in hand, we wandered around the empty city. "It's no use, everybody is gone." Claus looked at me and sighed. "Well where is Porky?" I met his gaze and frowned. The ginger looked upset, and I felt bad. "Ahem, excuse me." A voice spoke up from behind us. When Claus and I turned around, there was only more soot and a trash can. "Dr. Andonuts?" Claus raised an eyebrow and looked at the trash can. Sure enough, the lid popped up and a familiar face appeared. "Hey kids, what are you doing here?" Dr. Andonuts looked from me to Claus. "Oh. Are you together?" There was an awkward silence when we both noticed that he was talking about holding hands. Claus rubbed the back of his neck before abruptly changing the subject. "Where's Porky?" The professor shook his head and looked down. "He's in that capsule I built a while ago, he'll never be able to get out. He could live in there for millions of years." Claus's eyes widened, "Where is everyone else? What about the Pigmasks? What is going to happen to the city?" So many questions poured out. "Slow down, slow down Commander. I can only answer so many questions at a time." Rapid soft footsteps grew closer and closer, you turned to see Lucas. The professor kept talking, "Well the world has been remade, all the damage done by the army has been removed, I'm sure you could find something at the Chimera Lab, a few things still stand. Now I suppose I had better go." Before Claus could stop him, he lowered the lid of the can and ran off, this was the last time we'd ever see Dr. Andonuts.
"What now?" Lucas looked at us and Claus sighed. "Let's go check out the Lab." Lucas raised an eyebrow, "Why?" Claus shrugged and looked towards the sky, "Perhaps some Pigmasks are there." Lucas nodded. "Alright, let's go." I hopped back onto Claus's back. Since we couldn't have Lucas take the train from here, we carried him.

Eventually we reached the lab and Claus let both of us down. "Phew.." He took a breath. "Now, let's go." The ginger led us ino the big building. Expecting to see a bustling lit place, I gasped. It was dark, hot, and smelled of blood. We took a bit to let our eyes adjust to the dark. Claus stumbled over to a counter and picked up a flashlight. Flicking it on, Lucas and I walked over to him. "Oh god.." Lucas whispered when Claus's flashlight hovered over a mauled Pigmask. "What happened in here?!" Lucas exclaimed. The building was silent and his voice echoed. "I don't know but whatever did happen, it was pretty serious."
The three of us cautiously walked slowly through the halls. Claus moved the flashlight from side to side. Dark red splatters of blood painted the wall. "This is terrible..." Lucas whispered. I nodded and watched in silence. Claus tried to turn a light on, it sparked and stayed out. "Damn it. Maybe we'll find a Pigmask that isn't dead." I nodded in agreement.
A loud roar boomed and rang throughout the hallway. "Run!" Claus whispered to Lucas and grabbed my hand. He turned off the flashlight and took off away from the roar. He turned quickly and I heard something get flung open. Metal clanked on metal and we stopped running. My face was pressed into the fur of Claus's collar on his jacket. "We..sh-should be safe now." Claus whispered while panting. "Where are we..? And where's Lucas?" I asked with a tone of fear in my voice. "A locker. And knowing Lucas, he's probably in a cupboard." I nodded and gasped when I heard a door break down. It was pretty close. I heard Claus slide down to sit, his wings scraped the metal of the locker. Claus pulled me down onto his lap and for a while we just waited. All we could hear was stomping, roaring, our own breathing, and our own heart beats. After a while, our breathing calmed down. My heart slowed from when we were running, and Claus's still ticked like before. Multiple noises became audible to me.
Tick
Thump
Stomp
Repeat.
I tensed up when I realized that the stomping was drawing closer. Claus slipped his arms around me and I felt myself being pulled closer. Blushing, I squeezed my eyes shut. Once the stomping disappeared, we practically fell out of the locker. "We need to find Lucas." I whispered. Claus nodded, "I don't know where he could be though."
I looked toward the hall, "How do we stop it?"
Claus hesitated. "We might not be able to."