Author's Note

I wanna give out a special thank you to Scholary-Cimmerian for creating a good chunk of the dialogue exchanges, he was really helpful on this. Big shout out to ya, and please if ya guys can, give this man a follow! He needs em!

Drugged

Everyone got into Tombstone's car, and buckled in their seat belts. Now their next objective was to find Phantom and Tox. Hopefully the two of them would be okay with coming back, or at least, joining the team once again.

"So what are we going to say to them when we find them?"

"Let's actually find them first. And I know just where to go!" Tombstone said, holding the steering wheel.

15 Minutes Later

Everyone was standing, surrounding Phantom on the patio of his house. Under the ledge that was the second floor held by support beams, it provided a nice umbrella on those rainy days. And Phantom was snoring peacefully on a hammock, with a bag of tortilla chips spilled over his body, the sounds of chirping birds in the trees.

Tombstone cleared his throat. "Phantom?"

Phantom snorted a bit in shock, until he finally woke himself up and looked up to see Tombstone's smiling face, greeting him.

"Wanna get back together?"

Phantom slowly thought, and with a straight face just nodded and gave the parent a single thumbs-up.

"Good."

After what felt like 5 seconds of enticing Phantom to return, he got into the car with them, and all five were now on their way to pick up the last member; Tox. Only one problem, they didn't know where he lived.

"Okay, does anyone have any clue where he lives?"

"I think I remember!" Silverstream answered. "He told me lived somewhere on a corner of 5th and 6th!"

"Wait, that's where we are! Stop the car!" Inferno shouted.

Tombstone slammed his foot on the brakes, throwing Silverstream out of her seat and slamming her face into the windshield of the car.

"Ah! Silver! I'm so sorry, are you okay!?"

Silverstream pulled herself up, rubbing at her face from the impact.

"I'm okay!" Silverstream yelped, getting back up.

"I knew I should have put in more seat belts in this car!" Tombstone shook his head as he unbuckled his seatbelt. "Next chance I get, I'm taking this car in to get some more seat belts. Or get an SUV, that works too."

After everyone unbuckled from their seat belts, the gang got out of the car, slamming the doors. Tombstone's keys jingled as he pressed the door lock button, locking it tight.

"Well, this is the street. But where is Tox?" Tombstone asked, looking around.

Blizzard sniffed the air, and cringed in disgust, holding her nose. "I think I'm starting to get a good idea..."

Silverstream sniffed as well, sticking her tongue out. "Ugh, eww... that smells. Smells like... I don't even want to say it!"

Tombstone added onto the air-sniffing pile, and picked up the scent. Looking around, he could smell it coming from the alleyway. With everyone gathered, they followed close behind and looked up. A large puff of smoke was emitting from one of the windows, just outside of the fire-escape hatch.

"He's in there, he's gotta be," Tombstone looked.

"But what's with all of that smoke? Unless..." Inferno thought, a dark image coming to his head. "I hope he's not getting hopped up on other stuff, if you know what I'm saying..."

"No way his body can handle that! Adding on the smoking, no way he can balance all of that out!" Blizzard exclaimed.

"And isn't this place condemned? Why is he here?" Inferno asked.

"I don't know, but we're going to find out. Come on."

One by one, everyone began to go up the fire escape to the open window where the smoke was evading. After clearing the smoke away as much as they could, they each climbed through the window and into the apartment, getting inside. Once inside, everyone started coughing and wheezing as they tried to blow and push some of the smoke out of the way.

"There's too much smoke, I can't see a thing!"

Tombstone coughed, but as they kept pushing more and more smoke out of the way, allowing him clear view of the inside of the living room. Once it cleared, everyone was standing in total silence. The room they were in... it was nothing like they had ever seen.

The entire place was a dump, a complete mess of a home. Walls were peeled away, revealing the poorly built structures behind it, leaks from the ceiling, messy floors, the entire place was just... disgusting.

"This... this is where he lives? This place is a dump!" Blizzard commented.

A puff of the revolting smell rose up and hit Phantom's nose. Almost immediately, they could sense big X's going over his eyes, following by him fainting. But he didn't slam onto the floor, he fell he just phased right through the floor, vanishing from the room.

"Tox? Are ya here?" Tombstone hollered. "We just wanted to talk to you! We didn't know if you were interested in coming back to the team or not! Tox? Are you home?"

"Um, Tombstone... you might want to see this..."

The three adults turned and entered the room where Silverstream had called them. But once they stepped in, they felt like they were going to throw up. Their stomachs were churning, and they were quivering in fear. Tox was found, but not how they hoped to find him. Laying bare chested on the bed, smoke emitting from his mouth and nostrils up into the air.

"Mmm... it doesn't stop the pain... but it does slow it down..." Tox breathed.

"Tox? Buddy, are you okay?" Tombstone asked. "What are you smoking, and shouldn't you be at school?"

"Why should I be at school?" Tox coughed. "I'm constantly puking and throwing up, who wants to be around that...?"

Inferno shook his head. "Kid, why are you living here? This place is condemned! This place is... is... disgusting!"

Tox's head slowly raised up, looking at the fire bender with some smoke puffing from his jaw.

"Hey, you see why I moved here," Tox giggled, some more smoke emitting from his mouth.

"I'm sorry, what?"

Tox's body turned around on the bed, and he let his head hang off the side, making everything upside down. He just looked at his teammates who were facing the wrong way from his point of view.

"You see... I'm disgusting. I spit, I breathe, I make acids. And my dad... wow, he hated that," Tox giggled, "He hated it sooo much that he tried to kick me out of my home. Never gave me a chance to explain, or wanted me back... he just wanted me out as fast as he could get me."

If they were smiling to see him, they weren't now. Now everyone was looking concerned at the literally smoking teen.

"I ran from Vegas, ya know... cops were sent out to detain me because my dad thought I was a biohazard, but they never caught me..." Tox giggled, some acidic spit drooling from the side of his mouth, hitting the floor. "The cops never stood a chance, not that they could... who else could get me, not after..."

Blizzard gulped. In her head, she began praying endlessly that he wasn't going to say something grim.

"... not after their tires were melted!" Tox giggled some more, sounding more happy than he should have been.

"Tox, how much have you been smoking?" Tombstone asked.

"Who knows? Maybe 2, 3..."

"3 cigars, okay, not too bad--"

"-packs--"

"--PACKS?!" Tombstone yelled. "You mean to tell me you've been smoking 3 packs of cigarettes now!?"

"Hey, shhh..." Tox's hand tried to reach for his leg, but failed miserably. "Don't shout, the baby's asleep..."

"Okay, let me try and ask you this again. How much did you smoke?"

"Well, I only made it as to one cigar, and then I just started puking some more..." Tox said, rolling his eyes arond like marbles, "Then I started hitting the good stuff. Mmm, that just made the pain go away..."

Tombstone's face grimaced. "Tox, please... you're not--"

"--Hey, I'm not dying!" Tox pleaded with a hint of a giggle in between. "Besides, this stuff's my coping mechanism... after all, who would want some sick teenager who creates acid from pure spit, having been beaten up on multiple... multiple o-ccasions..."

The parent looked up at Silverstream who was looking very concerned. Then back at Inferno and Blizzard who shared similar faces.

"Tox, if your mind is stable right now... I want you to tell me, is this your home?"

"Yeah, its amazing, isn't it?" Tox laughed, falling right off the bed and onto the floor. "No one to boss you around, no one to tell you what to do... but then there comes the problem with no one here to love you or... even tell you once that they cared for you..."

Tombstone's hand reached his face, groaning into his palm.

"Oh, Tox... buddy, why didn't you tell someone?"

"Because, no one gives a care," Tox said, for once giving him a blunt remark. "And if no one cares then... why should I care what happens to me?"

"Because you're 15--"

"--16--"

"--16, and you shouldn't be living in these kind of conditions! You should be in school! Healthy as a horse, happy with your life! You've got an entire life ahead of you!"

Silverstream sniffed the air again, and cringed. "Oh, that smell... oh that's so gross..."

"Just now, hang on, hang on a minute..." Inferno interrupted, moving around so Tox could look at him. "You're living in a condemned building, and no one cares you're here?"

"No police have looked for me, no spies tried to get me to reveal Con Mane's identity, and... oh no, I revealed Con Mane's identity!" Tox slurred, barely sounding concerned under the laughing. "Besides, I can live in this! Sure this place has a history of gas leakage--"

"--gas leakage?" Tombstone repeated.

"Along with some sewer fumes--"

"--Sewer fumes?" Blizzard repeated as well.

"Maybe the furnace I tried to fix kept blowing up--"

"--Blowing up!?" Inferno shouted.

"--Oh and I forgot, someone was murdered on this exact floor," Tox finished, the acid from his mouth now melting through the floor he was laying on.

"MURDER!?" Silverstream panicked, hiding under the bed. "Oh, no, wait, bad spot, bad spot! Ew!"

Silverstream backed out from the bed, hitting her head as she tried to get up.

"OW!"

As she held her head, she looked back down at Tox with a worried look. But something else caught her eye. She saw something next to her when she pulled out from the bed. Reaching down, and picking it up, she found a plastic cup that you would find at fast food joints, or at a children's entertainment facility.

"Tox... have you been eating fast food recently?"

"Yeah," Tox coughed, "All I can afford... Besides, that stuff's not the problem..."

"Um, Tox, we need to--"

Tox hiccuped. "Y'know, I've been thinking. A lot. About... chemicals. We don't think about it that much, but that really is what we all are. Chemicals. Synapses, reactions, com-combinations, all firing together, to make a living, b-breathing creature. Me. You. All of us. Organic machines. All fueled by the chemicals that make us up..."

"Um..." Silverstream paused.

"Heh. Crazy to think about, huh? People talk about souls and spiritual crud like it all means something, when all we are are chemicals b-burning through their function. That's all we are. Machines of a different make. A reaction, burning itself out."

Tombstone shook his head. "Okay, that's it. I'm putting my foot down. Tox, you're not well. You've got heaven knows how many drugs inside you, you're homeless, you're not getting a proper meal, and you're sick! We're taking you to the hospital!"

"Noooo..." Tox slurred a plea. "They don't fill the soap dispensers..."

Tombstone blinked. "That's the gas station, its not the hospital!"

"Oh... then what was that place with the neon lights I went to?" Tox asked, looking around.

"Come on, we've got to get him to the hospital!" Tombstone said, moving towards the fallen teen.

"And get sick!?"

"He'll get worse if we don't get him to a doctor! Whatever he's exposed to here is not helping his health, I don't care if this kid can make toxic fumes or not, its affecting his health!"

"I'll help you!"

Silverstream moved under, helping Tombstone get Tox back on his feet, lifting him by the arms.

"Buddy, if there's someone there who can hear me, we're getting you to a hospital. We care for you, and we can't stand to see you get sick anymore!"

Tox sneezed, some acidic fluids blasting out of his nose and melting through the floor. Now came the hard part; getting him out the window.

After some struggling, they managed to get Tox out of the fire-escape window and down to the alleyway. Phantom, in the midst of passing out, finally got back up and appeared through the wall and was given a quick summary by a very worried/upset Tombstone.

Tox just giggled, emptily, not even replying to anyone's statement or question as they left. "And, y'know what? Sometimes we're just broken. I mean, cars, computers, they break down. Why not a human? Especially a human. We just can't help it. It's not our choice to mm-make. Maybe the blueprint was bad. Or there's too much damage. Too much, too much..." his eyes slowly gazed out into space, distant from the group.

"Man, you've got some bad blood inside you," Inferno shook his head, getting into the car.

"Bad blood? Hey, you know, they used to think that was real. I mean, they used to-used to think that people could have blood get out of balance, and that y'had to bleed it out of 'em."

Tombstone slowly shook his head, "Not that kind of blood, Tox."

"They used leeches for that."

"Okay, sure."

The parent took Tox by the arm, carefully leading him to his car, where everyone else was already in.

"You can tell me all about it on the way."

Tox giggled, "It'sh why barb'rshopss have red stripes on the sign, you know..."

The trip to the emergency room, was the hardest part of their journey. Now they didn't get lost, and they knew exactly where they were going. But there was just one problem;

"See ya silly bird thing!"

Tox's mentality was still not back to normal. In fact, he started singing random songs on the ride back, interchanging in between with random facts followed by uncontrollable hiccups and statements.

"So," Tox hiccuped, followed by a sneeze of smoke. "Did we murder someone yet?"

Tombstone sighed. "No, we didn't murder anyone..."

"Oh, that's good..." Tox wheezed and giggled, head laying back in the seat.

Tombstone just shook his head, groaning as he kept driving.

"Just keep him occupied for ten more minutes guys, we're almost there. And don't let him throw up in my car, okay?"

"That'd be kinda hard, he's a living acid generator!" Inferno exclaimed.

Tox let out a belch of fire, smoke escaping through the open sun-roof of the car. He couldn't see it, but Tombstone's nose was now flared up and the most over the top scowl was on his face.

"I swear Tox, if you throw up in my car..."

Tox was about to speak until Silverstream interrupted him with a boop on the nose. Tox's nose scrunched up, and he stared blankly at Silverstream like a gecko, eyeing their meal. And with a single hand raised up, he just booped her back, making her giggle.

"Why are you s-s-so s-s-silly?" Tox slurred.

"You're the silly one!" Silverstream laughed.

Almost everyone's eyes looked at Silverstream and Tox who were sitting all the way in the back of the car, in the last two seats of the six-seated car.

"How can you even talk to him?"

Silverstream laughed. "He's being really silly right now! Its fun to be silly!"

Tox laughed as well, and gave Silverstream another boop. "You know it!"

"Congratulations, Toxy! You are officially the weirdest person I've met so far!" Silverstream giggled, smiling with friendly intent.

Blizzard and Inferno couldn't help but share a laugh. Silverstream was definitely silly as Tox described.

"Did I tell you guys I love you all?" Tox hiccuped.

"No, no you haven't..."

"Well..." Tox coughed. "I... I do. Maybe its the drugs talking but... when I had them, they only made me happy for a short while, but when I'm with you guys... you... you make me more happy. Its like I have people who can at least tolerate me and my insanity and... you don't push me away or call me trash or want me hauled away to jail..."

A hush fell over the entire car, and everyone let him speak. No one dared to interrupt.

"I-I know I haven't made the best decisions in life but... when I was with you guys, I... I kinda wanted to be a better person than who I was. I didn't want to be known as the guy who... the guy who dated the most despicable girl in CHS..." Tox droned on. "The guy who... didn't have the courage to escape until he... just lost it... But when I'm with you all... It feels like I've... I've got... f-f... family..."

Silverstream's hand moved up and patted his shoulder, and she moved over and gave him a hug. Confused and still slurring, he looked down.

"W-What are you doing?"

"You need a hug, and I wanted to hug you?" Silverstream answered.

Tox didn't push her away, but instead his arms slowly moved and wrapped around Silverstream, attempting to hug her back. His head slowly rested on her shoulder, and Silverstream fully embraced the hug.

The car stopped, and everyone slowly began to get out of the car. Silverstream's door opened up, and she got out, trying to remove the clutching arms off her back.

"Come on, lets make you feel better," Silverstream cooed, trying to urge him to get out of the car.

Slowly, Tox wiggled and pushed himself out of the car, and got on both feet on the sidewalk, his eyes slowly wincing at the bright light of the sun, making his hands go up to block it. But he didn't stay standing. Right as he raised his arms up, he fell right on the pavement, face first.

"Okay, who's carrying him in?"