"There is but one cure to the Plague of Decay," said Dr. Desolation, pacing back and forth. "Unfortunately, I used the last of it on thee."
"You mean that red liquid?" Taya asked him.
Dr. D nodded. "The only known cure is the blood of a rare creature known as a Sha. But they were driven to extinction years ago. I was lucky just to find two liters for my medicine."
"Hm," Taya mused. "Where did Shas live?"
"On the distant world of Serapis," Dr. Desolation told her. "But 'tis very far away. It would not be worth going."
"I think it could," said Taya. "I'll ready the ship. Sounds like we're taking a little trip."
In the cockpit, Dr. D asked Taya about her plan.
"Why are we going to Serapis if the Sha is extinct?"
"Because," Taya said, "we only need the blood. If we find enough leftover Sha blood, I can harvest it and turn it into a weapon."
"Verily, it soundeth like a big risk."
"Well sometimes in life you gotta take risks. Especially if you're tryna save the whole multiverse from plague."
Serapis was a desolate desert world, with several large gouges made due to strip-mining operations. Taya landed her starship inside one of these quarries, and then she and Dr. Desolation stepped out.
"This mine t'was once a common place to find Shas," he remarked. "Now this is all that remaineth."
"C'mon," Taya said. "Let's see if we can't find some leftover Sha blood."
All of a sudden, a piercing roar tore through the air. Dr. D and Taya quickly ducked behind a large stone block. Cautiously, they looked over. The Doctor and the Apprentice couldn't believe what they saw.
It was a Sha, living and breathing. It was completely black, and had long ears, red eyes, and a forked tail. Dr. D gasped in amazement. As soon as he did, the Sha whipped its head in his direction. Dr. Desolation and Taya quickly ducked back down.
"I thought you said these things was extinct!" Taya whisper-yelled.
"Seems my knowledge t'was wrong, fair lady," replied Dr. Desolation.
"What do we do?"
Tis obvious. We must slay the beast."
Taya looked back at the Sha. She noticed that it was limping in its right front leg. A rusty pickaxe was stuck deep in its thigh.
"It's injured," Taya pointed out. "And it's the last of its kind. We can't just kill it."
"The fate of the multiverse hingeth on this!" protested the Doctor.
Taya thought about it for a second. Then she got an idea.
"I have a plan, Dr. D. But I need one of your bottles."
Cautiously, Dr. Desolation and Taya approached the injured creature. The Sha spotted them and growled - but when it tried to bound over to them, its bum leg stopped it.
"Shh, Shh..." Taya said to the Sha. "It's okay. We're here to help." She tentatively stroked the Sha's muzzle in an effort to calm it down. And it worked.
Slowly but surely, Dr. D walked up to the Sha's leg. He silently counted to three and yanked the rusty pickaxe out of the Sha's leg. Understandably, the Sha roared in pain, but Taya calmed it down.
With the Sha's leg actively bleeding now, Dr. Desolation brought one of his empty bottles up to the wound. He got about two liters of it out before Taya told him to stop. Dr. D closed the bottle and got out a roll of gauze to bandage the Sha's leg wound.
"There you go," Taya told the Sha. "All better."
As the Sha lumbered off, Dr. Desolation showed off the bottle of Sha blood he had collected.
"Shall this be enough to forge thy sword?" he asked.
"Plenty," said Taya with a nod.
