It was dark, very dark. The only source of light came from the beam emitted from his belt which projected a cone of light in front of him. It only partially illuminated the cavernous mucus-lined intestine, but it was easily enough light to see, especially once his eyes had adjusted.

There was also a deep foul smell, one that seemed to permeate every inch of the air around him, which in itself was thin and oppressive.

Already, he could see the walls of the upper small intestine were red and inflamed though as of yet there had been no sign of any parasite or indication that there was even one there.

That changed the moment he made his way around the first bend. Along the walls were purple growths that were covered in pulsating orbs. They were clustered in patches and honestly reminded Ray of grapes. Or perhaps a closer comparison were fish eggs.

“I’ve found something,” he said over the radio.

“What?” came the voice of Diana from the other side.

“Honestly, I don’t know. They kinda look like fish eggs.”

“Get rid of them!” Diana said fiercely.

“Hold on,” Doctor Wexler said. “Are they loose or are they embedded into the intestine wall.”

“They are attached to growths which are attached to the intestine.”

“Do you think that cutting them off will damage the lining?”

“I’m not sure, but if they’re eggs then whatever’s infected her might soon have friends.”

“Remove them,” the doctor said. “Get a sample then destroy what’s left if you can.”

“Understood,” he said as he raised his hand and fired a cutting beam.

He made sure to be as precise as possible so as to not damage or risk hurting Wonder Woman. While he knew she was one tough cookie, he didn’t know how or to what extent the growths may have weakened her.

He sliced off the first egg, then the second and third until all of them had been removed. After gathering a sample or two, he cut them to pieces before crushing what was left in his hands.

“The eggs are gone,” he said. “But the growths along the wall are still there. I’m not going to risk removing them just yet, though I am going to look for more and whatever laid them.”

“Hurry,” came Diana’s voice.

“Are you okay?” he asked. “I didn’t hurt you, did I?”

“I felt it a little bit. I think. Just keep going, I’m fine.”

“As long as you’re certain,” he said as he began to walk forwards, continuing on down through her small intestine towards the next bend which he could see far up ahead.

The small intestine of an average human was around twenty feet long. At his scale, it was a lot farther than that and he knew he was looking at miles of tunnel that he had to search. Thankfully, it was pretty much straight through, though with all the blind curves he knew that he could waltz into a terror beyond his imagination at any moment.

He just hoped that whatever had infected Wonder Woman wasn’t beyond his capability to deal with.

“Update?” came the doctor’s voice.

“Nothing more yet,” Ray answered. “The walls are red and sore looking. Heading towards the fourth or fifth intestinal bend now.”

As he rounded the corner, he saw more of the egg-like growths.

“Found more,” he said. “I’m going to destroy them like the last ones.”

“Good,” came the doctor’s voice. “Keep it up.”

“Make sure you get everything,” Wonder Woman’s voice added.

“I intend to,” Ray assured them.

Like the last clutch, he cut them all off, making sure he got all of them off completely before destroying them.

“Done,” he said. “Continuing on.”

*

“Everything okay?” the doctor asked Wonder Woman.

“I can feel him cutting them off,” she answered. “It is like tiny sharp needles inside me.”

“I can tell him to be more careful,” the doctor offered.

The amazon shook her head. “No, it lets me know he’s making progress. In a strange sort of way it puts me at ease.”

The doctor folded her arms as she leaned against the wall. “I should have had a tracker on him so I could see how he was progressing in real-time. Also a camera so that I could see what he is seeing.”

“It is too late, now,” Wonder Woman said. “Though he did have something extra on his belt.”

“He did?” the doctor asked. “I never noticed.”

“Regardless, at least he had the foresight for the radio, otherwise he would have been completely alone.”

“As long as he succeeds,” the Amazon said.

“Let’s hope he does.”

*

Ray had heard everything they said, but he decided to not respond. He was too focused on making sure he shone his light on every inch of the intestine so as not to miss anything that didn’t belong there.

He knew that as long as he was methodical and took his time that he would easily accomplish what he had set out to do.

Of course, the presence of the parasite that had laid the eggs – or whatever they were – continued to weigh on his mind. Any kind of conflict could easily put Diana at risk and he didn’t want to hurt her, even by accident. He wasn’t naive, though, as he also understood that if it came down to it, he might have to hurt her in order to save her.

Ray pushed on, moving down five more stretches of the intestine without seeing anything out of the ordinary, other than the red inflamed flesh. As he rounded the bend that would have led to the sixth consecutive stretch of the intestine, he saw more of the egg-like objects growing on the walls.

As with all the others he cut them off and destroyed them before he continued on.

Things were going far too well and it worried him. He knew from experience that when things were too easy it was because life was going to throw a curve ball right at your face.

It was shortly after he had gone around yet another bend when he heard a strange noise from up ahead. It had the cadence of a growl, but sounded nothing like one, at least not in terms of pitch.

“I hear something ahead,” Ray said as he slowed his stride to a plod.

“What is it?” Diana asked.

“Something,” he responded. “I won’t know until I find it.”

It was strange how the intestines felt like a maze even though there was only a singular path. All the twists and turns made navigating it a lot more interesting, yet it also made any progress he was making feel nonexistent.

“Coming up to another curve. I’ll see if anything’s behind it,” he said.

“Keep us informed,” the doctor said.

“I intend to.”

Cautiously, he moved around the bend only to find more of the same. The intestines were still red and sore looking, and while there were some growths scattered around, there were no eggs and no sign of whatever had made the sound.

He pushed on towards the next bend which at his scale looked to be around seventy feet ahead. His ears strained with every step as he listened for any signs of other strange noises. He heard nothing.

Then he heard it. The strange noise and it sounded like it was a lot closer. Ray stopped in his tracks and raised his hands, pointing the energy cutters ahead of him.

“What is that?” he muttered.

There was a soft blue glow from somewhere up ahead and it was slowly getting brighter.

“Something is approaching,” he informed the others.

“What is it?” Diana asked.

“I don’t know yet. I’ll find out what it is when it comes around the bend. What I do know is that it has a soft blue glow to it.”

“Tell us when you see it,” the doctor said. “And try to describe it.”

“I’ll do my best,” he answered.

Ray stood there at the ready as the blue glow grew brighter and brighter until the whole section of the intestine was illuminated with the soft blue glow. It wasn’t nearly as bright as his flashlight, but it was certainly brighter than the usual pitch darkness the intestines dwelt in.

“Let’s see what you are,” he whispered as he rolled his shoulders in preparation.

The parasitic creature moved into view, it walking on the walls of the intestine on long thin limbs which numbered in the dozen. It stopped in its tracks as it seemed to look at him with its single compound eye.

It stared at him and he stared right back.

“Hey, guys,” he said. “I think I’ve made contact.”