Sweet Venom Arc 03 Ch. 14

Plasia groaned quietly as her eye gently flickered open. She wasn't sure how long she'd been asleep for, but her eyelids felt heavy as she forced them apart. Her vision was blurred and unfocused, and the white ceiling lights overhead were harsh and piercing, as she struggled to wake up. She slowly blinked away the black, pulsing splodges in her corners of her vision. She pushed her palms down and tried desperately to push herself up, before quickly sinking back down in defeat. There was a deep, thumping pain in her head. She gently reached up towards her face, clasping her warm hands around her cheeks. It was starting to come back to her already... the tests, the experiments, that girl, and then...

Her stomach wrenched. Suddenly, she was overwhelmed with a sudden rush of emotion as the memories came flooding back. Her survival instincts were starting to kick in, hard, but she didn't have any fight left. There was no anger, or rage, or even adrenaline.

She was terrified.

Tenderly, she teased the fingers of her hand upwards, towards her eye...

The side of her head had been bound tightly, and her eye was covered. Which was probably just as well, if her memory was correct...

Slowly but surely her eyesight came into focus, revealing a grey, featureless ceiling above her.

This isn't the E-Lab... Where... am I?

As she rubbed her hands gently up and down her face, the realisation suddenly hit her that she could move her hands. She gasped loudly and stared at her unrestrained limbs in amazement. She rolled her wrists, checking every inch of skin just in case there was some sort of subtle restraining mechanism, but she couldn't see anything. She could move, at her own leisure, something she hadn't been able to enjoy in a very long time.

Plasia closed her eye for a few, long moments, and worked on controlling her breathing. Calm, we need to keep calm... we're not in danger, we're not there anymore... We're okay... Carefully, she struggled again and managed to pull herself upright. A deep ache seared through her body, and she winced as she slowly looked around her new room. She was sitting, alone, in some sort of medical room, laid out on a table that had been pushed off to the side. The room was unremarkable, just grey walls mirrored cabinets, although a number of them looked like they had been raided recently, with various bottles and medicines still strewn over the floor.

Now that she was sat up, Plasia cast a hesitant glance down at her body.

She was tightly wrapped in high quality nano-bandages, shimmering silver strips of fabric that concealed her wounds, and had a comforting warmth to them. She could just about see the blue medi-gel that had been sprayed on her skin underneath the bandages, gently pooling at the edges of the wrapping.

Her remaining foot touched the cool tiles below the table, and she sighed softly. She was alive.

Tired. But alive.

A heavy set of footsteps approached from behind the only door into the room. Anxiety jolted through her body, and she tilted her head to try and see who was approaching.

The smell hit her first. It was sweet, alluring, like a whisper in the dark, tempting her to join hands with the unknown. There was comfort in the candied murk, but an unsettling sense of danger always permeated the back of her mind. She knew this scent well.

But something seemed different...

The door creaked open and the aroma intensified, reaching its sickly sweet climax as Leech stomped into the room, looking just as tired and worn-down as Plasia felt. Her left arm was severed at the bicep and wrapped in the same nano-bandages that Plasia was wrapped in. She had big black bags under her eyes, and was wearing a heavy frown as she carried a box full of medical supplies into the room by one of its handles, and slammed it down on a work surface on the opposite side of the room. She didn't notice that Plasia was sitting up.

Plasia's heart was in her mouth. Her eye widened in shock, and her clenched fists began to shake. Her whole body tensed and she waited, waited for her vision to go dark, waited for that spiralling loss of control she always felt when... the other one came out.

But nothing happened. The pain in her head throbbed, a little harder than before, but other than that...

Oh my god. I'm still here.

Plasia watched her closely, working desperately to get her heart rate down.

Am I... dreaming?

She blinked rapidly as Leech huffed and rummaged through the box with her one remaining arm.

"For fuck's sake, for fuck's sake, for fuck's sake, for fuck's sake! Where the hell is the regen powder when you need it?! I swear I didn't use it all on the Slave experiments, I MUST have kept some!"

She continued to rummage loudly through the box with her back to Plasia, swearing from time to time as she failed to locate her medicine.

"L-Leech?" Plasia's throat was sore and dry as she spluttered the word out. She stared at the Controller, with a vast cocktail of feelings coursing through her.

Leech froze. She straightened up and slowly turned around.

"Plasia?"

Their eyes met, Leech's narrowed into an expression of deep confusion as Plasia's eye stayed its usual soft, glass orb.

The toxic giant pursed her lips, holding her hand out in front of her as she tried to understand what was going on.

"You're... not... changing?"

Plasia shook her head, but held her gaze. "I... don't think It'll last long. I can feel her..." Suddenly she winced and broke eye contact, pressing her hand up against her forehead. "But... yeah! I'm... still here. For now, at least."

"I imagine it's the shock. That and maybe the various different painkillers I've given you. You're coked up on some pretty strong stuff right now!" Leech tried for a light chuckle, tried to diffuse the abhorrent awkwardness that was quickly starting to fill the room, but it came out more as a half-assed, tired sigh. "You were in a bit of a state when we found you! You, uh, actually had me worried for a bit."

"Worried?" Plasia knotted her fingers together and raised an eyebrow at her. "I... T-That doesn't seem right."

"What? Why not?" Leech quickly turned her attention back to the box, hiding her face behind her dreadlocks.

"Well..." She wasn't quite sure where it had come from, but suddenly Plasia felt a fire in her chest. Her stomach was thick and heavy with anxiety, but she gripped onto the edge of the table and finally, finally, for the time since she'd been dragged kicking and screaming into this horrific mess, she spoke her mind.

"Well, considering you were the one who did this to me, I didn't think you really cared about me at all! Figured I was just an experiment of yours! That's why you kept me around, right? Leech's little lab assistant." Plasia hissed as a fresh wave of pain hit her head.

"Well, if you were an experiment, I fucked up royally!" Leech snapped. Her hand stopped rummaging about in the box, and she sighed loudly, her shoulders sinking as her face twisted into a sharp frown. "That... came out wrong. I didn't... mean..."

Plasia felt another intense surge of pain deep in her head, this time followed by a brief dizzy spell, but she continued to stare at Leech, with a forced, indifferent look.

"How did you even find me? I don't even know where I was."

"A XITD research station." Leech replied, with just as much forced indifference. "Don't you remember calling out to us?"

"I..." Plasia struggled for a moment, racking her brains. "I remember... something." She groaned slightly as her iris flickered, and sparks and light flashed across her vision... She quickly rubbed them away. She fought to compose herself, and then continued to stare, back across the room at Leech. "Okay. Why did you rescue me?" Another wave of dizziness hit her, more intensely this time. She shuffled on the table and lay back down.

"Because there was no way in fuck I was going to leave you in the hands of the Draconic Alliance. Making the rest of us look bad and weak, and giving them precious data on the corruption." Leech feigned. She hunched over the box, pretending to be looking for something.

There was a very long, very awkward pause.

"You're a bad liar, Leech." Plasia sighed after a while, closing her eyes. "But... T-Thank you for r-rescuing me. I think I'd be dead now if you hadn't turned up."

"Eh, Moltezz did most of the work, I just hauled ass and lost an arm. Bah, I can't find this stupid regen powder!"

"Don't worry, it'll grow back by itself. Trust me."

There was something in the way that Plasia replied... It was so... casual. And lifeless. Leech turned back around and stared at Plasia's form, her missing leg and eye, and the various surface wounds, and those were just the wounds she could see. A deep uncomfortable pang vibrated through her chest.

"They really did a number on you, didn't they?"

"Yeah, they did."

"She burned them alive for it, Plas. Moltezz killed hundreds of them. For every inch they flayed off you, she took a kilo of ashes in return."

"I don't care." Plasia replied instantly, feeling another sharp spike deep in her brain. "It doesn't matter. I hurt people who trusted me, who I cared about!" She stifled back a sob, her hands clasped against her chest.

I just want Diego back.

"Oh. I thought you might take some comfort in knowing the people who did this to you are thoroughly burnt to a scaly crisp." Leech scratched the back of her neck and shifted about on her feet.

"I know the other you would have. I guess I don't know this half of you very well."

"It's not like you've ever spoken to me before."

"No. We might never speak again."

"Then... I guess we should make it count?"

"Yeah. I guess..."

There was another awkward silence as both Controllers thought about what to say next. Leech eventually opened her mouth first.

"I'm... I'm sorry."

"....W-What?"

"I'm sorry. For fucking you up. I never intended to turn you into this fractured creature. You deserved better, both of you."

More silence followed, broken only by the occasional half-hearted rummage through the box. Thoughts were flying through Plasia's brain at a million miles an hour as she tried to process what Leech had said, what she'd meant. But there was something more pressing first. She needed answers.

"W-What did I do here? On Barru X? I remember waking up in a room full of corpses, and I was covered in blood, but..."

"I mean, I should be asking you that really!" Leech went for another laugh. "Although, I suppose you wouldn't know, would you, thinking about it. Well, from what we could make out from the CCTV footage, and from Tani and Mina's accounts, you turned up at two whore houses with a sack full of dies, bought them both out and fucked over fifty prostitutes in less than an hour." Leech suddenly broke in a tired giggle. "Which I have to say, is an absolute power move. I did not expect either of you to pull off something like that."

Plasia remained silent, but clenched her eye tightly, and kept her hands close to her chest.

"After that, you and your troop just spread over the station. Although... I do have a question to shoot back at you. What the hell made you turn? I was nowhere near the station!"

"I think I was provided with rigged gear when we first arrived. I can remember being led into a room, and putting this protective suit on. It's all black after that, until I'm in the room with the corpses." Plasia's voice trailed off, and she shivered at the memory.

"Rigged?! Rigged with what?!" Leech exclaimed, suddenly alarmed. "Is there something else that triggers you?"

"No. There was a vial filled with... your fluid."

Leech frowned again, resting her chin on her hand as the pieces slowly slid together in her head.

"The DA were there too. I mean, duh, you probably put that together already. But there was only one DA agent who made it out from their assault on the dungeon... He anchor-stoned out of my lab, he is literally the only person that could have stolen my samples!"

"S-Scyler." Plasia's lip wobbled at the mere mention of his name. The memories of his anger and torment flashed across her face. "He said he was the one who took me from Barru X... He must have rigged the mask. He would taunt me about it, he knew everything that happened here."

"So, he followed you, maybe, from the dungeon to Barru X... Oh fuck. This is bad... we're barely into Nomad territory and we're getting targeted by DA agents already?!? We just raided... destroyed one of their research stations! There were a lot of people on that station! We've painted a giant 'ASSASSINATE ME' sign on our backs!"

"What do you mean?" Plasia asked quietly, processing Leech's words carefully.

"So you know our dungeon was raided, right? That Scyler guy, if he is the same person who was at the dungeon, that means the DA is gunning for us already, even back then! H-How did they discover us so quickly?! WE NEVER EVEN LEFT THE PLANET! He hits our dungeon, steals data from my lab, follows you to Barru X, fucks it all to hell and experiments on you for months! It's all based around us!" Leech's eyes darted around the room as she monologued her inner thoughts in a rising panic.

"Hmm..." Plasia hummed quietly, seemingly unconvinced.

"Hmm? The fuck you mean, hmm? One of the biggest empires in the universe is tracking us down and all you can say is HMM?!"

"It's not that! I just think you might be wrong."

"Oh yeah? Care to share your thoughts with the rest of us, Plasia? You cannot just drop several fucking bombshells like that and then refuse to elaborate!"

"What if it's just... bad timing?"

"OH THAT IS AMAZING, PLASIA! IT'S JUST BAD LUCK, ALL OF IT! WHY DIDN'T I THINK OF THAT!" Leech was practically shouting now, and her volume made the sapphire czarite wince.

"Ugh. Can you be a little quieter, please? You can be very loud sometimes." Plasia asked quietly, rubbing her fingers on her temples. And Leech actually stopped talking. She stared at Plasia for a few stunned moments before, slowly, a small, almost proud smile flickered across Leech's lips.

"Sorry. You were saying?"

"What I mean is... when we were escaping, D-Diego... he recognised the DA instantly." Just saying his name out loud unleashed a fresh wave of sadness and regret over her whole body. She choked back a sob as her heart rose into her throat.

"Right. And?"

"And he seemed to be quite certain that they were there for him. His reaction when he saw them felt very... I don't know, genuine? He looked worried... But if that's right, then that would mean the DA weren't there for you at all. You were just caught in the crossfire."

"That doesn't explain why that lone agent went after you on Barru X though..." Leech went to continue but stopped herself, the gears turning in her head as she processed Plasia's thoughts. "Unless it does... Diego seemed to go MIA after everything went down here.You both did. Could it be both? It would be much better for us if the DA were there for him. I need to think about this. New question though, what the fuck did that lizard do to get a pair of strike teams sent after him?"

While Leech had been contemplating her thoughts out loud, Plasia had started to fidget, obsessively, writhing her hands and clawing at the air almost, as hot tears rolled out of the corners of her eye.

"Sounds like he could clear quite a few things up for us, although I doubt Queen Moltezz would even let me have five minutes with him to ask -"

"S-Stop!" Plasia shuddered loudly. Her breathing was heavy as she fought desperately to keep control of herself. "P-Please s-stop talking about him like th-that!"

"Wha-what's wrong?" Leech stopped, and looked over at Plasia with concern in her eyes. "What did I say? I... I wouldn't hurt him or anythi-"

"HE'S DEAD!" Plasia wailed, and with shuddering breaths buried her face with her hands. "Scyler told me everything! How I went crazy, how him and Seeth tried to stop me, and I killed him! I KILLED HIM, LEECH! HIS BLOOD IS ON MY HANDS! Stop talking about him like he's still alive!"

Leech's face softened, but she glanced around awkwardly, as though she didn't quite know what to do. Slowly, she went to reach out to Plasia, just place her hand at the foot of the table, but then quickly pulled it back. She could feel her heart aching in her chest as she watched Plasia fight with every ounce of strength she had left.

"They really put you through hell, didn't they? What the hell was this guy's problem with you? It's like you were his fucking nemesis or something!" She sighed loudly, rubbing her chin. "Listen, Plas... I don't think Diego's dead. Or, if he is -" and he better fucking not be, or Moltezz is gonna lose her fucking shit - "it wasn't you."

Plasia was still breathing heavily, her entire body trembling, but she parted her fingers and looked over at Leech with her wide, misty eye.

"I've gone through all the security footage, from the moment you guys stepped foot on Barru X. I've gotten accounts from the Nodes as well. From what I can gather, you and Diego disappeared at about the same time; the DA launched some kind of drone attack on you guys, and we lost you both after that. But I definitely didn't see you do anything to him. There is nothing that points to you harming him at all."

"R-Really?" Plasia wiped her tears away shyly with the back of her hands.

"Yeah. Honestly, hand on my fat cock and balls, that's the chances truth! Hand, singular. That's all I got right now." She joked, feeling her own smile rise as Plasia giggled softly in between gentle sniffles. "We think at the moment that..."

Plasia's smile was growing a little too wide. It shed its hesitation as the corners of her lips, and kept rising. The milky white tips of her fangs poked out between her lips. Her iris shifted, rapidly morphing between orb and slit. Briefly, it settled back into an orb as the Controller's entire body quivered, her fists clenched tightly.

"T-Tell me again. Tell me I didn't do it!" She begged, barely clinging on.

"You didn't kill him, Plasia." Leech nodded, half in admiration at Plasia's determination, but also deeply intrigued by the battle playing out in front of her.

"A-Again!"

"You didn't kill him. You didn't kill Diego." Leech smiled softly again.

"Thank you, Leech. M-Maybe you're not so bad..."

Plasia went to reply, but as she opened her mouth, her long, wet tongue flopped out of the corner of her mouth. Her head slowly turned to look at Leech directly. She bared her set of sharp pointy teeth at her in a wide, manic grin.

Leech quickly looked away, feeling suddenly uncomfortable. She moved towards the door.

"I'll... let you rest up now."

She twisted the door handle and pushed it open. As she stepped out, she glanced back, to see her monster still watching her, with those sharp, beady eyes.

"Goodbye, Plasia."

*

"So... you understand my concern about this, Moltezz?" Leech was speaking with a level of urgency in her voice as Moltezz drummed her fingers on the arm of her throne.

Ink was sat on the other side of the room, watching the pair quietly as her tentacles toyed idly with her surroundings. Does she have a throne in every meeting room on this station? Ink thought to herself, as it occurred to her she'd never seen Moltezz sit in anything less.

"Mhmm." The Molten Mistress' eyes drifted to Leech's missing arm with the slightest hint of smirk on her face. "I suppose I do. But I must say, your conclusion regarding the DA seems to be incorrect, if only from their response. If the DA had considered us such a threat before we even took control of the freighter, surely they would have sent something at us since? I understand the time-line, but there is something significant about this we're missing. We've been at Barru X for six months and we've not been hit once by them."