Leech had a firm grip around both of his wrists and the seemingly now insane Plasia had him by the ankles, and the two of them carried him like a prized pig through the corridors of the dungeon. Diego didn't fight back, or try to resist; rather he tried to stay calm and gather his thoughts, reserving his energy for later on - he had a feeling he'd be needing it.
As far as he could tell, Plasia seemed to have been telling the truth regarding the Slaves. Monochrome figures loitered about the rooms, staring in awe and desperation at the aliens as they passed. They moved fast; as he was carried down the dungeon corridors, he looked around frantically, trying to memorise where we was going, and keeping an eye out for any potential markers he could use to navigate his way back; He didn't know what fate awaited him at Leech's hands, but there was no way it was good, and there was no way he was sticking around to find out.
He caught a glimpse of a fox-man, hiding in a cluttered storage room. The two briefly made eye contact before Diego was hauled deeper into the dungeon.
Before too long, he was carried through a heavily armoured door and into a laboratory, filled to the brim with operating tables, cabinets full of tools, and ominous-looking vials in rattling racks. The cool, grey, stone flooring blended with the stainless steel equipment to create a very sterile and rather sinister looking room. There were multiple doorways branching off this main room, most were too gloomy for Diego to see where they led, although the one directly ahead of him had pipes running across the ceiling that shook occasionally. There was a mechanical hum in the background, quiet but steady. The laboratory was lit by cold fluorescent overhead lights, and some more intense, yellow lamps hanging over the desks.
They dumped him onto his feet and Plasia roughly shoved her fingers into his mouth, prying his maw open uncomfortably. Before Diego even had a chance to wonder what was going on, Leech had grabbed a series of swabs, from a metal desk fixed firmly to the wall, and placed them into his mouth. Plasia retracted her fingers from his maw and began to circle around him menacingly as Leech bagged the swabs, and turned back to the desk.
"What the fuck was that for?!" Diego blurted out, spitting onto the floor, eyes darting between Plasia, who was staring intently at him as she paced, and at Leech, which was currently draped in a long lab coat, and facing away from his person.
"Isn't it obvious? I'm still researching our condition, and I need more samples from Marks to get more information." Leech's tone was stern but matter-of-fact, and she didn't even turn around, instead she continued to run her fingers over the many medical instruments before her.
"Might I suggest running cell cultures overnight using a greater range of samples?" A meek voice from the other end of the room called out. "The previous batches from saliva weren't very good -"
"NO YOU MAY NOT!" Leech grabbed a scalpel from her desk and threw it across the room with astonishing force. It impacted with a loud twang and narrowly missed a timber wolf man tied to the wall with leather restraints, he looked like he was on a giant wooden target and there were several sharp looking instruments deeply embedded in the wood. "SHUT YOUR FACE, VENTER! One more suggestion out of you today and I'll pulverise you, you speak only when you are spoken to!" Leech growled in frustration, then grabbed another scalpel and pointed it at him. "It's not a bad idea though."
In one sleek motion Leech spun around, and suddenly the silver glint of the scalpel was millimetres away from Diego's face. She held the handle firmly with two fingers, a thoughtful twitch in her lips as she pondered what cuts she should make. Her face twisted as she imagined, purely for science of course.
"NO! NO HURT HIM, NOT LIKE THIS!" Plasia suddenly yelled out, tugging on Leech's arm firmly. The giant alien seemed taken-aback for a moment, her thoughts shattered, however she quickly regained composure. As she ran her eyes up and down the blue alien, an evil grin spread over her face.
"Interesting. You've never been so forthright with me before, Plasia." Her head whipped back to the lizard, who was still in awe-struck terror in what was unfolding before him. He felt Leech's toxic stare, those piercing emerald eyes glaring at him. "I don't know if I should be impressed or concerned by you, lizard. You've managed to gain the hopeless affection of both Seeth and Plasia. And, judging by how she's been talking about you, quite possibly Moltezz too. Plasia is right though, I shouldn't just cut a lump off you, I can't imagine Seeth would be too happy with me, spoiling her prize like that."
"Is that what I am here? A prize?" Can I get out of here? Can I overpower her? Maybe with my psyonics I'll stand half a chance, but then Plasia might get hurt… God I wish I had my sword.
"Yes. Yes you are. You're a fuck toy for us." Leech stated flatly.
He frowned and prepared a response, but Leech cut him off.
"Oh come on, Diego." She continued to wave the scalpel around as she spoke and began to pace around her lab. Plasia continued to circle her male, but was also watching Leech's motions carefully. "You're going to have an amazing life here. It can't have passed over your mind or your genitals how attractive we are. And how attractive you are. Seeth is in absolute thrall of you! You're practically her boyfriend at this point! Ha!" She scoffed. "Imagine that, Diego. Would it really be so bad? Spending the rest of your days being ravaged by alien beauties you clearly find attractive? I can smell the arousal on you even now, you're trying desperately not to look at my figure, at Plasia's curves... You're hiding it as best you can, but you're an animal, and your instincts are kicking in hard. You like us. You try to resist as much as you want, but I know you've thought about it... About staying with us... I promise you, we'll make you feel so much more than you ever thought was possible... Imagine the three of us together… Touching, kissing, breeding, fuckin-"
"-I've been thinking a lot about the people who aren't immune to your... corruption. Doesn't seem very fair to them." Diego folded his arms, breathing sharply through his nose.
"Why doesn't it?" Leech scolded him teasingly, pressing her fingers against the steel blade. "We've liberated them from their monotony, to join them together into something greater... something more fun, more pleasurable."
"You've fucking killed them!" Diego yelled back in defiance. Hair standing on end, he took a step towards Leech as his anger swelled. "Those Slaves, Plasia said there's no helping them, no turning them back!"
Leech nodded absent-mindedly, her attention still on the blade in her hands, although she did cast a quick glance up at the pipes on the ceiling above her, seemingly uninterested in Diego's rant.
"So you admit it! You've killed everything about these people that once made them people! Destroyed their personalities, taken their lives?! They're just walking shells! It's murder, Leech! No, it's worse! You parade their bodies around and use them to corrupt others!"
"Hmm… Talk like that really gets me off... keep going, lizard..." A cruel, evil smile curled over her plump lips and she flung the scalpel at the wolf on the other side of the room again, missing his head by only a few inches and thumping into a wooden beam.
"Y-You're sick. You could just pick a Mark, settle down and live a normal life! Why are you doing this!?"
"Why shouldn't I? The universe wasn't fair to me and Seeth when we were corrupted... I was the top of my class at university, Diego, I was going to be an industry leading medical professional. I had a life full of potential and opportunity laid out in front of me, and it was all taken away. One year ago, our lives were completely and irrevocably changed, and that was just our burden to bear. I don't owe anyone anything. In fact, I think I'm due to dish out some revenge." Leech's eyes narrowed intensely.
"The universe isn't fair, Leech, believe me, I know. But do you really think this is the right thing to do? Build some sort of wretched faction on this affliction you have? Come on! You must be better than that!" Diego pleaded with her, trying to get her to see some sense.
"I really couldn't give two shakes of a shit if it's the right thing to do. It's what I want to do. Fuck everyone else, literally! VENTER!" Leech suddenly yelled, shaking the room slightly.
"Y-Yes, Leech?" The timber wolf in the background responded shakily.
"Do you think this male's semen sample would do for a culture?"
"Umm, I'd say i-it's worth a go!"
Diego's eyes narrowed. He did not like where this conversation was going.
"PLASIA! Go grab that pack I showed you earlier." Leech's voice echoed around the room, and with those words, Plasia ran across the lab, giggling maniacally and disappearing into one of the doorways.
"Y-You can't just..." No, this can't be happening.
"Oh, it IS happening. You don't seem to understand your importance here, lizard. We're on the precipice of something great here... You don't need to be scared, just be… open minded!" She began to walk towards him, staring down on his body with an aching hunger that chipped away at her psyche. "Now, are you going to do this the easy way, or the hard way?"
*
Oxyi was frozen, her voice trapped in her throat, as the entire city became aware of her existence. The Slaves, who had previously wandered the streets, were now moving towards her building in full sprint, the street-lights shaking as they approached.
The feline from earlier was fast on the scene and went straight for the front door of the building. Although it was locked and bolted shut, she pulled hard at the handle and the woodwork cracked with little effort. With a flick of her fingers, a dozen Slaves grabbed at the splintered wood with their fleshy fingers and pulled.
Two floors above, Oxyi dashed about her flat, her every limb quaking with fear. She kicked her little generator awake and the living room lights flickered on - there was no point fighting blind.
A nervous trigger finger, alone in a dead city, no friends by her side, and so far, whith no success to speak of in her efforts to thwart these things, Oxyi waited.
Jeez, how did it come to this… feels like only a few days ago me and Bream were talking about finally going on our crazy 'around the galaxy in eighty days' trip… I was finally gonna start putting some money together… Lost plans now.
It sounded like an army was tearing at the building's front door, ripping chunks of wood with their bare hands.
She kicked herself, hard.
Bang!
Why hadn't she listened to Diego?
Bang, Bang, BANG!
Trying to be a hero had just cost her everything and she'd gained nothing.
The front door popped from its hinges and crashed to the floor.
Her finger twitched against the trigger.
They came, scampering down the hallway like a pack of dogs, hands and feet scraping against the wall as they turned and bounded up the first flight of stairs.
She took a deep breath, and held it.
A loud bang rattled through the corridor as her home-made nail bombs detonated with enough force to make the whole building shake, shredding through Slaves as the neatly packaged shrapnel was thrown in all directions. The remaining horde paused, a piercing silence briefly punctuated the violence... Then with a roar they continued on with their assault, more and more of them pouring into the building.
Oxyi briefly cast a glance out the window as she readied her shotgun. A small whimper escaped through her lips and the sheer number of Slaves yet to even enter her building… There were too many... she had two more nail bombs in the stairwells below, and then it was just the reinforced door to her flat... Another shattering boom rang out, more Slaves fell, bodies stripped and sliced as the metal cut through their flesh in brutal fashion, splattering blood and bone over the brickwork. The building was now rumbling from the sheer number of Slaves desperately stampeding through its narrow corridors, getting closer and closer…
The third and final bomb went off, destroying another handful of Slaves. The shrapnel was not enough to stop them all, several who were wounded continued to make their way through the building, despite the lacerations and shrapnel embedded deep into their skin. Their hunger did not cease to tend to their own wounds. They pressed on as more arrived and pounded down the corridor, eager for their prize.
A deep boom suddenly emanated from the other side of the door. They were here. Slaves stumbled atop one another as each one scrambled, scratched and pounded against the door.
"YOU WANT ME?! COME GET ME!!!" Oxyi shouted, clacking a shell into her shotgun, her form trembling and terrified, yet still standing. She blasted another shell through the door, pellets bursting through the wood and mauling another Slave who was trying to press its fingers through the barricade.
The horde seemed endless. Oxyi fired with careful and calculated precision through the same spot on the door, ensuring that she didn't damage her own defences too badly. Bodies hit the floor as she continued to fire and reload as smoothly as she could, the Slaves gained little progress as each one who tried to pull through the door was met with hot buckshot. She had plenty of ammo too, not enough for the whole horde, but perhaps enough to scare them off… Please, please be enough!
The sound of shotguns, corpses falling and screaming continued on, perhaps only for a few minutes, perhaps hours, Oxyi had no idea. Bloodied and hungry fingers pulled at the blood stained door, the lioness had her back to the far wall and was giving it everything she had.
To her horror, a voice suddenly called out from outside her flat's front door.
"You're Oxyi... right?"
A soft and silky voice spoke up from the other side, which was unexpected to say the least, but not enough to throw Oxyi off, not now.
"WHOS THERE?! WHO THE FUCK IS THERE?!"
"I'm gonna enjoy what happens next..." The feminine voice echoed through the corridor as the Slaves slowly began to pull back from the door, filling the hallway instead.
"SHUT UP! SHUT THE FUCK UP!" Oxyi cried out, clacking more shells into her shotgun defiantly.
"Try as you might, you couldn't make a difference here... but you could with us..." In any other situation the voice would have been soft and alluring, but the adrenaline was pounding through Oxyi's ears with too much force for her to take notice.
"I GOT A LOT MORE AMMO AND ALL THE TIME IN THE WORLD... SO BRING IT!" She reached over to a hand grenade she had on the table, pulling the pin and throwing it out the window, smashing the glass and sending it tumbling into the horde below. There was a sickening splat as the explosion was dampened by waiting bodies.
And all hell broke loose.
The Slaves charged her door and a shredded, bloody hand punched straight through the wood, scrabbling at the bolt loudly. Oxyi screamed and pulled her shotgun up again, firing shells into the offending limb and watching it cease activity for a moment, only for several more hands to burst through the wood, bloodied and splintered. Her shotgun ran dry as she emptied her first magazine into the door with several repeating loud bangs. Things were getting out of hand already... Oxyi scrambled to reload, when the door suddenly cracked and burst off of its hinges.
An imposing body stood, silhouetted in the doorway, easily seven feet tall with a strength beyond its physical size, as it tossed the door aside in one swift motion. It splintered into pieces against the wall.
"You know... I had a bit of a crush on you in my teens, Oxyi…"
Oxyi froze, fingers fumbling over her shotgun rounds. It was the cat girl from earlier, the one she recognised…
"You did some work for my uncle. How lucky I am for this chance, to follow up on a teenage crush..." A sly smile spread over her lips as she spoke, and Oxyi snapped back into action. She drew a pistol from her side and fired, one bullet punching straight through the cat girl's abdomen. The Slaves quickly charged into the room, their stumbling bodies desperately clawing towards her. With a sudden clarity, and acceptance, Oxyi opened fire on the approaching horde as they charged across her living room with perfect accuracy, splattering brains and shattering skulls as empty shell casings dropped from the pistol with a gentle ring. The first wave was over, all lay dead, scattered across her living room. But now the pistol was running dry too, and another wave was already thundering towards her.
The cat-girl merged into the crowd and charged forward, staying low to avoid the next barrage of bullets that Oxyi was preparing. The lioness quickly loaded the next magazine into her weapon and fired a couple more perfect shots before the approaching horde got too close. The flat was now full of angry, hungry bodies, but Oxyi had one last trick up her sleeve…
Eyes tightly shut, Oxyi reached for her belt and grabbed the detonator, pressing it instantly without even thinking...
More nail bombs, lined into the wall and the front door, all detonated together, filling the room with shredding metal in one final explosive goodbye. The explosion tore through the flat, sending bodies flying out the window, glass and wood raining down into the street below.
But this wouldn't be the end for Oxyi, not just yet. The sheer amount of bodies in the room formed almost a shield around her, preventing any shrapnel from actually hitting her. Although the blast took her off her feet, she was still alive. The room, however, was in ruins, the crowd levelled and spasming on the floor with various levels of injury. In the centre of them, laid the cat girl in all her corrupted glory, badly wounded but still alive.
The lioness winced in pain from her fall and forced herself up to her feet, using the back wall to support herself, her ears ringing loudly from the detonation.
"Huh… Didn't think I would make it through those ones..." She coughed, fumbling for her pistol. She checked it over quickly, and seeing no obvious damage, pointed it at the cat-girl. Yet more Slaves were thundering up the stairs. Oxyi stood, staring down at the monster before her, and hesitated. Seeing these things, what these people had become, the way they were acting... if this is what could become of her, well, that wasn't a risk Oxyi was willing to take. Her defences were breached, all her explosives used up, and there honestly wasn't much fight left in her...
"I... I don't want to become one of you, whatever you are... I'd rather die." She took a couple of deep, sharp breaths, staring at the pistol intensely. "I had a good run though... fucked quite a few of you up. I just wish I'd just booked that holiday." A dark chuckle shuddered through her. "Fuck... I really liked being alive."
Her aching limbs stopped shaking for the first time that night.
She raised the pistol to her head...
A loud bang rang out, followed by the sound of crumbling drywall falling.
"I don't think so." A voice, right beside her, called out. A hand grabbed her wrist with force and redirected the gun into the battered ceiling. Another huge purple hand grabbed Oxyi around the throat and pushed her to the floor as Seeth appeared directly on top of her, pinning her to the ground. "An impressive defence for a single nomad... not good enough though."
Oxyi stared up in horror as she came face to face with the menacing alien creature, who stared down at her with cold, unblinking eyes.
"Y-You! You fucking bitch! You just couldn't let me have this, could you!" Oxyi hissed, tears welling up in the corners of her eyes.
"You're needed yet."
"N-Needed?! For what?! You twisted fucking bitch! I'll never give in to you!" She spat at the alien weakly.
"I really don't think you have a choice…"
*
"You're sick... you know that?" Diego stared at Leech in disbelief.
"You think I give a fuck, lizard? I don't care too much for the words coming out of your mouth... might have to find something to stick in there and keep you quiet!"
"Try it!" His eyes narrowed, hair standing on end. He didn't know if he'd make it out of a fight alive, but like hell was he going to roll over and submit to this monster.
"Oooh, finally, an invitation! I thought you'd never rise to the challenge!" Leech laughed heartily. Her laugh rang loud around the chamber, broken suddenly by the echoes of Plasia's footsteps as she skipped back into the room, carrying a large case. Happily she pranced past Leech and slapped the case down on one of the operating tables, flipping the latches with a satisfying thunk, and creaking the case open. Leech watched her intently. "I've got a ton of fun in there for you. You're gonna be my - HEY! LIZARD!"
Diego had turned tail and bolted for the door, out of the lab and through the armoured door that Plasia had forgotten to close.
"Son of a bitch! PLASIA! Get after him! Now! And VENTER!" Leech rubbed her hand against her forehead and grit her teeth. "Shut the fuck up!" The two aliens marched out of the lab and quickly broke into a run, listening for the sound of bare lizard feet slapping against the stone flooring of the dungeon.
The wolf slumped and shook his head in frustration as they left. "I didn't even say anything!" He whimpered.
I need to get back to Seeth's chamber. I can get back and lock the door, but then, what if they can force their way through? Would Seeth be mad? Of course she would be, she'd be furious with them! I need to hold up and hide there until she comes back, I just need to wait for Seeth… Diego's thoughts came at him fast as he sprinted through the corridors, passing room after room, figure after grey figure. As he ran he noted that most were Slaves, just doing some manual labour. He passed the occasional, or atleast what he presumed was, a Node, a taller, female figure usually clad in something very revealing, with their sexual dominance on full display. They were all turning to take note of him as he passed, and then turned behind him as Leech bellowed at him down the corridor.
"NOW YOU'RE MAKING THIS FUN, DIEGO!" The massive green figure appeared from the shadows and pounded down the corridor towards him with ferocious speed and a grin on her face.
Diego was still hesitant to use his psyonics, was still desperately racking his brains for the best play here. He needed to find his equipment, fighting his way out bare handed wasn't going to happen. He glanced back to see Leech rapidly gaining on him. He skidded around a corner and could see Seeth's chamber door, dead ahead, but Leech was right behind him, he could feel the floor shake with her every step and bound, he wasn't going to make it in time…
His heart was thumping in his chest as his muscles began to burn from the chase. He rounded corner after corner through the maze of near identical rooms that occupied the middle of the dungeon. Most of the rooms didn't seem to be in use and still under construction - there was plastic sheeting and scaffolding scattered about the floor. Leech's excited footsteps were echoing in all directions all around him; it was near impossible to tell if she was right behind him or a whole room away.
Throwing himself around two more corners, he suddenly entered a surprisingly dark room that was filled with more scaffolds, and plastic sheets hanging from the ceiling, creating a maze of dangling plastic that obscured vision nicely... Seeing the opportunity, he slowed right down and quietly crept through the maze, ensuring he didn't disturb any of the dangling sheets and made his way quietly into the room. The pounding footsteps of Leech arrived shortly behind him and she looked into the room, annoyed.
"Oh, you little fucker." Leech hissed. "You got me oh so excited, and now you've just gone and disappeared in there? Fine. Let's play hide and seek, lizard... When I find you - And I will find you - I'm gonna push so deep inside you it'll come out your mouth."
He continued to quietly creep through the maze, slowly as he was only able to see a couple of feet ahead. Try as she might, Leech couldn't be as quiet as him, and he could hear the dull thudding of her feet on the stone floor as she got closer, but it was still difficult to tell her proximity. She listened intently for him, the slightest movement. Her head snapped around with the slightest swish of plastic, or creak from the walls.
She was listening intently for him. Diego's lack of clothes was actually a blessing right now, as he could move without worrying about the rustling of fabric.
This room was definitely larger than the previous ones he'd run through, but all too soon, Diego hit a wall. He felt across its surface, barely able to make out the floor in front of him; he kept his hands out and moved with gentle precision, listening close to Leech's thudding footsteps in the darkness. He couldn't tell if she was pissed off or excited by their chase, or perhaps it was both, but either way, it sounded like she was getting closer.
He reached a corner, and with nowhere else to go but backwards, Diego sat himself down and made himself as small a target as possible. Within the darkness around him, he could hear Leech's hungry prowl. The sound of the plastic sheets rustling, the slightly laboured breathing of the sadistic alien dominatrix desperately searched for her prey. The darkness swirled around him, the walls were closing in…
She moved closer again, stepping towards him carefully. He wasn't sure if it was luck or something else guiding her, but she seemed uncertain of herself.
"You're fucking lucky you're dark-coloured, lizard... making me wait like this is agonising. Not sure you'll enjoy me all pent up though!" She sounded extremely close now, literally a few feet in front of him. Diego held his breath and prayed for a miracle, wondering if now would be a good time to use psyonics or not... His hair bristled, an electric tingle ran over his skin as she approached. In spite of himself, there was something almost thrilling about all this, like a small part of him wanted her to snatch him out of the darkness and drag him off. Her aroma surrounded him, every slow breath he took drew it into his lungs, over his tongue and deep into his body. Even though he was now perfectly aware of what she was doing, it was all so remarkably enticing.
Her footsteps slowed as she padded closer, almost teasingly…
…When suddenly, she stopped.
"Ahh! You're over there! Trying to get out now, huh?! I thought we were enjoying ourselves! I hope you're all warmed up! I need my samples, fuck boy!" She suddenly turned and ran towards the door they entered through, pushing through the flapping plastic violently and charging back through the corridors.
Diego sat, stunned. Her hand had practically been touching him! Perhaps his prayers had been answered. Before he could relax for any length of time though, his ears suddenly pricked and his hair once again stood on head. There was someone else in the darkness, reaching out, closing in on him…