"Hss…"
"Okay, we're leaving! We're leaving! You don't have to push her!"
Plead as Shakira might, it would seem that she truly was not welcome in the mutated lizard's nest. She remained calm and civil the entire time, but the nest did not want her at all.
"Hss…?"
"What the—who spat on her!? We were already leaving!" Lucian was about to turn around and go back into the nest of trash when someone suddenly spat on Shakira's back, almost causing her to tumble forward due to the force, but Shakira immediately pulled him back, "You're letting them treat you this way…? Why did we even come here in the first place!?"
"Hss…" Shakira shook her head as she glanced at the nest, looking at the Lizard Leader one last time. But alas, the Lizard Leader only hissed loudly and violently pointed to her to leave, "Hss."
"Ack, don't mind them. A bunch of unevolved creatures," Lucian, the sentient sperm, hollered in his mind, "We will be fine, Shakira…
…I will protect you from now on."
"Hss…" Shakira's wide lips slightly curled as she wiped the tears trailing from her eyes. She then lifted Lucian from the ground again and hugged him tightly. Seemingly truly understanding what he was saying.
"Stop, stop it! I'm not a baby!" Lucian, the sentient sperm, hollered in his mind. But of course, as every time Shakira carried him, he quickly stopped struggling in fear of hitting Shakira's belly, "...And speaking of babies, I've been with you for like a month now — and yet your stomach has barely even gotten bigger. Are you sure you're actually pregnant, or maybe just fat?"
"Hss!"
"Kh!" Lucian croaked in his mind as Shakira tightened her grip on him. But after a few seconds, Shakira slightly lowered Lucian so he could be closer to her belly; almost as if she wanted Lucian to hear something, "What…? Are you not supposed to lay an egg or—"
And before Lucian could finish his words, he heard something from Shakira's stomach; almost like a kick or perhaps a whip of a tail.
"What..? What?" Lucian smiled excitedly in his mind, "Is it… some sort of viviparity? Well, you did get pregnant from a muscular mutated rat — honestly, I shouldn't even be questioning anything… this world is weird."
"Hss."
"I know, I know," Lucian leaped off from Shakira's arms, "Let's just… find a place to rest first — it can't be good for you or the baby to keep slithering around like that. You also haven't slept for almost an entire day since those rats have been chasing us this entire time."
"Hss."
"What do you mean I sound like a mother?" Lucian clicked his imaginary tongue before extending a tendril and gesturing to Shakira to slither in front of him, "You're the one who knows this place, you lead the way."
"Hss," Shakira nodded as her pace became faster. moving farther and farther away from the Lizard's Nest. And soon, perhaps after an hour, they reached a large pipe that was almost completely clogged by trash, isolated from the rest of the sewer — it was almost a little dry, in fact. Shakira seemed very familiar with everything, however, as she just started digging through the trash before quickly moving to the side as it collapsed.
"Hup!" Of course, Lucian also quickly pulled Shakira so that she wouldn't be hit by anything — and very soon, from all the trash and debris that collapsed, a pile of used human shirts and several pillows revealed themselves neatly placed in the pipe.
"Oh…?" Lucian followed Shakira as she slithered her way inside, "Is this… where you used to live? They really didn't like you, huh?"
Lucian approached the clothes to check it, and it was already completely hard; even the pillows were.
"Is there seriously no waste management in this place!?" Lucian then raised one of the hard socks he found lying around, and it was even stiffer than the clothes, "And I can feel my cousin from this sock! Throw this away, throw it!"
"Hss…" Shakira almost looked at Lucian in disappointment as he started messing up her childhood home. But she only really just hissed before slithering toward the small pillow; her entire frame, barely even fitting on it anymore, "Hss."
"We'll… find you a new one," Lucian let out a sigh in his mind as he saw Shakira trying to fight the tears that wanted to gush out from her eyes. Shakira did not really have any time to mourn Eduardo, and now that she was finally able to relax, she just quickly fell asleep.
"Shakira…" Lucian whispered in his mind, "...Don't worry. I will protect you from now on — but in order to do that…"
Lucian then crawled out of the pipe, looking at all the glowing trash around him that almost looked like stars in the sky.
"...I need to get stronger. I'll be back before you even open your eyes."
Lucian wasted no time to absorb all of the radioactive trash he had seen while on the way to Shakira's childhood home. He already lost almost half his body from the Scorpion Assassin, he needed to recover and become stronger — that was the only way he could repent from not letting Eduardo at least see his wife one final time.
Lucian was still unaware of what actually awaited him in this place, he was just a sperm — and without anything actually happening to him, he would remain a sperm. But if that was his fate…
…then he will become the strongest sperm this new world has ever known, no matter how ridiculous it may seem.
And so, Lucian started absorbing everything in no time at all; feeling himself getting stronger with each of the radiation he absorbed in his body.
"This… should be enough," and after an hour, Lucian now glowed almost like a weak lightbulb, causing the wall of the sewers to turn green from how bright he was. He tried absorbing more, but for some reason, he was no longer feeling any increase in his vigor and strength — perhaps he needed to do something to further increase his strength?
Well, whatever it was, he needed to return to Shakira before she woke up.
"So, this is where you are."
"!!!" And all of a sudden, Lucian heard something that he hadn't heard for a very long time echoing through the sewers — a voice, an actual voice capable of language he could truly understand. He quickly looked around to find it, but the voice just led him back to their new home.
"Shakira, did you hear—"
"I spent days trying to find you — and truthfully, this place suits you."
And there, right in front of the large pipe that is their new home, Lucian saw one of the mutated lizards standing right in front of Shakira…
…and it was the one speaking words that Lucian could understand.