Sweet Venom Arc 03 Ch 31

"THINGS ARE NOT OKAY, LEECH! NOT EVEN FUCKING CLOSE!"

"I know! Stop yelling! I'm concentrating!" Leech's voice cracked as she shouted back.

"LOOK AT MY FACE! LOOK AT WHAT THEY DID TO ME!" Ink screamed, pointing furiously at her bloodied eye. "I HAD TO POP MY JAW BACK INTO PLACE!" The Controller's temper flared wildly, ready to unleash the full force of her feelings, but as she stormed over, she slipped into an unsettling silence; Leech was cradling her looted dragoon rifle. Her eyes were locked onto a small nomad ship near the city centre, hovering a few feet off the ground and tilting in the air. It was orienting itself to take off and disappear into space, never to return.

I don't know if I can do this...

"You need to take the shot, Leech."

"If it goes wrong -"

"If you don't, you'll have to explain to Moltezz why you allowed them to fly away." Ink growled, bearing her bloodied teeth. "You need to fix this."

Leech felt her heart thump against her ribs as she raised the rifle to her shoulder. Despite it being as long as she was tall, she managed to bring its swaying barrel on target. She knew what kind of damage this weapon could do. There was no room for mistakes.

"That's if we even still have a ticket out of here." Ink was saying. "Moltezz could collapse at any moment, leaving us stranded. But no, you take your time. Like you did when you were helping me."

"I-It's not that easy, Ink! If I hit the ship wrong, I could kill them both! This needs to be precise!"

"Then be precise." Ink snapped, her breath hot against the back of Leech's neck.

Suddenly, the ship took off into the sky, ascending rapidly. Leech's heart shot into her throat, threatening to choke her. Time was ticking, it would only take thirty seconds or so for it to completely leave the atmosphere. She squinted through the rifle's scope as the ship's engines came into focus.

Her finger wobbled against the trigger as she held her breath, the air tight and uncomfortable in her lungs.

Suddenly, Ink's hand clamped onto her wrist and squeezed tightly. "Take the shot! They are literally getting away!"

"Y-You're messing with my aim! Let go!" Leech protested, pushing Ink away with her shoulder whilst trying to stay locked onto the rear of the ship.

"You're hesitating!"

"I'm fucking aiming! Fuck off!"

"STOP FUCKING AROUND, LEECH! TAKE THE FUCKING SHOT!" Ink screeched, her gaze darting rapidly between Leech and the getaway ship.

"LET GO -"

BRRRRRRRRR

...

Leech felt her brain shudder to the front of her skull as the rifle roared.

A silver stream of scale steel shot through the air. Both Controllers slipped into a tentative silence as they watched the needles shred through the body of the vessel. A spatter of shrapnel erupted into the air. They heard the ship's engines splutter, and then die. Nothing happened for a moment, then, the ship came to a halt, and hung lifelessly in the air.

Slowly but surely however, its momentum reversed, and the ship began to plummet towards the ground.

The rifle clattered to the floor as Leech clutched her hands around her mouth, watching with wide eyes as the ship turned and twisted as it fell, the pilot trying desperately to regain some form of control over its landing.

I-It should have emergency landing jets or something... Right...? I-It's not slowing down! Oh no... I got it wrong.

The Controllers could only watch as the craft accelerated towards the ground, far away from the village and into a surrounding forest. For just a brief moment, Leech swore she saw a slither of sable fall out of the craft as it disappeared beneath the treeline. It crashed through the branches and foliage, and disappeared from their vision.

"T-That wasn't a clean crash! I think I completely killed their engines!"

"We better get over there. Together." Ink replied, her lips curling into a snarl. "In case you fuck it up again."

*

Seeth blinked wearily, moaning quietly as pain rippled through her body. Her vision swam and her head was ringing, but through the white noise she could hear a distant hissing, and dripping. Her hands felt over the strap tight across her chest: she was still strapped into the singular pilot's chair of Venner's ship, locked in the now destroyed cockpit. The ship's interior was a crumbled mess, bent out of shape and heavily deformed from the impact. Strewn throughout the creaking metal were chunks of wood and bark, splintered and sharp.

Her head thumped with pain. It had been a hard landing. Her fingers clumsily moved over her body, unsuccessfully trying to find the release for the belt.

Still dazed, she glanced behind her, only to see the back half of the ship had fared no better than the front. The rear of the ship was gone, and the mid-section was ruined, caving in on itself as a thin trickle of bright blue coolant leaked from a broken pipe, hissing on contact with the floor.

There was a slight sweetness in the air as her tongue flickered out between her cracked, bloodied lips; a mixture of freshly-punctured forest sap, and the tang of dripping fuel.

"Diego?"

The sudden realisation was like a slap in the face.

She glanced around the darkened cockpit. He wasn't here.

Her eyes landed on the cockpit glass, now cracked and smashed open. Her tongue tasted the air again. His scent was stronger towards the broken glass.

"Diego?!"

Her body twitched painfully as she waited for a response. Surely, any second now, he'd call out?

But the ship remained quiet.

Panic was rising in her chest, her heart banging against her ribcage like a drum.

"DIEGO?!" She yelled, frantically scrabbling at the belt strapped across her chest. Her hands clamped onto the fabric, heaved it up and snapped the metal buckle. She spun around and examined the remains of the ship closely, but he was nowhere to be seen. The cockpit glass was smashed, but the hole was too small for her to crawl through without getting cut. The rear airlock was all but destroyed too.

But this was no time to be picky. She focused and allowed her mind to feel out the area. She could teleport anywhere nearby.

But if she could teleport...?

She blinked and appeared on top of the roof, landing with a thud as the metal beneath her feet groaned loudly. The trees of the DA forest were noticeably taller and thicker compared to the old dungeons' stomping grounds, stretching up into the sky for many metres. The crash had left a wide trail of shredded mud, carved through the ground along with the chunks of obliterated trees that had broken their fall. In the distance, the horde tickled at the edges of her mind. They were coming. But as long as she stood, the horde would be powerless.

She spun around frantically, her body shaking from head to toe as she tasted the slightest hint of the blood on the tip of her tongue.

Her panicked gaze landed on a small clearing, straight in front of the ship. There was a second, smaller trail of broken soil, and a mound at the end of it.

Seeth broke into a painful sprint, galloping clumsily over the grass with all the force she could muster as her heart slammed in her throat, stinging tears welling in the corners of her eyes.

She was unsure at first. He didn't look right. But as she came closer, his smell grew stronger.

It was him.

He was facing away from her, his tail bent painfully out of shape and half buried in the dirt. He was completely still.

She collapsed onto her knees to his side and gently tapped his shoulder, her every limb quaking relentlessly.

"D-Diego? Honey? Are you o-okay?" Her voice quivered, fearful and unsure.

He didn't respond.

She shook him a little more insistently, the cuts of her cheeks stinging as tears rolled over them.

"Diego?! S-S-Stop this! Wake up!"

But he did not stir.

Gently, Seeth rolled him onto his back and gasped loudly, audibly choking on the air as her head swam.

"Fuck - FUCK! Diego! Wake up!"

Beneath his body, his left arm had shattered. A slither of white bone protruded from his elbow and punctured straight into his chest. A thin dribble of blood oozed out from his mouth as he bled into the soil.

She desperately felt for his neck, for any kind of pulse, over and over again. Her hands jumped between his remaining intact wrist and his neck, but both were cold and still.

She felt her own heart stop beating. Her stomach clenched. Her head was dizzy and faint.

This couldn't be how it ended. She had finally found him, after all this time! They were supposed to escape, together!

"Diego... please... w-wake up..."

A world without him wasn't worth living in.

Her lip wobbled as she ran a shivering finger over his cheek, her tears dripping over his broken frame.

"This can't be how it ends... We were going to travel the stars together, Diego... you promised me..."

She keeled over, unable to stop her body shaking as her head spun violently. It couldn't be real. It must not be real. Not after everything. Not like this.

But it was true.

He was still. His vibrant eyes shut. His chest frozen like stone. His tail all curled and bent out of shape.

All she could hear was her own tormented, shuddering breath as her world collapsed around her.

She squeezed her dreadlocks in her fists, rocking back and forth as words failed her.

It wasn't supposed to be like this -

The sound of a twig snapping behind her seized her attention immediately and she was on her feet blindingly fast, claws extending from the tips of her fingers as her eyes landed on its source.

Ink.

The giantess was cautiously approaching from behind the crashed ship, stepping over the crackling cables and fuel leaking into the grass, where their eyes met.

Ink's gaze flickered to Seeth, to the body between Seeth's legs, and then back to Seeth.

"Oh. That's... unfortunate." Ink murmured, a cold chill running up her spine. Seeth's darkened eyes were locked on her. "So... what happens now?"

Seeth swallowed quietly between broken breaths, her fists clenched in anticipation. She might not have known what tomorrow was going to look like now, with Diego now gone...

But she knew exactly what was going to happen next.

"Why don't you blink and find out?"

Seeth had vanished before Ink could even comprehend her words, or her own fatal, involuntary action.

The air behind her plunged cold as ice.

Seeth booted Ink's knee from behind and slapped a hand onto her neck, driving her face into the remains of Venner ship. The giantess snarled in pain as Seeth drove her claws into the base of her remaining tentacles, rendering them weak and floppy. Ink powered through the pain and forced herself back onto her feet. She wildly swung around, throwing an elbow backwards to catch Seeth. But Seeth calmly ducked under the blow, carving her claws through Ink's side and ribs as she danced under the Controller's arm and turned back to face Ink head on.

Blood and goo squirted from the trenches carved into the Ink's flesh as Seeth flung her fists up, smashing into Ink's already aching jaw.

But the rake back down was far more brutal.

Ink winced as a tearing sound filled the air, Seeth latched her claws deep into Ink's front and forcibly dragged them through her skin like a bloodied plough through clogged dirt. Her claws sliced down from her shoulders all the way to her thighs, before finally pulling free of Ink's skin. Ink tried to retaliate, she tried to fight back, but her body collapsed under her as it exsanguinated profusely from the multi-metre long claw wounds running down her body.

She thudded to the ground as more slashes and cuts shredded her and Seeth pounced on her immediately, whipping her claws back and forth. Ink raised her arms to protect herself, but they fell limp as Seeth cut into her flesh, slashing her tendons through her skin.

"NO! I WON'T BE BEATEN! I -" Ink screamed, cut off mid sentence by the heel of Seeth's foot, stamping her head into the ground in one, firm strike. It was far, far too late.

Ink laid still, her head embedded awkwardly in the ground, finally silenced. Seeth drew her claws once again, flicking her arms out either side of her, the blood coating her hands hot against the ice surging through her veins.

This was what they chose.

This was how it was going to be now.

She wound her arm back, leaning towards Ink's exposed neck.

This was how she would end.

It should have been faster; she intended to split Ink from within, but her body couldn't do it, or perhaps she wasn't allowed to do it. She'd tele-killed before; the memory of that poor nomad on Barru X still haunted her, and then the Barons purposely after that, but for whatever reason, she hadn't been able to intersect with Ink's body. No matter. Ink was granted to live only a mere few seconds more from this other-worldly technicality. She'd do it the old fashioned way. The soil would drink the bitch dry, right here.

"SEETH! STOP! HE'S ALIVE! FUCKING STOP! PLEASE!"

Leech.

Seeth spun around, claws still bared. Leech was huddled over Diego's body, pressing her fingers to his neck. With her other hand she fumbled through a bag on her hip and pulled out a syringe, hovering its tip over Diego's chest.

"He's dead." Seeth replied coldly, her voice dangerously calm. "I checked myself."

"No! You're wrong - H-He's still alive. Barely. But he is dying, I-I can save him, if you'll let me!" She stammered, her breaths as quick as her words. "But you leave Ink alone! I won't do this if you kill her."

She's playing me. Seeth thought, glaring at Leech with furious, dead eyes. But she could already feel the doubt, and the hope surging desperately in her chest.

But what if she's not...?

"Then shut up and do it." Seeth spat through gritted teeth.

"I-I need your word!" Leech yelled back, her usually sharp, venomous eyes now wide with fear. "You'll let her live if I stabilise Diego." She glanced down at the lizard for just a moment, only to see Seeth gone when her gaze flickered back. A cold air enshrouded Leech's shoulders, and she shivered.

"Fine." Seeth growled against the back of Leech's neck. "But I'll burn your corpse next to his grave if you're lying to me."

Leech swallowed loudly and nodded. Her forehead was glistening with sweat, but despite her fear her hands were remarkably steady, as she gently pushed the needle into Diego's chest. She moved quickly despite her wracked nerves, pulling more stims from her bag as she got to work. She twisted his punctured bone free from his chest with a wince of effort, the bleeding wound quickly sprayed shut with medi-foam. More injections were administered into his skin, one at a time, with a skillful precision.

"He's lost a lot of blood, likely some severe internal bleeding." Leech murmured. "The stim shots will help quell that, but -"

She pulled an empty syringe from her bag, felt with her fingers along his chest, then plunged the needle between his ribs. Gently, she pulled on the plunger, and the tube filled with blood.

"-He needs room in his lungs for air. That should do it."

She was so focused on her craft, she barely noticed the blood drenched claws resting on the sides of her neck, ready at a moment's notice to pounce. The razors plucked in anticipation at the veins within.

"I mean it, Leech. You'll pay for what y-you've done." Seeth threatened. But the coldness in her voice was breaking down even as she spoke.

"I'm not lying - I think I can save him." Come on, Diego... You gotta survive this. Don't do this to Seeth.

But the lizard didn't stir.

Seeth's grip around Leech's neck tightened... as she began to cry. She averted her gaze, staring off into the trees. Leech fumbled through her bag again and brought out more of her medical kit to treat the lizard's injuries.

"I... I-I don't want to kill you, Leech..." Seeth stuttered through pained breaths.

I'm not letting you die here. Fucker. Wake up!

Leech pressed her palm onto Diego's chest and pushed on his still body, when something wet dripped onto her head. Crystal tears ran down her carapace.

"... But I will."

Fuck. FUCK! COME ON DIEGO! WAKE UP!

But he did not stir.

Leech bowed her head. Life had seemingly not returned to him. He'd been given stims and nano-bot injections, his lungs had been cleared of fluid, but it wasn't enough.

Her hands curled into fists; she wasn't going to die without a fight. She doubted she would even get to swing, but she wasn't going to die without at least trying.

Maybe though, all of the ways to die, this would be... acceptable? Better to die to someone you knew, than dumped into a corpse barrel or starving to death on some decaying space station.

"I'm sorry, Seeth." She exhaled slowly. The sensation of Seeth's claws against her skin sent shivers down her spine, neither pleasant nor uncomfortable. She tentatively reached into her bag again for anything that might be of use. Her shaking fingers curled around a scalpel. "Do what you -"

Suddenly, a weak cough cut through the air like a blade.

Diego swallowed, his bloodied nose whistling ever-so-quietly with each laboured, shallow breath he took.

He's alive?! HE'S ALIVE!

"SEETH! HE'S ALIVE!" Leech cried out.

The grip around Leech's neck shuddered open, like a vice finally released. Seeth collapsed to her knees, whimpering quietly as she leaned over him as wiped her tears away, gently reaching out towards him.

"H-He's breathing - He's alive - I - I -" Seeth's wracked body shuddered violently again, her eyes glancing up at Leech now with nothing but pure regret. "- I was going to kill you, Leech! I nearly did! He's - oh my - I just -" Seeth was stammering desperately, her eyes now alternating between Diego's wavering chest, and Leech.

"You uh... take five... breathe and stuff. I need to go make sure Ink is alright. I'll be right back..." Leech replied cautiously, her hand drifting towards Seeth, but stopping a few inches short of her shoulder. She stood up and brushed her knees down, before carefully making her way towards Ink's bloodied body.

Seeth gently stroked a finger down Diego's cheek, huddling over him carefully, her mind absolutely frazzled by the sheer emotional load she just went through. Her man was still alive, and right now, that was all that mattered. Her head continued to spin, her chest still shuddering, the last few minutes of her life rocketed back and forth through her mind.

She reached down and gently grabbed his hand, as softly as her quaking fingers would allow, feeling his soft scales against her skin. The gaping hole in her chest began to knit back together as the fuzzy, warm feeling of hope filled her once again. She couldn't pull her eyes off him, knowing he was alive. She didn't know if she could ever look away again.

Her trance was broken by a pair of muddy knees suddenly appearing behind Diego, she glanced around, unsure of how long she'd been staring at him. Leech returned to the lizard's side once more and sighed softly.

"Ink's gonna live. Barely. You did quite a number on her but I stopped the bleeding." She produced a can of medi-spray and rattled it to emphasise the point. It was hollow and dry, and she discarded it behind her casually. "Our kind is apparently tough, just gotta stabilise them and our biology does the rest. His kind is... also surprisingly tough. He was barely clinging on, it's no wonder you thought he was dead. Thankfully, death is a process, not just a switch." Leech pressed her fingers to his neck again. "I'm going to give him a lock serum. It'll freeze his bones and fractures, let you carry him without potentially making this worse. But it needs a few minutes to set..." said Leech, her voice trailing off as her eyes landed on Seeth, who was already watching her.

The lock serum was a substantially thicker syringe, cold frost emanated from its body as Leech gently raised Diego's head, then pressed its needle into the base of his neck.