Friday, February 16, 2018

Poison-Chp16

“Calm down, Jones! You gotta calm down!”

“Let go of me! Let go of me, Drips!!”

A big commotion was heard as people saw Ozzie storming out of his room early in the morning and Drix chasing after him and grabbing him, making him scream bloody murder and struggle like a convict trying to escape from prison. Mr. Pheo quickly came to find out what was wrong.

“What is going on here?” Mr. Pheo asked, shocked to see Ozzie wriggling and squirming like a worm in Drix’ clutches. “It’s a Sunday morning, boys. Take your hustle some place else, or maybe do it another time.”

“You liar!” Ozzie spat. “You fucking liar! You told me you’d help Thrax! And yet now he’s gonna die! You big fat fucking liar!!”

Mr. Pheo looked disapprovingly at Drix, figuring out that Drix had let the cat out of the bag. Drix looked away guiltily.

“I’m sorry, Mr. Pheo. I just—calm down, Jones—I just don’t think Jones deserve to be kept in the dark anymore. He’s bound to find out sooner or later anyway, since it’s going to be a public execution…”

“Public execution?!” Ozzie exclaimed. “When the hell were you going to tell me about this?! Were you going to keep this from me until Thrax is long gone and dead?! I trusted you, Mr. Pheo! You said you were going to help Thrax!! I trusted you!!”

Mr. Pheo, seeing that Ozzie’s outburst was attracting too much unwanted attention, gestured Drix to escort Ozzie to his study. Ozziy obliged but not without a fight as the cold pill had to literally shove the cell into the room while Mr. Pheo locked the door behind them. Drix still had to keep hold of him in case he wanted to lunge at the melanin cell and Mr. Pheo could tell Ozzie was literally seething with fury.

“Yes, I understand you’re upset about this,” Mr. Pheo replied apologetically as he tried to calm Ozzie down. “I know I have promised to return Thrax to you and request the city council to deal with him properly and professionally, but you must understand, my influence and power can only do so much. I am an aristocrat, not a saint. I’ve tried, I’ve really tried, but I am still not above the law.”

“Why didn’t you tell me? Why didn’t you let me in on what went on in that friggin’ meeting room of yours? Drips said it was for my own good, that I shouldn’t know coz I might jeopardize the case, but you were going to hide this from me as well! This is my Master’s life we’re talking about! How could you hide something as important as this from me?! I had to find out from Drips, and if I hadn’t passed out from shock last night, I would’ve knocked your socks off till next week!”

“I didn’t want Drixenol to tell you because I had wanted to try and plead for them to reconsider again. They deemed Thrax to be too dangerous to keep alive and to be trusted with being a good citizen of Jackson even if he’s let out under probation and under your care, and despite my protest saying that Thrax had technically not harmed the city yet and only had committed murder on the germs and bacteria-s—personally I think it wouldn’t have impacted the city much anyway since it’ll be good riddance to them rather than having to worry of them becoming potential troublemakers—and can be considered the lesser of two evils, they’ve come to a consensus without my knowledge last night about the verdict. They didn’t even bother to give a sort of trial for Thrax and had the galls to start off the sentencing meeting without my showing up. The votes were unanimous and there’s nothing I can do to persuade them. In fact, as we speak, the rest of his gang are going through the elimination phase where they would be gunned down by army barrack executioners before being expelled out of Jackson through the bowels. They wanted to make Thrax’s execution public so that it will deter the rest of the germs and bacteria-s who had made peace with the city from even thinking of doing something brash in Jackson County.

“I didn’t want you to know the progress of the case either because I didn’t want you to get upset and worried about it. Your wellbeing is our utmost concern, and Jack knows what it’ll do to your mental state if you were to know about all this when you’re supposed to be rehabilitating under our care. I’m really sorry, Osmosis, but I’m really doing this for the best of your interest.”

“Well, it’s not doing me any better now, innit, Mr. Pheo?!” Ozzie said his name cynically, still trying to struggle out of Drix’s hold. “I’m more upset than you give me credit for, and it’s all because of you! Now my Master is gonna die and I’m not there for him! I’ve betrayed him and now I’m gonna suffer the guilt for it because I wasn’t let in on the details!”

“Don’t you understand your situation, Jones?” Drix scolded frusttratedly. “You’re not only branded as an accomplice to Thrax to destroy Jackson County, but in private among us you are known as Thrax’s sex slave! You had relations with him, Jones! Sexual relations with him! They are going to put you in the medical department of the army barracks and cleanse you through and through, making sure that you are not carrying either the infection or his spawn, and that is if you are able to survive the detox process first. You’re gonna get yourself killed in there, Jones! They will spare no expense in making you into a clean slate. Do you want to die like that?”

“I’d rather die than live with the guilt of surviving and letting my Master die,” Ozzie replied bitterly. “I’ve lived with this feeling once when I failed to save Frank and I’m not about to allow it happen to me again with Thrax! In fact, why don’t you kill me now? Thrax is gonna die anyway, so why don’t you just put me out of my misery now…”

A loud slap was heard throughout the study and Ozzie felt the initial sting as it spread slowly through his throbbing cheek. Ozzie stared blankly at the perpetrator and found it was no other than his employer Mr. Pheo, glaring at him like a father would to a child who had a potty mouth.

“M…Mr. Pheo…” Drix almost couldn’t believe his eyes. Even he was shocked to see Mr. Pheo’s reaction to Ozzie’s suicidal outburst. He was known never to lay a finger on anyone, not even on his own children as he didn’t believe in ‘sparing the rod, spoiling the child’ method of disciplining them, and there he was now, for the first time ever, slapping a grown man.

“Wha…What the Frank…was that about…?” Ozzie literally breathed his words out, his dazed eyes seeming to threaten to pop out of the sockets.

“I’m sorry, Osmosis,” Mr. Pheo apologized as he soothed the cheek he just slapped with the tip of his fingers, his face seemingly filled with self-hatred at what he just did. “I shouldn’t have done that, but you gave me no choice. One thing I really despise is people who take their Jack-given lives for granted and always asking for death so easily.”

“Who do you think you are?” Ozzie snarled in gritted teeth, trying to hold back the painful tears that threatened to fall out of his black orbs. “Who are you to decide my life and death?”

“And who are you to decide so?” Mr. Pheo retorted as he pulled Ozzie out of Drix’s grasp and into his. “Nothing is going to change with you killing yourself. The world doesn’t revolve around you, Osmosis. Either of your deaths, Thrax or yours, is not going to change the fact that what happened has happened. Think about the people you’d upset when you die. Think of the damage you’d do to others by your selfishness.”

“Been there, done that, Mr. Pheo. Last time someone thought I died, she killed herself. No one else will care now if I die for real.”

“What about us? What about the children? What about your best friend Drixenol? We care. We cared about you to let you into our family circle and we cared about you enough to help you go through your days without your lover. I cared enough about you to help you get your lover back. Hell, if I weren’t a married man and if you hadn’t had Thrax, I’d dare say I care about you enough to take you as my lover, seriously,” he chuckled when both Ozzie and Drix looked at him incredulously, “You have no idea what sort of charm you have on people, Osmosis. Could be that you have had it all along, but it took an infection to bring out in full scale. You more or less have the power to make anyone fall for you and care for you because you have the looks of a person that needed to be loved.”

Ozzie was struck speechless. He never thought of himself as that way. Everyone saw him a rebel, a nuisance, a smart-mouth show off and an attention-seeker. Maybe his family could be considered the ones that genuinely loved and cared for him, but to think of others to see him as someone to be loved, protected and cared for was something even he couldn’t imagine.

“But I’m getting ahead of myself,” Mr. Pheo chuckled again as he loosen his grip on Ozzie and reach up to pet his head. “Point is, it’s not worth it to lose your life over this. I know it’s painful for you to accept this, and I’m very, very, very sorry for disappointing you, but you have to know this: If you really, truly love Thrax, you must live on for him. Survive for him and live out his part of life that he couldn’t. Live for him, Ozzie. That’s the best you can do for Thrax. Live.”

Ozzie finally melted his pride and killed his fiery anger, allowing the tears that he had held back ever since he heard of Thrax’s sentencing pour out and stain his cheeks. Mr. Pheo smiled kindly as his words finally got through to him and allowed Ozzie to bury his face against his chest and cry his heart out. Drix petted Ozzie on the back to ease his sobs and Mr. Pheo rubbed Ozzie’s shoulder to comfort him, letting him let everything go and, in a way, quietly accept the reality that there is nothing he could do about it and his only option was to take his boss’s advice. Ozzie didn’t care now that he was being a crybaby. There was someone to comfort him and let him know that everything was alright and that it was OK to accept this harsh reality, and he let his tears cleanse himself from all the guilt and pain he had felt and dissolve his anger and self-hatred over his incompetence to save his Master. After much loud crying, Ozzie finally slowed down to a silent sob, occasionally sniffling.

“Feeling a bit better now?” Mr. Pheo asked.

Ozzie nodded and remove his head away from his boss’s chest. He saw the wet patch there and felt a little awkward about that.

“S…Sorry, Mr. Pheo. I didn’t mean…”

“Don’t worry about it,” Mr. Pheo replied, kissing Ozzie’s forehead in a fatherly fashion. “It’s not exactly the world’s most expensive suit or something. The important thing is that you’re OK. And no more thinking about dying, alright?”

Ozzie nodded and grinned as he wiped the last tears that clung to his lower eyelids.

“Here,” Drix said as he poured a glass of water for Ozzie to drink. “Crying makes you dehydrated. This will make you feel much better.”

Ozzie chuckled and took the water to drink. If Drix knew how much he had cried for the past few days, or during the time when he was with Thrax, he’d be surprised his partner hadn’t shriveled up like a prune right now. Mr. Pheo finally unlocked the door and gestured them to follow.

“Let’s have some breakfast, shall we?”

--:--

Ozzie walked down the echoing corridor of the maximum security prison of the army barracks. There were a few shouts here and there from inmates around the area but they were soon subdued by the army guard that guarded their cell, banging the door with their baton to warn them to keep their mouths shut. Ozzie instinctively moved closer towards Drix. The cold pill smiled and squeezed Ozzie’s shoulder reassuringly.

“Don’t worry. This is a maximum security prison made out of the toughest, highest-quality material the city can provide, so there is no chance of those convicts getting out of that, and you’re within the boundaries of the toughest soldiers in Jackson County. You’re perfectly safe.”

Ozzie nodded. As they continued to walk down the corridor, Ozzie remembered the day after his outburst with Drix and Mr. Pheo. The melanin cell had approached him with a sort of relieved face and said that he managed to persuade the city council to at least have a final rendezvous with Thrax before his execution date. The city council was definitely not happy at first, but Mr. Pheo really laid it on them this time, forcing them to search for their conscience as to what they would do if they faced the same situation as Ozzie had to face. Finally they agreed to let Ozzie visit Thrax for just one day, and to assure them that he would take full responsibility on this matter, he sent his trusted bodyguard to escort Ozzie, which was of course our good ol’ cold pill Drixenol.

The soldier who escorted the duo to Thrax’s cell was taking them deep into the bowels of the army barracks prison where the most dangerous criminals were kept under lock and key. The place looked a little desecrated, but they looked much tougher and stronger than the ones in the regular prison area. Ozzie see a couple of dangerous-looking viruses locked up there and couldn’t really tell which virus family they’re from because the only thing he could see was their eyes that looked through the barred slot of their cell door, but other than that, the place seemed to look rather empty.

They soon stopped in front of a jail cell that seemed relatively new. The soldier peeked in to check if Thrax were in sight and knocked harshly at the door with his baton.

“Yo, virus. You got a visitor.”

So saying, he unlocked the door using a pass card and a long series of numbers on the code machine to unlock the door. As the duo entered, they saw Thrax lying on the bed facing the wall, his back facing them and his left hand encased in the machine, leaving a sort of dead weight on his arm. He was wearing nothing but that pair of black pants Ozzie last saw him in, revealing the upper half of his body which was covered with cuts and bruises from all the beatings he earned from the soldiers as they tried to torture and bully him into confessing his motives of trying to destroy Jackson County. His eyes were a little sunken in because part of his torture was being deprived of sleep as he was interrogated relentlessly without rest, and he looked quite thin from the diet of bread and water he got for every meal during his imprisonment. Ozzie couldn’t suppress his gasp as he saw the drastic change in his Master.

“Oi, virus. Ya hear me? You got a visitor,” the soldier prodded Thrax’s back with his baton but was softly pushed aside by Drix.

“We’ll take it from here. You just wait outside. We’ll call you when you’re done.”

“You’re not gonna let me just allow you to waltz in and do whatever you want, do you?” the soldier asked in an annoyed tone. “I’m not leaving you outta my sight, not when this T4 cell is with this virus…”

“Mr. Pheo said by the authorization of the city council, once we’re in here with the convict, I will take over and be in charge of what goes on around here,” Drix said with his hands on his hips in an authoritative manner. “Would you like it if Mr. Pheo finds out you are questioning his and the city council’s decision?”

The soldier cell and the cold pill exchanged challenging glares for a while before the former finally stomped off and out of the jail cell, grumbling to himself. Once the door was sealed closed, Drix jerked his head, gesturing Ozzie to approach the virus. Ozzie nodded and knelt beside the bed, tentatively tapping Thrax’s shoulder from behind.

“Umm…Master…? It’s me, Ozzie.”

Almost immediately, Thrax turned around to face him. If looks could kill, Ozzie would probably be dying a thousand deaths now. As Thrax got up and off the bed, Drix pulled Ozzie close, his hand cannon aimed at him if he tried anything brash.

“We meet again, Thrax,” Drix said.

“Yes, and I don’t even want to know how you got here,” Thrax growled. “I’m just gonna deal with my baby here, and it’s about time you showed up.”

“It’s alright,” Ozzie broke from Ozzie’s hold and set him aside, assuring him that he was alright. He came close to Thrax and whispered, “I’m sorry, Master.”

“Sorry isn’t good enough, Jones,” Thrax snarled as he grabbed hold of Ozzie’s collar, shaking him. Drix wanted to stop him but Ozzie held up a hand to stop him and make him stay where he was. Thrax glared at the cold pill for a while before turning to the cell, “Did that cold pill tell you to do what you did to me?”

“Yes, he did.”

“Why did you listen to him? Why did you betray me? I thought you promised me that you will never listen to any orders or commands but mine. Why did you listen to his words instead and betray me?”

“Because…Because I thought I was doing the right thing,” Ozzie looked away sadly.

“By drugging me? By drugging all those men that I worked so hard for to collect?” Thrax bellowed as he pushed Ozzie until he hit against the cold pill. “We were almost there! We were so close! We would’ve succeeded if it weren’t for you! After all I’ve done for you, after all you’ve been through with me, how could you do this to me? How could you betray me?”

“I just…I just don’t want you to kill anymore, Master,” Ozzie whined as he tried to gain a foothold. “That’s all I want: to settle down and not having to be on the run all the time.”

“You know I cannot do that! It’s my nature! It’s in my blood! A virus is not a virus if I don’t do what I’m meant to do…”

“I don’t give a fuck what you are meant to do!” Ozzie suddenly shouted, letting out the outburst he had been dying to do so ever since he was with Thrax. “It’s your own body! You got a brain! You can choose not to kill! Do you know that every time you go on an all-out heist like this the first thing I could only think of was how to get out of it alive. I always worry that things might screw up, that you might die, and what does that leave me? What am I to do without you? I don’t give a damn about what you made me do or how you use me to achieve your goals, but what would happen to me if you die and leave me all alone?! Have you ever thought about that?!”

For the first time ever, Thrax, who always had the last say, was speechless. He couldn’t believe his ears. Ozzie was actually worried and concerned about his safety and his life? He had always thought that Ozzie hated being with him that he was only following orders because he bullied him into submission, that he was going along with his charades because he fear for his own life. He had assumed that Ozzie would never willingly fall in love with him, thus his dominance over him to make him feel that the cell was, one way or another, belonged to him and pretend that the cell loved him back. Ozzie could see all that questions lingering in his mind by his facial expression and came close to him.

“Yes, I admit in the beginning I hated being with you. I hated you for killing Frank and everyone in him and being with you was like a living hell. But during the days I’ve been with you, I learnt so much about you and I saw a side of you that I would never thought I’d see. You punished me, you tortured me and you fucked me till I could forget my name, but at the same time you showed me in your own way that you actually cared about me. I don’t blame you for whatever that you have caused me or whatever that had happened to me, including being raped and getting knocked up, because in the end, you would rescue me and tell me that everything was alright and that the worst was over. You were always there for me, Master, and…and I…I love you for that.”

Thrax’s heart felt like it just swelled up three times its size before it exploded into tiny little pieces at Ozzie’s words. I love you. The magic words that he thought Ozzie would never ever say as long as he lived slipped out of those lips that he would kill to own. He looked down almost dejectedly, not wanting the cell and the cold pill duo in front of him to see his face, or more importantly his eyes, as they seemed to melt with emotions he had long forgotten ever since his mother hardened his heart.

“I love you, Master,” Ozzie said softly as he undid the belt that held his canvas slacks on. “And I have betrayed you. I deserve to be punished. Do me as you will.”

Thrax saw the belt held out to him willingly and tensed for a while before snatching it out of his hand. He could tell from Drix’s little body languages that he wasn’t very comfortable with this idea, like silently fidgeting around a little and putting his the back of his finger against his lower lip, which was what he was doing right now, but the fact that he had not voiced out his protests showed that he more or less trusted what Ozzie was doing. Ozzie, on the other hand, just stood there submissively, resigned to his fate.

Without warning, instead of the belt, Thrax’s encased hand flew across Ozzie, hitting him on his side and sent him skidding across the floor. Drix gasped and frowned as he activated his hand cannon.

“Alright, that’s just uncalled for…” Drix wanted to apprehend Thrax but was stopped by Ozzie.

“No! You stay outta this, Drips!” Ozzie struggled to get up as he held his hand up, again making him stay where he was.

“But this is too much. I won’t stand for this…”

“Then get the hell out!” Ozzie barked, glaring at him while holding his bruising side. “This is my reunion with Thrax and I won’t have you ruin it for me! You can’t handle this, then go outside and watch the door! I know what I’m doing here!”

“But…But, Ozzie…”

“I said GET THE FUCK OUT!!”

Drix hesitated and wanted to retaliate, to put his foot down and handle this, but seeing the insistence—and a little desperation—in Ozzie’s narrowed eyes, he lost the heart to do so, remembering fully his promise last night after Mr. Pheo announced the good news of a reunion that he would trust Ozzie and let him take as much time as he liked with Thrax, not interfering with whatever goes on between them during the reunion. Quietly, he walked out of the jail cell and waited outside the door, using his cannon to squirt a gel-like substance over the barred slot of the door to block out the sounds despite the soldier guard’s protests.

Thrax didn’t waste time in putting the belt to use. Before Ozzie could brace himself, he landed the belt onto the cell hard. Blow after blow came raining down onto poor Ozzie who curled up in a fetal position on the floor, not protesting or screaming for mercy, only letting out an occasional whimper or sob. The virus vented out everything he felt within onto Ozzie: his anger over Ozzie’s betrayal; his self-hatred over what he was doing right now to Ozzie even after what the cell had just confessed and over what he had done to his poor little pet in the past; his dismay over the fact that he had to find out right now how his pet truly felt for him; his self-loathing over himself not having the courage to honestly tell his feelings to Ozzie because of his years of built-in pride; and his disappointment and sadness over the reality that he will never see his baby again after this.

It felt like forever before Ozzie finally felt the blows stopped coming. When he looked up from his fetal position, he saw Thrax breathing heavily as he threw away the belt not because he was tired of beating him up, but because he was trying to suppress something that was threatening to overflow from the very fiber of his being and make him very uncharacteristic in front of his pet. Tentatively, Ozzie got up from the floor and walked painfully close to the virus. When he reached his hands up to try and cup his Master’s cheeks, he was gripped tight by the wrist with one clawed hand and pulled close to the virus’ face before he felt Thrax’s strong lips on his, kissing him with a fiery passion. He felt something wet against his own cheeks, not sure whether it was his Master’s tears—he’d be extremely surprised to see the manly Thrax who was the cause of tears to actually cry himself—or his own, but he didn’t care. All he wanted was to be in Thrax’s arms, feeling his vigor and strength of his heart all over him.

“I love you, Master…” Ozzie whispered between kisses. “I love you…I love you so much…”

Thrax didn’t reply, but reciprocated his feelings by showering butterfly kisses around his face and neck. It was very rare for Thrax to behave so tenderly, but as long as his Master was with him, Ozzie couldn’t care less if Thrax was slobbering all over him. Thrax tried to remove the cell’s clothes but with a dead weight on his left hand, undressing him with one hand was making it very difficult. Ozzie helped by removing them for him, baring his nude form for the virus to see. Thrax continued to kiss the rest of his exposed membrane, twirling circles around the inverted concaved area on his chest with his tongue, making the cell shiver and whine in ecstasy. It felt almost like his imagination while he was masturbating back then had come to life.

“Lie down on the bed, baby,” Thrax said huskily, calling Ozzie’s pet name the latter had missed so much while his eyes were not really meeting his once his lips stopped at his midsection.

Seeing the faint streaks along the virus’ cheeks, Ozzie understood why the lack of eye contact. He nodded and did as he was told. As soon as he was on the bed, he felt Thrax’s free hand on the left side of his hip and his dreadlocks tickled his midsection, and he trembled in anticipation as to what was about to happening next.

Slowly but surely, he felt the warm, wet heat of his Master’s mouth around his cock. Ozzie gasped in surprise. Throughout their relationship, Ozzie had always been the one to who did the work. Thrax had never once had his mouth anywhere near his nether region, well, not directly, anyway, and now there he was, sucking and bobbing his head up and down, expertly using his lips to clench and unclench his member and lashing random tantalizing patterns around it and down the underside. Afraid that he would make a fool of himself being heard, Ozzie quickly covered his mouth, pressing both his hands against it to suppress his moans.

“What did I say about holding back?” Thrax’s voice rang in his ears as he momentarily let his oral hold off Ozzie’s cock.

“But…But people might hear us, Master…” Ozzie whimpered, his voice muffled behind his hand.

“Let them hear us. Let the whole world hear our passion tonight. Let me hear your voice as you scream for me, baby.”

Ozzie slowly release his hold on his mouth and let himself go, letting out moan after moan of euphoria as his Master continued to blow him, his clawed hand massaging his sac. He clawed at the hard, cold bed he was on, desperate to grab onto something but seeing that the bed had no mattress or bed sheets, he resolved to clutch onto the edge of the bed, surrendering himself to his skilled mouth. In the back of his mind, he had wondered how had Thrax mastered all these, and felt a slight pang of jealousy at the thought of his Master pleasuring other people before him before he chucked that thought out of his mind, easing in to the fact that whoever had it with Thrax back then, Trisha included, was never as good as what he was getting now. His hips reflexively bucked at the wet heat and instinctively wanted to thrust forward but Thrax carried his dead weight left hand and held him down, the cold metal of the encasing machine making Ozzie let out a surprise yelp for a split second there before returning to the ecstatic assault on his throbbing member.

After succeeding in making Ozzie into a squirming, moaning, writhing fool, Thrax proceeded to move downward and suck his sac. Rolling the balls along his tongue, he released his heavy hold on the cell’s belly and took one of his ankles, wrapping the leg around his head, nudging his other leg to do so with his dead weight hand. Ozzie complied and that was when Thrax stopped licking and sucking the sac and leaned down to trace circles around his puckered entrance. Ozzie cried out in rapture between gasps as Thrax kissed and licked his ass before slipping his tongue, thrusting into his entrance and roaming around his inner muscle. Delving deep into him, Thrax could feel Ozzie’s muscles contracting around him in pleasure while his lips worked its magic to suckle the pucker.

Ozzie was blown away by the feeling of Thrax’s mouth devouring him like that. Words could barely even describe what he was feeling right now as he moaned and groaned with pleasure at his Master’s ministrations. The odd reaching sensation was infuriatingly close, clawing at his membrane mercilessly and screamed at him for release, but without being able to touch himself (and feeling the warning of the cold steel of Thrax’s encased hand whenever he tried), the cell was going insane with the build throbbing painfully in his cock.

“Master…Master, please…Fuck me…! Fuck me and let me cum, I beg you…!”

“Such a demanding slave,” Thrax chuckled as he stopped tongue-fucking his pet. He maneuvered the cell until he was on all fours and coated his cock with whatever remaining saliva that was around Ozzie’s hole after unzipping his fly. Holding Ozzie’s waist from behind with his encased hand, he prodded Ozzie’s entrance teasingly with the tip of his rock-hard cock and asked, “How badly do you want me, baby?”

“V…Very badly, Master…” Ozzie breathed, trying his best not to just scream at him to impale him and shag him senseless.

“How badly?”

“Un…Until I…I forget who I am…”

“I love you, baby.”

With that tiny whisper near his ear, catching Ozzie unaware, Thrax slid in with one smooth thrust, the moist saliva within his entrance paving the way. Ozzie widened his eyes and let out a strangled gasp at the initial burn, but soon started moaning and groaning again in elation as the virus started thrusting in a steady rhythm, the ridges of his cock rubbing sensually against Ozzie’s inner muscles. Ozzie clawed at the pillow, which was probably the only thing that made a bed, and gripped hard at the pillow case, his sweet spot immediately found and assaulted with vigor. Thrax, of course, deviously avoided touching Ozzie, which drove Ozzie into a frenzy as he couldn’t cum while his prostate was rammed mercilessly over and over again, sending jolts of wonting piling up at his manhood.

“P…Please…! It hurts, Master…! Please touch me…!!” Ozzie begged, almost close to tears.

“Not yet, baby,” Thrax purred. “I’m not quite done yet.”

So saying, with his rod still in him, the virus flipped the cell to missionary position and wrapped the latter’s legs around his waist, pummeling deeper into Ozzie until Ozzie could literally see white hot flashing stars in his mind’s eyes, bringing his Master in and out of focus.

“Yes…!! Yes, Master! So good! That’s the spot…!!”

“Mmh…” Thrax purred even louder than before as he moved faster and harder. “You’re tight as ever. You’re really gripping me in…”

Feeling himself getting close, Thrax took Ozzie’s length and pumped it aligned with his thrusts, making Ozzie scream his approval in more ways than one. The built-up release within his cock ever since Thrax started blowing him threatened to explode from the double assault. Reaching desperately in vain to grab his Master’s thighs to control himself, his breath became more and more erratic, his screams of ecstasy a pitch higher.

“M…M-Master…!! I’m…I’m going to cum…!!!”

“Mmh…Me too, baby…! I’m cumming…!”

Before Thrax could pull out, Ozzie came long and hard, his legs reflexively wrapped tighter around the virus’ waist, pushing him in deeper. The tight contracted inner muscles of Ozzie’s orifice clenched tightly around Thrax’s rod, forcing the virus to release his warm seed into him. Both of them cum like they’ve never cum before, their whole body tensed and arched as if they were having some sort of big scale cramp. It felt like forever before the tremors of their orgasm subsided. Thrax let out a soft groan before laying on top of Ozzie, his cock still inside him. Ozzie tentatively wrapped his arms around him, hugging him as if he was afraid Thrax would disappear from sight if he didn’t.

“I…I came inside you…” Thrax panted, nuzzling against Ozzie’s cheek.

“I know,” Ozzie replied just as breathlessly. “It…It feels good…”

“You…You will be with child,” Thrax whispered, his tone sounding a little worried. “Your body is modified by me, remember? That’s how you’re able to get knocked up with Finn’s…”

“It’s OK,” Ozzie stopped Thrax from continuing as he nuzzled Thrax back. “If that happens, I’ll be glad to carry your child. He or she will be a parting gift from you, and I will love and protect him or her with my life. You’re all I’ve got now, and when you’re gone, I want something of you close to me, to remind me of you.”

“Baby…I…” Thrax hesitated for a while, trying to will his pride away before giving in to what he wanted to say, “I’m sorry…”

“It’s OK. I love you. I love you so much, Master.”

“Say my name, baby,” Thrax kissed his forehead in tiny pecks. “Let me hear you say my name.”

“Thrax…” Ozzie said as his eyes welled up, hugging Thrax desperately. “I love you, Thrax…I love you so much…I love you so, so much…”

“I love you too,” Thrax whispered to his ear, as if it was a secret only reserved for his beloved to hear. “I love you forever and a day, Ozzie.”

Ozzie sobbed as he hugged Thrax tighter. Finally his Master called him by name. he could hear and feel the love his Master had for him by calling him his name. Thrax purred and hushed him as he picked him up in a sitting position, rocking him to and fro, trying to comfort him and tell him everything was alright.

“Alright, break it up, boys.”

Ozzie gasped as he saw the soldier cell coming up to him and pulled him harshly out of Thrax’s embrace. He was dragged and pushed towards the door, Drix catching him just in time. Drix gave him an apologetic look and picked up Ozzie’s clothes that were flung unceremoniously at his feet.
“Put your clothes on, ho. It’s time to go,” the solder cell said distastefully. “Didn’t think you’d be his whore as well, but I’ll overlook this and not take you for de-tox, since you’re Mr. Pheo’s guy.”

“No! No, please!” Ozzie tried to struggle from Drix’s arms as the cold pill tried to help him dress. “Please, just 5 more minutes! 5 more minutes with him, please!”

“You had your time, ho. Now get dressed and get outta here!”

“Don’t you dare call my baby that way, you son of a…”

Thrax’s attempt to lunge at the soldier cell was quelled when he received a whack on his midsection by his baton. Thrax doubled over by the blow and coughed, almost vomiting.

“No! Stop! Don’t do that!” Ozzie screamed but was held back by Drix.

“Get the fuck outta here, ho! Take him away!” the soldier cell growled.

“No…No, baby…” Thrax struggled to regain his composure and get up but was held down with the soldier cell’s strong foot. He had to admit that people from the army barracks were strong, but he didn’t think they could be that strong to subdue him just like that.

“You stay the fuck down, virus! You had your lovin’ with that whore, now it’s time to go beddie-bye and say bye-bye to him before you get toasted the day after tomorrow!”

“I’m sorry, Ozzie,” Drix apologized as he hoisted Ozzie onto his shoulder, holding him securely within the crook of his neck so that the cell would not use his morphing flexibility to slither out of his grasp. He nodded at the guard and gave a remorseful look at the virus before walking out of the door and out of the jail cell.

The whole prison soon echoed with Thrax’s agonized roar and Ozzie’s wailing protests as the cell and the cold pill duo left the building.

Poison-Chp15

News around the city spread like wildfire as the announcement of a big scale arrest was made in the Jackson Neuron News (JNN). Thrax and the germs and bacteria-s who swore to make peace with the city were apprehended and now are in lockdown in maximum security of the army barracks. Footage of the knocked out Thrax and his gang being dragged out of the chalet along with Ozzie in cuffs following behind Drix and a few men from the army barracks and special task force from the brain centre was all over TV, broadcasted live for everyone to see.

Because of Thrax’s nature, the army barracks took extreme precautions in subduing him. He was put in a jail cell that was heat-resistant and his killer hand was encased in a portable machine that contained Drix’s ice solution that froze it and kept it under lock and key with a complicated series of security numerical codes as the only means of opening it. Thrax learnt from the warden, who came to observe him for a while, that trying to force it open will cause the machine to self-destruct and blowing the virus’ hand off, so the virus had no choice but to bear with the heavy weight on his left hand. Believe me, he was not exactly a happy camper when he first woke up to find himself behind bars. He was shouting and swearing, demanding to be let go so that he could punish his little pet, but his words fell on deaf ears by the army guards guarding the door of his jail cell.

When they took him in for questioning, the first thing the virus demanded was the whereabouts of his pet Ozzie. Because of the machine strapped around his hand, he couldn’t do anything to scare them into submission, but that didn’t mean he didn’t try to bully them into answering his demands. The army barracks, not quite phased by Thrax’s outburst, refused to tell him anything and carried on questioning him about his true intentions as to why he wanted to destroy the city. With his free hand, Thrax swiped everything that was on the table until they hit the wall, thanks to his super strength, and shouted “Where the fuck is my baby?!” before he was subdued by a few strong he-cell soldiers. His tone almost, for a split second, sounded frantic, desperate and afraid that the army barracks might do Ozzie harm when he shouted again for Ozzie’s whereabouts, but when the army barracks gave him no quarter, he gave them the silent treatment, no longer wanting to answer any questions unless he was told where Ozzie was. That earned him a really tough beating and a trip back to the jail cell bruised and battered, and a promise by the army barracks that they would continue this sometime soon.

Outside, the autopsy of the park janitor’s cause of death was confirmed to be the Red Death, sending the whole village under quarantine lockdown and the one who had close contact with the body under maximum observation. Poor Jackson and his family, among others, had to be driven to the big city in white military ambulance vans and be kept in separate rooms in the main hospice of the quarantine section of the government pathology department, being monitored closely with all the necessary blood test and medication until the threat was eradicated. The medication injected into the body and its enzymes were quickly directed to the army barracks within Jackson County to deal with Thrax and his recruits, as well as helping to find and clear out all the others that Thrax had killed when they backed out from his offer.

Ozzie, who was diagnosed by the brain centre’s professional medics as a quarter T4 cell because of his partial infection but deemed no harm to anyone in close contacts with him, was also interrogated some for his involvement in Thrax’s plot to spread the Red Death, but all in all, because he had cooperated fully in apprehending Thrax and that Drix, Mr. Pheo’s personal family bodyguard, had vouched for him, he was clear to go under probation from the city council. Mr. Pheo gladly took him in to his humble abode and assigned him as a second-in-command bodyguard under Drix because of his expertise in the immunity force. He was also allowed to keep Kiaran in hopes that once the puppy becomes a dog, it’ll be extra protection and a helping hand for the two bodyguards. He promised Ozzie that he would excise his power as an aristocrat to try and get city council to give Thrax as lighter punishment as possible, stating that “any friend of Drixenol is a friend of his”.

“You feeling alright now, Jones?” Drix asked as Ozzie came out of the showers. It was a long day after the medical examinations and the interrogation, and as soon as Mr. Pheo got him settled in the family mansion, the first thing Ozzie did was take a long hot bath in the bathroom that was connected to his bedroom given to him.

“Yeah, I guess. Just a little tired,” Ozzie replied as he took the clothes Drix handed to him. Putting them on, he saw it was a black T-shirt and a pair of cellular canvas slacks. It felt quite good to be able to wear regular clothes again, but somehow he felt something amiss.

“You know, you should get rid of that collar.” Drix commented casually as he pointed at the hypothalamus collar still around his neck. He hadn’t taken it off since Thrax and the gang was arrested and never even gave it a thought. Drix frowned a little before continuing, “Don’t you feel odd having it around you? Those come from dead cities, you know. One of them could be from Frank. I hate the thought about carrying a piece of him around me.”

“It’s OK. I’m fine. It feels nice, really. I just don’t think about whom the DNA belonged to and it’s a-OK.”

“Seriously, Jones, you gotta come off it. You’re no longer enslaved by him. You don’t have to subjugate yourself into degrading things like this anymore, so you don’t need…”

“NO!!!”

Drix’s hand shot back at Ozzie’s outburst when he tried to reach over to touch the collar. Ozzie was holding it protectively, looking at the cold pill with wide horrified eyes, as if he was going to kill him or something. Ozzie realized what he had just done and softened his facial expression.

“I…I’m sorry, Drips…I dunno what got into me…”

“It’s…It’s OK, Jones,” Drix chuckled nervously, “really, it is.”

“I just…please, just don’t touch the collar, OK?” Ozzie said as he looked away, feeling a little awkward to face Drix after that outburst. “It’s…It’s all I’ve got now…”

“I understand. I won’t touch it anymore, I promise,” Drix replied. “I can assure you, you’ll feel right at home here. Mr. Pheo is a very nice man and he treats everyone like family. And if the stuff about Thrax goes through, he’ll be a-OK here as well with you.”

“If it goes through.”

“Have faith in Mr. Pheo, OK? He’ll be able to convince them and work things out, you’ll see.”

Ozzie sighed and nodded. Drix looked at Ozzie sadly, unable to brush aside the thought that nagged him since the day they had the conversation at the overhead bridge.

He really has changed. What have the virus done to him? He’s just not like who he used to be…What happened to the smart-talking, street-smart immunity cop I used to know…?

--:--

Ozzie searched around the storeroom for the tool box. He coughed and spluttered as the occasional dust bunnies fluttered about, but it didn’t really deter him much as he waded through the pile of items lying around here, there and everywhere all over the place. Besides, he had seen worse places than this, especially in crime scenes back when he was still an immunity cop in Frank.

Mr. Pheo did as he had promised to appeal to the city council for a lighter sentence for Thrax, but so far, being an aristocrat didn’t always guarantee that he could get his request. The case was still pending because Thrax still would not say a word about his motives until he heard from Ozzie and yet the city council did not want to risk involving Ozzie into this predicament again, thus forbidding the army barracks to reveal Ozzie’s whereabouts and condition. And since Thrax wasn’t exactly being cooperative, they couldn’t get the necessary means to abide to Mr. Pheo’s appeal. In fact, in reality, they’d found it wise to not involve Ozzie at all and would prefer that this incident can be resolved quietly and Thrax be given a sentence that would permanently keep him away from the cell. Of course, Mr. Pheo decided against it during one of the council meetings on the grounds that Ozzie and Thrax were both physically and emotionally dependent to each other and neither would function properly without the other. He had learnt from Drix that the cold pill would occasionally hear Ozzie crying in his sleep asking for his Master (of course, he excluded that from the report during meetings to avoid a worse impression on Ozzie and get him sent back for interrogation) and he knew that to make the cell fully happy and willingly moving on with his life, he needed to be sure that the city council have given the lighter sentence for Thrax a thought. He had forbidden Drix, who had been following up on the case along with him, to reveal the progress of Thrax’s situation to Ozzie so as not to make him more upset than he should, so when Ozzie asked the first time, Drix would shake his head and feigned ignorance, telling him a white lie that he was not entitled to know about the case until it was solved.

Other than that setback, the cell settled pretty well so far for the past week since he was accepted into the Pheomelanin family. True to Drix’s word, Mr. Pheo was nice but firm to his subjects and often treated everyone as the apple of his eye. Mr. Pheo’s children Drisella, Dexter, Damien and Dana eased up to Ozzie quite easily because of Ozzie’s cheerful, smart-mouth nature (although Drix was still unsure whether he was faking it for the sake of getting over himself) and they loved little puppy Kiaran to bits despite knowing that it was a HIV-breed dog. While Drix’s job as a bodyguard was to follow Mr. Pheo and/or his wife around whenever they are attending to their important scheduled destinations and events, Ozzie’s job was as a bodyguard for the children. He was responsible of sending them to and from school, accompanying them wherever they went (though he wasn’t exactly a big fan of following behind the daughters carrying their shopping bags) and look out for their wellbeing in general. There have been minor ups and downs, but all in all, the cell was managing just fine.

“Where is that doggone toolbox…Ahah! Gotcha!” Ozzie exclaimed happily as he found what he was looking for. The boys were asking if they could build both an indoor and outdoor kennel for Kiaran so that it could have a nice, cozy spot to stay and sleep in. Though he was much comfortable having the puppy sleep by his side, he decided to humour them and give it a shot. Besides, he himself had always wondered how it was like to build a home for a pet anyway.

As Ozzie took out the toolbox, he pulled out something else along with it and it fell with a thud onto the dusty floor. When he looked down to investigate, he saw that it was a bundle of heavy duty rope, the kind that was used on him before as bondage when he was still with Thrax. With a shaking hand, he picked up the rope and ran his fingers along the coarse texture. His mind went straight back to the first time Thrax tied him up and assaulted him with the dildo, and also when he had him dangling with his hands and feet up in the air and the sensual teasing and romping that came along with it. His heart ached at the memory, not because it was painful, but because Thrax was no longer around to do that to him. He was no longer surprised at having such thoughts. In fact, he seemed to have made peace with the fact that he was actually missing Thrax ever since he cried himself awake from a nightmare and, having no one to comfort him, cried himself back to sleep, whispering Thrax’s name despite himself.

Clenching hard on the bundle of rope, he took it along with the toolbox, but did not immediately go outside to meet the boys who were waiting for him with the wood for the kennels. Instead, he made a beeline to Drix’s room and used his computer. He went online to search some websites and image galleries and made print-outs of what he had found before meeting up with the boys.

“What took you so long, Osmosis?” Damien asked as he stopped playing wrestling with Kiaran.

“Yeah, Osmosis,” Dexter sounded equally worried. “We thought you got buried alive in whatever was inside the storeroom.”

“Chill, boys,” Ozzie chuckled as he brandished the toolbox and the print-outs. “I just thought maybe you might need some ideas on making the kennels. I just made a few print-outs of blue prints of sample kennels, see if there’s any design you liked to make for Kia. Here you go.”

As the boys ogled over the print-outs and discussed with each other which one was the coolest design, Ozzie thought of the ‘other’ print out he made and partially looked forward for tomorrow morning.

--:--

“You want me to do what?”

Drix looked awkwardly in disbelief at the piece of print-out he was given by Ozzie. Ozzie sat on the bed looking up at him sheepishly.

“You heard me.”

“But…But this…this is ridiculous!” Drix exclaimed, flinging the print-out at him. This was not something he had expected when he came into Ozzie’s room that morning after realizing he wasn’t ready in waiting to send the children to school.

“I know it’s a little too much for you to ask,” Ozzie replied as he picked up the print-out that fell at his feet. “But please, just this once. For an old friend. I won’t ask it of you again, I swear.”

“Jones, listen to yourself! You’re being ridiculous here! All this is friggin’ ludicrous! I thought you said you’d get over all this! You’re not Thrax’s slave anymore! You gotta stop behaving like you still are!”

“C’mon, Drips! Don’t be such a sissy college boy at me right now! I need this!”

“No, Jones! Absolutely not!” Drix scowled, flinging his arms to emphasize his point. “I am not going to let you indulge in this sick madness of yours! You don’t cure a drug addict by giving him drugs, you know, and that’s exactly what you’re behaving right now!”

“Is everything alright in there, Drixenol? Osmosis?” Mrs. Pheo’s voice rang from behind the door. “You’re taking quite a while, so I’ve just asked Tonto to send the kids to school.”

“Everything’s alright, ma’am,” Drix replied. “Jones and I are just discussing some things. I’ll be right with you and Mr. Pheo.”

“Alright, but hurry. We don’t want to be late for that event later. Jackson’s going to the beach soon and the mayor just called us about it. Oh, and Osmosis, don’t forget to pick the kids up from school, alright?”

“He will, don’t worry,” Drix answered for Ozzie because at that moment, he was startled to see Ozzie’s eyes welling up in tears, staring at the print-out forlornly. One thing that’ll make the cold pill really hate himself was making someone cry, and right now, he really hated himself for bursting out at Ozzie before. He went to Ozzie and tried to comfort him but Ozzie swatted his hand away.

“Get outta here,” Ozzie muttered. “Go attend that stupid beach event. I’ll ask someone else to do it for me.”

“And let them find out about your damned past?” Drix gasped in horror. “You’ve been hurt enough, Jones. The last thing I want is you to be hurt again by this.”

“I just…I just miss him, OK?” Ozzie brushed off his tears hastily. “Maybe you’re right, I’m friggin’ confused right now, or maybe I do have feelings for him…but now I’m just friggin’ missing him, alright? I just wanna feel him near just a little, is all. I’m not gonna ask you anymore after this, so please…”

Drix was torn. Should he do this? Should he not do this? If he did, he was indulging Ozzie, letting him fall even deeper into his dark ghosts of his past and continue to be intoxicated by the sick sexual atrocities committed unto him. He would be corrupting him even further and not curing or rehabilitating him from Thrax’s traumatic tyranny like he should. But then again, if he didn’t do it, he might end up making the cell even more hurt and withdrawn. Worse, he might really go look for someone else to satisfy his craving and end up into a bigger mess if people knew about what he had been through and what he had become. Everyone in the household knew Ozzie only as an unwilling accomplice to Thrax; nothing more, nothing less. If they were to find out about this, it would ruin Ozzie and make him even worse than he already was. After all, there have been cases of depriving an addict of an addiction actually causing an opposite effect.

“If you’re not gonna do it, then get the heck outta here and stop wasting mine and Mr. and Mrs. Pheo’s time!” Ozzie growled as he stood up abruptly and made his way out of the door with the rope and the print-out. Drix gripped his wrist just in time to stop him.

“Alright, alright, I’ll do it, Jones. But just this once. You promise you won’t ask me to do this again?”

“I…I promise…” Ozzie replied, both surprised and happy that Drix finally agreed to do it for him.

“Right,” Drix sighed and scratched his gel-cap head. “Gimme the print-out. Let’s see how these knots go.”

Smiling happily, Ozzie passed him both the rope and the print-out, and immediately undressed in front of Drix, making the cold pill look away awkwardly for a moment at the blatant display of nudity and Ozzie’s lack of modesty. Needless to say, Drix wasn’t exactly enjoying it as he followed the knots displayed on the figure in the print-out and tied it as tight as Ozzie ordered him to. By the time he was done, Ozzie looked just exactly like the Japanese bondage picture in the print-out, minus the part where his hands were tied in the back. Ozzie tried walking around with it until he got used to the feeling of having the coarse rope rubbing against his membrane before putting his clothes back on, adjusting them so that the ropes would not be visible to the naked eye.

“Are you sure you’re alright?” Drix asked, worried and concerned about what the ropes might do to Ozzie’s membrane.

“Relax,” Ozzie replied, sounding almost like his old self now. “I’m perfectly fine. Right, I gotta go now. Gotta wait outside the school until the kids come out. Later, Drips.”

Drix sighed and shook his head in defeat, wondering if he had done the right thing.

--:--

It was a long day for Ozzie as he fell onto the bed to stretch his tired muscles. Frankly, this had been the first time in a while since he was that busy.

First he waited outside the school all day, being in alert mode just in case anything happened at school and he could come to the kids’ rescue, until school’s over and the kids came out without incident. They asked him worriedly about him not sending them to school and Ozzie had to tell them a white lie saying that he and Drix were a little busy trying to get ready to help their parents on the beach event. Drisella had ballet class, Dana had violin class, Dexter had karate class and Damien had to come back to school to attend his Literature Club, so not only he was their chauffer for every destination they had to go, but he was also more or less waiting hand and foot for them: preparing Damien’s books and club materials, finding Drisella’s other ballet shoe, checking to see if Dana brought both the violin and her music books, helping Dexter with his karate uniform and the like.

After picking them up at certain times at the end of their extra classes, the kids pestered Ozzie to take them to the mall so that the girls could do a bit of shopping and the boys can go play at the arcade. Ozzie agreed but made them promise not to be later than dinnertime, in which they disobeyed anyway and Ozzie had to drag them by the collar and chucked into the car and be driven home. The kids held no grudge on that because they knew Ozzie would never really hurt them (and also they knew they were at fault to begin with) and Drisella actually asked Ozzie to stop at the smoothies shop to buy a nice, cold smoothies as their way of apologizing for making him worry. Ozzie accepted it graciously and reached home safely in time for dinner before holing in his room for a little me-time.

Throughout his day, he had never stopped thinking and feeling the way the tight bonds of the ropes on his body were on his membrane. Every time he moved, the coarseness of the ropes rubbed against him, and the part where the knots were pressed hard against his crotch and his pucker, rubbing extra hard and bringing his cock to life. It took Ozzie his entire willpower not to let out a moan and act casual as if nothing was wrong while the ropes rubbed relentlessly at every part of his body as he went about his business for the day, arousing each and every sensitive area like crazy. Making sure that the door was locked, he took off his clothes and lay naked on the bed, undoing the knots near his crotch to release his throbbing cock and started pumping himself.

“Mmh…Yes…Master, please…Torment me more…”

Ozzie moaned as he stroke himself, occasionally teasing the tip of his cock with his index finger, spreading the pre-cum around it.

“Yes, Master, touch me there…”

As he stroke himself harder, he could almost imagine Thrax’s touches and his searing yellow eyes watching every crevice of his body, his claws running gently and softly on his membrane, teasing him everywhere.

“Master…Oh, Master…”

He could imagine Thrax’s lips on him, his tongue along his jaw-line and his cheeks, his dreadlocks as they tickled his face whenever he lowered his head down to kiss him.

“Master, not yet…Gimme more…”

He could almost feel Thrax’s toned muscles ripple smoothly against his membrane, the strong hands taking his clenched hands and pinning them down onto the bed, subduing him with his weight.

“I’m…I’m gonna cum, Master…”

He could feel the huge man meat of his Master Thrax sliding into him, giving him the undeniably ecstatic pleasure he had craved for so long. He could almost taste it.

“Yes…Yes…! Master, I’m cumming…! I’m cumming…!”

All of Thrax’s imaginary presence disappeared within a single split second as he let himself go all over his hand, thighs and stomach. Panting as he twitched a little from the tremors, he finally had come to the obvious conclusion that he had been avoiding ever since Klepta first popped the question to him.

He loved Thrax. In a sick, twisted and distorted sense, he was truly, madly and deeply in love with Thrax.

And it hurt, especially when he was not there to know it.

As Ozzie tried to hold back the tears that threatened to flow out of his eyes, he heard a soft knock on the door.

“Jones?”

“Oh, Drips, it’s you,” Ozzie composed himself and quickly grabbed a towel to cover himself before opening the door.

“You OK, Jones?” Drix asked worriedly, his eyes caught sight of the discarded clothes on the floor and the rope still around Ozzie, well, the top part, that is.

“Yeah, fine and dandy. I was going to skip dinner and sleep, actually. Long day and I’m dead tired.”

“I see. Well, I’ve come to tell you about Thrax. Mr. Pheo forbidden me not to tell you because he wanted the city council to reconsider but I just feel it’s the right thing to do by you.”

Ozzie quickly pulled Drix into his room and closed the door behind him, locking it as he looked at the cold pill in fearful anticipation.

“Spill it, Drips.”

“Well, to be honest with you, I’ve known the progress of Thrax’s case all along, but Mr. Pheo told me not to tell you coz he doesn’t want you to get involved with the city council should they decide something unfavourable.”

“I gathered that much,” Ozzie replied, and when Drix widened his eyes in shock, he waved it away, “I’m not born yesterday, Drips. I know when someone’s lying or when someone’s pretending they don’t know anything. I was a cop, remember? But I decided to let it slide since you asked me to put my trust on Mr. Pheo. So what’s the story now?”

“Um…” Drix hesitated. “Maybe it’s not such a good idea after all. You’re tired and…”

“Drips,” Ozzie gave him a warning tone. “Now.”

Drix swallowed nervously before blurting out whatever he came to say.

“They’re gonna give him the death penalty.”

Poison-Chp14

Ozzie sighed as he walked Kiaran while at the same time trying to find the right ingredients for dinner. His Master had ordered him to make a lavish feast for tonight because he was going to bring in the guys and treat them for dinner while he discussed the grand heist plan to them and Ozzie wanted to get the best stuff for dinner lest he gets another punishment for embarrassing Thrax for serving unsatisfactory food. Though he had to do a little bit of budgeting because the money Thrax gave him wasn’t exactly unlimited, and he could tell people around here don’t take credit for goods sold.

Ever since he revealed who he saw at the function, Thrax decided to take over the recruiting business. He did not believe him at first and insisted that it was his imagination, making him go back to the function and finish the job. Ozzie tried convincing himself as well that the virus could be right, but when he saw him again chit-chatting with the host of the function and when the cold pill caught sight of him and engaged in a brief conversation with him, apologizing profusely for bumping and scaring him, Ozzie knew it was not in his mind and that it was Drix standing in front of him in the flesh. Even Thrax, who was hiding at a corner a few meters away from the Pheomelanin family mansion waiting for Ozzie, was finally convinced when he saw Drix helping the host Mr. Pheo to send off the guests after the function ended, chatting a little longer at the door with Ozzie before the petrified cell ran back into Thrax’s arms shivering like he had just seen the scariest thing in his whole life. That was when Thrax decided to do this on his own and told Ozzie to prepare the little 4-fat chalet they were living in as best as possible and get dinner done before he brought the cavalry home.

“What else do you think I should get, Kiaran?” Ozzie asked as he scanned through the grocery list to see what he had missed. “You think maybe we should get some ice-cream for dessert? The guys might like something a little nice, cold and sweet for dessert after a long day.”

Kiaran yapped, seemingly agreeing as its mouth watered at the word ‘ice-cream’.

“Alright, ice-cream it—WOAH!!”

His words were cut off by a sudden pull on his shoulder. He was harshly shoved against the wall of a secluded corner and by the time his mind registered what went on, a familiar red hand cannon was aimed at his gut.

“How dare you! You traitor!”

Ozzie gasped as he looked up at the owner of the voice. Drix was glaring at him with a vengeance, his eyes narrowing in contempt as he ignored the frantic yapping of Kiaran.

“It’s OK, Kia. It’s OK,” Ozzie tried to calm the puppy down. “He’s a friend of mine.”

“Not anymore if you don’t explain yourself!” Drix yelled as he shoved the cannon harder against Ozzie’s gut. “What are you doing here, or to be precise, what the heck are you doing here with…with that virus?!”

“What am I doing here? What are you doing here?!” Ozzie retorted. “You were dead! I thought you fried your cherry little ass in Frank! You made me think you were gone, just like everyone else, and yet here you are, lookin’ like as if you never came to Frank! I should be asking you the same question!”

“I asked you first, Jones, and I am not budging until you tell me everything!”

“Well, I’m not saying anything until you explain yourself first! And take that stupid ass cannon offa me, or else you ain’t hearing a single syllable outta me!”

Drix glared long and hard at Ozzie for a full 5 seconds flat. It was the exact same glare he gave him whenever he was upset during their first few days being partners investigating Frank’s infection and into Thrax’s case. Ozzie glared back just as hard for another extra 5 seconds, challenging him to screw up before finally, Drix let out a sigh and moved his cannon away, deactivating it.

“Still the same old Osmosis Jones I knew,” Drix commented grudgingly as he brushed off a non-existent smudge on his shoulder, a habit he always had whenever he’s frustrated about something. “I should have just cornered you at the function last night when I had the chance.”

“You…You knew who I was all along?” Ozzie’s eyes widened in shock, feeling totally embarrassed right now that his ex-partner saw him in such a degrading getup.

“You may look and dress like a girl, Jones, but your eyes are a dead giveaway. You don’t have a woman’s eyes, Jones. One closer look at you is all it takes for anyone to figure out you’re a cross-dresser, and I’d recognize those pair of naughty street-smart eyes anywhere.”

Ozzie blushed despite himself, wondering whether that was how Mayor Margo figured out he was a guy.

“This is not exactly the best place to talk,” Drix said as he gestured at the opposite direction of where they’re standing. “Let’s go someplace else where walls have no ears.”

Seeing that there was still time to kill before he had to head back to the chalet to make dinner, Ozzie agreed. He followed Drix out of the secluded corner and out into the streets. They walked together quietly until they were at the overhead bridge of a busy highway. Leaning against the banister, Drix took out the bottles of coke he bought along the way and opened one for Ozzie. Sipping the drink, Drix eyed Ozzie’s midriff and quarter pants and snorted.

“Nice outfit.”

“Yeah, well, not exactly what I wanted to wear, but I don’t exactly have a choice in that matter,” Ozzie replied grudgingly.

“Is that what the virus does to you everyday?”

“You promised your story first. Now spill.”

Drix sighed, sipped his coke a little before beginning his tale, “Well, when you took off and didn’t come back, we thought you were a goner, that probably you lost the fight with Thrax and you probably got killed, or coagulated by the atmosphere. Leah was really upset and was crying ‘He’s not coming back’ over and over in my arms when there was no news from you. She kept blaming herself for not believing in you and not realizing you true feelings sooner. It seems that Leah had finally realized her feelings for you as well.”

Ozzie looked forlornly at the passing traffic. So Leah actually liked me too… he thought quietly. And what do I do? I go breaking her heart by making her think I’m dead, by leaving her to die…

“The Chief found out through the radio-in that those who were at the mouth area were the only ones alive. The rest of Downtown Frank, even the mayor, had gone up in smoke and cinders. Not a single one of them there remotely survived. We held out at the mouth for a while, but we knew it wouldn’t be long before we would go down with Frank as well once we are put in the morgue under freezing temperatures and once Frank gets buried. So the Chief decided that I, who was collateral damage that shouldn’t have been, should leave Frank as soon as possible.”

“Then why didn’t you bring Leah along with you?” Ozzie snapped. “Why didn’t you make her come with you if the Chief decided on you leaving? You could’ve dragged her or forced her or used that silly college boy martial arts of yours or your little bomb squad on your arm there and freeze her to take her with you! What are you the only one who left?!”

“I tried to, Jones! You think I didn’t ask her to come with me?!” Drix snapped back. “I begged her to come with me and leave Frank, but her grief over your ‘death’ had turned her catatonic! After crying in my arms, she just suddenly lost her mind and said if you’re gone, then she will join you as well. She jumped off the uvula before I could grab her and fell straight down to the throat to goodness knows where! And before you ask, yes, I did wanted to jump after to help her, hoping my bubble-jet propulsion will help me with my landing, but the Chief and his men held me back, saying there was nothing I could do! If she hadn’t tried to kill herself, I would’ve taken her along with me in a heartbeat!”

Ozzie was struck speechless. Leah, the love of his life and the most level-headed she-cell he had ever met, committing suicide because of him? He was unable to control the sobs that escaped his mouth as he fell to the floor, crying as he realized the full impact of his disappearance and failure to everyone in Frank. Drix laid a hand on Ozzie’s shoulder, trying to comfort him.

“I killed her…Oh Frank, what have I done…? I killed her…!”

“No, you didn’t. She killed herself. It’s not your fault. She took her life on her own accord.”

“But…But it’s my fault…If I had gotten back to Frank sooner…”

“No one could predict the future. You might have gotten back to Frank and still there is a chance that we’d be too late to save him anyway. Stop blaming yourself.”

Ozzie’s sobs calmed down after a while as Drix’s words sunk in. He had his eyes hidden behind his hands, and he tried to breathe properly. Drix sat down beside him and continued his story.

“After what happened to Leah, the Chief’s resolve to let me live strengthened and despite my protests, he and his men subdued me and waited for the coroner—her name is Deidre from her nametag—and the pathologist to come and examine Frank’s body to determine the cause of death, since his condition was a baffling mystery to all the medics to warrant an investigation, before they pushed me out of the mouth and onto Deidre’s hand when she took Frank’s chin and tilted his head sideways. I held onto one of her hair follicles for dear life and stayed there for a while, not going anywhere, not even into her body because I fear they would think I’m a virus and incarcerate me, and wondering what should I do next.

“When I was at wits’ end trying to contemplate my predicament, I found out that Deidre was invited to a house-warming party at Jackson’s, who is her nephew three times removed on the mother’s side, because he just moved into a new home after being appointed the new Village Head. Seeing Jackson, he reminded me of Frank if he were still alive, though Jackson is probably about 10 years younger than Frank. I decided to stop wallowing in self-pity and start anew, try my best to do what I could not do for Frank. I waited until they were passing around the mash potatoes before I jumped into the food and waited for Jackson to scoop me along into his plate. He swallowed me in and I soon found myself in the stomach port. The securities there saw me and arrested me, charging me with illegal entry and I was sent to see the mayor.”

“You? Arrested?” Ozzie said in amusement, but still had his hands over his eyes, not wanting the cold pill to see them red and sodden.

“I know,” Drix rolled his eyes. “Last thing I would ever do is to break the law, but the situation wasn’t giving me much option. Wasn’t easy convincing the mayor that I wasn’t a virus, a germ or some harmful pathogen or bacteria, what with me not wanting to reveal that I came from an infected cadaver, but I finally gained citizenship of Jackson County thanks to Mr. Pheo from the Pheomelanin. On my way to be sent to the brain centre and to the mayor’s office, some oxygen truck came brushing by, ignoring the traffic lights and failed to notice a little girl who was trying to cross the road. I rushed out to save her regardless of me being detained by security and it turned out to be Mr. Pheo’s daughter. Mr. Pheo was so delighted and grateful that he bullied the mayor into allowing me to stay in Jackson County using his aristocrat status. He decided to hire me as his family’s personal bodyguard, and the rest is history.”

Ozzie waited until he could feel his eyes no longer stinging with his salty tears before removing his hands and smiled up at Drix, saying, “Guess you’ve done yourself pretty well there, ain’t it, Drips?”
“You still can’t pronounce my name correctly, can you?” Drix shook his head in defeat and smiled wryly. “Definitely the same old Osmosis Jones. So now I’ve fulfilled my end of the bargain. What’s your story?”

“You wouldn’t believe me, or like it, if I told you.”

“Try me.”

Ozzie sighed and picked up Kiaran in his arms and told him his tale, from the day he was kidnapped and partially infected by Thrax to the days he spent being Thrax’s slave and going around infecting and killing cities and the incidents in between, only stating briefly what sort of ‘activities’ that went on between him and Thrax, all the way till where he was right now. By the time he was done, Drix was giving him the incredulous look the cell had predicted he would.

“I do not believe this!” Drix exclaimed.

“I told you, you wouldn’t…” Ozzie replied nonchalantly but was cut by Drix’s intervention.

“No, what I meant is…you’re not exactly telling me that you honestly believe Thrax is in love with you now, are you?”

“I told you what I heard from him talking to his brother, is all.”

“The virus kidnapped you, infected you, did all those unspeakable things to you, made you wear scandalous clothes like these, made you an accessory to murder and have you suffer the consequences. You are no different than…than a T-4 cell, for Jackson’s sake! Is that how someone who loves you should be treating you?!”

“Hey, he’s a virus. Cut him some slack. What do you expect a virus like him to do? Give me the sappy serenade and flowers and chocolates and all that? That’s not him.”

“And you like being treated that way, like a masochist?” Drix asked, raising a brow as he had his hands on his waist.

“No! No, of course not!” Ozzie exclaimed immediately, giving Drix an accusing look. “What the heck are you implying here?”

“Take it easy, Jones. I’m not implying anything brash here. Look, I’m not saying that I’m an anti-gay activist or something. I mean, heck, back in University of Chicago, I got a few pals of such preference as well, and I’ve seen some who were converted into that genre one way or another even though they were straight to begin with—though they never seemed to target me, not sure why—but the point is: Are you in love with him?”

“W-W-Well, no…” Ozzie stuttered, trying to answer the question h had been trying to avoid even from himself. “I mean…not really…I mean, he can be nice sometimes and all but…I…well, you don’t know him like I do, OK? He didn’t really grow up right and all, so…”

“You’re not answering the question, Jones,” Drix narrowed his eyes and leaned close to Ozzie. “Are you in love with him?”

Ozzie’s eyes widened for a while at the blatant question before slumping, his eyes grudgingly looking away, suddenly feeling very uncomfortable with the idea of being probed about his feelings.

“That’s…That’s none of your business, Drips.”

“None of my business?!” Drix chided in disbelief. “Jones, you are fraternizing with the deadliest virus that made it into the medical books, the very virus that killed your city including the love of your life and you’re telling me it’s none of my business?! Listen to yourself, Jones! How could you say that??”

“You’ve never been through what I’ve been through!” Ozzie shouted, poking Drix on the chest. “You never experienced rape! You never felt the pain of losing a child firsthand! You never felt the horrors of being someone’s sexual fantasy and being eyed all day by complete strangers who’s first thing in their minds is to get into your pants and shag you senseless! You have never had the experience of someone coming to your rescue, protecting you from all those threats, and telling you everything’s OK after a hellish day and you’ll never understand how it feels to be actually needed and not be treated like some second-class citizen of Frank! Someone you thought you’d never see the other side of is something I personally had it firsthand for all these while, while you had it easy getting into the city and straightaway getting a job from some rich folk who probably doesn’t even know how to tie his own shoelace without tripping, so don’t try telling me what I should or should not say!”

It felt like squabbling in Mayor Phlegmming’s office all over again as Ozzie turned his back to Drix, just like the day in Frank where they claimed they couldn’t work with each other when no one believed his claims of Thrax’s existence and having Leah settling the argument. Drix sighed and turned Ozzie around to face him.

“Look, all I’m saying is that maybe you’re just a little confused. You’re still feeling guilty and blaming yourself for Frank’s death. You needed to someone to reassure you it’s not. You lost Leah and you wanted someone desperately to hold onto, to feel like you’ve never lost her at all, and in your confusion, you turned to Thrax, who is probably the only other person you’ve ever known that was Frank.”

“I am not confused…” Ozzie’s protest were stopped by Drix’s hand.

“Sure, Thrax could have a different side to him, I’ll give him that much, since you’re still alive and kicking even under his rule of thumb, but be honest with me, Jones. If he truly loves you, would he allow you to go through all this?”

“Well…” Ozzie started but couldn’t continue, not sure what to say.

“I’m being objective here for you in believing that maybe there is some truth in Thrax’s feelings towards you, as much of a cold-blooded killer as he may be. I mean, even viruses have hearts. But you got to be objective for me as well. If he really loves you, would he let you be subjected to all the consequences that he made his choices on? Would he allow you to be an accessory of murder, a slave, a sex tool to satisfy his lust and allowing the world to cause you so much pain because of his goals? This is not what a lover should do to their beloved.”

“He’s…He’s just different, is all…”

“Yes, he is different. Different in such a way that he caused you to be an object of sexual interest to every stranger you meet, and yet even he, a powerful deadly virus, cannot protect you from all of them. It was because of him you got raped and he killed an innocent child within you in cold blood. He made you flirt with that Mayor Margo you mentioned to get to the hypothalamus even though he knew you will end up being raped by the brain cell and he gave you traumatizing nightmares. He made you a killer, Jones. Maybe not directly, but he still made you who you are now. Trillions of cells in every city you destroyed, their blood is in your hands as well, Jones, and he is going to do it again here. Is that what someone who loves you would let you become?”

Ozzie was rendered speechless again. Deep down inside, he knew that Drix was right in a way. He knew it, and it hurt. Ozzie massaged his temple and sighed.

“What do you want me to do then? Kill him and make everyone feel better?”

“As much as I’d like you to do so, I’d advise you against that. You are no match for Thrax in your current situation, and you’re gonna need all the help you can get,” Drix replied and opened his chest plate, taking out one of his capsules. He handed a greenish-white one to Ozzie, waiting for the cell to take it before continuing, “I have been creating my own ammunition for my bodyguard purposes thanks to free access from Mr. Pheo to high-tech labs, since I’m running out of the ones I came into Frank with and since I’m no longer really needed to relieve coughs and colds. This is a tranquilizer capsule. I need you to subdue Thrax and the recruits he collected with this.”

“What am I supposed to do with this? Shoot it at their faces? I don’t have that thingy-a-majiggy your arm has.”

Drix demonstrated by uncapping the top to reveal a sort of nozzle in it, saying, “When I use this in my cannon, the liquid inside the capsule will be sprayed out like an aerosol, but for your case, you just need to take off the nozzle and pour the content into the dinner you’re making tonight for Thrax and his company. It’s enough to knock out about a dozen people at one go.”

“I…I don’t know…” Ozzie hesitated as Drix recapped the capsule and put it into his shopping bag.

“I promise you, Jones, that Thrax will be dealt properly. I will try to ask Mr. Pheo to speak for Thrax, maybe even plead the mayor to give him a bit of jail time and have him confined to community services at best. Then you can stay here, not having to go anywhere and killing more cities, and it’ll be good for Thrax too to subdue him. You don’t want him to go around killing cities anymore now, do you?”

Ozzie wanted to retaliate but he knew he was facing an undeniable truth. He balked reluctantly and said, “No, I don’t want him to kill anymore. Asking him to settle down like a good citizen is impossible, but yes, I want him to stop killing.”

“Good. Here’s my cell phone number,” Drix said in relief as he wrote his number behind Ozzie’s grocery list. “When it’s done, give me a call and I’ll send in backup, OK?”

Ozzie nodded and looked down quietly. Drix felt a little awkward seeing his ex-partner that used to have everything as the butt of the joke and being the most smart-mouth person he had ever met standing there silent as a mute and docile and submissive like a little lost child. He wondered how much have Thrax really changed him in the last few months they were together. He smiled as cheerfully as he could and ruffled Ozzie’s hair.

“It’s really good to see you again, Jones.”

Ozzie nodded again and left, leaving Drix alone on that overhead bridge as he made his way back to the chalet.

This was not exactly the reunion he had hoped for.

--:--

Praises and laughter were heard in the dining room of the chalet as the germs and bacteria-s gorged themselves with the food. Thrax had Ozzie sit on his lap and spoon-fed him with the dinner he made, occasionally getting teasing whoops and whistles by the guests.

Somehow, Thrax had managed to get the guest list of last night’s liaison function and tracked down all the germs and bacteria-s who were invited to talk matters with them. Apparently most of the germs and bacteria-s were victims of grudging acceptance to make peace with the city and swear into abiding the rules and not cause any health trouble to it, forced under the threat of elimination to cooperate. A minority of them shrank away from Thrax’s offer, in which Thrax killed them to eliminate witnesses and loose ends but the rest eagerly agreed to it after seeing what he can do and what he had to offer, wanting nothing more than to have the city dead and them running free and wild to do whatever they were meant to do.

“Now this is some good homemade dinner,” one of the germs complimented. “It’s a big change from all the takeouts I’ve been having. Thanks, boss.”

“Don’t thank me,” Thrax said. “Thank my little baby here. He made this just for you. So eat up, everybody, coz we’ve got a big day ahead of us tomorrow.”

Everyone made a toast to Ozzie for his wonderful cooking and ate heartily until their plates were clean. Once Ozzie cleared the table, Thrax started laying out the plans for the hypothalamus grand heist. While he was directing teams to go certain areas, Ozzie came in with a tray carrying bowls of ice-cream for dessert. Distracted by the plans, the germs and bacteria-s took their bowl of ice-cream and ate it absentmindedly. Thrax took his ice-cream, but he put it aside to finish his words, only to be met with a shocking scene.

One by one, the germs and bacteria-s slumped into a stupor, dropping their spoons and some falling face down onto the table as the tranquilizer Ozzie mixed into the ice-cream took effect. Ozzie just watched casually as the last one knocked out, and it was enough to tell Thrax that his little pet was behind all this.

“What the fuck do you think you’re doing, Jones? What’s in the food?” Thrax growled as he grabbed Ozzie by the collar. “Why are you doing this? What’s going on?!”

Ozzie didn’t reply, his eyes staring apologetically at Thrax’s yellow orbs.

“Are you betraying me now? Who told you to do this? Answer me, Jo—”

Thrax’s snarls were cut short by Ozzie reaching up to take him fully on the lips, kissing him deeply. He slipped his tongue in to act as a funnel to let the leftover tranquilizer he kept in his mouth to flow into the virus’ mouth and make him swallow unaware. He had predicted Thrax would not touch the ice-cream, so he didn’t bother to mix it in with it. He knew an unexpected straightforward approach would be much more effective.

“I’m sorry, Master,” Ozzie whispered as he hugged Thrax softly, half of him trying to keep him in place until the tranquilizer took effect and half of him begging for his Master’s forgiveness. Thrax struggled from his arms and grabbed his collar again.

“Why? Why are you doing this? After all I’ve done for you, how could you betray me?”

“It’s for your own good, Master. I promise everything will be fine soon. Just bear with it, OK?”

“You…You little…bitch…”

Thrax’s voice trailed off as he could feel the effects hitting him. He struggled to stand, to stay awake, to punish his pet who had been naughty again, but his legs wouldn’t cooperate in standing still. His mind was making his world go in circles and his eyes were threatening to close. He tried to flex out his killer claw but Ozzie had his hands gently holding his wrists, as if coaxing him into submission. He fought until he couldn’t fight anymore in this battle of consciousness and the last thing he saw was Ozzie’s sad eyes before he finally succumbed to darkness.

Making sure everyone was out cold, including Thrax, Ozzie went to the chalet phone and made a private call.

“Hello? Drips? It’s done.”

Poison-Chp13

Being in cat city wasn’t as bad as in rat city, but the inhabitants there were much more cautious and a little smarter than those in dog city. They were met with suspicion at first, and were directed straight to the brain centre to be questioned by the mayor there, but lucky for them, most stray cats carry rabies and the person who ran cat city was from the Rabies family, which probably was the right decision for Klepta to leave since Klepta was known for going solo. Knowing that Thrax was a fellow virus, Luka—the Rabies virus—allowed him and Ozzie to stay as long as they liked.

The price of letting Ozzie keep Kiaran as a pet didn’t come cheap. As soon as they were escorted to one of Luka’s guesthouse, Ozzie was first asked to blow him and was made to drink in every last drop of the virus’ cum, which, to Ozzie’s surprise, was rather warm and bittersweet to the taste. Then the next day, he was forced to have a dildo shoved up his ass and the familiar double vibrators tied and sandwiched around his cock. Both toys were turned on and vibrated in different levels in intervals, depending on Thrax’s control over the remote, and poor Ozzie was made to do his usual chores with those things on him, forbidden to take them off or try to pleasure himself without his express permission. It wasn’t easy doing the washing, making the virus’ meals, helping the virus bathe and the like with the double assault of the toys on both sides, and he barely made it by the end of the day before he was reduced to a horny, aroused mess as he fell to the floor in a fetal position, begging and gasping in his tears for mercy, pleasing his Master to let him have his release. Thrax, of course, smiled in his devilish ways and made him grovel for a while before taking off the toys and replaced them with the cell’s much needed cock and hand, thrusting and pumping him until Ozzie was literally screaming his completion until his voice was hoarse.

“I’ve decided on my next target,” Thrax announced after staying in cat city for a day and a half. Ozzie, who was grooming Kiaran, looked up, curious.

“So soon, Master?”

“You’re not expecting to stay in cat city forever, are you?” Thrax asked as he ran his fingers through his dreads.

“Well, not really…” Ozzie replied timidly. “I mean, it’s pretty alright settling down in cat city or dog city without having to worry about skulking around afraid that people might stake us or something for being a dangerous virus or something, though I don’t exactly fancy rat city…”

“Have you forgotten who I am, Jones? I’m Red Death who made it into the medical books. I go around spreading death, destruction and fear. I’m not about to stay put and act dormant like some silly volcano sleeping away when it’s supposed to be erupting. I am terror personified, and I’m going to make mankind remember me till kingdom come.”

“Yes, Master. I understand,” Ozzie sighed quietly enough not for the virus to hear. To ask Thrax to stay permanently in a city without causing a ruckus was like asking an amputee city to grow a brand new limb on the affected area; it’ll be too good to be true.

“I’ve decided to cause a bit of a panic on a bigger scale this time,” Thrax continued his plan. “I want the medical books to rank me even higher on the danger level, probably equivalent or higher than the deadly viruses that have existed so far. I plan to send an entire place in lockdown and its people in total fear and paranoia.”

“How’re you gonna do that?”

“Simple. By taking down the head honcho of a village, or maybe even a small town, if we’re lucky.”

“But…But if you cause a whole town to panic and go into quarantine mode, how’re we gonna get out?”

“Big Daddy Thrax will find a way. Don’t you worry your tail-cell off, baby. We’ll be alright.”

Ozzie looked down, still worried. He had seen and heard about cases outside of Frank where viruses tried to make it big in the viral scale, only to end up defeated due to quarantines and new vaccines or antidotes created while they were trapped in an environment where victims were limited and elimination was inevitable. What if they couldn’t make it out in time before the quarantine came in? What if they ended up in a really tough city and didn’t succeed in killing it? What then? Thrax noticed the look on the cell’s face and took his chin.

“Do you trust me?”

“Yes, Master,” Ozzie replied half-heartedly.

“Not convincing enough,” Thrax gave an unsatisfied tone and repeated word by word, “Do – you – trust – me?”

Ozzie stared into Thrax’s eyes and saw the same pleading emotion for a split second, just like the day Thrax asked him the same question when he was about to abort Finn’s spawn. Ozzie sighed.

“You are my Master. I trust you.”

“Good boy.”

With that, he gave the cell a deep, passionate kiss on the lips before getting up to leave. Ozzie looked up at Thrax questioningly, his face still a little flushed from the kiss.

“Wh…Where…Where are you going, Master?”

“To see Luka. I need to discuss some things with her.”

“Shouldn’t I come along?”

“No. You stay put, baby. You just look after that mutt of yours. This is something I wanna do alone.”

Giving a last peck on the cell’s forehead, Thrax left, leaving Ozzie wondering what was that all about.

--:--

Ozzie was woken up roughly around dawn by his Master’s incessant shaking.

“Huh…?? Hm…Wh…What…?” Ozzie mumbled groggily as he tried to get his mind in focus.

“Get up, Jones,” Thrax ordered as he put on his trench-coat. “We’re leaving.”

“To where?” Ozzie quickly got off bed and got dressed in his clothes while picking Kiaran up at the same time.
 
“Out next city. We’ve found the best candidate.”

After making sure he brought along the other clothes Thrax gave him (the gothic-lolita dress included), Ozzie quickly followed behind the virus. There was a limo already waiting outside the guesthouse that took them straight to the bladder express. Bidding goodbye to Luka who drove and escorted them personally, they took the express as quickly as they could and were peed out onto the grass of a park before the cat was shooed away by the park janitor, in which the duo latched onto his clothes for a while before entering the body.

The park janitor was quite old with its inhabitants inside the body already prepared for the day the body would fail on them, and being not exactly very keen on body hygiene despite being a cleaner of parks was not really helping the city’s wellbeing at all, so for Thrax, he didn’t even need to break a sweat infiltrating the brain centre and killing the body. The only setback was that the park janitor lived alone, so it took about almost a week before the stench attracted the public to notice that they had a dead body in the neighbourhood.

But that wasn’t the best candidate Thrax had meant.

According to the address on the envelopes of the bills from the park janitor’s mail, they were directly in a small village somewhere within the City of Newcastle, Western County of Wyoming, and they were waiting for the head of the village to arrive and take care of the body they killed. Unbeknownst to Ozzie, Thrax had Luka manually control the cat so that they could drop them off at the nearest small town after telling her of his plans. Luka wasn’t exactly willing to do so at first because she had ambitions of big scale infections herself, but after Thrax presented her with a priceless cellular diamond necklace he swiped from the brain centre jewelry museum while he was in Gregory Metropolis, she balked to Thrax’s request, claiming she’ll do this “just this once”.

Throughout their journey from the bar in Buffalo where Thrax killed Gregory all the way to Wyoming, Thrax had not once allowed Ozzie to follow him anywhere, not even to the mayor’s office as he monitored Luka’s progress, making the cell stay where he was or just hang out around the area with Kiaran or do his chores. Ozzie had not dared to ask or question his whereabouts for fear of a scolding or a punishment, but in truth, Thrax did not want him around because he didn’t want him to know he gave an expensive present to a woman that was technically and originally meant for his pet. Ozzie may not dare to voice out his jealousy (if he had any) about it if he had found out, but somehow, surprisingly even to Thrax, the guilty bug would send a painful pang to his heart whenever Ozzie looked at him with his quiet questioning eyes about where he had been or what he had done for the day, and his mind immediately thought of Luka who had demanded a price for her services, and thought that Ozzie was better off left in the dark about the deal.

Anyway, as soon as the park janitor’s death was made known, the village head, known to everyone as Jackson, showed up and made the immediate arrangements required. Being a small village, the awareness of the existence of the Red Death was not yet made to the townsfolk, but since police investigations revealed no foul play, they were rest assured that the park janitor’s death was of natural causes, which gave many obvious conclusions for them like heart attack, simple cardiac arrest, stroke or old age; any ailment that could befall on a more-than-half-a-century-old man. Still, they would require a full autopsy report on the cause of death just to give the next of kin, who lived somewhere off the States, a peace of mind, and the best way to get it was to send it to the morgue at the nearest big city. The report was predicted to be complete in about 3 days top or more, giving Thrax his first deadline after so many weeks of taking his sweet time in the last few cities since Frank.

Thanks to the townsfolk’s ignorance, Jackson did not really take much precaution in manhandling the park janitor’s body. Thrax and Ozzie quickly leapt onto Jackson’s hand when he helped the medics to carry the body onto the stretcher and into the body bag. Jackson unconsciously scratched an itch on his nose before he washed his hands after moving the body and that gave the duo a chance to slip into the body undetected, avoiding the immunity cells on patrol there and sneaking into the city using a car that belonged to one of the workers in the nasal dam who, lucky for them, didn’t have the decency to take out the keys from the ignition.

Jackson County was in an equal comparison with Gregory Metropolis, with its usual hustle-bustle of an averagely healthy city. Thrax would have to, again, plan carefully how to infiltrate the brain centre without attracting too much attention, and get it done within 3 days.

As usual, Ozzie became a recruiting accessory for Thrax. After snooping around in the city, the duo found out that Jackson had a mass amount of freckles about his skin, and when there are freckles, there are melanin cells who are considered a high-class aristocrat society because they are the ones who decide the fair and darkness of the city’s skin and considered a sort of pioneers for preventing albinism. And when there are high-class aristocrats, there was bound to be certain functions held by the eccentrics, one of them being a sort of liaison function to promote friendship between cells, germs and bacteria-s who have made peace with the city and lived out their lives as honest citizens of Jackson, and that was exactly the kind of function held by the Pheomelanin family who specializes in the lip area in which Ozzie needed to infiltrate and look for recruits.

The theme of the function was costume party, so Ozzie’s little gothic-lolita outfit came to good use. Disguised again as Ozma Lymphocyte, he went to the party, using his charms at the ushers to let him in without an invitation card (claiming that he lost it after a late night romping). Inside, it looked almost like those magnificently extravagant ballrooms he used to see in the movies whenever Frank had one of those once-in-a-blue-moon medieval fantasy dreams from his subconscious mind after watching movies of such genres. The people there were dressed smartly in the nines in costumes of their choice, from superheroes to medieval characters to fantasy outfits and the like, and no one seemed to bat too much of an eyelid seeing Ozzie in his gothic-lolita dress, which was a bit of a comfort to him because he was getting a little sick of being the centre of attraction all the time. As he looked around searching for any potential recruits, he failed to notice someone incoming in front of him and accidentally bumped into him.

“Oh, excuse me, miss,” the person Ozzie bumped into apologized first.

“No, no, it’s my fault,” Ozzie replied using a woman’s pitch as best as he could, momentarily forgetting the Golden Rule from his Master of keeping his mouth shut. “I should’ve…”

Ozzie’s words stopped short when he looked up to see the person he had bumped. The red and yellow complexion, the big red cross on a bulky chest plate, the huge heavy hand cannon, the gel-cap head, the smart English accent…there was no doubt about. He’d recognize the features anywhere.

But…But how…? Ozzie thought in bewilderment. Why? What the heck is he doing here?! How…?!

“Did I hurt you in anyway, miss?” the person asked in concern. Ozzie felt almost relieved that he didn’t recognize him. “I’ve been known to cause a few lesions on people because of my built…”
Ozzie backed away before the person could put his hand on his shoulder, his eyes in total disbelief and shock. How did he survive…?! Silent frantic questions filled his mind as he continued to avoid the person’s advances. Frank is dead! He was supposed to be waiting for me there the last I saw him! He’s should’ve died along with the Chief, with Leah…with Frank! How did he get into this body…?

“Are you sure you’re alright, miss?” the person continued to probe, genuinely worried of the way Ozzie was looking at him.

No, Ozzie thought. I can’t let him know who I am! I can’t let him see me like this right now, definitely not with Thrax even! I gotta split!

“Is there something the matter?” a melanin cell approached them, possibly someone from the Pheomelanin family.

“Nothing, Mr. Pheo. It’s just that I accidentally…huh? Where did she go?” the person’s voice trailed off when he saw Ozzie no longer standing in front of him.

“What’s this I hear?” the cell called Mr. Pheo smiled mischievously. “Did you just say ‘she’? Could this be true: out dear little sourpuss cold pill bodyguard here is actually seeing a girl? This calls for a celebration!”

While the so-called cold pill spouted a string of denials, Ozzie was away from eyeshot, blending into the crowd as he escaped from the function. Quickly, he met up with Thrax who was waiting at a nearby high-class bar. The virus was genuinely surprised to see his pet empty-handed, and needless to say he wasn’t exactly the happiest person in the world. He got up and took the cell by the hand harshly before dragging him into one of the cubicles in the men’s room, locking the door behind him.

“Where is the cavalry, Jones?” Thrax demanded, taking hold of Ozzie’s shoulders and shook him a little.

Ozzie couldn’t answer, still unable to get over the shock of seeing someone whom he thought was supposed to be six feet under, or in this case, in flames and ashes.

“What’s wrong, baby?” Thrax noticed the look on Ozzie’s face and softened his tone a little. “You look like you’ve just seen a ghost.”

“I…I did…I…I…”

It took all of Ozzie’s willpower to say what he wanted to say without feeling stupid and scared shitless.

“I saw Drix.”