“So, ready to hear about this Adam guy you’re supposed to snuff out?” Rogue asked as he downed a mug of beer he just ordered together with his twin brother. Ozzie settled with his sour mints just fine. He didn’t exactly trust the cleanliness of the café much.
“Yup. Fill me in.”
“Well, as you heard from Big Mama, your test is to take down Adam and bring her his heart as proof you killed him. What you don’t know is that this Adam guy here is our uncle, Pops’ eldest brother.”
“You…You mean Mrs. Roja told me to kill off a family member?!” Ozzie exclaimed. “But…But why? Why me? Why now?”
“There’s always this civil war going on between Pops and Uncle Adam,” Rodeo replied. “Pops was actually descended from the very virus who first spread his reign of terror in Europe in 1347, and Pops’ family in the later years are all purebred Black Death viruses with their own territory to run and spread the disease. It was a pact signed and sealed by all the siblings after Pops’ dad got killed in 1833 a few months after the humans gave him the name ‘Black Death’,” Rodeo grinned at Ozzie’s facial expression at the last statement, “Yes, Jonesy. You heard it right. Our Pops is really, really old—you don’t wanna know how old—but still going strong. The pact was honoured for decades and we stayed on our own turf, until Uncle Adam decided to break it. You can say Uncle Adam is a bit of a power megalomaniac.”
“He runs this rat city and he wanted to become as powerful as our 1347 ancestors, maybe even more,” Rouge said as he shrugged in dismay, as if it were old news. “He had been rather ruthless in his ways of conquering all the territories designated for the siblings. He killed all our aunts and uncles until Pops was the last one standing. Our cousins both short and long distance were able to escape his harms and took over other territories across the globe, and lucky for them, Pops is the only person left that was closest in blood to Uncle Adam that he had to defeat. Pops is the youngest in the family and wasn’t about to be screwed around by someone who broke the pact, and he had evolved a lot since the last time they’ve met, so Pops and Uncle Adam are more or less equal in strength, unable to defeat one another.”
“So I’m chosen to do the dirty work,” Ozzie concluded as he popped another sour mint. Rouge noticed the facial expression Ozzie had on his face and leaned close until their noses were almost touching.
“You don’t sound enthusiastic, Jonesy. Something bothering you there?”
“Thanks for noticing,” Ozzie replied sarcastically as he backed away and pretended to be very interested with the shape of the twins’ beer mug.
“Not too keen on killing Uncle Adam, are ya?” Rodeo smirked. “You ain’t much of a killer, are ya?”
“I’ve killed before in my line of work and when I was with Thrax,” Ozzie retaliated. “Not that it’s any of your business.”
“Well then, why the long face?” the twins asked simultaneously.
“Please don’t do that,” Ozzie grimaced at the way the twins spoke as if they could read each other’s minds and know what the other was going to say, then sighed and said, “It’s just that…well…I just don’t want to kill unless necessary.”
“This is necessary!” the twins exclaimed before Rouge took over the conversation, “You do wanna get into the good graces of Big Mama now, don’t you? You do wanna officially become that wacko’s mate, don’t you?”
“Y-Y-Yes, but…”
“Then what’s the problem?” Rodeo asked.
“I just…I just don’t like the idea of killing someone for the sake of passing a test, you know? I mean, I have been an accessory to murder by Thrax a lot of times, but there was nothing I could do about it then, but for the sake of being accepted into a family? This is just ridiculous! Aren’t you even the least bit upset that I’m going to kill your uncle?”
“You’re just gonna have to deal with this, Jonesy boy,” Rouge replied nonchalantly. “Once Big Mama says you have to do this, there is no turning back. He’s only a half-uncle anyways. No big losing one. We’ve got plenty from Mommykins’ side.”
“Yup,” Rodeo nodded in agreement. “’Sides, yours is just a walk in the park. Our other mothers had it a lot harder than what you’ve got.”
“What if I fail? What if I get caught? What would happen to Thrax then? It’ll tear him apart to know I’ve failed, or worse if I die doing this!”
“We’ll just have to see how it ends now rather than dwelling on the what-ifs now, shan’t we?” the twins replied together, crossing their arms against their chest.
Ozzie really hated it when they did that.
--:--
“If whoever is to blame of all this, it should be you.”
Drix was at the verandah of Ozzie’s room when Thrax decided to come in and check on the puppy Ozzie loved so much, and before Thrax had said anything, the cold pill had started the conversation with that remark.
“What do you mean?” Thrax glared at Drix as he picked up Kiaran.
“All this,” Drix flailed his arms about. “Frank’s death, Jones being your sex slave, Jones getting raped and knocked up, Jones being your tool for murder, Jones now stuck in this stupid test that he may or may not come out alive from…It’s all because of you.”
“What do you mean my fault? I never asked for this. It’s my bitch of a mother who asked for this sort of test, not me.”
“Well, everything else is your fault, whether you admit it or not!” Drix bellowed as he turned to him, his face fuming with anger. “Things were fine in Frank when we assumed it was a common cold, but it turned out to be you and you ruined both mine and Jones’ life by destroying the city and killing the only person Jones had ever loved! Jones wasn’t queer before he met you, virus! You corrupted him and made him this way! If it weren’t for you, he wouldn’t have been in this mess!”
“Well, cold pill,” Thrax growled as he faced up to Drix, “if it weren’t for me, he would’ve been fried with Frank. Is that what you want? To let him die with you and that worthless whore of his?”
“I did not say that! I never said that! That’s your assumption!”
“That’s pretty much what I assume, hearing what you just said. You seemed to imply that it’s my fault Ozzie baby didn’t die in Frank with you.”
“He was going to come back to us! He was going to come back to save Frank, and you blew it!”
“I did what I had to do, jackass. It’s in my blood, in my nature to come, see and conquer. What sort of virus would go against his own killing nature? ‘Sides, Frank was already a goner whether my baby went back there or not. I made sure of that.”
“That’s right, just like you made friggin’ sure that you’ve turned Jones into a sex slave!” Drix argued as he poked at Thrax’s chest. “You made him do such unspeakable things and treated him like a…a fuck toy, for Jack’s sake! And worse, you made him into a killer! Cells don’t kill unless it’s bacteria-s, germs and viruses like you, not going around killing their own!”
“Technically he’s a T4 cell, so he should be killing, if not assisting one,” Thrax corrected, shoving the cold pill away from him.
“You made him into a T4 cell! He never wanted any of this!”
By then, their squabbling had started to attract a little attention from the whole Roja family, who were outside at the front yard enjoying a bit of an outdoor tea. Mr. and Mrs. Roja looked up for a while and regarded the cold pill and their son before deciding to ignore them and concentrate on Rouge and Rodeo’s report on the communicator. The Sisterhood also looked up, but decided to mind their own business as well since their squabbling, from their distance, was a little too indistinct to hear anyway. Only the children of the Roja family, Klepta included, were interested at what they were saying. They looked at each other as if they were thinking the same thing before making a dash upstairs to listen in. Klepta and a few other bolder siblings snuck into the room itself to get a clearer hearing, hushing the puppy who spotted them and coaxed it to come to them so that they would not be busted. Some of them even started making bets to see who would be the victor of the argument.
“What makes you think you know anything about what he wants?” Thrax retaliated, anger starting to seethe through his head.
“I know he doesn’t want you to kill anymore,” Drix growled. “That’s why he agreed to do what I told him, to do what you so-called betray you. He knew asking you to stay put and be a good citizen would be like asking you to change the colour of your skin, but he didn’t want you go around killing people anymore. Didn’t you even listen to what he said when we were at the prison in Jackson? He said he didn’t want you to kill anymore because he was afraid he may lose you. Whatever twisted way you used, you have made him heads over heels with you, and I cannot contend that, and if you loved him as so you claimed, you wouldn’t have let Jones go through with this thing, going on another killing spree and being a tool for murder again, even under the threat of death of your father.”
“It is exactly because I was under the threat of death by my father that my baby decided to do this! I never forced him to do this! I was willing to take his place! I was willing to die for my baby, but because my baby didn’t want me to die that he allowed my mother to get him to do this! I’m not entirely at fault here! I thought we were over this. I thought you already knew how we truly felt for each other!”
“It is entirely your fault!” Drix shouted. “That’s why I said that he’s in this mess because of you! You just don’t get it, do you? You know what, honestly? One part of me had wished that you would just die.”
“Oh, really now?” Thrax raised a brow, not amused.
“Yes! I wished that you would’ve just got sentenced there and then and Jones wouldn’t have to put up with all this! Jones would’ve been with me and be hunky-dory fine with Mr. Pheo and we could forget that you have ever existed! Now look what have you done with him!”
“What have I done to him? What have you done to him?! You never liked my baby to begin with; I can tell from the way you guys interacted when I saw you at the nose dam! You made him turn against me, the only person he had ever been longer with than you and whom he had built a trust with, and now you’re behaving as if you own him or something! You don’t even have the decency to call him by his first name! You’re a fake, cold pill, that’s what you are. A hypocrite! Let’s see what my baby thinks once he hears about how you really think about my sentencing!”
“How dare you call me a hypocrite?!” Drix slammed his fist against the railing of the verandah; all the while both of them were totally oblivious that they were being watched. “I’m only saying this because it is the truth, and I am saying this because I am concerned about Jones’ wellbeing! I do not wish to own him or anything, unlike you!”
“Are you now? Is that why you are so intent on so-called ‘helping’ my baby to betray me? That you were so keen on keeping him away from me while I rot in that army barrack prison? That he never knew I was going to be sentenced to death until the last minute?” Thrax smirked at Drix’s facial expression, “Oh, don’t act as if you don’t know what I’m talking about. I’ve been with my baby long enough to know that every body gesture and facial expression he makes are tell-tale signs of what goes beyond the doors between you and him. And since we are being so honest to each other right now, why don’t you just admit why are you really so overprotective over my baby for? Is it because you’re jealous?”
“What?” Drix widened his eyes in incredulous shock. “Why would I be jealous about…”
“Is it because you’re upset that you never got it on with my baby and I did?”
“Why, I never…”
“Is it because you know you can’t get it up for Ozzie anyway? You don’t even have the balls to begin with.”
“You are being ridicu…”
“Is it because he’s mine and not yours?”
“No, I…”
“Or is it because you know that I’ve scored with him, that he’s with me and having my child, which is something you cannot do for hi…”
“I DID IT BECAUSE I LIKE HIM, ALRIGHT?!”
Thrax smirked as the outburst came out. Everyone who was listening in held their breaths to stop themselves from gasping and alerting them. Drix leaned back against one end of the verandah, his hand on his mouth as his eyes was showered with emotions of disbelief at what he just said.
“So, you like him, eh? Why don’t you just come out and say you’re in love with him?” Thrax growled as he inched closer to the cold pill, his killer claw flexed out and glaring at him with venomous eyes filled with jealousy and hatred over this potential love rival.
“I…I don’t love him,” Drix blushed through his red and yellow gel-cap face.
“You like him but you don’t love him?” Thrax snarled. “Yeah, right. Pull another one.”
“Do I look like I’m lying to you?”
“At this rate, you just might.”
“In this case, I don’t have to,” Drix had his hands on his hips challengingly. Thrax tried to see through Drix’s eyes to find out any deceit but found none, much to his disappointment. He had wanted a reason to just gouge this cold pill’s eyes out.
“What does that sort of feeling you have suppose to mean, anyway?”
“Well, I kinda…well, ‘like him’ like him. I like him more than a brotherly or friendly fashion, but not enough to be as far as a lover.”
“Ah, a semi-romantic-semi-platonic kind of relationship, eh?”
Drix nodded and wouldn’t say more on that, looking away awkwardly.
“You know that I can’t let you live knowing that you are going to take my baby away at any given moment.”
“And you know that you can’t kill me because you would hurt Jones’ feelings in the process, so we’re even.”
Thrax glared at the cold pill for a full 10 seconds before he growled exasperatedly and grudgingly retracted his killer claw as he leaned against the other end of the verandah, sighing. By now, Klepta and the siblings knew the fight was over and there was nothing left to see. Everyone left except Klepta, who wanted to hear whatever leftovers they might berate to each other.
“I hope those psycho twins are at least looking out for my baby,” Thrax said. “I’ll kill myself if I find out Ozzie baby dies doing this, but of course, I’ll kill those psycho twins first.”
“And it would be even worse if he failed or succeeded but lose this child in the process,” Drix commented. “You know for sure that he can’t bear to lose another child, most definitely not this one! And what if he succeeded and your Big Mama still doesn’t accept him into the family? What if she backed out on her promise? What if she twisted everything and made him unable to pass the ritual and the test? What then?”
For once, Thrax didn’t know the answer to that question.
--:--
The first thing Ozzie did as soon as they were done wining and dining in the café while discussing about Adam at the spinal cord was to ask directions to the nearest red district around the area. Rouge and Rodeo followed behind him, wondering what he would do next so that they could report back to Mrs. Roja. It wasn’t easy trying to get a straight answer from the most vulgar of people in rat city, but with a bit of charm and wits he learnt from his days as a decoy for Thrax and a lot of guts from his training in the force, he managed to get someone to tell him where the red district was, which was at the near genital area of rat city. Once they got there, the first place he went into was a boutique shop for devious fashion. The twins looked at each other in surprise at the sudden twist of events.
“Hey, Jonesy!” the twins called after him. “I thought you were supposed to go complete your test or something!”
“I am,” Ozzie said as he browsed through the clothes on the racks, picking out a few to try on.
“Shouldn’t you be, like, you know, go out there and look for him at his hideout, or in the brain, maybe?” Rogue asked curiously as he saw all the clothes that Ozzie picked were not exactly decent in nature.
“Go on a full frontal assault? He’ll tear me apart. We gotta go through it in a more…diverse action. Be a little…spiffy about this.”
“Spiffy?” the twins furrowed their brows in confusion.
“You told me before that your Uncle Adam is a bit of a player, ain’t he? That his sexual preference were a little colourful than you’d expect?”
“Yeah, Uncle Adam had always been known to have more than one lover in bed almost every week, regardless male or female,” Rodeo replied.
“Then I’m just gonna do what I do best when I was with Thrax,” Ozzie replied as he saw he had picked enough clothes to try on and made his way to the dressing room.
“You don’t mean you’re gonna…” Rogue finally got the idea before Rodeo did.
“Yup, I’m gonna be spiffy,” Ozzie said from behind the dressing curtain. “Now help me out here. See which clothes look good on me.”
The twins spent the rest of the next one and a half hour helping Ozzie to decide which clothes fit him for the night’s plan.
--:--
“Alright, boys. Keep me posted.”
Mrs. Roja terminated the conversation and pocketed the communicator. Mr. Roja looked up from the newspaper he was reading and the Sisterhood, who were playing Scrabble, looked up at her expectantly. Klepta, who just so happen to pass by and heard Mrs. Roja talking on the communicator, gestured Thrax and Drix to join him on eavesdropping.
“How goes the mission?” Mr. Roja asked.
“More or less moving along,” Mrs. Roja replied nonchalantly. “Seems like our little Jones just figured out Addy’s fetish for orgies. This is going to be interesting.”
Thrax would’ve rushed out and demanded his Big Mama to call off the test if it weren’t for Drix holding him back by the armpits and Klepta pressing his hand against his mouth, clamping them shut.
“It’s a little harsh, don’t you think, Big Mama?” Ursula said. “After all, he is with child.”
“Like I said,” Mrs. Roja flicked her hair and sipped her drink. “If he is not prepared to do whatever it takes to get the job done, then he hasn’t got what it takes to be a Roja. ‘Sides, he’s young. If this child of theirs doesn’t work out, he’ll have plenty of chances to have one again with Baby Thrax. My Baby Thrax is a real man, after all. Chip off the old block.”
Klepta and Drix had to add extra energy to keep the fuming Thrax at bay as they continued eavesdropping.
“If he succeeds in doing this, will you actually take him in as one of us?” Marushka asked.
“Of course we would,” Mr. Roja replied. “He would have proven to be Roja material and at the same time rid me of a lifetime rival. A Roja never backs down on his words.”
“After all, we could use a bit of diversity in the family,” Mrs. Roja smirked. “I’d love to see how a cell-virus hybrid would turn out. It’s not everyday a cell is willing to carry our spawn.”
“What if he fails?” Trixy asked.
“Then all the more reason to make Baby Thrax find a much better candidate than this weakling.”
“What if he survives this, but fail the test? What then?” Andie asked.
“He would be useless,” Mrs. Roja replied coldly. “We do not want someone who cannot fulfill our requirements and we do not tolerate failures.”
“What will you do with him?” Gertrude asked timidly.
“Simple,” Mr. Roja replied in a matter-of-fact way. “We kill him.”
This time, both Klepta and Drix had to forcefully drag Thrax away before he caused an all-out riot.
--:--
Wart Disco-tech was bustling with life as all cells, germs, viruses and bacteria-s were gathered there dancing and boozing the night away, or maybe looking for a chance to get laid. The music was blasting in such a way that it could burst both the eardrums of a regular human being, but the louder and stronger the beat was, the more the people there enjoyed it. Some of them were seated in private rooms to blot out most of the noise to enjoy the music without having to yell at each other to make themselves heard, but most of them were really hitting it out.
“Man, Jonesy! I can’t get over that outfit you’re wearing!” Rogue exclaimed over the blaring music as the trio entered the disco club, almost unable to take his eyes off the cell.
“Well, you guys picked it for me, didn’t ya?” Ozzie smirked. “Deal with it!”
“Dang, now you’re making me wanna dance with ya, Jonesy!” Rodeo shouted as well as he came close to him. “That wacko is really missin’ out on this!”
“Hey, I saw him first, yo!” Rogue growled as he pushed his twin brother away and took Ozzie’s hand. “I’m the eldest; I get to dance with him!”
“Hey, hey, hey, hands off the merchandize, y’all!” Ozzie grumbled as he pulled his hand away. “Neither of you are gonna dance with me, because I’m dancing with the big leagues tonight. He’s your uncle, for Frank’s sake. You wanna let him know you guys are here and blow off my cover? You were supposed to observe me, ain’t ya?”
“Chill, Jonesy,” the twins sniggered and backed away. “We gotcha. We’ll be at the bar. We’ll follow behind you once the fish has taken the bait.”
“Seriously, guys. Don’t do that,” Ozzie grimaced, still not used to the way they talk simultaneously like that.
“Run along now, Jonesy,” the twins ignored his comment and slapped his ass, making the cell jump and glare at them. “Dang, that’s a mean outfit!”
Ozzie rolled his eyes in a Why-do-I-even-give-a-crap way before moving down to the dance floor. Alright, Jones. If Mr. Pheo is right about you having the power to make anyone fall for you, you’d better strut your stuff, Ozzie thought to himself as he took a deep breath to gather himself and started dancing just like the way he danced when he was in Gregory Metropolis gathering recruits. While he was shopping for clothes before that, he had heard from some of the customers there—no doubt male and female hookers—that they were looking forward to being picked by the handsome mayor to be his partner tonight at the Wart Disco-tech. When Ozzie decided to strike up a sort of casual inquiry about whom they were talking about, they excitedly told him that the handsome mayor was no other than Adam Roja, the man Ozzie was assigned to assassinate, indicating that he had hit the jackpot.
His midnight-blue sleeve-less vest that was only buttoned at the end to cover his pregnant belly, showing his torso fully, and his low-cut grey cellular leather jeans that was deliberately torn around his knee area matched with a pair of onyx boots soon drew attention to whoever was within his proximity. Ozzie smiled inwardly at the good choice of clothing the twins picked out for him. He had tried almost a dozen clothing that they couldn’t agree on, and when he was starting to get frustrated over the twins’ indecisiveness, the twins looked as if they have been presented to the Goddess of Beauty or something when he came out with the clothes he was wearing now. If Thrax were to see their facial expression, he could imagine them unable to live to tell the tale, judging by the virus’ over-possessiveness. Holding back a chuckle at the thought, he briefly danced with everyone who approached him, but moved away in a coquettish manner whenever he wished to change partners, telling them with his body language that they weren’t the one he was looking for.
The twins, on the other hand, stayed at the bar counter, sipping their drinks as they watched Ozzie danced, swaying his hips seductively along with the music and moved his hands while his feet kept with the beat, never missing a single one. Ozzie was the center of attention that night in the disco club, and they knew it wouldn’t be long before Adam, if he were there, sees him and goes for him. They couldn’t fight the blush that flushed through their cheeks as Ozzie occasionally eyed them for a while to make sure they were there and not somewhere else doing goodness knows what.
“Damn, bro,” Rodeo said as he tried unsuccessfully to hide the tint on his cheeks, feeling the warmth. “What is going on with us? I’m looking at Jonesy as if I’m some sort of virgin schoolgirl checking out the bods of a boy-next-door!”
“You’re right, so am I,” Rogue admitted as he chugged down his drink faster than you could blink when Ozzie glanced at their direction again. “The ol’ wacko has seriously got it good, bro. My heart is clenching like a crushing virgin every time he looks at us! I wonder if this was how the wacko felt when he first met Jonesy.”
“Seriously, bro. he’s got some wicked outfit going on. I can’t believe we picked that! It looks so…dammit! So hot on him!”
“You think it’s coz of the outfit that’s getting us turned on here?” Rogue asked worriedly.
“No,” Rodeo replied as he, too, chugged down his drink at the same speed as his brother did, asking for a refill. “It’s something else about him. Even when we met him for the first time before Mommykins dragged us away, I really felt there was something different about Jonesy unlike all the white blood cells we’ve met so far. I just can’t put my finger on what. Damn, that wacko really got it good. I’m friggin’ jealous of him right now, believe it or not.”
“I believe you, bro,” Rouge replied. “I’m feeling the same thing as well. No wonder dog boy Klepta is so friggin’ attached to him during the family gathering. Gosh, I feel like murdering that wacko in his sleep right now and take him in as my own.”
“You’re gonna have to fight me for that…Hey, look! I think the fish has taken the bait!” Rodeo said as he pointed towards Ozzie’s direction. “We gotta tell Big Mama about this. Fuck, look at the way that bastard’s cozying up against Jonesy!”
“Yeah, I see him,” Rouge glared darkly at the person with jealous vengeance as he took out the communicator to contact Mrs. Roja. “Hey, you asshole! Get your grubby fucking hands off Jonesy!”
As the twins cursed and swore from afar, knowing that they could only observe and not intervene, Ozzie soon found himself in the arms of the virus he was looking for as he turned his head a little to see who the person behind him was. He knew it was Adam by looking at his features. Adam and Mr. Roja looked almost alike, with his greenish-black skin and eyes and his black dreads, but Adam looked more seasoned and older, his facial and physical features molded by years of war and fighting for his life as he reigned supreme throughout the turfs that used to belong to his siblings whom he killed without mercy. He felt his back pressed against the virus’ broad torso as his hands wrapped around his hips and his body swaying along with the cell’s, his crotch pressed suggestively against Ozzie’s ass. Ozzie flinched a little when he felt Adam’s face pressed against his and his breath near his ear, and prayed inwardly that Thrax would forgive him for doing this before he reached back to hold Adam’s shoulders.
“Careful with the merchandize, baby,” Ozzie said as huskily and seductively as he could, turning to face the virus properly. “I make big bucks on these.”
“Well, I’m sure you’re gonna be compensated much more if you take my offer,” Adam replied with a deep rumbling voice that reminded Ozzie of a talking wolf he saw in the movies from Frank’s dreams.
“And what might that offer be?”
“A night of endless pleasure with some of the best cocks and pussies you can imagine.”
“That’s a little crude way of putting it,” Ozzie smirked deviously, but inside he felt like gagging. What was he trying to imply? Screw and be screwed by everyone he had with him?
“But effective,” Adam winked. “You in?”
“If you let me call the shots on how we start off the orgy, and I’m not taking no for an answer. I’ve got others lining up to divide with me, you know.”
“You drive a daringly hard bargain for a newbie in this city which I run,” Adam stressed his position as he took Ozzie’s chin harshly, making the twins curse and swear again at a distance watching this, “but lucky for you, I’m in a good mood today, and you are such a fine body with a face that hot. You got yourself a deal, baby boy.”
“Call me Oz, baby. My friends call me that.”
“Alright, Oz. Shall we?”
Taking Adam’s arm and stealing a look at the twins, telling them with eye-contact to keep him in sight, he went off with the Black Death virus to join his party in his private room.
--:--
“Let me go! Let me go, you son of a bitch! Let me the fuck go!!” Thrax yelled, pounding the floor with his good claw because his killer claw was frozen by Drix for good measure lest he go killing everyone to break free and cause a family catastrophe.
“Not unless you are going to calm down and let nature takes its course,” Klepta said as he gestured another sibling to add up into the pileup, in which he gladly did, knocking the wind out of Thrax.
Drix felt a little out of place, almost like watching a family comedy drama unfold in front of him as he recalled the incident prior to what was going on right now. After eavesdropping on the conversation between the elders of the Roja family, Thrax’s blood was boiling and he was determined to storm out of dog city (which Klepta had ordered Mess through walkie-talkie to tail after the rat Ozzie was in so as not to lose track of him) to help Ozzie and save his life. Not an amount of persuading could make the hot-headed Thrax who was ready to make a run for it back out from his decision, thus the towering virus sandwich.
“Fuck you, runt! Let me go, you fuckers! I have to go to my baby!” Thrax snarled and randomly hit at someone who was conveniently just above him, resulting to a bash on the head by the offended person.
“Look at you!” Klepta pulled at Thrax’s dreads harshly, forcing the older virus to face him. “Before, you were so willing to just throw our doll out into the lion’s den to do your dirty work and you trusted wholeheartedly that he would do the job and succeed, and now here you are complaining like the lil’ wimp you are just because Big Mama sent him to do a task you yourself have been training him to do all the days you’ve been with him. You’re a fucking hypocrite yourself, you know that?”
“That’s different! I told him to do something that I was sure it will succeed! This is something Big Mama told him to do that we are not sure it would turn out well! You’ve heard what Big Mama said to our other mothers! If he fails the test, whether or not he survives the ordeal, he’s still gonna be dead meat!”
“It’s no different that what you told our doll to do back in Greg!” Klepta retorted. “No one can be 100 percent sure that he would succeed in infiltrating the brain centre and apprehend the mayor of Greg. If he screwed up the plan, he’s dead. If he was found out by the mayor, he’s dead. If he got caught by the feds, he’s dead. If he didn’t escape in time, he’s dead. It’s all the same! It’s exactly the same as what Big Mama is sending him to do! Why can’t you have the same confidence you had when you made our doll sign his death warrant for this death warrant Big Mama made him sign?”
“You try being in my shoes for once, you mangy runt!” Thrax growled as he pushed Klepta’s hand away that held his dreads. “You think I never worry when I sent him on mission to help me infiltrate the brain centre? Not a second goes by without me thinking that I might end up finding my baby’s bloody corpse! You have no idea how it feels like to be worried about someone you love, so don’t try to justify yourself and the situation we’re having right now! I’ve run away before from Big Mama, I can do it again! There is no way in hell am I going to allow Big Mama to be judge, jury and executioner over my baby’s life!”
“Hey, I care for him enough to lose sleep over this these few nights even before Big Mama and everyone else got here. I love him like family, like a little brother, and it breaks my heart to see Big Mama doing this to him but do you want to make the situation worse as it is? You think by rescuing our doll and run off just like that would solve all your problems? You know better than anyone how the Black Death family works. An eye for an eye. The last thing our doll wants is to be on the run again, and this time from a real death threat, not like those in the bodies where you can just leap from one to another without having to worry the feds that might come after you. Do you want our doll to be in that situation again, this time for the rest of his life?”
“Why do you care?! In fact, why the bloody hell do you all care?! I heard the way y’all talk about my baby! Almost more than half of you don’t like him, and I’m sure you couldn’t care less if he lives or dies! Now get the fuck offa me!!!”
“We may not like him,” Ambrose, Trixy’s son, replied, “but that doesn’t mean we don’t give room for chances. We see flaws on him, most definitely, but we’d like to see him disprove that.”
“Agreed,” Edison, Gertrude’s son, nodded. “Like I said during the gathering, he may not look like Roja material, and he certainly is an outrage for a mate, since he’s white blood cell from the immunity force whose sole purpose is to take our kind down, but I guess for once, I can give him the benefit of a doubt.”
“Yeah,” Klepta’s twin sisters Khora and Kincaid spoke in a manner same as Rouge and Rodeo, “Well, we don’t really like as a family member, but we do like him coz he’s cute. If he fails this, we could always take him as our mate and Big Mama can test him all over again. Then he doesn’t have to die.”
“Well, I like him,” Hershey, Flazen’s son, said in the exact same jovial tone as his mother, “and I say if he is able to survive following you for so long till now, there is no way he can fail this one.”
“True,” Nooka, Marushka’s daughter, chirped in. “And if he truly loves you, he will do whatever it takes to come back to you victorious, and you, if you really love him so much, you should be a good boy and wait for him. You always say you’re Big Daddy Thrax, so be one.”
Everyone else who liked Ozzie agreed, and even those who didn’t like Ozzie grudgingly accepted the challenge of Ozzie enlightening them and prove them wrong of their assumptions of him. Thrax listened to all this in disbelief and surprise. Even Drix was taken aback by this. Was Mr. Pheo right? Was Ozzie really someone who had the power to charm anyone into liking him, just like he was feeling for Ozzie now? Klepta sighed and tilted Thrax’s head to face him again.
“See? Now will you promise to behave and put your trust in our doll?”
Thrax growled for a while before looking away, pushing Klepta’s hand off his chin.
“Just stop calling him ‘our doll’. He’s my baby.”
“Can’t promise you that,” Klepta chuckled as he finally gestured everyone to get off him. Thrax got up immediately, patted the dust off him while trying to breathe normally after being almost suffocated by more than half a dozen people crushing him like a ton of bricks, claiming that he needed something to drink before heading off to the kitchen, but Drix could tell that was just an excuse to compose himself from the humiliation and digest whatever was said by his estranged siblings.
He was silent all day after that.
--:--
The first thing Ozzie did was going to the bathroom in the pretence to relieve himself. In there, he fumbled through the medicine cabinet and was lucky enough to discover that Adam had a good stash of liquid sleeping medication, possibly because of the insane lifestyle he had. Once he came out, he asked if there were any strawberries, cream and champagne in the kitchen. Adam was a little busy trying to grope at two of the female rat cells there, so he absentmindedly let Ozzie go get it himself, serving as an advantage to the cell’s plan. In the kitchen, as he prepared the stuff, he took the sleeping medication he snuck out from the medicine cabinet and poured half of its content into the cream and the rest into the champagne bottle, mixing them well before throwing the bottle into the fireplace.
Bringing the food upstairs into the room, Ozzie suggested food sex, with everyone stripping down naked and lather themselves with the cream before using their bodies as dipping for the strawberries to clean themselves off the cream. Everyone, being almost intoxicated from their clubbing at Wart Disco-tech, cheered at the suggestion and started having fun with the cream, making themselves as naked as a baby and happily sloshing their bodies with the cream, running the strawberries all over each other or just plain licking the cream straight from each other while drinking themselves silly with the champagne, thoroughly enjoying it. Rouge and Rodeo were quite turned on at this display, and were genuinely surprised that Ozzie had such kinky ideas, but when Adam came up to him asking him why he was not participating, they started to get worried. Ozzie just flashed him a smile and refilled the virus’ champagne glass and whispered to his ear that he had something much more delicious in store for him.
Right at the very moment he said that, the sleeping medication took effect. Just like he did with Thrax and his recruits back at Jackson County, they all dropped into a stupor one by one until Adam finally felt the effect of the medication and fell at the cell’s feet. Heaving a sigh of relief, Ozzie used his foot to push the virus until he was lying down on his back with him facing the ceiling before taking out a large kitchen knife he smuggled in his shirt, ready to get this over and done with. The twins were surprised that Ozzie was actually be able to pull it off and were about to find a way to go inside the room through the window to congratulate him when suddenly Adam shot up and grabbed the cell’s throat with one hand and wrenching the knife off Ozzie’s hand with the other, ramming him onto the bed.
“You bitch! You fucking bitch!” Adam growled venomously as he slapped Ozzie hard on the face. Ozzie was taken aback. How did he manage to get up? The effects shouldn’t be that short, should it? The others were snoring like nobody’s business but here was Adam, alert and bent on the kill.
“What the…You’re supposed to…”
“Be sleeping like a baby?” Adam finished his words. “Yeah, except you gave me a mild dose of that stupid sleeping medication. You got that from my bathroom, didn’t ya? Well, sorry to burst your bubble, Oz, but that medication don’t work for me no more. I drank so much of that damn stuff I’m immune to it. They don’t make me sleep no more. I need a stronger dose, and I keep them in my bedside table.”
“Spit, you’re a tough cookie,” Ozzie cursed, earning another slap on the face.
“Lemme guess,” Adam said as he eyed at the kitchen knife that was flung aside, “Dakara sent you?”
“Dakara?” Ozzie, who didn’t know Mr. Roja’s first name, echoed in surprise. Adam let another one fly across his face.
“Don’t play games with me, bitch! Dakara, my little brother who got so many whores up his ass! He sent you, didn’t he?”
“So what if he did?”
“Hah! Too chicken shit to do it, so he sent a kid to do his dirty work, eh?”
“I’m just doing my job, pal,” Ozzie growled as he tried to reach for the knife in vain. “No offense!”
“Oh, I won’t take offense alright, once I’m done with you.”
Adam pinned both Ozzie’s hand with one hand and flexed his claws out to tear off Ozzie’s clothes, using his body weight and sat on Ozzie’s legs so that he would not escape. Once the vest was gone and Ozzie’s pregnant belly was revealed, Adam looked dumbstruck for a while before he laughed out loud at the sight. Ozzie looked at him in horror, knowing that his nightmare was about to repeat itself again, and his heart was thumping hard against his chest, praying that whatever he did would not hurt the child when he felt Adam’s tongue running along his navel, right where the developing child was settled.
“Not only he sent a kid to do a man’s job, he sent a knocked-up kid to do me in! Hah! And they say I’m cruel. Guess I really am a mother-fucker, ain’t I?”
As Adam proceeded to take off his pants, the twins were struggling whether to help him or not.
“We gotta help him, bro! Uncle Adam is gonna rape and kill our Jonesy!” Rouge exclaimed, wanted to lunge forward.
“No, we can’t!” Rodeo held him back. “Big Mama’s orders were strictly to observe him only! We’re not supposed to help!”
“Screw Big Mama! She’s not even here to see us! She wouldn’t know! Since when do you listen to her?!”
“Since I know that fact that she will find out about things. She will know we helped. She’s got that friggin’ weird psychic spit that can make you tell the truth or something! She’s gonna kill us if she knows we helped Jonesy!”
“Fuck it, bro! I don’t care if we end up getting skewered in a stake by her, I’m gonna help…”
The sight before them made them literally feel as if time had stopped.
