I have to disagree with you, my sweet prince. Zarrus should have stayed with us. You see, he had so much potential. Filled with all these insecurities. Looking up at you with the eyes of a young dog. Did you feel unchallenged by him? Do you need your second in command to be the person who is going to kill you?
No matter. I am here to tell a story. And you are going to listen, my sweetest prince.
See there is a basement underneath an old herbalist hut a couple miles off a city. And it just so happens that some of my favorite people started meeting there one month ago. The hut itself is just a moldy ruin, but the cellar is still sealed. The herbalists were clearly more snake oil salesmen more interested in the aesthetics of healthcare than actually helping people and it just so happens that the newest owner is interested in neither. However a lot of the old equipment can be repurposed to be used by a crafty chemist with nefarious goals.
The basement consists of two rooms, the laboratory and an old storage room. The door to the storage room has been reinforced with steel plates. A third of the nails have been driven only partially into the door, the last two thirds all the way and with such force, that the wood splintered. Shade Tungsten, the Phantom, her coat discarded, whipping sweat from her forehead has just finished putting the last plate in place. Irritated by the work she throws the hammer over her shoulder, where it is clumsily caught by Toxin, the Alchemist.
Toxin: “Wow, that looks… bad actually. Very bad. Have you ever even used a hammer before?”
Shade, grunting: “You weigh like 30 kilos but complain for two. It’s not like that's going to stop him if he uses the serpent.”
Toxin: "That's what the handcuffs are for. Anyway, thanks for sticking around. But I am not paying you for what you did to my door. You offered that yourself, there was no-”
Shade: “Idiot. Since when do I care about money? I am just here to make sure you don’t do anything stupid.”
Toxin: “Uhm, hello? I am the greatest alchemist in the world. I don't do Stupid.”
She nudges Shade to the side and opens the door. Behind it is Zarrus the Serpent, tied to a chair, still unconscious. His arms are behind his back in handcuffs, yellow poison drips down from them.
Shade: “His skull has already healed. You are going to need to get creative, to kill him.”
Toxin: “Pffft. I do not want to kill him. This is more a recreational side project I am trying to put together. You can stay and watch if you insist. But it will not be pretty.”
Shade: “Uhh, hello? I am the phantom. I don’t do Pretty.”
The masked person doesn’t respond, instead they take out a small vial of ammonium carbonate and hold it underneath Zarrus’ nose. Instantly, the tied up man awakes and starts sneezing and coughing violently.
Toxin, playfully: “Good morning Subject 009. Dr. Brechtel wants to see you~”
Zarrus: “What where, how- You… Why?!”
Toxin: “You are spiralling Zarrus. You have been running your mouth so much that even the fuckers I trade with have been bugging me about the things you are saying about me.”
Zarrus: “Do not drag me into your degenerate pity party, you ungrateful, unappreciative little sh-”
Shade: “Can I punch him?”
Toxin: “Let me do this, Shady.”
Zarrus: “What the fuck do you even want from me?”
Toxin: “Just a little bit of experimenting, subject 009. Figuring out if what they did to me was an accident or deliberate. Because if it is the latter, then maybe they gave you these things too. And if they did, and your body handled it better than mine, I wanna know why. You see? A lot to figure out here.”
Toxin: “Hey, hey, hey. This should be cool for you, right? After all, you love facility seven. So it will be just like old times. We haven't talked to each other, in like… ten years? Think about this as a getting-to-know game.”
She grabs a small beaker filled with a clear liquid.
Toxin: “This is sulfuric acid. Now, I have ph-adapting skin and an organic structure that can briefly accommodate for these changes.” They pour some of the liquid over their exposed arm to no effect, before bending down to be on face level with Zarrus. A smile is audible in her voice behind the mask. “Let us see if we have something in common.” They dump out the rest of the liquid over his head. Immediately a loud chemical hissing sound fills the room and Zarrus starts screaming. “Aww… bummer.”
Toxin takes her time to walk over to a bucket filled with water, lifts it with some difficulty, carrying it over to the screaming man and pours it out over him. The acid is largely washed off. Zarrus coughs and starts to breathe heavily. Casually the alchemist walks over to a notebook and scribbles something down.
Toxin: “Okay that would be test one completed. Only 45 more to go, you ready?”
Zarrus blinks rapidly and looks around the room frantically but without focussing on anything. His eyes have gone grey and red with chemical burns.
Zarrus: “Wait wait wait. No, what do you want? Please, you do not have to do this. I’ll cooperate, I’ll give you anything, help you, whatever you want.”
Toxin: “I want my life back and for Singularia to burn, you son of a bitch. Now. Lets see if your teeth grow back-”
Phantom grabs the small statured person by the shoulder and gently but decisively guides them out of the room, closing the door behind them. Then she gets down on one knee and is now only slightly beneath Toxins eyelevel.
Shade: “Do your teeth grow back?”
Toxin: “No… Why does that matter?!”
Shade: “I just do not want you to do anything you will regret.”
Toxin: “Oh fuck you. You are the last person who can go around preaching sainthood and forgiveness.”
Shade: “I cannot, but I will. Do you think I do not know that I am tainted forever? That I look a my reflection and not have the sudden urge to vomit and kill myself? But let me ask you: Is that what you want for yourself? To live out the rest of your life hating yourself?”
Toxin: “Don’t pretend that you know me. They loved me for how easy to handle and cooperative I was. I could gauge my eyes out thinking about that. And now this human shitstain comes around talking about how I am ungrateful for the things that they did to me? That I let happen because I was scared? Fuck yes, I want to see him suffer.”
Shade touches Toxin's shoulder, who cringes.
Shade: “I do not say he does not deserve it, okay? So let’s just kill him and be done with it. Allow yourself to heal. You are my friend Toxin. I do not want to see you hurt.”
Toxin: “We are not friends, Phantom. ”
Toxin: “I hire you because I think you are useful, not because I am looking for company.”
Phantom leaves without another word, runs into the woods, punches a tree until it is broken down into splinters, then sits down to sulk.
Toxin stands in silence in the workshop before grabbing a set of pliers and reopens the door to the storage room.
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