Fanfic: Nemesis Theory: Chapter #14
Title: Nemesis Theory, Chapter #14
Authors: Raggedpelt and Yami Neko Tsuki
Summary: Do I really need to keep filling these out? It's just the next chapter of Nemesis Theory.
Wordcount: 1,807
Rating: This particular chapter is rated PG-13. Rating of overall story will range from PG to NC-17.
Other notes: Most of Minion's dialogue in this chapter was written by Yami Neko Tsuki.
Previous Chapters:
Chapter #1: Whiskered Evil
Chapter #2: Milk and the Third Degree
Chapter #3: Said Too Soon
Chapter #4: The Offer
Chapter #5: Rust
Chapter #6: Little Lab of Horrors
Chapter #7: The Junkyard
Chapter #8: Friends In Low Places
Chapter #9: All That Glitters
Chapter #10: Blind Date
Chapter #11: Barbs (NSFW!!)
Chapter #12: Responsibility
Chapter #13: Sideways
****
Minion peered into the castle where the little female was resting. She was laying against the gravel at the back wall of it, not moving save for her gills. However, he color had darkened dramatically to a more intense blue; if she was coming back into color, she was probably starting to feel a little better.
He cautiously swam in, trying to project friendliness towards her, and got a weak sense of welcome in response. With a quick, careful motion, he dropped a few bits of flake food in front of her, then darted back out of "her space".
"Come on," he said, giving her a worried look, "You need to eat something."
She gave him a questioning look, then glanced down at the flakes.
"It's food. Please."
The female nibbled at the edge of one of them, then almost immediately spit it out. No dice.
"Look, you're not exactly strong enough to catch live food, and you need to eat something, even if it's not as good as live food, okay?"
She scowled a little at him, then shut her eyes. Minion sighed and swam out of the castle, feeling very worried. She needed her strength if she was going to recover, and there was so much he needed to ask her. Who was she? How had she gotten here?
A molly picking at the leaves of a nearby plant caught his attention, and Minion dipped into the shadows under one of the rock decorations, watching it carefully. Narrowing his eyes in concentration, he pulsed just one of the bioluminescent bulbs along his crest, waving it just a bit.
The molly took notice of the lure, and darted towards it; his jaws had closed on it before it even knew it was in danger.
When he slipped back into the cave, the female was hanging sideways in the water again, but she opened her eyes and sent a sense of greeting towards him. He released his prize, and the confused, injured molly swam right towards her. With two quick bites, she devoured it. Minion could feel her gratitude pinging along his lateral lines. He smiled at her, and to his surprise she managed a smile back… and drifted so that she was floating upside down instead of sideways.
He turned to swim out again to let her rest, but was stopped by a thin, frail voice through the water, "Don't go."
She could speak! Word just could not describe how happy that made him; he had been so scared she would be 'just a fish' like all the others! Not to mention this made his life much easier; he wouldn't have to stumble through the 'fish talk' that he was no good at.
"How are you feeling?"
"I'm dizzy"
"Can I help?"
She shook her head, and squirmed to orient herself, hanging sideways in the watter once more, "I don't know. I've never had this happen before."
"Well… are you still hungry?"
"No; I've had enough for now."
Minion was a bit relieved at that; she had refused the flakes, and he wasn't a very skilled hunter yet. He hesitated for a long moment, almost afraid to ask his next question. "Were… were there others like you in your old home?"
"No."
"Where were you before?"
"Before what?"
"Before the Tailor's tank?"
She regarded him silently for a long moment, thrashed to right herself, and immediately drifted over to her side again, "I-I don't remember anything Before."
That was disheartening, but he shook it off. "Well, I hope you feel better soon. Let me know if you need anything, okay?"
****
Elsewhere, the Tailor was silently rehydrating her pets. Fortunately the so-called "heroes" had left in too big a hurry to bother collecting the cubes, so everyone was accounted for. Well, everyone except Drooler, but that was hardly news. That particular lipless monstrosity was always wandering off and getting himself lost. Idiot creature.
How had they found her so quickly? That was the infuriating part. She had planned to leave Roxanne's remains in a cardboard box on their doorstep before they ever realized that the woman was missing, but no. They had to arrive ahead of schedule and spoil everything. Not to mention they stole from her.
Of course, she wasn't upset, she had just wanted to see what his reaction would be to finding his mate in a bunch of gooey little pieces. It wasn't revenge. She had planned the whole thing in the interest if scientific advancement. Revenge for wrecking her plans and revealing the location of her lab and having her subjects taken and setting her research back for months had absolutely nothing to do with it. She had no interest in revenge. Her only interest was in observation. He would regret the day he had chosen to make things so difficult, but revenge was beneath her.
Although… perhaps he had done her a favor, removing the silly little brunette before the vivisection. After all, simple butchery was so inelegant--I can do better than that, I think.
Time to get to work.
****
Minion awoke to find himself alone in the cave, and swam out in a panic. Fortunately, the female had not gone far; she was doing her best to scrape the algae off the glass with her fangs. She seemed to be doing a better job of holding herself upright, though the slipping towards hanging sideways in the water was ever-present. She'd right herself, then tip, then right herself, then tip again.
Still, it was better than she had been doing. Minion swam up, and was met with a friendly smile, "You look like you're feeling better."
"I am," she said, turning to look at him and turning upside down at the same time, "I even managed to get a bite off of one of the other fish earlier. She got away, but the fin was good."
"That's great!" Minion said, before something else occurred to him, "Oh yeah, um, can you not eat the goldfish? She's… kinda a pet."
The female hesitated, "Oh. Well, uh, the good news is, I only took off part of her tail."
"Oh."
She flashed him a nervous grin, before struggling to right herself again, "S-sorry."
"Well, now you know."
She started to reply, then flashed something outside the tank a terrified look. Her colors paling drastically, she fanned her fins in alarm. More than a little startled, Minion looked out to see what had upset her.
It was just Megamind, coming to feed the tank. Mumbling "good morning" through a yawn, he started to sprinkle the flakes on the surface of the water.
"Good morning sir!" Minion pipped before whispering to his new friend, "Look, you don't need to worry about Megamind; he's really nice."
"Are you sure?" she replied, eyeing the humanoid figure suspiciously.
"Yes, I'm sure," he murmured, "We grew up together."
The little female, however, just wasn't going to have it. She turned and started to struggle her way back to the castle, doing her best to stay upright and failing miserably. Minion followed after her, gently giving her a nudge to set her upright, "Do, uh, do you want some help?"
"Yes, please," she mumbled, practically radiating her embarrassment.
He moved beside her, letting her lean against him as they swam back into the castle together. The feel of her fins, her scales against his was just unreal, and it sent a small shiver through him. She was real. He was touching her and she was real. Once they were back under the cover of the castle, the young female gave him a pretty smile before settling in to sleep some more. "Thanks"
"A-anytime," he stammered, gazing at her for a long moment before swimming back out to the rest of the tank.
****
Megamind yawned widely, watching as Minion fixed his morning coffee, just the way he liked it. 237 milliliters of drip-brewed black coffee, 400 milliliters of vanilla creamer, and 35 grams of sugar. The perfect start to any day. Of course, Minion had a tendency to make the measurements with something less than laser-precision, but so long as it was close Megamind didn't mind.
"So, did you have a nice night, sir?" Minion asked, setting the cup down in front of him.
Megamind took a long deep sip of it. Aah, the breakfast of champions, "Yes, I did. Be sure to ask Roxanne what she'd like for breakfast when she awakens. …How about you? How is the, uh, the fish we found doing?"
"She's doing a little better," Minion replied, "She's having a lot of trouble swimming, though."
Megamind frowned a little, "Do you think she's going to make it?" How disappointing it would be to find another one of their own, then to have her die on them. Minion wouldn't be able to bear it.
"Well, I think so, but I don't know what to do for her."
Megamind smiled, recalling how he'd seen Minion help her back into the castle, "I think she likes you."
An adorable shocked expression crossed his friend's face, and he stammered ,"R-really?"
"Well, you did save her life," he continued, "I was so busy helping Roxanne I would have never noticed her."
"I…I guess I did. ….Do we have a phone number for Wayne?"
"I don't believe so. Why?"
"Well, sir, he has more experience dealing with females than you do."
Megamind was shocked. Of all the audacious… "I have plenty of experience! For crying out loud, Minion, just be nice to her."
"Sir, you met your one girlfriend ever by kidnapping her 342 times."
"Well, technically, we kidnapped Little Miss Swims Sideways too!" Megamind defended.
Minion scowled at him, "She was dying. It wasn't a kidnapping, it was a rescue!"
He realized how upset Minion was starting to look, and backed off a bit, "I know, I know, calm down. ...Look, right now she's still sick. Let's get her healthy before we worry about getting her to date you, okay?"
Minion sighed, "You're right, sir."
****
In a ship not too far off, Servant quietly made a small course correction. She glanced over at her sleeping mistress, watching the rise and fall of her chest, before looking at the readouts once more. That pod had to have zeroed in on this little planet they had detected; no others suitable for life were within range.
Servant gave a wide yawn, then adjusted her coils to a more comfortable position. She dare not fall asleep, though; not until Galaria woke up. Tracking work was very sensitive business without an auto-tracer, and their has fallen into disrepair some time ago. Snoozing through a vital update could set them far off course.
So she gave herself a little shake, then turned her attention back to the readouts. They would arrive soon enough.
Chapter #15: Magnets, How Do They Work?
If you read, please leave a comment letting me know what you liked and what you didn't. :) Constructive criticism is how I improve.