"What do you mean—ahhhhhh?"
Before Kelly could finish her question. He scooped the small demi-human into his arms, her fragile form surprisingly light against his scaled hide, and began to run. His long, powerful legs propelled him through the maze of pipes, the echoing clatter of his claws against the grimy metal the only sound for a few frantic moments. He skidded to a halt, his ember eyes scanning a pile of festering trash.
[Nahhh, this is not the place… I need to hide her somewhere more private for the time being.] The stench alone was enough to draw unwanted attention.
He surged forward again, his movements surprisingly agile despite his size, navigating the tunnels in search of a safer haven. Kelly, initially startled by the sudden flight, soon fell quiet in his grip. She looked up at Muda's reptilian features – the deep orange scales that seemed to shimmer like captured fire in the dim light, the serpent-like eyes glowing with an inner ember. Despite his not-so-soft appearance, she leaned closer, resting her head trustingly against his warm body as he ran.
[Warm mista… Is warm better than that cold floor.] A simple thought, born of a child's need for comfort.
Kelly's innocent trust was a stark contrast to the turmoil raging within Muda's mind. *[They would've figured it out by now…]* The broken cell, the missing child… it wouldn't take them long to connect the dots.
"WHERE IS SHE…?"
Ronny's furious roar echoed through the tunnels, the sound raw with rage as he stared at the mangled bars of the empty cell. Victor knelt before the opening, his keen eyes carefully tracing the disturbed earth. The three-fingered reptilian footprints were unmistakable.
"I'm going to kill that bitch in pieces if I get my hands on her… I don't care about anything! I SAID THAT FEEDING HER WASN'T A GOOD IDEA! WE SHOULD'VE LOOKED FOR HER MOTHER, BUT YOU, VICTOR—"
Victor licked a patch of the disturbed earth, his gaze flicking back to Ronny, his expression unreadable. "Calm down, my friend… Look at these marks… Then look at the bars of the cell and how they're broken. It's the work of a lizard who is as tall as you, but not as… bulky. Hmmmmm."
Victor walked towards the mangled cell bars, tracing the edges with his fingers, mimicking the act of tearing the metal. A slow realization dawned on his face, a wide, unsettling smirk spreading across his features. He straightened, returning to his original position. Ronny watched him, his bull-like brow furrowed in confusion.
"What are you up to, Victor? We can't just wait here; we need to find that bitch and kill that scum who dares to cross us!"
"As I said, calm down, Ronny. I know where we can find that scum, and you can have your fun crushing his bones."
"Really? You aren't playing with me, are you? Because if you are, Victor, I'll forget that you're my friend. My stomach does not distinguish between friends and foes."
"You won't find them by threatening me. Just come with me."
Meanwhile, Muda moved with a newfound stealth, his footsteps barely disturbing the grime as he navigated the labyrinthine sewage system. He pressed himself against a damp wall, his sharp ears picking up the murmur of approaching voices.
"Hey, find him…"
"Who…?"
"Muda…"
Muda's ember eyes widened. They knew his… Muda's name.
"Find that trashy lizard… Victor wants him."
"Okay… But what do we get in return?"
"FREEDOM."
Muda's jaw clenched, the word a bitter taste in his mouth. *[They know… it's me… Vic… that bastard is too smart for his own good.]*
He bolted again, his movements becoming more erratic, twisting and turning through the pipes, desperately trying to lose any potential pursuers. He avoided the few other denizens of the sewer, melting into the shadows, concealing his unusual form. Finally, he reached a dilapidated shack, its wooden planks rotting and warped. He glanced around, ensuring no one was watching, then slipped inside, hastily closing the makeshift door behind him.
"Ahhhh, mhmmm, Muda, what are you doing here?"
He turned to see Ritso, flustered and hastily covering herself. She had been in the process of changing her tattered clothes. "Oh hey, Ritso… Good, you're here."
She tugged her ripped tunic tighter around herself. "What do you mean by 'good'?"
Muda walked towards her, his gaze intense. Ritso instinctively recoiled slightly, taken aback by his sudden urgency. Then, he revealed the small, sleeping form nestled in his arms. Ritso's eyes widened in understanding as she looked from the child to Muda.
"Who is this, Muda?"
"I don't have time to explain anything right now," he said, his voice low and urgent. "Please, take her. I need to go."
Sensing the gravity of the situation in his tone, Ritso carefully took the little girl into her arms. "Okay… whatever you want this time."
"Thank you… Ritso. I'll be back soon."
"You have to," she replied, her gaze unwavering.
Muda nodded curtly, then slipped back out of the shack, using his armored tail to sweep away his footprints in the grimy dust. [I can't erase my presence entirely, I guess this will have to be enough, at least for a little while.]
He reached a larger section of the pipe system, a relatively open area, and sat down casually, his senses on high alert. [Now they could be here any moment.]
Within minutes, he heard the faint echo of footsteps approaching from a distance. The sound grew steadily louder, each step pounding against the metal, mirroring the frantic rhythm of his own heart. Then, from the darkness of the intersecting pipes, three figures emerged. His breath hitched in his throat, his heart threatening to explode against his ribs.
[Ronny and Victor were bad enough… But why is my brother here…?]
A chilling realization washed over him as he recognized the blue-toned scales and familiar build of the Swamp Drake standing beside Ronny and Victor.
Victor spoke first, his voice dripping with false cordiality. "Hello, Muda, my friend."
His saccharine tone grated on Muda's nerves. He forced a weak, hesitant smile. "Hey… Victor…"
"Oh, I'm just here to ask you something important. Seems your brother lost something… something very important."
[My brother…? What… what did he lose?] He couldn't believe any word coming from Victor's mouth, but a sickening feeling began to coalesce in his gut as he pieced together the fragments of his stolen memories.
*[Is that feline kid my brother's slave?]* The thought sent a jolt of cold fury through him.
"Ahhh, I'm getting to the point, Muda…" Victor continued, his eyes glinting in the dim light. He swallowed, the anticipation of the confrontation palpable. "Where is Kelly?"
Muda tried to project an air of nonchalance. "Kelly… who?"
Fumeul, Muda's brother, stepped forward, his expression a mixture of anger and something that looked disturbingly like… disappointment. He took a deep breath. "Muda, don't make this difficult. We know it's you… Just… if you give her back, I promise… no one would dare to touch you."
"B…brother…I…don't…" Muda stammered, the lie feeling heavy and clumsy on his tongue.
"Man…" Ronny grumbled, stepping forward menacingly. "Fumeul, I think you should go. I'll handle this from here."
Fumeul nodded stiffly at Ronny, his gaze lingering on Muda for a moment, a flicker of something unreadable in his eyes, before turning and walking away without another word. "Just… don't kill him," he said, his voice low and strained.
"Sure," Ronny sneered.
Muda instinctively reached out a hand towards his retreating brother, a desperate plea for help, but his action was futile. Ronny's massive hand clamped down on his face, slamming his head against the cold, unforgiving wall of the pipe. Victor knelt beside the groaning Muda, his smile gone, replaced by a hard, calculating look. "Where is Kelly, Muda? You're a good boy… You always were, remember how many times you helped by not letting prisoners escape? I even gave up on Ritso because you said to leave her alone. Then why, Muda? Why?"
Muda, unable to speak through Ronny's crushing grip, or perhaps unwilling to betray the trust Kelly had placed in him, remained silent. Only ragged breaths, punctuated by stifled groans of pain, escaped his lips.
"Just tell me where she is, Muda… I'll forget this ever happened… for once…" Victor's voice grew louder, his patience wearing thin as he met only silence. "Speak, Muda… it's not worth it… don't get soft… I know you heard us talking."
"It's no use, Mister Victor," Ronny sneered, his grip tightening on Muda's face. "He already made a choice… Look at him… How pathetic."
Victor met Muda's defiant gaze, a flicker of understanding, or perhaps resignation, in his eyes. He stood up, turning away. "You were a good guy… Muda… Do whatever you like, Ronny. Just remember Fumeul's word."
"Sure," Ronny repeated, a cruel grin spreading across his bull-like face.
"Mista… Mista… what are you thinking? Hey…."
Kelly's soft voice, laced with concern, broke through the swirling vortex of Muda's stolen memories. He blinked, snapping back to the present, the phantom pain of Ronny's grip still lingering. "Oh, no, nothing… and don't call me mista, it's weird."
Kelly gave him a small, solemn thumbs-up, as if she fully understood the nuances of his request.
[So… that's what happened to this Muda guy… I can feel the pain he felt; I can understand his reasoning. His body is pretty durable, but he… still didn't survive.] He glanced at Kelly, now whispering something to Ritso, a small smile gracing her feline features.
[This kid is not my responsibility. I'm not Muda, but… I'm not a pathetic loser who would leave this soul to those beasts. And I'm in danger anyway… That bull tried to kill Muda off despite Fumuel's warning. I'm not safe here either.]
"Ritso…"
"Yes, Muda?" she replied immediately, her eyes filled with concern.
"Take her somewhere no one can see her. She is in danger; they're currently looking for her."
Ritso's jaw tightened with determination. "But what about you? You're not healed yet. What if they come back for you again?"
"No, it will be fine. I'm safe; they won't come back for me. They probably think I'm half-dead, unable to do anything. Just take her to a safe place. I trust you." The words, Muda's words, felt strange on his tongue, yet the sincerity behind them was genuine.
"Sure, whatever you say, idiot," Ritso replied, a flustered expression on her face. "Just… don't get in trouble again."
[Should I actually trust her?... Well, Muda would, so I shouldn't have any problems. If anything happens to them, it would be their fate, because I can't protect them alone. Protect? I can barely survive on my own. What a shithole this place is.]
He ran his fingers along his scaled arm, consciously examining his new form. [So is that it? A lizard, huh… Tough, sharp scales and… these are poisonous.] He carefully inserted a long claw between two scales, pressing on the soft tissue beneath. A viscous, purple liquid oozed out. He cautiously brought it to his nose, inhaling deeply. Absolutely no smell. Or perhaps the pervasive stench of the sewer masked it. Whatever the case, the liquid's scent was unrecognizable. He remembered the unsettling image of Victor licking something from Muda's footprint in his fragmented memories.
With a sudden surge of determination, he touched the barest droplet of the purple liquid to his sensitive tongue. A sharp, burning sensation erupted in his taste buds.
[This… is poison. This body is not adapted to its own poison? Beneath the skin, there are poisonous glands that leak this, and I remember cutting my eyebrows with my scales, which made my whole eye go red… So my scales are poisonous too… fuck, this physiology is too damn overpowered, and Muda still lost… impressive defense, strong poison, superhuman physical capabilities, heightened senses like taste, hearing, and smell. If I can use all these things, then… then…]
A predatory smirk stretched across his reptilian features. "I can survive… Not just survive. I can shred anyone who dares to touch this body of mine."