Whatever Happened to Dr. Zyme?

It was a long walk. Long enough for Herb Gilderoy to have awakened. His head injury made struggling difficult, so Viper did not have to put up with a lot of kicking and squirming. Here was where the gun came in handy. After explaining things to the guard, Viper told him and Zyme to walk in front of him the rest of the way, following his vocal directions while he kept the pistol pointed at their backs. In this fashion the three journeyed through the sewer and, finally, emerged in Megakat Swamp through a giant corrugated drain pipe that emptied raw sewage into the marshlands. Zyme, walking in front, shielded his eyes from the sudden bright sunshine after spending so much time in the darkness of the tunnels. Behind him, he heard Viper say, "Quit ssstalling, Zyme."

He climbed down from the pipe and walked forwards, stopping near the shore where the vast lake of shallow water and mud that comprised the swamps. Immediately his feet sank into the soft mud to the ankles. "Ugh," he said, and pulled one foot free, only to discover that the shoe had come off and was still in the mud. Working more carefully with his other foot, he managed to extract it without the show coming off, and went over and helped Gilderoy climb down.

"Yuck," Gilderoy said, looking at the swamp.

Viper emerged from the pipe last of all and gave a deep, long sigh, puffing his chest out and adopting a regal pose as if he were a king returning his kingdom after years of absence. Finally! He was back in his swamp at long last. He hated leaving it. Even though the sewers were dark and dank to his liking, they couldn't compare to the beauty of his beloved swamp. Here, the light was dim and foggy, like perpetual twilight. There were eerie howls and cries in the distance. It was like another dimension, and Viper loved it. It was one of several reasons why he wished more than anything to expand his swamp into Megakat City. Looking down he noticed Zyme and the guard looking up at him, worriedly but expectantly. Back to business. Getting down, he stood before them, smirking, then motioned with the gun. "My houssse is a few milesss from here. We can make it before sssundown if we hurry. Which meansss no dawdling!"

Gilderoy nodded fearfully, while Zyme went and began trying to dig his shoe out of the mud where his foot had sunk in, but was unsuccessful. To his puzzlement and annoyance, he couldn't find it. All it got him as muddy hands. He grimaced and shook them, flinging most of the mud off, and wiping the rest off on his pants. Viper chuckled, watching him, thoroughly enjoying how obviously uncomfortable Zyme was with his new surroundings. Now the tables were turned, he thought. Now, Zyme was the one who was the freak and stuck out like a sore thumb in his neatly pressed pants and pristine white lab coat.

After a few more moments of standing there, they moved on. Again with Zyme in the front and Viper bringing up the rear, they waded into the marsh. Depending on where they were the water could be either ankle-deep, knee-deep, or even chest-deep, as poor Gilderoy found out when he fell into a small but deep hole in the marsh bed. "Help! Help!" he yelled, flailing, "I can't swim!" Zyme came to his rescue, pulling the struggling guard back into the shallow part of the swamp. Viper chuckled, then motioned with the gun and they moved on. In the distance was Viper's home. It was an enormous, twisted dead tree, one of several dotting the swamp and, in fact, the largest.

Midway, Zyme lost his other shoe, and they stopped as Gilderoy took his off, too. In their socks, they continued until they finally arrived at the base of the tree, which was at least twelve stories tall. Alongside it Viper had build a crude dock of sorts, onto which they climbed. Zyme frowned. He knew, obviously, that Viper lived inside the tree, but couldn't see any entrance. Then he noticed a rope ladder hanging down and looked up. The ladder went up to a large knot in the side of the tree, which served as a natural balcony of sorts. The front door to Viper's home was there, high above the swamp floor.

"Now what?" said Gilderoy.

"Up," Viper said, pointing with the gun.

Zyme went up first. It was difficult for him, being so out of shape, to hoist himself up. Halfway up he stopped, panting, but Gilderoy, behind him, pushed up and helped him climb the rest of the way. Viper stood below for a moment, watching them climb, Zyme in particular. He couldn't but notice the older scientist's unusually nice butt outlined in his wet trousers. Looking at the gun, he decided he no longer needed it. Now that they were at their destination, escape was impossible. There was no way either Zyme or the guard could make it through the swamp on their own without him. He tossed the gun aside and it landed with a splash in the water. A huge alligator immediately appeared, ate it, and then disappeared back beneath the murky surface.

Using both feet and his one free hand, Viper climbed up the ladder. He made it up effortlessly. Back when he first found the tree, he'd of course had to stock it with equipment to make a lab, and that involved, of course, carrying armloads of things up the rope ladder. Thusly he made it to the top without much effort, to find both Zyme and Gilderoy sitting down, panting from the climb. Now Viper led the way, his tailtip deliberately brushing across Zyme's cheekfur as he walked past him. After catching his breath, Zyme got up and followed him glumly. Gilderoy stood, looked out over the vastness of the swamp, gulped nervously, then turned and hurried after the other two.

The knot had a knothole, a deep one, which served as a kind of tunnel into the rotted, hollowed-out interior of the tree, which was honeycombed with different "rooms" and chambers, most of which were empty, as Viper lived alone and had no need to furnish every single room. At the end of the tunnel was a small flight of stairs, which Viper had made himself, and the trio climbed up it and into the main hollow of the tree, the biggest one of them all, which served as both Viper's living room and laboratory. There was a ratty couch, two even worse-looking chairs, a crooked, ramshackle coffee table; aside from lab equipment that was about it for the room, surprising given its vastness.

Everything else in the room was devoted entirely to Viper's twisted scientific pursuits. There were several tables, each one crammed to overflowing with beakers, test tubes, and retorts, many heating over bunsen burners, causing the room to be filled with an audible bubbly sound as the insidious concoctions cooked. Viper went over to one of these and unceremoniously swept all of the beakers and flasks right off of it and sent them crashing to the floor, making Zyme and Gilderoy jump. He then carefully set down all six containers of Katalyst 99, one by one, on the tabletop. Mission accomplished. Stretching and popping his joints, Viper sighed and adjusted his lab coat, then turned to his two "guests." He was only interested in Zyme. The guard could've drowned out in the swamp, for all Viper cared, and, for now at least, the snake-cat scientist ignored him completely and focused entirely on Zyme.

"Welcome to my humble home," he said, spreading his arms wide, his voice reverberating off the walls. Lowering his arms, he said, "You'll be ssstaying here for quite sssome time."

Zyme, in the meantime, was feeling as hollow as the tree they were in. He was stuck, just as surely as both his lost shoes were stuck out in the swamp. He wondered if anyone would ever wonder what had happened to him? Deputy Mayor Briggs was the only one who had seen him last, and had seen that he'd escaped being eaten by the bacteria monster, but even she must have simply assumed he'd been killed in the explosion that had consumed the entire fourteenth floor. It would take them months for rescue teams to sort through the burned-out wreck to discover no sign of a body, and only then would they realize he was missing and not simply dead, but by then it would be too late. He coughed. The air was damp and hot, and made his fur all sticky. His clothes were drying out now, at least. He looked over at Viper, who stood, crossing his arms and smirking, his big tail lashing behind him.

Finally, Zyme said, "What do you plan to do with us?"

"Whatever I want," Viper said. He then walked towards him.

Viper went up to Zyme and stood before him. He couldn't have been happier. His old boss was now, at last, his prisoner, and would remain so for as long as he deemed fit. There so many deliciously evil things Viper wanted to do to him, he didn't know where to start! No, he thought, he shouldn't rape Zyme again. That would only make Zyme hate him. And although normally he didn't care what anyone thought of him, if Zyme hated him it would mean more resistance, and although that was yummy from time to time, Viper knew he'd tired of it pretty soon and begin to desire obedience from his prisoner. He had to make Zyme like him, but also fear him at the same time. It was a difficult balance that he would have to work to maintain in order to, so to speak, heat Zyme to his desired temperature and keep him there, but it was a challenge he was going to enjoy undertaking.

"You enjoyed what we did lassst time, didn't you?" Viper said softly, making sure that as he spoke he blew his cool breath across Zyme's face. He knew his breath would not smell very good to Zyme, but it would, he knew, be a good stimulant to start with.

Zyme closed his eyes and gasped softly at this, and swallowed. "I....don't know," he lied.

Viper chuckled and placed his hand on Zyme's chest, feeling his rapid heartbeat. Man, was he nervous! Viper would definitely have to start small in order to calm Zyme down first, and he from last time that the best way to do this, was with sex. But this time he wasn't going to rape Zyme. This time, he was going to make him actually want it. "You're lying," he said, leaning closer, his nose and mouth inches from Zyme's. He whispered softly, "I could tell you enjoyed it. I remember how you reacted. You resisted me at firssst, but after a while, you really got into it, didn't you? Come on, Zyme. Admit it. Admit that you have thoughtsss about me....thoughtsss of Purvisss. Ones you don't share with anyone elssse."

The other scientist trembled. Against his will he could feel his cock hardening in his pants, beginning to make an obvious bulge. Finally he nodded, slowly, giving a small whimper, keeping his eyes closed. Viper leaned even closer, his nose touching Zyme's, his lips against his, but not kissing him yet. He whispered, practically into Zyme's mouth, "I thought ssso." Then, he kissed Zyme, gently. Zyme gave a muffled noise of protest but didn't struggle, Viper's hands grabbing his hips. He gripped them tightly at first, but then his grip softened and he began to carress Zyme's sides. When his hands slid around to Zyme's ass and gripped it, Zyme finally began resisting. Viper, in no mood for this, held him firmly and continued to kiss him, and began grinding his bare loins against the bulge in Zyme's pants. Out of the corner of one eye, he saw Gilderoy watching them uncomfortably, and smirked into the kiss.

Zyme tried to resist, tried to fight, but Viper's tongue was magic. It slithered past his lips and played with his tongue, and, slowly, Zyme raised trembling hands to grab ahold of Viper's shoulders. At first Viper was afraid Zyme was going to shove him away, but he didn't, and he realized, happily, that his old colleague was getting into the spirit of things. Viper's grip on his ass tightened and he continued humping Zyme's clothed erection, pulling his lips away from Zyme's, kissing down over his modest chin and to his neck, Zyme leaning back his head and letting loose a low moan of pleasure in spite of himself. Viper's smirk widened. This was easy. Zyme had so much pent-up lust in him that the slightest hint of sexual activity from any male turned him on immensely. For his part, Viper wasn't getting aroused, at least not physically yet. Since his mutation he had learned to control his new body, and knew how to keep his penis from emerging from his genital slit at inappropriate times. Viper slid one hand away from Zyme's rear and up his back, finally coming to the back of his head and running his clawed fingers through Zyme's hair.

Zyme's world was spinning wildly, and, before he knew it, he was cumming inside his pants as Viper brought him to orgasm, giving a small cry. Viper chuckled and immediately pulled away, eyeing him. Zyme stood there, panting, sweaty, feeling his cock stop spurting, cum squishing inside his underwear. His knees buckled and he fell backwards onto his butt. "Oof!" he said, bringing up a hand and palming his perspiring forehead. Viper then turned and walked away from him, once again deliberately making sure that his tailtip slid across Zyme's face, his nose this time. Zyme, in his post-orgasmic stupor, moaned in response.

Viper stood in the middle of the room for a moment. Zyme wasn't going anywhere anytime soon, but what about that guard? Gilderoy still stood where he had been a few minutes ago, shaking, completely weirded out by what he had just witnessed. Viper noted how musculer and fit he was. When it came to other cats, Viper preferred to use athletic ones in good health for his monsters because of their solid build. Up until now he hadn't given it much thought, but as he watched the big guard quivering, he finally decided to mutate him. Once that decision was made, he grinned evilly and walked over to one of his worktables. He perused the apparatus there and finally found a stopperedFlorence flask filled with a sickly green liquid. Pulling off the stopper, he then rolled up his sleeve and picked up a scalpel, and cut himself on the back of his forearm, wincing. His green blood dripped down into the flask and mixed with the chemical inside it. The blood wasn't absolutely necessary, but he found it allowed him better control over his creations, and after the way the bacteria monster misbehaved today, he wasn't going to mutate another living thing without adding his blood into the mix.

That accomplished, he watched as the cut healed slowly, a benefit of having regenerative mutagen in him. Then, he picked up the flask and walked over to Gilderoy as Zyme slowly stood, watching, puzzled. Viper's tail suddenly whipped out and wrapped around Gilderoy's throat, hauling the guard to his knees, gagging. Zyme, horrified, cried, "No, wait! You promised you wouldn't kill him!"

"Who sssaid I was going to kill him?" Viper said with a smirk, then upended the flask over Gilderoy and poured the contents onto his head, then released him.

As soon as the chemicals hit Gilderoy's head they fizzled and bubble, and, immediately, the guard began to undergo a horrifying transformation. Horrifying for Zyme anyway. Viper enjoyed every second of it. Gilderoy stood, gagging. "What's happening to--Aahhhhh!" Suddenly his arms transformed into thick green tentacles, which split apart his shirt sleeves. His hands ceased to exist. Then he squeezed his eyes shut and when he opened them, Zyme gasped as they glowed blood-red. Soon all of his fur turned green. There were loud cracking and snapping sounds and Gilderoy's legs suddenly split apart three ways each, shredding his pants, the split legs forming into six tentacles, as big as the ones that used to be his arms. This forced Gilderoy to become shorter, but then his chest swelled, bursting through his uniform shirt, buttons flying everywhere. One hit Zyme in the nose as he watched, shocked. His mouth became larger, with sharp teeth, widening and stretching to take up almost the entire front half of his body. Last of all, his head expanded into an oversized mushroom cap with cat ears on top.

Zyme felt like throwing up. Viper had just turned an innocent guard into a mushroom! He backed away, covering his mouth, completely horrified at having witnessed, firsthand, such a hideous transformation. Taking his hands away from his mouth, he squealed, "No! No, no, noooo! How could you?" Tears flowed from his eyes as he wept for Gilderoy's horrible fate, watching the awkward-looking mushroom monster he had become trying to move, wriggling its tentacles.

Viper's tail slithered around Zyme's waist and he pulled Zyme over to himself. "He was of no ussse to me otherwissse," he said, sneering. "He'll make a wonderful helper, I think. Don't you agree? He guard your lab, and now he can guard mine." He chuckled.

Zyme gagged, sickened, and felt faint. He struggled wildly, and Viper indulged him by releasing his hold on him, allowing him to break away. Zyme ran a few feet, stopped, then bent over and vomited. Not much, considering his stomach was empty, but he dry-heaved awfully. Viper came over and patted him on the back, acting as if he were a father teaching his son the "facts of life," and all throughout behaving as though what had just happened to the unfortunate guard was completely normal.

"What you've jussst seen is what I'll eventually do to everyone in Megakat City, so hisss fate isn't unusual," Viper said, putting his hand on Zyme's shoulder. "And you're going to help me. You'll be my assistant and help my in my experiments, jussst as Purvisss helped you with yoursss." Zyme looked up at him, wiping his mouth. "Together, we'll change the world! Isssn't that what you've alwaysss wanted to do?"

Zyme glared angrily up at him. "Change it for the better, not for the worse! I wanted to help catkind not, not....turn them into some kind of hideous freaks of nature!" He pointed at the mushroom-cat who was slowly getting the hang of moving around using tentacles instead of legs, but was still pretty clumsy.

Viper grabbed Zyme by the collar of his lab coat and hauled him to his feet. "Don't missstake my earlier affections for a genuine liking of you, Zyme," he said. "I'll just as sssson make your share his fate if your disobey me! I'll turn you into nothing but a mindless eating machine, to be usssed by me until you're killed by the SWAT Katsss!"

"No!" Zyme cried, horrified at the thought. "No, please! I'll do anything you want, just, please, don't turn me into....a monster."

Viper grinned. "As long as you obey me, Newton, you have nothing to fear from me." With that, he slid his arm around Zyme's waist and ushered him from the main chamber.