Tony woke to white hot lines of pain streaking across his chest.

"Ah! Fuck!" he shouted as he tried to sit up, move away from whatever was in front of him, and cover up all at the same time.

"Stop Moving." A voice he didn't recognize commanded.

Despite every instinct, every thought running through his head that said doing that was a bad idea, his body obeyed. Vision cleared, Tony saw one of the Padinus standing in front of him, recently bloodied whip in hand. She was nearly as tall as Serketzi and was wearing similar linen robes over rust colored chitin, her hair was bleached as though she'd spent her entire life under the sun, and her eyes were a hungry yellow.

"Who the fuck are you?" Tony demanded.

The lash flew at him again, but as no command had been uttered, Tony's body responded to his instincts. He caught the smoothed leather portion of the whip in his left hand, wrapping the glass and obsidian end around his forearm. The blades bit deep into his flesh, putting Tony down 20% of his total HP.

Before he could loose his fist at the Padinus, her tail shot over her shoulder and straight at his face. Tony held up his right arm to block and the stinger sunk into Covenant, then his skin.

Poison Resisted

Immunity Progress - 1%

Tony's focus was on the whip and the dagger-like barb stuck in his arm, not on the foot that slammed into his gut and the following knee that cracked against his face. Hi grip on the whip loosened causing the sharp bits to dig deeper into his arm. The upside to losing another 5% of his total health to it was that the whip wasn't able to be used as effectively and he hadn't had the flesh torn from his arm... yet. He felt the sting of the poisoned barb pierce the skin just above his collarbone.

Poison Resisted

Immunity Progress - 3%

Tony's vision went red when his back hit the far wall of his cell. He could feel the rage course through his veins, burning the injected toxin away with its flame. Pinned in place, with his back literally against the wall Tony's thoughts flashed to Maximus. What would happen to Max if Tony died? The system generated him, in a sense, due to the connection they'd held back on Earth. He was technically, one of Tony's assets. If he died, by that logic, Maximus would either die or cease to exist.

Not Again.

Tony twisted his head to the right and chomped down on the tail still stuck in his skin. While a normal scorpion tail would have serrations on its chitin, that didn't seem to be the case for the one his teeth sunk into. The chitin was still jarring to bite into, but Tony didn't let that stop him, he wouldn't let anything stop him. Before the Padinus could kick him again, Tony kicked her.

His first kick drove his heel into the thigh of the leg that would have kicked him if he hadn't acted first. Tony chambered his leg and snapped a side kick out into her face, crunching down harder on the tail as he did. The scorpion-woman's head snapped back and Tony wrapped his hand around the whip and the tail he still held in his maw, causing her torso to bow out toward him, and pulled her into the hardest driving sidekick he'd ever thrown.

With a sickening crunch, the segment of the tail in Tony's mouth separated from the rest as she lost her grip on the whip and soared backward from the impact. The woman screamed in pain as she crumpled to the ground. Tony twisted his head back, removing the barb from his flesh and spat it onto the floor before unwrapping the whip from his arm and cracking it against the floor.

"Rania! Antonious! Enough!" Serketzi's voice echoed.

Tony must have either missed the door opening and closing or Serketzi had been there the whole time and watched as the fight unfolded. The pressure against the back of his mind was tremendous and for a moment, he thought he could resist. The whip handle clattered to the floor and Tony stopped advancing.

"But, Majesty..." Rania started, her gaze fixated on the stump at the end of her tail.

"You did this to yourself Rania. I told you he was dangerous, unpredictable, strong..." Serketzi said as she looked Tony up and down, "you know what happens when one of your caste loses their Sting. A shame... really. Who knows, you may have your chance for revenge someday."

Tony had no idea what Serketzi meant. The flat, off-handed tone of Serketzi's explanation and the horrified look on Rania's face told Tony that wherever she was headed was bad and that he could wind up there himself. He filed the fact that the Padinus Swarm operated on a caste system away, and that losing the tip of their tails, called their Sting, would remove them from their caste.

A pair of guards, that Tony had also failed to notice, heaved Rania up to her feet and dragged her, unceremoniously, toward the exit. The tension of combat left and Tony's body started to shake. The bonuses he'd been getting from Oath had held so many debuffs at bay, he'd only slept since he succumbed to the litany of negative effects. Waking up already in combat before fully recovering had done a number on him.

"Come with me," Serketzi ordered, beckoning Tony with the command and the bend of a finger. The loss of his bodily autonomy had angered Tony from the start, now he was just annoyed, being treated like some show animal or pet was not what he was into. Despite his internal protests, his body followed a pace behind and to the the right of Serketzi as she led him out of his cell and down another level into the structure. As they descended, Tony caught a glimpse of the outside. He'd only spent a couple days on Arach before the crash and capture, but he could tell that it was still morning due to the position of the sun and particular hue of orange in the sky. He'd slept through the night, at least.

A pair of guards stood to either side of an intricately carved archway and snapped to attention as soon as Serketzi rounded the corner. A heavy curtain just beyond the arch shifted in the breeze moving through the hallway, showing for just a second a plush sitting area inside.

"We will not be disturbed," Serketzi ordered the guards.

They both nodded and immediately after Tony passed between them, their crook-spears crossed behind him. The room Serketzi brought him to was an extravagant parlor, a near copy of the room he'd first woken up in, but much smaller. He could hear running water somewhere, tucked away and out of sight from the main entrance.

"What is this?" Tony asked. The hair on his arms and the back of his neck was standing on end. The whole thing felt wrong.

"This," Serketzi started as she lounged on a plush couch, "is my personal sitting chamber. Few have ever seen its interior, let alone be fortunate enough to be escorted inside by me. Come. Sit." With the command, she patted a pillow directly in front of her on the floor.

Tony's cheeks burned as his body betrayed his dignity and plopped down, as ordered, on the cushion. When she reached for him, Tony flinched away.

"Stay still."

His muscles locked against his own effort as Serketzi brushed her fingers over his hair, then his jawline, and paused on the scar she felt.

"Who gave you this?" she asked.

While it wasn't an order, Tony rationalized that cooperating and answering what he could willingly may result in being given less absolute commands.

"Jorogu did. We dueled during our first meeting," he answered flatly.

The tips of her fingers trailed down to his neck, then just above his collarbone where Rania had stuck him with her tail. Thanks to his Ascendant Healing Factor, the wound had already started to knit itself closed.

"Fascinating," Serketzi mused as her fingers continued to explore, coming to rest on the gash across his chest, "you heal so quickly, I'm surprised that she managed to leave a permanent mark, let alone that she would choose to leave one on your face."

Tony said nothing.

Serketzi brushed the shredded remnants of the linen crop top sending flakes of dried blood and droplets of venom and ichor to the floor. She grinned at him, almost affectionately, the gleam in her eyes betrayed the rest of her softened expression.

"You're filthy, let's fix that, shall we?"