The mantis man's hands moved with a cruel precision. With a hiss of released pressure, the lid came loose.
The glass no longer trembled with each impact; instead, the centipede slowed, its frantic writhing subdued, as if under some invisible leash the masked man pulled.
He hadn't even touched it... just stood there, tilting his head, whispering sounds Grimm couldn't understand. And the monster obeyed.
'He tamed it? No… he's not taming. He's commanding. Like he owns the damn thing.'
!!
The centipede's body pressed onto his chest, the thousands of clawed legs tickling, dragging, scratching against his clothes as it slithered across him.
Grimm's muscles locked in terror.
'No, no, no—get it off, get it off! Please, someone!'
Something rough and foul jammed into his mouth.
A strap, bitter and rotten, tasting of mold, blood, and spit.
His gag reflex kicked, his stomach churned, but the mantis man forced it down and buckled it behind his head.
"This was used before," the masked voice mused, almost giddy.
"Why waste resources on a new gag? This one still works. The smell? Ahh, you'll live."
Grimm gagged, the rancid stench burning his throat. He wanted to vomit but couldn't even open his mouth.
His body trembled against the table, wrists cutting deeper into the restraints.
"Now…" The mantis tilted his head, insect-like, hands poised above the centipede's shifting form.
"Let's begin."
The beast twitched, its antennae quivering, and in the next instant it lunged.
SHHK!
The fangs sank deep into his neck. Not just pinpricks—holes, twin tunnels torn open in his flesh.
A hot gush spread down his collar as the venom flooded in. Grimm's back arched off the table, his body convulsing like a fish speared alive.
His eyes bulged, veins standing dark and purple against his skin.
He tried to scream but nothing came. His tongue lay heavy, dead in his mouth, his lungs frozen in the grip of the poison.
'It hurts. It HURTS! Someone—help—!'
The mantis man, calm as a surgeon, plucked a small black pill from his sleeve. With mechanical swiftness, he pried Grimm's jaw open and shoved it past the gag.
The medicine dissolved instantly, heat spreading, neutralizing. Slowly, like smoke clearing, the venom's grip faded, though the pain burned raw in his neck.
"Fascinating," the mantis whispered, scribbling notes in the air with one long finger.
"The venom tears flesh, paralyzes instantly, devours the host's energy… and yet—when countered with a suppressant pill, the host stabilizes. Yes, yes, exactly as I hypothesized. This is necessary. To experience what the essence can do before integration. Pure venom, before... the binding. Research, always research."
Grimm's chest heaved, air rasping back into his lungs. His head pounded with fury beneath the suffocating fear.
'Research? You're using me like a rat!? For research? You think I'll just lie here and let you do this? Damn you. Damn you! I'll kill everyone I swear!'
His eyes glared past the gag, burning hatred at the shifting mask of the man who toyed with him.
The mantis only hummed, pleased. "If you survive… perhaps you'll understand what gift I've given you."
...
Days have passed.
The straps came loose with a sound of metal buckles, and Grimm's body slid off the operation table like dead weight.
He hit the cold floor with a dull thud, cheek pressing into stone slick with his own sweat and spit.
His arms twitched, his legs refused to obey, his body was nothing but a bundle of shivers.
He stared blankly, eyes half-open, the ceiling lights blurring into streaks. Time had collapsed into venom and screaming nerves. Once, twice, ten times… no, a hundred. Each bite had carved itself into him, and now his thoughts ran in jagged loops.
'How many days? Hours? A week? I… I can't…'
The taste of the gag still clung to his tongue, rotting and bitter. His neck pulsed with countless punctures, layered with scars on scars, but no blood dripped anymore. His body had adapted. Or broken. He couldn't tell which.
The mantis man's voice echoed faintly in memory: "For the body to adapt before the soul. Endurance first. Now you can withstand it. It's enough. You must be hungry."
Hungry.
Grimm's stomach cramped with a hollow ache. That damn pill kept him alive, tricking his body into thinking it had eaten.
But his mind... his mind was fraying, shredded raw by agony and forced silence. He tried to think, but all that came was buzzing, constant, endless.
Bzzzzzzzz…
He lay there, fingers twitching against stone, until a shift of motion caught his eye.
Ssslssshhhk—
The centipede stirred. The white and red body unfurled like a banner of flesh and chitin, antennae twitching as it crawled down from the table.
Its countless legs ticked against the floor.
Grimm's chest seized.
'It's still here. Not gone. Not gone. Why—why didn't he take it with him?!'
The creature's head tilted, fangs glistening with venom residue. It paused, as if watching him.
Grimm tried to move. His fingers clawed against stone, dragging his limp arm an inch forward. His leg kicked weakly.
His body screamed with pain at every motion, but still—he moved.
"Hhhhkkk…"
His breath rattled through cracked lips.
The centipede crawled closer.
Tik tik tik tik…
'I'll kill you—I swear I'll—'
His body convulsed, half-crawling, half-collapsing, dragging himself like a worm across the chamber floor.
The monster followed, slow and patient, its antennae brushing the air like it could taste his fear.
Behind his eyes, his thoughts scattered and splintered. Pain. Hunger. Fear. Hatred. All tangled into one.
And the sound—
Tik tik tik tik…
It never stopped.
His body shook, ribs rattling with every breath, but something shifted inside him.
The venom no longer sent lightning through his veins, it was duller now, like background noise his body had begun to expect.
He pushed his palms against the floor.
Crkkk…
Bones in his arms protested, but he rose anyway.
Knees scraped stone as he staggered, hunched and swaying, eyes locked on the white-red centipede skittering closer.
Tik tik tik tik…
It lunged, antennae flaring, fangs opening wide for his neck again. Grimm's hand snapped up, not with strength but with a kind of desperation that gave him strength.
His fingers clamped around the writhing body, the countless legs clawing and scraping against his skin.
Scrratchhh—!
Venom dripped from its fangs, inches from his face. He felt it squirm, twisting, trying to coil around his wrist.
Grimm's pupils narrowed, bloodshot and wild. His lips peeled back, teeth bare.
'No more.'
Without hesitation—without thought—he dragged the centipede to his mouth. Its body bucked, thrashing violently, but he bit down with all the fury left in him.
Crunchhh!
A gush of bitter, acrid fluid exploded across his tongue. His throat seized, gag reflex clawing up his chest, but he forced it down.
He chewed, jaw snapping again and again, until the wriggling softened. The taste was poison and iron, bile and filth, but he didn't stop.
Crunchh. Crunchh. Gulp.
The legs scraped the inside of his mouth, shredding his cheeks, but he swallowed whole chunks, forcing the massive body down.
His throat bulged, tearing as it tried to accept what wasn't meant for humans.
Gulp—gulp—gulp!
Each swallow dragged the centipede further inside him, its body thrashing weaker and weaker.
Tears streamed down his face, his eyes bloodshot with pain and madness, but his jaw never stopped.
Until at last—
Gggulp!
He shoved the last segment past his teeth, his throat convulsing violently, and it was gone.
Silence.
He collapsed to his knees, hands on the floor, chest heaving. His stomach churned like fire, venom and flesh swirling into a toxic brew.
His throat burned, his lips bled, but a savage grin split across his face.
'I finally killed it...'
His body shook, veins pulsing black and white beneath his skin. The room spun, the world tilted, but he stayed upright.
He had eaten it whole.