The words echoed in his brain.
Who do you think sent those attackers unto the Massive?
His surroundings disappeared as the information sunk in. Waves of memories returned like waves crashing against the cliffs.
My Tallest, something has happened-! Your chambers-! Lady Tenn-!
TENN, HANG ON! YOU'RE GOING TO BE ALRIGHT! I'M HERE!
During her fight against the Berserker, she was hit in the abdomen and thrown against the wall.
Purple... Tenn miscarried.
His vision went red as the reminder of his loss shook him to the core, making his blood boil as he stared at Mizorant, the one who had killed his unborn smeet.
Tenn jumped, startled when Purple suddenly tried to lunge forward with a loud shriek. His lekku were straight and pointing forward, and the fire in his eyes was burning hotter than an inferno. The only thing preventing him from attacking Mizorant were the two Sobrekt restraining him.
Tenn felt a shiver down her spine as she watched her husband pull against his captors, shouting threats and hisses at the croc. She had never seen him this angry, not even when he confronted her back on Earth.
"Oops, looks like I hit a sore spot, didn't I?" Mizorant smirked. "Good."
"DAMN YOU, LIZARD! I SWEAR WHEN I PUT MY HANDS ON YOU-!" Purple was cut off as the muzzle was put back on, muffling whatever came out of his mouth.
"Take the Tallest to his suite," Mizorant fixed her eyes on Tenn. The former Invader couldn't help but wince as she felt the golden eyes on top of her. A moment later, Mizorant snorted. "As for her, I'd like to have a private word."
The two guards dragged Purple away even as he pulled against them, his muffled words and cries disappearing down the hall.
Tenn glared at Mizorant as the Sobrekt stopped in front of her. "I'm not afraid of you, lizard."
"That's pretty evident. Your whole body language irradiates confidence despite your current situation. It's impressive, considering that I'm far taller, and your kind tends to cower before taller people."
"Not when they're filthy aliens."
"You should watch your tongue, Irken, or you might lose it!" Lard Nar snickered.
Tenn didn't dignify the Vortian with a glance. What a coward, only acting tough when hiding behind the Sobrekt.
"That's no way to treat a lady, Lard Nar," Mizorant chided. "Especially not a future mother."
Tenn paled. "I don't know what you're talking about..." she stuttered. All eyes were on her now, however.
"Trust me, honey, I can tell by just looking at you. I too carried eggs once..."
"Wait a sec, you mean...?"
"Ooh, it looks like the Tallest will be a dad!"
"Do you all know what this means? Our leverage is even bigger than we thought!"
Ignoring the Resisty, Tenn looked up at Mizorant with a defiant frown.
"So what? You're going to get back at Purple for your loss by killing his unborn child?"
"Who do you take me for, Irken? While I do admit that the temptation is high, my people are against harming pregnant women. Besides, I'd never wish my experience on another," for a brief moment, Mizorant's eyes seemed to reflect a deep sadness. "When you lose a child, it takes a part of you and leaves a hole in your heart that will never be full again."
"W-What are you going to do to me, then?"
"We're keeping you and your husband hostage for the time being while we negotiate with the other Tallest. Meanwhile, you'll be well-fed, and no harm will come to you, but I can't promise the same for your mate."
Tenn didn't know why part of her found that last part amusing.
Kamora led her out of the bridge and to the rear part of the ship, where the detention brig would be located. The walk there took about ten minutes, meaning the vessel was more spacious than she anticipated.
The prisoner brig was mostly empty except for a few Irken war prisoners, many of them taller than average and with the Irken Elite symbol on their foreheads. All saluted by wiggling their lekku as she passed by.
As soon as her captor pushed her into the cell, a pair of arms wrapped around her, and she found herself being pressed against a cold, metal breastplate.
"TENN!" Purple cried out in despair. He pulled back and checked on her. "I t-thought... Didn't they hurt you?!"
"I'm fine. Mizorant just wanted to talk."
"Damn the lizard!" Purple let go of her and directed his wrath towards the wall, hitting it with his closed fist. His lekku were flat against his head. "DAMN HER!" The display lost strength as he slowly fell to his knees. "Damn her..."
Tenn raised her lekku as a sob escaped him. Then another, and another. A drop fell on the ground beneath Purple, but there was no apparent leaking in the ceiling. Tenn gasped, her hand reaching out to her lips.
Purple was crying. Almighty Tallest Purple, the cruelest of the two emperors of the Irken Empire, was weeping.
Tenn found herself moved at sight. She never imagined she'd see him in this state; sometimes, she had even wondered if he had a heart at all, but this proved otherwise. He was suffering for their lost smeet; he had just learned that the miscarriage wasn't just an accident. It was deliberately caused (even if unknowingly). It must have been a hard blow, even worse than learning she had lost the first smeet. Admittedly, Tenn felt differently ever since the revelation herself. All this time she's told herself that she didn't care, that she hadn't wanted the smeet, to begin with, but...
Tenn took a few tentative steps forward. Her hand trembled as she reached out to touch Purple's shoulder.
"P-Purple..."
Purple froze. Looking up at his wife, he was met with a concerned expression and sad eyes. His eyes trailed down to Tenn's abdomen. He couldn't take it any longer. Purple threw his arms around his wife to pull her close as the tears trickled down his cheeks. He didn't care if anyone saw him anymore. He merely wept for his lost smeet.
She didn't know why, but her eyes swelled up with tears. Tenn tried to blink them away, but she could do nothing as they trickled down her cheeks. All of the pain inside her chest, which she had been so desperate to contain burst out as she returned the hug. Everything, from the first time Purple touched her, to the loss of her smeet, to all the times she had kept herself from crying.
The two Irkens wept in each others' arms.
**SoP**
Purple didn't realize he had drifted off until he awoke sometime later. He found himself on the floor, and Tenn in his arms, sound asleep. He brushed her cheek with a finger to wipe the dried tears; carefully, he pulled her into his arms and got to his feet.
The cell was no bigger than the one in the ship they had been taken to before coming to this one. There was a single bed with one pillow at the end and a toilet. Instead of bars, the cell had a plasma wall that evaporated whatever touched it.
Purple carefully placed Tenn on top of the bed and accommodated her head over the pillow. He took off his cloak-it was quite battered, but still in one piece- and covered Tenn with it. She shifted, opening her eyes slightly.
"Mm... Purple?"
"Shh, it's alright. I'm not leaving you." He whispered, stroking her head.
"Please tell me the whole 'being captured' thing was a nightmare."
"I wish, but no. Unfortunately, we're the lizards' war prisoners."
Tenn groaned and let her head fall on the pillow as her stomach growled. The former Invader placed her hands on her abdomen, looking down in dismay.
"Great, it looks like the smeet is hungry. And frankly, so am I. Do you happen to know if they'll bring us any food soon?"
The sound of heavy footsteps echoed in the corridor outside. Tenn tensed up when a kryvtor appeared in the doorway; her husband put himself in-between, lekku raised in a threatening posture.
The guard said nothing: he merely placed a tray of food on the ground and slid it through the plasma barrier before walking away.
"Well, speak of the devil."
"Wait, let me make sure it's not poisoned."
"You don't have to worry about that. Mizorant might be a bitch, but she seems honorable. She said she wouldn't touch a hair of a 'fellow mother.'"
Purple raised his lekku. "She knows you're pregnant?!"
"I didn't tell her," Tenn growled when she noticed his half-accusing frown. "I didn't need to, anyhow. She figured it out on her own."
Purple took a deep breath.
"And you believed her?" He said skeptically. "That woman blames me for the loss of her family. What makes you think she won't cause you another miscarriage to get back at me? And eye for an eye, as they say."
"She's a Sobrekt, Purple. True, they're savages, but they're also honorable."
"You sound so sure when you've only fought against three in your whole life." Purple countered.
"You forget that I'm Ilk's long-distance mentor, and as such, she keeps me up to date on everything. She's always emphasizing that Despite their brutish manners and fondness of violence, Sobrekt follow strict honor codes. They won't fight someone who's at a disadvantage, or they'd at least level things up for them. They are people of their word and won't make promises they know they can't keep."
Purple tapped his fingers on the edge of the bed, pondering over her words. He hated to admit it, but she wasn't entirely wrong about that. He hadn't fought too many of the lizards in his days as a soldier, as the Irken Empire was in relatively better terms with Sobr under Miyuki's rule.
However, there were times when he did face off against one or two, either space pirates or rogue mercenaries who'd defected the Sobrekt military. And during those altercations, the lizards had shown a notably straightforward behavior.
"At least let me check it out."
Purple picked up the tray and took a sniff. His lekku sensed pleasant aromas and spiced scents. The main dish was a small green steak with mashed fruit and a glass of water. Purple cursed the lizards for blocking his PAK-tools.
"So far, it looks good." He said after a while.
Tenn only had to take a look at the piece of meat to make her squeedly-spooch twist. Quickly, she dashed towards the toilet to throw up.
"Tenn, are you alright?!" Purple placed the tray aside, grabbed the glass of water, and handed it over to his wife. "Here."
Tenn took small sips of water just as her squeedly-spooch settled down for the time being. She wiped a few drops of sweat from the forehead with her arm.
"Guess I don't feel like having meat..." she whispered.
"But you have to eat something, at least..." Purple trailed off. He searched in his PAK's secret compartment-the one place the virus hadn't affected-and took out three donuts, holding them out to Tenn. "Here."
Tenn stared unblinkingly at the snacks: the blue vervet limited edition with cream filling and chocolate sprinkles. They were launched a few cycles ago, and only one hundred packages were made. From what she heard, Tallest Purple purchased half of it.
"Your limited-edition donuts?" She asked. "B-But, those are yours. You've made it very clear."
"I did, but I'm not letting my wife go hungry. Sides, I have more back at the Massive." Purple insisted. "Come on, take them."
Tenn reluctantly grabbed one of the donuts, shifting her gaze between it and her husband.
Was he serious? Is he willing to part with his precious donuts for her? She couldn't help but find it... touching. The Tallest were very possessive of their one, and absolutely no one is allowed to grab the food intended for the Tallest. Red and Purple themselves often bickered for taking each others' snacks.
"Are you sure-?"
"Eat."
"But-"
"Eat."
The last one sounded like a gentle order rather than a request.
Shrugging, Tenn gave the doughnut a tiny bite.
A swirl of sweet flavors invaded her palate as she munched on the donut; the cream filling complemented the taste of the blue verbet, and the sprinkles added a subtly bitter taste. Soon Tenn found herself devouring the rest of the donuts, moaning in delight.
"So... good!"
Purple chuckled. "I remember my first time."
"Sweet Irk, this is delicious! How come you don't eat it all day?"
"If I did, they'd run out in the blink of an eye, and I wouldn't be able to enjoy them anymore." He snickered as he watched his wife lick the leftover cream off her fingers. "You look cute when you do that, you know!"
"What! I've never had anything other than nachos and fries for most of my life. Plus, Invaders don't have access to a wide variety of snacks because we have to adapt to the food on our assigned planet to avoid raising suspicions."
"I kind of know the feeling, in a way. I didn't pass the test to be assigned an Invader like Red, so I instead worked in the Engineering Division building weapons, ships, and stuff like that. We only ever got enough monies for popcorn and cheezos. I did manage to get donuts because I was taller, but it still wasn't much."
"At least you weren't constantly surrounded by hostile life forms."
"Trust me, my dear, co-workers in my division were worse than hostile life forms."
"More hostile than Invaders? I doubt that."
Without realizing it, soon, Tenn found herself in a pleasant conversation with Purple regarding their lives as Elites. She couldn't tell him about her time on Meekrob, granted, but she had other exciting stories to tell.
Purple's anecdotes were rather funny. Most of them involved Red, but a few others included Ilk, Lena, and Miyuki. Purple even admitted that on one occasion, he forgot a full bag of donuts near Ilk's cradle, and she had a sugar rush that lasted hours. And during that time, she wrought havoc all around the Massive.
A few others were sad. After Tallest Miyuki's death, Purple had to snap Red out of it, even though he too was deeply affected by her demise. However, the worst part was that a month hadn't passed before the Control Brains named her replacement. Then Spork was eaten not long after, and they searched for the next Tallest without as much of a simple funerary service.
"We nearly had a heart attack when we were summoned for the Great Measuring. We were afraid that if either was chosen, it'd eventually drift us apart, so Red proposed that whoever got chosen would make the other their advisor." Purple chuckled fondly. "Imagine our surprise when the Control Brains announced that we were both the same height and had decided that we'd both rule."
"I bet you two jumped of joy."
"I almost did, but Red wasn't sure if he wanted the job because it reminded him of Miyuki. I'm sure he would have refused if he had the choice to do so."
"He doesn't look like he cares that much about it."
"He eventually came to terms with Miyuki's death. Then he and Lena got married and had Ilk; that partly helped, though the wound will never close up completely."
"What about you? Didn't you ever have a girlfriend or something? I mean, if you wanted your smeets that badly..." Tenn trailed off as she noted Purple tense up.
"None of your business."
Tenn rolled her eyes. "Fine." She lay down on the bunk bed, turning her back on her husband as she closed her eyes.
Purple stared at his wife with a squirming in his heart. He hadn't meant to sound so hostile, but the reminder of... it always put him in a sour mood.
He waited until Tenn was asleep to sit down next to her sleeping figure and stroke her head. His hand found its way down to her abdomen, where their smeet was housed. Purple couldn't help but wonder if it's tiny heart was already beating; it's hard to tell since he hadn't bothered to count the days since Tenn was fertilized.
When Lena was pregnant with Ilk and Rouge, Red had often talked to her tummy, and after they were born, they showed signs of recognizing his voice. Purple wasn't sure if the smeet could hear yet, but he might as well try.
Leaning down to press his cheek against Tenn's still flat abdomen, he whispered.
"Hey, there, little one. I'm daddy. Can you hear me?"
No reply. Purple sighed.
"I guess you must be wondering what's going on out here, right? I bet you can somewhat tell that mommy has been very stressed out lately. Well, it's partly my fault, but..." Purple took a deep breath as he embraced Tenn's waist, placing a hand on top of her belly, right next to his head. "I want you to know that I love you both very much, and I will always protect you no matter what. I promise."
**SoP**
It seems like Purple is finally opening up. not only that, but Tenn too has seen yet another side of him. It wont be long until the semi-romance starts, hopefully.
If you are wondering why Mizorant is so nice to Tenn, it's because the latter is an expectant mother-to-be, something she once was too. And being a Sobrekt, she's honorable. These two factors are what saved Tenn; at the cor, Mizorant isn't a bad person. She's a woman who lost everything to the Irken Empire, specifically Purple's, clutches.