Seawasp
He wasn't sick. He wasn't necessarily sane or, God forbid, normal, but he wasn't sick. He liked venomous animals. Big deal. Countless people were fascinated by danger, it wasn't fresh news. Fine, not many took pleasure in witnessing first-hand how poisonous those animals were, or how much time it took them to kill a human being or what expressions those unfortunate souls made while dying but, hey, to each their own. Besides, he was disgustingly rich and money could buy a lot of unasked questions from the authorities.
However, watching people being poisoned was not the thing he enjoyed the most; catching his prized little monsters was. Which would explain why he was currently swimming in a secluded Australian bay, stalking a beautiful specimen of Chironex fleckeri, widely considered the most lethal jellyfish in the world. He adjusted his mask, grateful for the protection of his full body diving suit; if even a single tentacle of the little beauty managed to wrap around his skin, he was as good as dead. He carefully swam a bit closer, the white suit effectively concealing him from its sight. The Chironex's elegant, semi-transparent body swam lazily, at times twisting into the shape of a human skull under Freeza's watchful gaze. A sigh escaped his lips in a bubbly shower; he was in love.
The water was starting to darken, the daylight increasingly scarcer; the sun was probably about to set, meaning he needed to bring the chase (enjoyable as it had been) to a close. He readied the special plexiglass cage he had built for that very purpose and prepared to pounce. He stopped. His prey had started a slow descent towards the sandy bottom of the sea. Freeza frowned, but his scowl became a smirk when he remembered that that particular kind of jellyfish usually rested on the sandy floor during the night; the poor dear was probably exhausted and wanted to nap. "All the easier to capture you", he thought gleefully, following the Chironex as it touched the ocean's bottom. It swam around a bit, as if getting comfortable, and then stilled completely. Freeza let a few more seconds pass before inching closer, cage at the ready. He was almost beside it, raising his hand up, up...
He stopped dead, his breath halted and his heart beat madly in his chest. The jellyfish had vanished, leaving an angel in its place. Well, an angel or a demon, for nothing human could look like that.
If Freeza had to guess, he'd say it was male; the flat and muscled chest certainly hinted so, its sharp features too. The creature's skin was ghostly pale, half covered by a floating, translucent gown. A white flame of hair framed a heart-shaped visage, pale eyes blinking rapidly and soft lips stirring into a pleased smile as it lay down in the soft sand. The diaphanous, tail-like appendage that formed its lower body relaxed on the ocean floor and stilled. The creature closed its eyes; Freeza's were wide open as they drank in the scene. He was trembling, he realised in a far-away manner. He was starting to suspect another jellyfish had sneaked up on him and wrapped all its tentacles around his body even through the diving suit, because it surely couldn't be normal for him to feel hot and cold at the same time, or for his heart to be beating this loudly, or for his breath... Oh God, he wasn't breathing. He took a large gulp of much needed air and quickly expelled it, letting the cage fall and dashing towards the creature.
The Chironex jumped and its eyes opened in alarm, catching sight of a blur of bubbles and raised sand. It was still trying to identify the threat, when its wrists were seized in an iron grip by an invisible force. Trying to fight off the aggressor as well as its mounting fear, it blindingly bared its sharp teeth, its venomous tail trashing wildly in the hope of catching whatever was doing this. Where was it? Why was it unable to see it? Where were the stupid bubbles coming from? Freeza wore a mad smile on his face, elated that the white diving suit was doing its job. He stayed clear of the tail, just in case, and pressed his body against his prey's chest, holding it down. Oh God, ohgodohgod... Its skin felt so soft, so supple, so delicate... He roughly pushed the gown away from its shoulder and moaned through the mouthpiece when a bruise immediately formed on the white skin. Oh God, oh God, oh God!
He grabbed its chin and traced pale lips with a gloved finger, a demented laugh leaving his mouth in a shower of bubbles when the Chironex attempted to bite it. Wonderful, wonderful, wonderful creature! He giggled again, paying no mind to the still trashing tail behind him or the sharp teeth that were currently attempting to chew his index. He wanted to laugh; he wanted to cry; he wanted to scream scream scream...
"You're perfect!", he tried to shout, but it came out muffled and distorted and the creature couldn't have possibly understood that. He wanted it to understand, needed the beautiful monster to see what it did to him. Ignoring the rational part of his mind's screams that this was suicide, he spat out his mouthpiece, tilted his prey's face up and seized its white lips in a bruising kiss. He felt the body under him pause and, forcing the Chironex's mouth open with his hand, plunged his tongue inside. Perfect. It was perfect, like kissing cold salt water. Its skin was so cold, he should warm it up. He ignored the being's pained wails and its renewed struggles, they didn't matter, the only important thing was that he needed this. He needed it more than all his money, more than air, more than life and how had he managed to survive without this, it was not possible, he couldn't stop, couldn't stop or he'll die...
His head was swimming in a sea of cotton, the lack of air making him dizzy. He echoed the creature's whines with one of his own, because he didn't want to stop, it was unthinkable, but if he didn't get some air he'd die for real. With a groan, he released the Chironex's bruised lips and chin, patting around for his displaced mouthpiece, making plans in his head. His team was close, it'd take them only a few minutes to reach the bay, he just needed to drag the creature to shore (nothing difficult about that, it was so delightfully light!) and keep it there until they arrived with a fish tank or a pool or something and then bring it to his hotel suite and then and then and then...
He got distracted for a second and his prey seized the opportunity; as he bit on his mouthpiece, gulping down air and breathing out bubbles, the creature zeroed on the source of the ripples and slammed its head against Freeza's chin. He gasped in surprise, momentarily relaxing his grip. It was all it took for the Chironex to buck him off, free its wrists and bolt. Freeza cursed, trying to follow it but being unable to see anything through the wall of floating sand raised by their fight; when the sand cleared, he was completely alone in the almost completely dark water.
No. He spun around, squinting his eyes, trying to catch a glimpse, a clue, anything. No! He quickly swam back to where he first saw the jellyfish, but the sun was almost gone and the water was cold and he was trembling and his teeth were chattering and he had to get out of here if he didn't want to risk hypothermia but... No no no no no!
In the end, it was his team who had to forcefully drag him out of the water. He didn't want to leave, he needed time, he screamed, just a little more time, he could find the angel again, he was sure of it, all he needed was more time! It was up to a shaken Zarbon to call for medical assistance while Dodoria kept a sharp eye on Freeza to ensure he didn't go back in the black water. "Let me go, damn you! I will give you to my Oxyuranus microlepidotus to feed upon if you don't release me this instant! I have to find it, I need to find it, it can't be gone! I can't live without it! Let me go..." The medical team had to sedate him to bring him away, still screaming hoarsely and with oh-so-rare tears glistening on his face. A few meters away, safely hidden behind jugged rocks, pale eyes took in the scene, blinked and disappeared.
Thank you for reading.