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On the planet Venom

(Authors note: this takes place a little bit before chapter 1)

The rat looked out the window of a small hut looking out on Venom City, the once capital of the Venom Empire during the Lylat Wars. The city had little reconstruction after the war due to no neighbouring planet that were willing to help. The streets were covered in huts with fire burning inside them, shining through the windows. The huts belonged to the citizens, as well as former soldiers. Overlooking them was the Venomian Tower, which was the pride of Venom and where the great scientist Andross used to live and conduct his experiments. The rat had always wondered what experiments went on in there, but since there was a rumor the tower was about to fall at any moment, she didn't want to risk exploring it. She spent most of her time in her hut, which was on top of a hill just outside of the city. She didn't go out much because the citizens of Venom were less than desirable to be around, most of them being pirates and other types of criminals looking for a safe haven. She also didn't leave much because of a special guest that was staying in her hut.

Her train of thought was interrupted by loud coughing in the next room over. She got up and quickly went to the room and opened the door to reveal an ape with white fur lying in a bed. "Are you okay master Dash?" she said as she was walking over to check his forehead for a fever.

"Yeah, thank you for asking," the ape said as he tried to hide the handkerchief he coughed into. The rat was very fond of the boy. He was kind-hearted, thoughtful, and had a mind that could rival the best scientists in the Lylat system. He was also very optimistic for a person who had lost almost everything; his family and friends. He was nothing like his grandfather. She spotted Dash trying to hide the piece of cloth.

"What's that?" she asked. Dash knew there would be no point in trying to hide it, so he showed it to her. On the white handkerchief was blood.

"Oh my, are you sure you're alright?" the rat asked concerned. She knew the ape had a disease that there was no cure for. Dash had already survived longer than expected, but he was getting worse each day. What made it worse was that the young ape knew this as well.

"Yeah, I'm fine, but each time it happens it hurts more." the ape said putting on a smile trying to cover up the pain. She saw through this, but knew there was nothing she could do.

"I'm going to go get your medicine, you be good while I'm gone."

"I may throw a party." Dash chuckled, but stopped because of the pain. She laughed back as she left the room. As she left the house she frowned, the medicine was just slowing down the inedible, and he was soon going to die. She started to cry as she walked towards the city.

Dash tried to go to sleep because sleep was the only time the pain stopped. He was almost asleep when his stomach grumbled. "Well it couldn't hurt to eat." He said as he got up. He dragged himself through his room and eventually the dining room. "One of the perks of having a small hut is less walking." He thought to himself. He opened the refrigerator and grabbed some food. As he turned to walk towards the table something caught his eye. He saw a hooded figure.

"Who are you?" Dash yelled.

"It is not important who I am, but what is important is that I know how you can cure your disease." The figure grinned as he stepped more into the light. Dash could now make out the figure more clearly. It looked like an ape that was slouching, probably because of age. Dash could not see the top of the face, but he could see the figures bottom half. He had a grey beard and his face had many wrinkles. His teeth were a sickly yellow colour.

"I want to kn-… you can cure me?" the younger ape said in disbelief.

"Not here, but I know the place where you can get the cure." The old ape said opening a curtain revealing the Venomian Tower. "I can take you there safely, if will you follow." With this he opened the door and started walking towards the city.

Dash hesitated for a second. Could there really be a cure for his disease, and could he trust this man? Dash decided the risk was worth the reward. "Hey, wait up!" Dash called to the mysterious figure as he ran to catch up. The old ape didn't turn around just grinned.

Fifteen minutes of walking and they reached Venom City.

"We'll take the back streets." The old ape said starting to walk toward the back of a building.

"Why, we can just take the main street, it would be faster, the people still think of me as their leader, they will bow down and let us pass." Dash said. The words sound unnatural for him to say, but he ignored it.

"Or they will swarm us and praise you and then we will never get to the tower." The ape said back. He was getting annoyed with the younger talking. Dash was silent, the old ape was glad from a break from the questions. This break was interrupted almost immediately.

"So did my grandfather make this cure?" Dash asked. The elder decided he would answer the questions that the young ape was constantly asking.

"Yes, your family has a history with this disease, so when your grandfather, the great scientist Andross, was on Corneria, he developed a cure because he too had the disease."

"Why didn't he give the cure to everyone?"

"He was going to, but then one of his experiments went wrong, well it actually worked, but the Cornerian government did not like people to be used in testing so he was banished before he got the chance."

"You seem to know about my grandfather a lot. Who are you? You never told me."

"That's because I am your… grandfather's friend. Why did you want to know so badly?"

"I just thought…nothing." Dash was silent for the rest of the walk.

They finally arrived at the tower. They were staring at a wall.

"What are we doing here?" Dash asked. The old ape sighed and pressed his hand against the wall which hissed and revealed a keypad. The ape entered numbers into the keypad and the wall split in two. He looked around, nobody was around to notice. He stepped in. "Oh."

Dash followed him in. The wall closed right behind him. The place was too dark to see anything, but the elderly ape walked through like he had been there before. Dash followed, running into something every ten steps. He was trying to look around, could this have been Andross's secret lab, where he did untold horrors to people and animals to make bioweapons. Dash could make out some pods and they appeared to have things moving inside of them. He moved for a closer look, but was startled when he heard a hiss. The old ape had opened a room that was lit. "Maybe another time." Dash said as he made his way onto the room. The room was almost empty, except for a metal table with a syringe on it.

"Here it is." The ape said showing Dash with his hand.

"Thank you for helping me." Dash said, "but are you sure it will work?"

"Yes, I know it will."

Dash would normally want to test something like this, especially before putting it into his body, but his eagerness got the best of him. He picked up the syringe that had a blue substance in it and injected it into his arm. The old ape just stood and grinned. Dash didn't feel any different. He was still in pain.

"I still feel the same, are you-"Dash said while turning around, but realized that the ape was gone. He didn't hear the door open and there was nothing to hide behind, so he began to wonder if the ape was ever there in the first place. Before he could investigate his vision went black and he collapsed.

Dash woke up feeling different. He slowly got up thinking what he was feeling that made him feel different. Finally, he realized that he wasn't in pain anymore; it felt like all the weight was off his chest. He was over joyed. He ran out of the room, but stopped and realized that he didn't know the way out. He was thinking when he spotted a stairway that he had never seen before. He went up it.

After walking up for about 3 minutes he finally arrived at a wall with a button on it. He pushed the button and the wall opened revealing a huge throne room. Dash walked through the door, which hissed shut behind him. The room had paintings of Venom all over. It had about twenty chairs in a group facing the throne. The chairs had red velvet cushions and the legs and arm rests were made from gold. The ceiling had a giant-glass chandelier, which hovered high above over the group of chairs. However, what caught Dash's eye was the throne. It was a tall chair, whose framework was also made of gold, but it had blue instead of red for its cushioning.

Dash passed through the throne room. He wanted to see how the chair felt, after all he was the rightful heir to the throne and he had never gotten a chance to sit in it. He sat down, sinking into the chair. Dash thought out loud to himself.

"This feels…good."

Remember to leave me a review telling me what you liked or didn't like (also for writing mistakes). I think this is the longest chapter yet. Thanks for reading!