A/N: Thanks for continuing on with my story, don't forget to follow my story for updates, and leave reviews, even anonymous ones! Now for the nitty gritty: I do not own To Love-Ru...
Fair warning, possible triggers and uncomfortable situations ahead, but kept T.
Orbit of an Unknown Planet
Lala stared out of her window at the glowing planet beneath her, the air a dull looking brown, given the fact much of the planet below looked like scorched earth. Pollution and smog seemed to have been pumped into the atmosphere below by the thousands of factories that covered the planet, as dozens of spaceships she could see entering and exit the atmosphere around the ship delivered goods and took them on in turn. More than likely this industrial planet was choked by poison air and regulated by machines that took on raw materials and refined them into finished projects. It was not illegal to mine a planet to this point, but it was very much frowned upon, since planets like these became the host to dependant planets, to the Black Market, and planetary warlords who profited very lucratively off of the pirates and blackhearts who made these places their hideaways. Usually these places became so corrupt and untouchable, not even the Galactic Police would chose to mess with these places, not when one of those unaffiliated tyrants could just as easy fund campaigns against them with a single word.
That was probably exactly why Lacospo chose such a planet to supply his ship, since planets like these had enough pull and support to hold their own against the Deviluke Empire, if only for a little bit before they abandoned the planet like it was a sinking ship. Planets like these were popular during the end of the war, as refugees scattered to other worlds to escape their own dying ones, all in an attempt to keep their family fed and above the rising body count. While Deviluke had united most of the entire known universe, healing those planets they could by reversing the damage to them, some still slipped through the cracks or were too far outside the range of watchful eyes. So it was understandable her heart was sad to see such a planet so close to Deviluke territory, and still inside the Galactic Police's own jurisdiction, despite how large the territory both claimed they protected.
Blowing a stray wisp of hair out of her face, Lala decided moping wasn't going to help her situation at all. Checking to make sure her door was locked, surprised Lacospo had allowed her such a freedom, Lala decided to let go of all the stress she had gained these past couple of days, and the stink that had accrued from her refusal to wear anything Lacospo had provided her. Searching through the closets and drawers of clothes Lacospo had 'provided', she had found them all poor to her taste. They were either extremely lacy, gaudily frilly, too revealing, or too hyper-sexualized in nature to even be considered clothing instead of scraps of cloth tied together by thin strings. Azenda had promised to return from the supply trip with some more suitable clothing for her tastes, as lacking Peke, Lala had very poor taste in feminine clothing outside of Deilukean culture. The assassin queen, meanwhile, had provided her with some fairly basic clothing when Lacospo wasn't looking, including a plain tunic that was like Azenda's own, except less revealing of the midriff save a cut around the lower half of the stomach and bellybutton area. She had also provided a fairly normal skirt that reached to her knees, with a hole cut in and sewn open to accommodate her tail. She had even hooked her up with a plain pair of panties, unlike the sexual monstrosities in her closet, and a wireless, strapless bra that was hopefully meant to cover up what the tunic wouldn't with the midriff cut.
Deciding she had everything she needed, reluctantly deciding to utilize the bra despite her own personal discomfort, but equally hating the alternative with Lacospo around, Lala had her wardrobe neatly folded and ready for use. Now she headed for the bathroom, the adjoining room that Lacospo had put in before her incarceration in this dreadful room, as it had no other door or window save the open space and stars themselves through, a massive viewing port that could be opened from the fairly luxurious bath fixture. Thankfully she would not be needing that at the moment, content with setting her clothes on the nearest empty fixture, before grabbing a towel from a sealed compartment hidden among the smooth walls. Opening the shower doors and adjusting the water temperature until it was just right, Lala felt the rising humidity from the steam. Stripping off her skirt first, then her top, Lala covered her bouncing breasts out of habit more than decency, before slipping out of her undergarments and reflexively obscuring any view with her spade tipped tail. The soaps and shampoos, along with various utensils and other scented products were all non-reactive to each other, though they did cater to a variety of tastes and preferences that surprised her.
Though she doubted Lacospo knew exactly what she wanted, and that Azenda had more than likely just grabbed a few dozen at random per his request, she was quite surprised to find that among the few dozen alien shampoos and scents, there was one that stood out among them. Though not as fancy or expensive as the variety of alien bath salts, conditioners, and scents made up of hundreds, if not thousands of varieties of plants, oils, and scents, its simple shape and color was a comforting familiarity to her. The English lettering spelling out the name was unfamiliar to her, but it smelt exactly like its counterpart she had found in Rito and Mikan's shared bathroom on Earth. It smelled of pears and ginger, and she was ecstatic that it was exactly the brand she thought it was, just bought most likely in another part of the Earth due to the fact that their presence would have been detected anywhere near Lala's own had Zastin been there. Scrubbing at her skin and hair, she lathered her body up with the familiar scent, happy for the first time in a while that some part of earth could still be found out here in space. The warmth of the shower melting away her stress, Lala didn't feel as lonely or forgotten as she could have been, and she almost forgot she wasn't a captive right now.
While she did many things to cleanse her body of the layers of filth that had no doubt accrued on her skin and other places on her body, she was too busy to hear the sound of her exterior door being forcibly unlocked from the outside. She did finish up her inspection of her body, though, and was neatly rearranging the soaps and shampoos to put her new favorite to the front, when she heard the bathroom door whir to life. Turning off the shower, quickly, she opened the shower door and covered what she could without her towel, peeking out of and around the shower door. She screamed at seeing the clothed form of Lacospo through the thinning steam, a too wide smile on his perverted face, pleasure oozing from him as he stared unabashed at her nudity. "Get out of here you- you creep!" Lala screamed, turning to cover herself and adjusting her tail to hide as much as she could while reaching for a towel to cover herself, "Get out you- you pervert!" Blushing and red in the face as she managed to grab her towel and quickly clothe her immodest appearance, she turned to still find Lacospo greedily drinking in the view before him, as the last of the steam dispersed into the colder room through the open door.
"My dear Lala you forget so quickly, we are to be betrothed, you and I," Lacospo smiles perversely, "Encounters like this will become commonplace between you and I." She can only stand in shock and fright at his words, as the small toad walks closer to her bathtub and stares over the clothing she had left on its side. "So bold, did you not like the gifts I gave you?" he asks, as he picks up the strapless bra and pulled it taunt, "Such boring, cumbersome things don't due you any service, my dear, they hide your natural... assets." He smiles at her discomfort, before tossing the item over his shoulder and leaving it discarded on the cold metal floor. "As King, why would I ask you to hide such beauty behind layers of unnecessary fabric, like panties and bras," Lacospo's grin only becomes more and more disconcerting as he speaks, "On my home planet, I assure you, its a disgrace for a husband not to flaunt his property, to incite jealousy in those lower than him, to show dominance and ensure rivals he is their better, that he has power over them in one way... or another." Lala's breathing only heightens as the man grabs the spare panties Azenda had left her, licking his lips as he stares greedily between them and her. "No, no, no, this just won't do between you and I," he states, before tearing into the offending garment and ripping massive holes in specific places, "There, this will fit my needs, much better, indeed, my sweet princess..." Lala swallows and stares at the altered garment, having watched helplessly as Lacospo violated her only gift from Azenda that had been physical.
Lacospo sauntered up to her, and held out the ripped garment to her. "Go, on," he states, "Put it on for me." Lala merely stares at him before whimpering as the small man walks up to her and tears the towel out of her grip. "You are to be my future wife, and I am ordering you to obey me!" he commands, a dark look crossing his face, as Lala falls to her knees in an attempt of refusal, "Now be a good little princess, and put this on." He shoves the undergarments into the hands that are barely covering her chest.
"N-no!" Lala refuses, as she keeps squeezing her eyes shut despite the physical contact the perverted king makes with her, "I-I won't you- you bastard!" Lala opens here eyes as she realized what she has just said, looking up as she sees a shadow of disgust cover over his eyes.
"I see, so I was right to question your claims," Lacospo states as he turns away and walks to the doorway, "I-I am sorry, but this was necessary to test your love for me; it seems I was a fool." Lala doesn't know what to this erratic shift in mood for the toad king, but Lala was happy he was leaving her to her privacy. "Know this, Princess Lala, I will not stand for this farce you've put up to humiliate me," Lacospo states, "When Azenda returns you will be dealt with for pretending to go along with marrying me, for lying to me to let your precious human try and gain your fathers favor." Lacospo takes one last glance over his shoulder to Lala. "When next I met your human lover, know that his fate will be long and drawn out," Lacospo threatens, "I will make you my wife, you will learn to love me, even if I have to kill your friends and family to do it." With that he leaves her alone, to her disquieted thoughts, embarrassment, and shame that runs through her exposed figure, before throwing the torn clothing from her grasp and going to pick up the top and the towel from the floor. She felt anger burning deep inside her for the toad, for embarrassing her like that, but she was confused at his erratic behavior and mood shifts, and wondering just how he knew she hadn't planned on marrying him.
When Azenda returned to the ship in her shuttle alongside a small freighter, the assassin queen was surprised to see Lacospo waiting for her in the cargo hold's upper levels. The assassin queen leveled her gaze at the small king, whose sour mood seemed to be directed at her. "Is there a problem?" Azenda asks forthright, "We picked up the supplies you requested, including your... acquisition." From the freighter, a large bellow was heard, followed by the buckling of metal as a wall in the small ship buckled against a massive weight. "As distasteful as it was," Azenda states looking back, as crewmen quickly unload her shuttle and evacuate the area to prepare it for Lacospo's newest possession, "The thing is feral and poorly fed, but otherwise able to be transferred to its newest home as soon as possible, though I would suggest feeding the poor thing before it breaks lose and devours the whole crew..." Lacospo doesn't let up form hsi grimace, which puzzles and annoys the assassin. "I did acquire enough protein to feed the thing, since I knew your food stores wouldn't have the necessary meat to feed it until your journey ends," Azenda states, crossing her arms, "Did you know the warlord we acquired this thing from kept it hidden underneath his own palace; he even fed unfortunate victims and his enemies to it through a trapdoor he kept in front of his throne..." Azenda sighs and realizes she wouldn't be helping herself by waiting for him to respond, choosing instead to return to her ship and ensure her own private purchases were delivered to Lala discretely.
"Are you going to deliver more clothes to that harlot?" Lacospo asks, causing Azenda to stiffen up but continue on through her decision, "Very well then, I won't take that as a refusal of your guilt, wife." Azenda almost whirls on the little tyrant, until the doors of the upper section of the cargo hold, were a secondary entrance was, opened with a shout of voices. Lala was loudly complaining as she was dragged through the open doors by two alien guards, causing Azenda to fully turn to Lacopso and wonder just what he was planning to do. "Ah, my future bride, I'm so happy to see you join us down here," Lacospo states as he walks over to the elevator with Azenda, before taking it up to the upper level were Lala stood with two guards hold her roughly from behind, "I believe we are almost ready." Lacospo motions for them to both look over the railing as the last worker down below leaves the area, and a force field is put up around the freighter to isolate it from the rest of the area. As they watch, the back of the freighter lowers fully, and suddenly massive crunching and thumping is heard from the inside of the darkened structure.
A massive, black snout peaks out of the back of the frigate, taking in deep breaths through its nostrils, before a massive growl is heard building from the back of its throat. The massive lizard drags itself out of the cargo freighter, powerful hind legs and miniscule looking hands tipped with razor sharp claws shone in the light. The beast had scaly horns that spiraled back to small yet sharp tips, while between the horns layers of scales heavily covered the back down to the tail, like armor. Similar armored scales covered the elbows and knees of the beast, glittering a shiny silver against the normal, pitch black, scaly skin that covered the remainder of the beasts body. Azenda was in awe of the beast below her, at the power the lithe and deadly predator seemed to radiate with, as its yellowed eyes stared up at them from the floor, having taken notice of her watchers. Lala in contrast, found herself drawn to the protrusions hidden on the back of the beasts body, two little nubs that she realized something had been cut off or removed at some point in time, leaving the two little pieces of flesh and bone behind.
"Isn't she amazing?" Lacospo asks the two ladies, smiling at the beast below, "A melanistic Dorasuke; everything black save the layers of scales it uses as armor, which were bleached white from the sun and the lack of blood flow." The beast roars, and spreads it useless nubs as if trying to fly up to them with non-existent wings. "Its one imperfection is, sadly, its wings, the original owners having cut them off to keep her in her place," Lacospo states, "Normally juvenile females such as this one are accepted by their families as royalty due to their unique color, but even royalty can be usurped and become outcast." Lacospo approaches Lala and grabs her by the elbow, leading her to the edge of the containment field and pointing out over to the drasuke. "You see from what I understand of their biology, she would become alpha female of her pack due to the fact the males of the herd would immediately perceive her to be beautiful, unique, and a symbol of power," Lacospos enthusiastically states, "She would inherit the position of alpha female, and whoever she deemed strongest, would be her mate; males would quite literally throw their lives away to please the females whims and become worthy of mating with her, becoming her King." Lala tries to step aside from Lacospo, attempting to break his grip from her elbow and gain some space between them.
"But you see, Lala, when the males throw their lives away for her, the hierarchy begins to crumble, and changes become obviously necessary to survive," Lacospo states, "It becomes obvious to the other females that a new alpha must be chosen, to establish their dominance and return order to the pack." Just as Azenda is about to make a move to put herself between Lala and Lacospo, for whatever foolish thing he was planning, she suddenly freezes as the doors open to reveal the two guards who had escorted Lala in. She noticed one of them was bulky, and had red skin, while the other was lithe and blue skinned, having some form of armor underneath the guardsmen clothing he wore, but Azenda forced herself to return her attention to Lala's safety. "Usually an older female chooses to step in to teach the juvenile the lesson, after a few nips and butting of heads, the juvenile realizes they are outmatched and become submissive, often leaving the pack with their mate to establish new territory for themselves," Lacospos states, before letting go of Lala and sighing, turning his full body towards her, "Unfortunately there are times when juveniles are too intoxicated with their power, too prideful to realize they aren't strong enough to win, and they retaliate like a rebellious child given too much freedom to realize their life isn't theirs to handle." Lala takes in a sharp breath of air, and even Azenda feels like Lacospo is starting to act weirdly.
"Husband, I do not like this way you are speaking to Lala-hime, she is still Princess of Deviluke, a child yes, but she is not yours yet," Azenda speaks up, "The way you are speaking, I must know, are you trying to threaten her?" Lala seizes and throws a brief look of terror towards Azenda, then back to Lacospo. "When you hired me to take this contract, to become your concubine in exchange for securing your wife, and you in turn legally divorcing me and paying me for my services," Azenda states, as she holds up a blackened ring on her finger, in which a pair poisonous purple and slimy green gems sit, she continues to speak concerned of his words to the princess, "If you are attempting to overtly threaten her, may I remind you that your contract with me insists that I return with you and princess Lala both to Deviluke, to ensure that both your safety and hers were enforced by any means necessary." Lacospo turns to her with a smile, though his eyes flicker to the other two guards who stand nearby, which causes her to give them another side glance, though she finds nothing amiss.
"I see, Azenda you are having feelings for the girl, and here I thought you just gave her those clothes out of pity," Lacospo states, his voice dripping with sarcasm, "I'm afraid her modesty, though, is the least of her worries right now, my dear pet." He snaps his fingers, and Azenda quickly finds herself with a sword to her throat and an unknown third party at her back. The guards remove their outer clothing, and Azenda realizes them as fellow mercenaries and assassins.
"It's a good thing you bought our services, boss," the red skinned male states, pulling out a duster and placing it on his head, the ugly scar over his left eye betraying his identity to her as a famous famous Milky Way assassin known as the Red Scar. The blue skinned one with the power armor, Azenda realized was Andromedean, meaning he was more than likely the armored assassin, Point-Blank, known for hitting his targets from within point-blank range. Even the assassin who held his weapon at her throat, Azenda recognized as a Kinzel assassin from her own galaxy, one she knew as the Silver Blade, an honorable man who had crossed her path once and paid dearly for it, resulting in his seeking vengeance against her more than once. "Go ahead boss, we'll keep the Tyrant here nice and busy for you," Red Scar states, "Silver Blade here has a bone or two to pick with her, after all." Her eyes glance over calmly at Lala, who appears to be frightened at the sudden change in atmosphere, and of Lacospo's increasingly erratic behavior.
"Now, Lala-hime, I suggest you listen to what I have to say very closely," Lacospo states, as he steps towards her and folds his hands neatly behind his back, "Rito is not coming for you, your Father doesn't even know you are here, and he won't until we arrive at Deviluke to announce our engagement, at my appointment as the next King of Deviluke." Lala swallows as she watches Lacospo carefully. "While I appreciate Azenda here for trying to give you some 'creature comforts', I'm afraid that I don't want a loud, abrasive, disobedient wife, no, not at all," he states to her, steel in his eyes and ice in his voice, "So you will cut off all contact with Rito, with your family, with Azenda, and stay with me until your engagement to me becomes irrevocable, and we live our lives together happily for the rest of my rule, or..." Lacospo brushes his fingers over the railing down below, as he peers over at the snapping jaws of the Drasuke female beneath him, sneaking a peak back at Lala with a sly smile. "I would hate for your father to learn of his dear daughters late passing, after a containment breach mistakenly holding, not the gold and treasure I had intended to bequeath Deviluke's treasuries, but a ravenous animal an enemy of the Empire snuck onboard," Lacospo states, his voice dripping with false innocence, "My, my, then I would have to announce our too-soon-to-be engagement, and regret having to tell your father of your blessing my candidacy to take the second in lines hand in marriage in your stead..."
Lala merely stood there, frozen in shock and trying to comprehend just what Lacospo was insinuating. Taking all her options into account, Lala quickly took in her surroundings to cement her decision. Lacospo grinned triumphantly, his two goons smiling greedily as they stood watch near Azenda, while Azenda herself stood stone faced despite the blade to her throat, the third assassin staying just as calm in this situation. The barest hint, a ghost of a memory flashed in her brain, and the decision was laid out before her in a burst of indecisiveness and a gamble. Lala quickly walks up to put her hands on Lacospo's shoulders with a smile, and in return he was happy she had made her choice. Before he could give the signal to his men to stand down, Lala quickly brought her knee up and forced it hard and fast into the toads gut, causing him to gasp in surprise.
Quickly wrapping her hand around his throat and lifting the light man with ease, no longer disguising her strength to the little tyrant, Lala gave the four assassins a calm, leveled look. "I am going to make you all an offer, or your benefactor dies a messy death before paying you," Lala states, holding the unconscious tyrant in her hands, "You are going to let Azenda go, and leave this ship without looking back, and if I ever see any of you again, I will personally send my father's men to hunt you all down." The Red Scar begins to laugh, as does the others, save Azenda. Lala realizes they don't believe her seriousness, and in that moment she lifts Lacospo up and over the railing and holds him there. "If you don't believe I'll do it, I think you'll find while my grip is strong, in all this excitement and nerves, my palms have become sweaty," she states, as she lets Lacospo drop a little, before grabbing a more firm hold, "Oops." At that, even Azenda stood surprised at the girls ruthlessness. Truly Lacopso had messed with the wrong princess, and she hoped he survived this experience, if only to pay her and learn a lesson in humility.