Chapter Text
This was a bad idea
This was the single thought that ran through the young man’s mind as he found himself carefully positioned behind a rock, occasionally looking out to make sure that the guards stationed outside the entrance of the, frankly, garishly yellow dome, hadn’t seen him yet.
Sneaking around like this was the furthest thing from “fun” that Slither Inc. could imagine (outside of doing taxes and reminding people of the “Inc” at the end of his name. He didn’t spend all that time running that hair gel brand for nothing, you know!). But then again, “fun” was hard to come by, given his current predicament. Any time he got excited, or scared, or even just a bit too stressed out, he’d turn into a freaky snake…man…thing! It was for that reason that he was desperately trying to remain calm at this very second, because his transformation had a tendency to freak people out, and more worryingly in this case, be really, really loud! Needless to say, it sucked. It sucked really, really badly, and he wanted it so badly to stop.
But that’s why he was here, wasn’t he? He’d heard through the grapevine of HIVE Academy, a place for up and coming young villains to learn how to hone their craft, make connections, and most importantly for him, control their abilities. In particular, he’d heart a great deal about this “Brother Blood”: the callous, ruthless, cunning headmaster of the Academy. If anyone could help him control his powers, it’d be him…right?
So here he was, slinking behind a rock, just waiting for his chance to slip past the guards and run inside. Luckily for him, that chance came pretty quickly, as it seemed that somewhere nearby, a sudden sound drew their attention away from the door.
“Vamonos!” he shouted internally, as he made a break for it, his transformation luckily triggering mid sprint and giving him just the speed he needed to burst through the doors and into the academy before anyone could know what happened. All things considered, it was surprisingly easy. Then again, he liked to boast that he was VERY good at slipping into tight spaces.
Still, he knew he had to be careful. One wrong move and he was out the door, and with it, any chance of him returning to normal.
But at the very least the hardest part was done. He’d made it into the Academy undetected, and all he had to do was..
…Wait, what was his plan? Did he even have a plan outside of “sneak in and find Brother Blood”? He didn’t even know what the guy looked like! But there was another, more pressing concern.
“Just where the hell AM I?!?” That was the thought that ran through his (thankfully still human) brain as he snuck about the vast, disturbingly empty halls. Every so often he’d just barely avoid being seen by what seemed to be other students and the occasional robot, which gave him just enough of a rush to maintain his hybrid form. Outside of that though, it was a whole lot of wandering without a purpose or seeming destination.
Fortunately for the serpentine hybrid, both of those things would find themselves crashing into his ears, as the sounds of tables being smashed and juvenile shouting quickly drew his attention. Peeking out from behind a corner, he spotted the source of the noise: a cafeteria, and inside of it, a rather large, frankly terrifying man flinging a table. Clearly, he’d come into the middle of some kind of fight. There was back and forth shouting, taunting, and posturing, the kind you’d expect from teenagers, and the kind Slither Inc. had once enjoyed before…this.
But before he could further process the situation, a loud, commanding voice came over the P.A system, putting a sudden stop to the lunchroom brawl and causing his ears to perk up.
“All students, please report to the combat training room immediately!”
“That’s GOTTA be him! I just know it!” the hybrid assured himself. If that was true, that meant he’d surely be at combat practice, so maybe, just maybe, he’d be able to corner him after it was done.
Someway, somehow he’d still not been seen, a fact he’d take great advantage of as he tailed the students as they trudged towards their assignment. He had to resist every urge he had to excitedly rap his claws on the wall and swish his tail back and forth. It was happening, it was actually going to be happening! He didn’t think he’d get this far…wait, no, of course he’d get this far! He was him! Stuff like this surely was child’s play. Yeah, that was the vibes he was gonna go with for this, he decided, as he finally ended up outside the training room. He wouldn’t go in, of course, but surely he could sit outside and watch, right? I mean, he’d have to be here, right? RIGHT?
The urge to rap his claws on the walls only grew as he watched combat training unfold, but this time, it derived from nerves and anticipation rather than excitement. It was tough, with the students having to dodge lasers and turrets and killer robots! But nah, he could do it, right? He was older, and smarter, and hopefully tougher, so he could easily prove himself to Brother Blood!
Speaking of, where was he? He couldn’t find the guy anywhere in the crowd. Maybe he wasn’t here, maybe he should just-
But suddenly, almost as if fate itself had read his mind, the combat training ended, and who else stepped out from the shadows than…the single hottest man Slither Inc had ever seen…who immediately introduced himself as Brother Blood. Oh no.
“¡Ay, no, está buenísimo!”
It was extremely fortunate that nobody could see him, because Slither Inc. couldn’t hold his composure for shit. His sharp claws threatened to dig into the walls, his tail swung back and forth eagerly, even his feathers ruffled in some sort of..odd mating display. This changed everything. He just thought it’d be some old guy, but now it was a hot old guy! It was a really hot old guy whom his eyes were practically glued to until he disappeared out of sight.
The hybrid quickly dipped back into the proverbial shadows, both to avoid the throngs of students leaving practice and to try to give himself space and time to pace the halls and come up with some sort of plan. He was just gonna wing it, but he couldn’t do that now or else he’d really blow it!
“Ay, ay, ay, what do I DO??? Okay okay what if I rizz him up? Put on the charm…NO NO HE’LL THINK I’M WEIRD! Okay but maybe if I pretend like I’m in a business meeting…that I haven’t attended in person in years! AYAYAYAYAY! BUT, but, maybe if I..” his mind raced, desperately trying to figure out how to actually do what he came here for. Why oh why did Brother Blood have to be a Dangerous DILF?!? Surely, he could figure something out before he-
CRASH!
Slither’s line of thought was suddenly and violently interrupted, as he found himself flat on his ass with one hell of a migraine.
“Ay! What the hell was THA-”
“Now what do we have here?” a curious, worryingly familiar voice rung in the hybrid’s ears, causing his stomach to veritably plummet into the depths of his soul.
Hesitantly looking up, he saw the frustratingly handsome form of Brother Blood, a look of curiosity struck across his hardened features.
.
.
.
“Time to wing it!”
Trying desperately to look anywhere but into Blood’s gorgeous pitch black eyes, he stumbles, both over his words and his two clawed feet.
“Ay ay I’m sorry I-actually I’ve been looking for you cos see I’m trying to- no no I mean I want to enroll in the Academy! Yes, yes I want to enroll in the HIVE Academy!”
A raised eyebrow is the older man’s answer, but one indicative of a lot of questions, most of which Slither hoped he could answer without looking like too much of an idiot.
“The HIVE Academy is welcome to all young minds that wish to improve themselves, but you look a bit…old to be joining, don’t you?”
“Crap” He had a point. A good one at that. But luckily, he also had a good answer to that. One he’d deliver right after standing up…which put him at chest level with the older man. This, notably, did not make things easier. In fact, quite the opposite. The poor man could feel his heart threatening to rip itself out of his own chest and bolt out the door and frankly, he couldn’t blame it.
“Well, yes I guess I am. I mean I’m a bit older but I’ve got this er, got issue I was hoping you could help me with cos this?” he gestures up and down his raptorial body, “This is something I have a real hard time controllin’. It’s really messed up my life, and I heard that this place could maybe help with that, and that you could help me like, control it and stuff”
He scratched the back of his head awkwardly, still trying to avoid eye contact at all costs, but thankfully managing to regain some of his composure. Keyword being some, as he still hadn’t changed back. How could he, like this?
“Oh shit, almost forgot my name! It’s Slither….well, Slither Inc! I uh, own a hair gel company, hence the ‘inc’, like, incorporated? I uh..thought it was cool”
There was a pause. A long, very uncomfortable pause. It hung in the air for a few moments, and when Slither dared look back, the older man looked lost in thought.
“Oh no did I fumble it? Did I fumble Blood Daddy? WHY DID I EVEN THINK OF THAT?!?”
Thankfully, before things could get worse, Blood finally broke the silence.
“I see, I see. Under normal circumstances, I would have you kicked out, owing both to your age and your uninvited infiltration”
Slither’s ears pitched down for a moment. He really fumbled it, didn’t he?
“But”
Back up the ears went!
“In this instance, I suppose I could make an exception. Turning you awa would be a veritable waste of time and potential. So I will give you a chance to prove yourself. Follow me.”
“Wait, he’s giving me a chance? HE’S GIVING ME A CHANCE!"
As the headmaster began walking, Slither quickly and eagerly followed. What would this chance be? An exam? He wasn’t very good at school. Maybe it was a physical exam, to see if he was fit enough. There was only one way to find out, but whatever it was, surely he could do it, right?
Soon enough, the pair arrived at their destination, one which looked rather familiar to Slither. In fact, it was a bit too familiar, for it was the combat training room, but instead of watching from above, he was on the ground floor. It was then that he realized that this course looked a lot tougher from this angle. Speaking of angles, Brother Blood had stepped onto a platform, lifting himself back up towards what Slither assumed was some sort of observation deck, from which he gave his instructions
“This is the standard combat training course that all of our students partake in. Your goal is to get to the finish line as quickly and efficiently as possible. If you want the Academy’s help, prove that you can keep up."
“Alright, I gotcha! This’ll be nothing!” For the first time since he got here, Slither Inc cracked a toothy smile, cracking his knuckles, swishing his tail, and getting into what he thought was a good fighting position.
“I promise I won’t disappoint ya!” He looked back and…winked. Wait, why did he do that? It seemed as if neither of them could really figure that out
The sound of a buzzer announced the start of the course, and the hybrid hit the ground running, dashing on all fours, trying to make a break for the goal as fast as possible.
It was then that he learned that this was not in fact, as easy as he thought it looked. He was lucky he’d already seen the course before, but that didn’t help as much as he’d like. The robots were easy enough, as a couple of well placed tail swipes were enough to slice them in two, but the turrets and what he called the “hentai towers”? Those were a LOT harder to deal with, and he found himself frantically dodging and weaving and trying desperately to stay out of their range. He’d even gotten grabbed a couple of times, which had gotten frustrating enough to the point where he wasn’t even thinking about the obvious innuendos here! By the time he’d made it to the finish line, he frankly looked like hell. Burns and bruises and a general sense of fatigue was the price he paid. He’d finished, but it’d taken him a lot longer and was a lot, lot tougher than he would’ve liked. But still, he made it!
“I must congratulate you on completing the course” Blood started as he floated down on his platform. Soon enough, he was once again towering over the hybrid. He was close, too close, but still his expression was unreadable.
“I’ve only had one other student complete it on their first try, so needless to say you’ve far exceeded my expectations. Well done, Slither Inc.” he continues, punctuating it with a smile. If Slither had to describe it in one word, it’d be “Daddy”. But if he had to actually describe the smile and not the man wearing it, it’d be “entrancing”. Or perhaps “handsome”. Either way, an insidious blush crept onto his face.
“Needless to say, you’ve proven yourself, and thus can begin your time at HIVE Academy in earnest, following a physical examination of course. If you would just follow me once again.”
He’d done it. He’d actually done it. He’d snuck into the Academy, met the ridiculously hot Headmaster, impressed him, and now he was going to actually get the help he needed! He’d get to live a normal life again, and even if he couldn’t, having a verifiable DILF teaching him out to be an A-list supervillain wasn’t the worst thing in the world.
His ears bounced up and down as he once again followed the older man down the many corridors that made up the Academy, having to stop himself from practically skipping. Of course, he was still in his hybrid form, but now it was from a new feeling, one he hadn’t felt since he’d gotten it in the first place: jubilation. It felt like a dream. If it was, he really, really didn’t wanna wake up
Soon enough, he found himself in an examination room, stripped embarrassingly bare (thankfully he still had SOME clothes on) and seated on a table. A realization suddenly hit him: he was getting examined. Like by a doctor. Poked and prodded and sampled and all those nasty things. He hated being touched! Well, he normally liked it, but ever since The Incident, he hated it. It reminded him of the freak that he’d become.
His breathing began to hasten, and as Blood began his examination, an involuntary, sharp hiss escaped his throat, a hiss that only got louder as the older man reached to pluck a scale.
“Would you kindly relax? It’s unpleasant for both of us, but it is necessary.”
These words did little to soothe him, and the plucking of a single scale, insignificant as it was, caused him to recoil, and he could barely stop himself from swinging his tail. The reaction gave the headmaster turned doctor pause as he put the scale into a neatly labeled jar titled “SCALE SAMPLES”.
“I see. So you’ve been hurt, haven’t you? Doctors poking and prodding you without care, treating you like a specimen?”
He leaned in, almost uncomfortably close.
“I can assure you, that I am not like them. You came to me for help as a man, and you will be treated as such. You’ve gone through quite a lot, I imagine, so the least I could do is assure you that I only have your best interests at heart, Slither.”
They were now literally seeing eye to eye, and this, rather than freaking out the hybrid, filled him with an odd sense of calm. He could hear the sincerity in this man’s words. For the first time in a long time, he felt like he could truly believe everything someone was saying, and even what they weren’t. Slowly but surely, his hissing stopped and his tail lay still, as he braced himself for what was to come.
“There we go. You’ve been quite courageous thus far, all you need is just a bit more and then we will be done.”
These words put him at great ease, and as Blood continued his exam, Slither felt an overwhelming sense of calm. Even as his feathers were plucked and venom drawn, he felt…relaxed, comforted, and safe in ways nobody else could’ve even hoped to match.
As the exam finished, Slither felt his form begin to revert for the first time since he got here. No longer was he a hybrid, but a man, sitting on an examination table, looking at the older man who had give him such comfort with nothing but awe and reverence.
He gave a light chuckle, accompanied by a deep, deep blush. He somehow felt even more naked than he already was“So uh, this is what I normally look like, hehe”
“I see. I never would have guessed.” was the headmaster’s response, one filled with genuine curiosity.
“So uh, I guess this means you’re keepin’ me around, huh?”
“Of course, Slither Inc. I shall teach you and guide you like any other student at this academy. Now, if you would be so kind as to put your clothes back on, I will show you to your new room.
I would advise that you rest up, for your training, and your future, starts tomorrow”
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As Slither Inc. lay in his new bed, staring up at the honey-yellow ceiling, he smiled, his heart filled with an emotion he hadn’t felt in what seemed like forever: hope
He had hope that he could go back to “normal”, hope that he could go back to being a normal man with a normal life and normal interests, but also a new kind of hope. It was an odd sensation, but he hoped that he could see more of Brother Blood. That he could know the man better not just as a teacher and mentor, but perhaps something more.
He couldn’t help but grin.
“Voy a ganar tu corazón, Brother Blood”