Solarballs GHE AU

Chapter two: Venus

Venus had known for a while something was happening around the solar system. He knew Jupiter and Neptune were infected or something along those lines. He was so disconnected from the situation, that he didn't even know about Jupiter's stab wound. He had been getting frequent visits from this planet, Iris. He knew him well at this point, although he was completely unaware of what Iris had been doing to the other planets. Some of Iris's moons called him and Iris gay. He didn't like Iris that way though, and Iris didn't see Venus that way either. Venus had talked to Earth earlier. He heard him say something about watching out for an orange planet. Then it clicked. Iris was the one doing it all, wasn't he? "Aw, I thought we could be freinds." Iris says, sneaking up behind him. "Where did you come from?" Venus asks. "And how do you know-" Venus starts. "What you were thinking?" Iris finishes for him. "Well, this eye on my forehead isn't just for decoration, silly!" Iris says, basically playing with his food. "Now, if you sit still and let me do what I need to do, I won't infect you, got it?" Iris asks him. Venus stands there, petrified. Iris puts a  kind of shock collar around Venus's neck. "There, simple." Iris says, locking it with a small lock, and putting the key in his pocket. "If you do anything I don't like, I'll shock you with this little remote here!" Iris explains. "Why?" Venus asks, trying to play dumb. "Because you are my little puppet of course!" Iris says. Venus knows playing dumb won't get him out of this situation, so he gets an idea. He tugs on the collar, trying to break it off. Iris presses a button, and it shocks him. Those 5 seconds felt like the most painful thing he had ever experienced. He screeched as loud as he can, trying to get someone's help. Iris didn't like this, and shocked him again. Mercury runs up from behind Iris yand bites his leg, trying to help even though Venus and him aren't on the best terms. "Ack!" Iris shouts, dropping the remote but not turning it off. Venus tries desperately to rip the colar off while Mercury hold Iris off, but it is to no avail. "Run!" Mercury shouts, getting kicked. Venus starts running, but collapses due to the pain. Luckily, Mars and Earth show up, but Iris smashes the remote in the confusion, leaving no way to turn the shock collar off. "Well, looks like it's time to go!" Iris shouts, teleporting away. "Mercury! Venus! Are you okay!?" Mars shouts. "Help me get this this off!" Venus shouts, tugging at the shock collar desperately. Earth uses a pocket knife to try and cut the collar, but it doesn't work because the colar is metal. Mercury wines a bit, having had hurt himself pretty bad fighting Iris. Venus goes unconscious, unable to handle the severe pain. "Damn, how badly does it have to be shocking him?" Mars asks. "You think I know?" Earth answers. Mars picks Mercury up in his arms. "We aren't just gonna leave him here, are we?" Mars asks, signaling to Venus. "Uh, no!" Earth says, stabbing the shocking part on the collar, making it stop. "How are we gonna pick him up-" Mars starts, before realizing Earth just grabbed Venus. "Okay, I guess that works." Mars says as they start going back to Earth's orbit. "Hello." Jupiter mumbles. "Aww, someone's grumpy!" Neptune teases. "What happened to those two?" Jupiter asks. "Same thing that happened to you two." Earth answers, placing Venus on the "floor" gently. "Mars? Can you put me down?" Mercury asks awkwardly. "Oh, uhm, yeah." Mars replies, putting him down. "Well, you can go now Mars, unless you'd like to help." Earth tells him. "Yeah, just let me do this first." Mars says, pulling out a small lockpick. "Oh, nice." Earth says. Mars picks the small lock, before leaving. About around 8 minutes later, Venus finally comes to. "Uh, what-" Venus starts, before getting interrupted. "Alot. How do you feel?" Earth cuts in. "Hm, how many words can I use? Horrible? In pain? Miserable? Weary? Tired? Like crap?" Venus answers. "All I needed to hear was the second and second to last words." Earth tells him. "When did he wake up?" Jupiter asks, having had zoned out. "Mmm, a minute ago, give or take some." Earth replies. Venus puts his hand on his neck, feeling like it's on fire. "I wouldn't touch that if I were you." Earth says. Venus feels some bandages there. "What happened to pipsqueak?" Venus asks, noticing him. "I hurt myself protecting you." Mercury mumbles. Venus really doesn't know how to feel about this. I mean, he did protect him, he remembers that, but he didn't think he tried hard enough that Iris protected himself. He really didn't think anyone cared about him. This was the first time he realized that others actually cared about him, and weren't just trying to be nice. He smiled for a split second.