Warrior: Xenomorph Transformation

Chapter 6: The Incident

It was quiet…too quiet, even for a Summer day. There weren't any birds chirping, cars going by, or anything that you might hear in a town or city. It was a Monday morning and usually, there was hustling or bustling that could be heard. Then again, I fell asleep with Emerald nearby, who snores like an absolute freight train. However, I instead saw that Emerald wasn't even next to me, and rather, had already gone off to get himself some breakfast. I got up and off of the couch and looked outside to see no one even heading down the street. I immediately looked to my pockets and pulled out my i-Pod, quickly checking the time to see that it was near 8:00 in the morning.

"What the…" I began walking to the window, noticing that no light was shining through any of the windows, making it seem like it was pitch black. I pulled the curtains open and only saw a black mass, and I immediately felt it. The same feeling I felt whenever I went into my room. After seeing this, I immediately backed away from the window, panicking about the situation.

"Hey dude. I'm going to go and…dude, what's going…" Emerald immediately silenced himself after seeing the window, realizing that this was going to need help. After hearing him, I turned to him, teeth bared in fear.

"We need to talk to Tristan. Now!"

"Hey Tristan…can we chat about something?" I typed in frantically, Emerald right next to my hand to type as well. The reply was almost immediate and he was willing to chat, getting a Skype call from my Praetorian friend. We had taken to using Skype as our form of communication rather than deviantART now, but still used it to discuss ideas for stories and to review each other's own stories, such as my upcoming Overlord story, a Snake's Tale, or Tristan's own Xenogirl stories. I immediately answered to see the large crest of the Praetorian, ready to chat about the situation.

"Sure can. :)" I heard him say in my mind, whilst typing out the same message, in case I didn't get it. We had recently discovered that two xenomorphs could chat as easily as two people on Skype. As long as we could see each other, then we could chat with each other. Albeit, I was confused on the process itself, I didn't argue with it. However, we decided to write what we said on Skype just in case our communications didn't get through.

"Well, I'm in a bit of a pickle. A couple months ago, I started getting an odd feeling whenever I went into my bedroom, which I had covered in hive-webbing. Now, I solved it by completely shutting off anyone from my room and started sleeping downstairs. Now, I just opened the curtains on my windows to see that the hive-webbing spread outside of the house. I'm beginning to wonder if my own xenomorphic instincts are finally trying to get into my head." I typed and said to Tristan, who immediately gained what could pass as a surprised expression on his face. Using his tail to scratch his chin, he began thinking on what I could do. It was at this point that Emerald decided to interject on the situation, immediately getting into the camera's view.

"In case you don't already realize, he's saying that he needs help with instinct troubles, and you, being better versed in the situation of instinct control, might be able to help." Tristan immediately hissed at the dragon, causing him to slink out of view, whilst Tristan looked at me with what could pass as a trollface for xenomorphs.

"Oh bother…:XD: Uhm…I recommend that you try to accept your room as it currently is, while still wanting it back the way it was." This confused me more than helped me with the problem at hand, earning the xenomorph equivalent of a confused expression from me and an expression of confusion from Emerald as well.

"Uhm…not to diss on your knowledge, but are you sure?" I asked. Before Tristan could respond however, Emerald decided to interject.

"Seriously, the stuff's almost all over the top of the house and is seeping down to ground floor!" Tristan merely face palmed in response.

"That's really all I got for you. As I've never really had that problem with my resin. ^^; I do wish you two luck though." Emerald looked to me and shrugged his wings, whilst I did the same with my shoulders before looking back to the call.

"Well thanks. Hopefully your advice helps." Tristan grinned in return.

"Anytime. ;)" I smiled at this and then listened for any sign of my parents waking up.

"Either way, we have to deal with this problem before our parents wake up. So, we'll talk to you later. :D" Before Tristan could say see you, however, Emerald interjected, yet a third time!

"BUH BYE! Tell the family we said hi!" he yelled at the Praetorian, who gave a chuckle and waved his own good bye.

"Will do! Bye!" I immediately shut off the call and started thinking on what he meant by accepting my room for what it is and wanting it back the way it was. I spent a good thirty minutes thinking on it before I finally got it. I immediately bolted up the steps to my room, Emerald following quickly behind before I opened the door to my room to see the resin covering everything, from my Playstation 2, to my Xbox 360, to even the windows and door!

"Dude…you need to…slow down…" Emerald panted, then he took one look at the room and his eyes went wider than dinner plates. "Dude…you really let this place go."

"Yeah…I sure did…either way, I finally figured out what Tristan meant." I immediately went over to the wall where I had placed the first bit of resin in my bedroom and I placed my hand on it. Then I felt it; a surge of energy flowed through the resin and into my hand, giving me a feeling of familiarity and home. However, I was not willing to fall for it and started thinking on my room being my own little home, my space, my hive. Immediately, I felt it starting to reside back through the window seams and back into my room, where it laid to rest around the window, but allowed me to see outside. I saw my door immediately become uncovered, the resin sensing that I wanted to leave the door open. When I looked around, my room seemed homely, both in a human perspective and a xenomorphic perspective.

"Dang dude. You clean up nicely."

"I know, right?" Looking towards my parent's room, I could "see" my Mom's pheromones, meaning that Cody had already left for work as usual. Hopefully he didn't see the resin when he left for work.

"Hey Arthur, you need some breakfast?"

"Yes please."

"Let me guess, our regular?"

"Homemade waffles and bacon, glasses of ice-cold milk, and a banana, yes," I replied to Emerald's question, smiling as I went down with the dragon I considered another brother.

The day went by without much trouble, excluding my brothers, who had become more of a nuisance in recent months. It was a fight to get them into bed, a fight to get them into the car when we had to go somewhere, and even a fight for who was the older brother! To be honest, it was kind of cute to watch them go at it, but Emerald and I were quite annoyed when they came to talk to us. I spent most of the day playing my "Command & Conquer" games, mostly "Generals: Rise of the Reds" and "Generals: ShockWave", two mods for "Command & Conquer Generals: Zero Hour". It was a simple day, but my Mom decided to have my two brothers go to Grandma Jane's, one of my grandparents, for the night whilst she went out to work on her job of band promotion, leaving me with my stepfather, who was unfortunately drunk. I was busy chatting with Gunnar Bloodax, another friend from deviantART, on Skype about a roleplay we were doing.

"Hey, we have an idea for Vitiate," Emerald told Gunnar, who visibly cocked an eyebrow at us. Vitiate was an OC that Emerald and I made for my Oververse. He was a "false emperor" in my stories, a

"Really?" I nodded in return and Emerald began translating my thoughts.

"Yes. He, himself, doesn't go into public, but someone who he possesses, called the "Emperor's Voice", makes appearances for him. He's old; he needs to show himself, but he's too old and looks like an absolute mess. So, he possesses a body and gives it his abilities, making him virtually untouchable." Gunnar visibly widened his eyes before clearing his throat.

"Virtually, but not totally…much like Jack of Blades." I nodded in return.

"Quite. The host to his soul has all of his abilities and doesn't have to use as much mana to keep Vitiate's frail frame from collapsing in on itself. However, the host's abilities are significantly weaker than Vitiate's own, and due to the immense power on their own, the bodies degrade quickly, meaning that Vitiate has multiple Sentinels trained for being the Voice of the Emperor." Gunnar nodded and made a "hmm" sound.

"So some people know it's not really him?" I nodded before Emerald spoke for me again.

"Only the highest in the Empire; Titus, Zime, Gnarl, Nag, Vessperion. Basically, the highest ranks in the Empire only know that Vitiate is not the true Emperor and that his "Voices" aren't really him. However, they put on a charade to make it seem like it's quite real. Only a few heroes actually know that Vessperion is the true Emperor, mastermind, and puppet master. Gandalf and the other Maiar being prime examples." Knowing this, Gunnar nodded and said "That's fair enough." Nodding, I immediately typed in "Got to go and get dinner. Cody's drunk off his ass and fell asleep at the TV. Catch you later." He nodded before I shut off the computer.

"I'm ready for some food!" Emerald exclaimed excitedly. I nodded in agreement, Emerald wrapping up around my tail and slithering up to my neck. I began heading downstairs to eat some food, looking over to see that my stepfather was asleep, feet twitching. I immediately went to get some food and sat down in my chair. As soon as I started changing the channel, I noticed a slight groan from the chair at the back of the room, causing me to look over to see Cody stirring in his drunken sleep.

"Don't wake him buddy…" Emerald silently told me through his mind. I nodded in response before I switched the channel.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?!" I heard a booming voice say. I turned to see Cody, fully awake and now, completely pissed. I merely hissed at him before turning back to the TV.

"Dude, you might as well give him back the remote!"

"And do what? Let him push me around because I'm a "freak"?! Fat chance!"

"Boy, you better give me that clicker or I'll take it from you!" That was the last straw; I had just about enough of him talking trash about me and bullying me because of what I'd become. He couldn't see past the drunken shades to realize that I was still me, and I always would be, so, I got up and pulled Emerald off of me, setting him down on the coffee table in front of me.

"If you want this "clicker", then get off your lazy ass and come and get it!" I yelled at him, hissing at him in warning. He merely looked at me with an expression of drunken rage.

"Dude! What're you doing?!" Emerald practically screamed to me through our mental link.

"I'm standing up for myself! I did it with my real dad, and I'm doing it with Cody!" I replied, turning back to my drunken construction-worker of a step-father, watching as he set down his beer bottle, filled with tobacco spit, on his coffee table. As a result, my tail twitched in anticipation.

"You had better give me that clicker or I'll…"

"Or you'll what; hit me?! I stood up to my dad up in the mountains and I'm not afraid to stand up to you Cody! You've done nothing but be a complete ass to me since this happened to me! What happened?! What happened to "never judge a book by its cover"?! Just because I look it doesn't mean I act it!" I retorted, angrily, causing Cody to stand up and walk over to me with the limp that he naturally had, due to gout and a recent staph infection.

"Mouth off to me one more time!" I didn't slink back at all. I just stared him down, teeth bared and tail twitching. Poor Emerald was just watching in confusion, rooting for me, whilst at the same time, hoping that I didn't do something stupid.

"You want to prove your point?! You want to shove me to the ground too?! Like dad did to me?! HUH?!" I shoved him away from me and pointed at him as I spoke. "I've done nothing to you but get good grades, help your mom with yard work, and help you every once in a while! You've been an absolute ass and now you're going to try and stand up for what's yours?! Well, here's your remote you jackass!" I then through the remote at his infected leg, causing him to yell out in pain before I let Emerald slither up my finger and back up my neck. "If you excuse us, we'll be in our room, staying away from your drunken ass!" I immediately began walking away from the scene, growling under my breath, only to be shoved down from behind by Cody.

"YOU DON'T TALK TO ME LIKE THAT! I MAY BE A DRUNK, BUT YOU ARE NOT IN YOUR RIGHT TO TALK TO AN ADULT LIKE THAT!" His yelling merely made my own anger flare up, like kindling to a campfire.

"I HAD JUST AS MUCH OF A RIGHT! I'VE DONE ABSOLUTELY NOTHING TO YOU, AND YET, YOU CONTINUE TO MAKE IT SEEM LIKE I DON'T EXIST, EVEN WHEN I DO NICE THINGS FOR YOU!"

"YOU'RE 16!"

"AND YOU'RE IN YOUR 30'S, NOW ACT YOUR AGE AND GET OFF THE BOOZE OR I MAY JUST CALL THE COPS FOR REPEATED IGNORANCE OF YOUR CHILD!"

"YOU'RE NOT MY SON! YOU'RE A MUTANT! You used to be my son, but now you're a fucking alien!" After that statement, something in me snapped, and I pounced on top of Cody and roared at him. I didn't hiss or growl. I screeched at him and at the top of my lungs no less. If you had seen a face as pale as fresh powder after a winter storm, then Cody's face would've topped it easily. I immediately raised my tail and sent it careening towards his face, only to stop mere millimeters from impact, poking his nose and drawing a pinprick of blood.

"I'm not afraid to act Cody. And I will not be afraid of you. You will learn to respect your step-children, or I can call the cops and have them arrest you for assault! You're a sad, spoiled drunkard whose mother bails him out of everything! You and your mother control my mom through debts owed to your family because we don't have the money, and you are too complacent to see it! Now, I want you to either shape up or ship out. Quit the beer, quit the tobacco, and treat Mom like a wife and not throw her under the fucking bus! Oh, and in case I didn't make it clear enough, I will not be treated like shit! I am not afraid of your voice, and I am not afraid of your strength or size! I will be respected, or you won't be respected. What goes around comes around and treat others the way you want to be treated! Now, I'm headed up to my room, and when I come back downstairs, I want an apology!" I said to him darkly. I was more than pissed at him. This was pent-up anger from over 2 years of living with his alcoholism and addiction to tobacco chew, 2 years of living with the yelling at my brothers and at my mom, 2 years of living in a dysfunctional home, all because of him and his mother. The color soon returned to his face and he snorted at me.

"You're not an adult! You can't make demands!" he retorted. At this, I inched the bladed-tip of my tail onto his nose, drawing a bit more blood from the point I already tipped.

"Oh, you bet your sweet ass I can, and I just did! I want you to apologize for all of the shit you've done to this family when you're sober tomorrow or…" I immediately didn't have control over what I said next. It just came out in such a threatening tone, I could've been mistaken as a psychopath; "or I'll cocoon you in resin!" At this, his face immediately paled and he nodded quickly before I let him go and started heading upstairs.

"Dude…that was harsh…really harsh," Emerald said after a while of typing away on my computer.

"He deserved to know what I've been keeping pent up for so damn long Emerald. You don't even know." At this, Emerald merely smirked.

"Mental link, a personality just like yours, except crazier and less intelligent, and access to your memories? I think I know exactly what you went through, and to tell you the truth Arthur, you did need to tell him, but not in such a threatening way." Hearing this, I smiled slightly.

"Well, he wasn't going to learn any other way, was he? We live in a dysfunctional family. I went away from my dad's because of a dysfunctional life-style. I don't deal with stress that well. You and I, of all people, should know that," I replied to Emerald, who smiled and coiled around my neck in a hug.

"You know that Mom's going to be pissed at us, right?"

"Not until I explain the situation to her Emerald. Once that's done, hopefully Cody will apologize for what he's done and I can apologize for what I've done. If he doesn't though, I won't apologize for what I did. He needs to realize that I'm still his son, even if not physically, biologically, or mentally." Emerald scratched his head in confusion. "You know, why don't we just go to sleep and see what Mom and Cody have to say tomorrow? It'll be easier to explain when Cody's not drunk. I nodded in agreement and crawled up on my bed with my dog nearby, expectantly waiting my arrival. Emerald then flew off my neck and onto his own little bed, whilst I coiled up with the dog in a very canine-like fashion.