Author's note: I do not own either the Evangelion or Alien franchises.
Language and gore warning:
Normal people, when confronted with the horrific scene of a strange creature exploding out of the chest of a living human being, would run like hell in a different direction. This is a perfectly natural reaction based on fear and self-preservation.
Malachi Barlow was a sub-normal person.
"QUICK! CATCH THAT THING!" he yelled as he and Kowalczyk dove for the chestburster as it sped out of the vicinity as fast as such a creature could go. It eluded their collective grasp and then disappeared.
"SHIT!" the Sergeant Major yelled, then spun around on his heel to confront the still screaming Misato. "SHUT YOUR GODDAMNED MOUTH AND HELP ME FIND-"
"When it raiiiiiiiiiiiinnnnnnnnnns, it raiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiinnnnnnnnnssssssssssss pennieeeeeeeeeesssssss from heaaaaaaaaaaavennnnnnnnnnnnnn…."
And almost as soon as Kaworu stopped singing, the ship began to shake as the bridge sent it into hyperdrive.
The suddenness caused the scrambling mercenaries to fall down, and Kowalczyk instinctively got up and started running, but he started running in a different direction from Barlow, who rolled around a bit before scrambling up. The Sergeant Major started stumbling down a passageway, trying to clear the cobwebs out in the process.
Unfortunately for the NERV group, Kaworu and Walker didn't exactly think about this as a possibility, and the seven of them plus L'Enfant also collapsed. To make matters worse, Ritsuko landed across the corpse of Kaji, and the moment that that fact dawned on her, she scooted backwards on her backside, screaming the entire time.
Rei landed more or less on her face, and as she started to get to her feet, she heard Shinji yell, "I'm going to check on Pen-Pen!" followed Asuka replying, "I'm going with you!" There was no reply from anyone else, or if there was one, she could not hear it over the tumult and Ritsuko's screams. Misato was nowhere to be seen, and the sound of footsteps indicated Kaworu and Walker were running somewhere else.
I cannot stay here, but where do I go? she wondered.
She watched L'Enfant pull Ritsuko to her feet. "We'll go find something to cover him up until we can find a safe place for the body, OK?" the only good mercenary assured the frightened scientist.
"I can go find something," Rei piped up.
L'Enfant looked at her. "Be careful, Rei."
"What the hell was that?!" yelled Walker as he and Kaworu started running for the bridge.
"I guess I didn't expect such a rough takeoff," the white-haired hybrid answered.
"Yeah, great foresight, genius."
"Hey, some of this was YOUR plan, too, Walker."
"Oh sure, blame this on me-"
And then he stopped. "Oh. SHIT."
"I have a feeling our American friends failed at something," Kaworu muttered as he backed up against a wall.
They waited, and waited, and waited. Kaworu could almost hear his muscles tensing over the sound of Walker's shallow breathing, but then he heard that breathing catch.
"Where the hell did they go, Kaworu?"
"I don't know, but we can either try to find them or we can let our friends know they've escaped."
The taller hybrid broke into a sprint back the way they had came.
"And that answers my question," Kaworu remarked to himself as he followed close behind.
Ritsuko was still screaming as L'Enfant dragged her along, following Shinji as he tried to locate Pen-Pen. The boy was almost certain that the penguin was in one of the cabins, but in the commotion, he couldn't be sure where exactly he could be. Asuka, meanwhile, was staying close behind, watching for one of her friends, or for one of the two malevolent mercenaries. She had seen enough of L'Enfant's demeanor to know that she could trust her, at least, but the other two had proven themselves to be a different matter.
L'Enfant, for her part, was wishing she could think of something to do or say to get the extremely distressed scientist to calm down. She hated the mission she was dragged on from the get-go, and her deep-seated loathing of Barlow and Kowalczyk cemented her decision to sabotage their plans at every turn. She hadn't figured on the xenomorphs being as involved as much as they had become, but that, she felt, hadn't been figured on by anyone, especially Barlow.
After a few minutes, the screaming and sobbing finally became too much for the boy up front.
"Asuka," Shinji muttered as he turned around and walked past her, "could you keep your eyes open for anything suspicious or for Pen-Pen?"
Before the redhead could react, Shinji was right next to Ritsuko, and he swiftly took her head in his hands and pulled her into a kiss. The faux blonde's initial shock at the boy's suddenness and straightforwardness melted away into a strange calm, her breathing becoming heavier as he drew her body close to his and she let her eyes drift closed, wishing that he would not stop.
"Is he seriously trying to kiss her quiet?" Asuka asked L'Enfant, right eye twitching uncontrollably.
"Either that," the blonde mercenary replied, "or he's trying to cut off her oxygen flow so she passes out. Either way, she's calming down. I see something small, Asuka. Let me make sure it's not our little friend from earlier."
She cautiously took a couple of steps forward and was greeted by a frightened cry of "WARK!" Asuka quietly tiptoed towards the sound and spotted the penguin huddled up against the wall. Carefully, she picked him up.
"Got Pen-Pen!" she announced.
Shinji and Ritsuko's lips finally separated. "Good," he said as he led the disappointed woman along. "We need to go find the others before-"
And none of them were prepared for the massive quake that hit the ship.
"I can't believe that worked," Makoto breathed.
Shigeru hooked his hands behind his head and leaned back in his chair. "Hey, who are we to doubt the kid's plan?"
"Still, nuking it from outer space?"
"Kaworu said it was the only way to be sure."
"Hopefully nobody alive was on that ship."
"After what we heard? Forget it. If anything, there were only those things."
"Um, guys?" Maya hesitantly interjected. "About the ones on board, they're gone."
Makoto winced as Shigeru uttered a leaden, "What?"
"Just what I said! They're gone!"
"Oh shit," was the only reply as the two men went from their seats to her in about three steps or less.
What they saw on her monitor was not good: A huge hole was in the center of the area that the xenomorphs had been confined in, with the creatures themselves nowhere in sight. Makoto was shaking so much that he had to hastily push his glasses up to keep them from falling off his face. "So where are they now?" he asked.
There was a sudden ramming at the door, and Shigeru slowly turned and saw to his horror that it was about to implode.
"What do we have for weapons?" he quietly asked.
"W-weapons?" faltered Maya.
"Yeah, weapons, I don't exactly feel like becoming lunch for an overgrown cockroach." He looked around him hastily as the ramming was being accompanied by a louder and louder snarl. "Hopefully the fire extinguisher is good to go because that may be-"
He never finished his sentence, for the door burst open and the three surviving xenomorphs were in the room in a flash.
Maya bolted out of her seat and tried desperately to find a way out as the creatures pounced on Shigeru, a ravenous snarling mixing with his insane screams as they ate him alive. Makoto frantically began pulling at the chair his female counterpart had abandoned, determined to use it as a weapon or at least to keep the xenomorphs at bay, but it was fastened to the floor, and they turned their attention to him.
Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Maya frozen like a statue in horror. "FOR GOD'S SAKES, MAYA, GET OUT OF HERE!" he screamed just before he, too, was attacked.
The woman hesitated, too scared to move, but then one of the things lifted its head up, torn flesh between its jaws, and that finally brought her around. She tore of in a run, hoping that she could get to the door and to a safe place before they could realize she was gone.
She was just inches away when she misstepped and twisted her ankle.
She tried desperately to keep her balance but she fell to the floor. Frightened, she attempted to get up again, but the pain caused her to crumple.
And then she felt something creeping up her leg.
Looking behind her, she saw a long, bony tail with what seemed to be a blade at the end.
And in that moment, all Maya Ibuki could do was cry.