SWAMPED - by NotTasha
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PART 11: KING OF MONSTERS
Sheppard drew his weapon and fired, but the leopard sprang away. It spun and darted back the way it had come.
"Stay here!" Sheppard shouted over his shoulder as he took off after the thing.
Rodney was left to shout a helpless, "Where is it? Where is it?"
Sheppard grimaced when he realized that the tambire had disappeared through the energy creature illusion. "Great," Sheppard sighed as he stepped forward, carefully sticking his head into what should have been a fatal shock.
He looked one way, and then the other, but the leopard-thing was gone. So, he stood in the cloud-filled hallway, listening intently.
"Sheppard?" Rodney called. "Did you get it? Did it get away? What's happening?"
"Shut up, Rodney!" Sheppard bit back. "I'm trying to listen!"
"Oh, sorry. I couldn't tell."
John walked a few steps in one direction, continuing his search.
"Do you know which way it went?" McKay whispered from the adjoining hallway.
"No!" Sheppard responded. "If I did, I'd be following it, wouldn't I?" Damn it! Damn it! If the illusions weren't bad enough now they had to deal with a real live big cat.
"Because, if it went to the left, it could circle around and come around the backside of this room," Rodney stated. "I'm just sayin' because that might be something to worry about, right?"
Crap. Sheppard turned around and stepped through the doorway to their 'hallway'.
Rodney was looking toward him, his hands raised over an invisible console. His face was drawn with worry. "Sheppard?" he asked. "Are you there?"
And Sheppard's gaze shifted toward the movement on the other side of the room. The cat was creeping in, its yellow gaze fixed on Rodney's' back. It had huge eyes and its long whiskers gave it a wise expression as it hunted its quarry. It would have its target in a moment.
Sheppard aimed, but Rodney was in the way of his shot.
"Duck," Sheppard ordered.
Rodney instantly went down as the big cat leapt at him. John aimed, and fired, but something ricocheted and the cat kept coming.
Sheppard continued firing as the bullets scattered, never meeting their mark – and the leaping tambire stopped dead in the air, as if it had slammed into an unseen wall.
Almost comically, it let out a snort of surprise and tumbled to the ground, landing not far from where McKay stood.
Rodney had spun about, still crouched and covering his head, whimpering a quiet, "Don't eat me. Don't eat me!"
"It's okay, Rodney. I got it. Or it got itself, or something," Sheppard told him as he edged forward, feeling his way. He found the panel that had blocked his shot, that had stopped the cat. It was a big, solid partition of some sort.
Rodney lifted his head and asked anxiously, "Is it dead?"
Carefully, Sheppard made his way around the invisible panel, groping his way until he reached the tambire. It lay on its side. Its head twisted and its mouth gaping. Its yellow eyes were open.
"Is it dead?" Rodney asked again.
"Yeah," Sheppard responded. "I think so." He touched it, finding the fur soft, and the body still warm. But the chest was still, and the eyes glazed.
He sighed as he sat back on his haunches. "Everything's an illusion, huh?"
Rodney shook his head. "Everything should be an illusion." He pointed vaguely in the direction of John and the creature. "I wasn't expecting that." His finger wavered around as he hoped to eventually point at the target.
"So, how did it get in here? There's a shield protecting the door," Sheppard reminded. He ran his hand over the cat's body. It wasn't emaciated. The thing wasn't starving. He picked up one of its feet and examined the pads. They were muddy. It had been outside recently. "Maybe there's a kitty door to this place."
"That's ridiculous," McKay went on as returned to the console. "This place is secure."
"It's not secure, McKay," Sheppard said. "We have proof."
McKay frowned, and went back to poking at air as he manipulated the invisible console. Suddenly, he stopped and uttered an astonished, "I'm in! I'm in the system. Wow." He lifted his head, looking around as if he were surrounded by fairies or something equally amazing, yet Sheppard saw nothing. "This is fascinating!"
"Great, can you shut down the shield so we can get Ronon and Teyla out of their tree?"
"Yeah, yeah. Let me work."
Sheppard keyed his radio, and called, "Ronon, Teyla, what's your status?"
The radio crackled, and Teyla's distressed voice was heard, "John, please respond. We are in danger. We are no longer in the trees and I don't believe Ronon will be able to climb again." There was blaster fire, and the sound of the P90 going off. "There are many of the chubbocks surrounding us. We require immediate assistance."
Rodney froze, his mouth open as he heard those words. "We have to help them," he muttered. "We have to go," and he turned toward one end of the hallway, holding out his hand. "Come on!" he said as he flipped the hand at Sheppard. "Let's go! I don't know how long it'll take us to get back out and I have no idea about what we'll do to help them, but we'd better hurry."
Sheppard stared at the leopard-thing and then reached out. He could feel the solid object that had killed the creature, even though he could not see it, even though the tambire never saw it either.
Animals could see the illusions, too.
"Can you create your own illusion with that control console?" Sheppard asked, nodding to the invisible device.
"Well, yeah, probably," Rodney said, inching his way down the hallway, his hand still outstretched for Sheppard to grab. "It'll probably require a mental connection."
"Can you project the illusions outside this complex?"
"Yes, of course. That was the whole point of the experiment," Rodney returned. "What good would the illusions be if they were contained within a hidden lab?"
Sheppard stood, grinning and found his way around the partition. "Rodney, have I got a job for you."
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"Teyla, hang tight," Sheppard's voice came over the radio as she fired at another chubbock. It flinched and dove away.
"We are hanging on as best we can," Teyla replied.
Beside her, Ronon leaned against the tree, holding his torn shoulder with one hand, as he fired his blaster with the wounded arm. They were on the ground, and Teyla knew that in spite of their firepower, they wouldn't last long– not when the creatures kept coming.
"We've got some reinforcements. You're just going to have to help drive."Teyla frowned. "What do you mean?"
"You ever hear of a scarecrow?" Sheppard asked.
She couldn't help rolling her eyes. "Yes, we have such things in this galaxy."
"Here comes our newfangled version," Sheppard told her. "We won't be able to hurt the things, but maybe we can scare your bog beasts away. Okay, Rodney, do it."
And then, out of nothing, a horrible lizard materialized near the cliff, floating just over the bog. It stood upright and flailed its forelegs. Huge, jagged dorsal plates ran down its back. Its skin was bumpy and the color of charcoal. Its eyes seemed to glow in a head that was strangely disproportionate with the rest of its body. It moved in a jerky motion that seemed altogether wrong.
It looked familiar, and Teyla was fairly sure she'd caught a glimpse of the thing on a DVD during monster movie night.
Ronon let out a soft laugh and said, "Godzilla."
Teyla narrowed her gaze at the strange lizard that silently moved its arms like a man in a rubber suit.
"You're kidding me," Sheppard said over the radio, the words obviously meant for McKay. "Godzilla?"
"You
said 'big and scary'. What's bigger and scarier than
Godzilla?" "I don't know, you could have made a giant
tambire leopard, or an even bigger possum. I might have made
more sense, considering the planet's normal inhabitants." "I
have no idea what those things look like!"
"Yeah, sorry. Forgot about that." "I
could try to imagine a giant lizard-controlled killer robot named
'Stan', but I have a pretty good picture of Godzilla in my head,
so that's what you get! Next time, maybe you'll get
Jaws.
The big lizard stopped in place, and gestured emphatically with its arms when Rodney spoke. One of the chubbocks saw the thing. It froze and let out a high-pitched squeal. The others, alerted, froze as well, to stare up at the strange menace that loomed over them.
"They have seen it," Teyla announced. "It seems to be working."
"You got 'em scared," Ronon said happily.
"Okay, good. Ah, which way do I go? Come on, I need some help here," McKay whined over the radio as the monster started to thrash.
"Forward, move it forward," Ronon told him.
And Godzilla staggered forward, floating about three feet over the top of the bog.
"Down," Ronon said, blinking heavily. "It's too high."
And they watched as the big lizard descended slightly and moved forward, slashing its tail and waving its arms menacingly. It opened its mouth and fatal-looking fire shot out.
Godzilla, King of the Monsters, strode forward and the bog beasts cowered.
"How am I doing?" Rodney asked over the radio, his voice sounding strained. "Does it look okay? "Are they leaving, 'cause… God!"
"Hang in there, Rodney. Ronon! Teyla! Is it working?"
"It is working," Teyla responded. The chubbocks were falling back, moving away from the bizarre creature that lurched through their bog. They hissed and gave way.
"Looks good, McKay," Ronon pronounced. "Move it a little left. Do more fire."
The chubbocks cringed as the thing continued to march about in their bog. Godzilla, unleashed in the swamp, put up a show. It clawed and threw back its head. Its tail slashed as it stomped. More fireworks shot out of its mouth.
Ronon sat back against the tree and laughed, watching the creatures scurry from the mutant dinosaur.
"Continue forward," Teyla told Rodney as the creature stomped. "Turn slightly to the left."
"Okay," McKay said, his voice even quieter, and the image of Godzilla did as was requested, with more flames flying from its mouth.
The chubbocks ducked and ran and splashed and disappeared. Within a matter of minutes, the bog seemed to have cleared itself of the creatures. Neither frog nor bird dared to appear either. They were gone.
Ronon fired his blaster after them, giving them further reason to run. He grinned when Teyla looked toward him and he uttered a satisfied, "That was fun."
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"Are the bog possums gone?" Sheppard asked urgently over the radio as he kept his eyes on Rodney.
"Yeah. Don't think they'll stop running for a while," Ronon told him. "You scared them good."
Thank God, Sheppard thought, and not a moment too soon. "You guys all right out there?" Sheppard asked.
"We are fine for now," Teyla told him. "But we need to return to Atlantis."
"Yeah, gotcha," Sheppard responded. He turned to Rodney, and ordered, "Shut it down!"
Rodney leaned heavily on the concealed control panel. His eyes were closed and his face drawn up in a pain-filled grimace that had grown with every passing moment. Sweat ran down his face at the strain of keeping the thing running. He trembled.
"Rodney! Shut it down!" Sheppard insisted, grasping Rodney's arm and giving him a shake for good measure. "Now!"
The contact seemed to wake Rodney and he lifted his head. His face was pale as he turned toward Sheppard.
"Now!" Sheppard said again.
"Okay," Rodney replied quietly. And he blinked rapidly for a moment. "It's off. I shut it off." And some of the exertion seemed to leave his face, but he shuddered. "That was harder than I thought it'd be," he whispered and fell sidewise onto Sheppard.
John caught him, and quickly lowered him to the ground. McKay's eyes were closed and his expression remained taut. Sheppard pulled the pain meds out of Rodney's pocket. "Hold out your hand," he ordered as he grasped hold of Rodney's wrist and turned the hand into position. He dropped a pair of pills into his palm, and then unzipped Rodney's pack to find his water bottle. He paused a moment when he saw the rubber chicken again, but decided to give McKay a break.
Wordlessly, Rodney took the meds and washed them down with a grimace. That done, he lifted a hand to his head and grumbled, "Why does everything have to hurt my head?"
"It'll go away," Sheppard promised as he replaced the bottle. He just hoped he was right.
They had to get out, and how would they do it? Rodney seemed unable to even stand at the moment and Sheppard doubted that he could find the way out without Rodney's help.
He didn't completely understand how Rodney had formed the illusion of the Japanese superstar, but it was obvious that the mental connection came with a cost. He hated the Ancients a little more.
What the hell were the Ancients thinking? No wonder they abandoned this pile of crap. What good was it to blind a man and then nearly kill him by using the machine for five minutes?
They had to get home. They had to find the device to fix Rodney's eyes before they could use the Gate. And then there was Ronon and Teyla, injured and still in the bog. They had to get back to them immediately.
"Can you shut down this machine?"
"I already turned off Godzilla."
"Shut down the whole thing."
Rodney needed Sheppard's help to stand, and John tried not to be concerned about how weak Rodney seemed to be. They moved carefully, aware that an unseen console was above them. Sheppard had no intention of ramming either of their heads into the underside of the thing, especially after what'd happened to the leopard.
Once standing, Rodney reached out and seemed to touch something, and the room started to shimmer. Sheppard looked in disbelief as the bare walls melted away, revealing a vaulted ceilings and ornate walls, and the console that McKay had used. Everything transformed. The colors changed from dull gray to warm browns. The narrow hallway expanded into a room with several large consoles and partitions, all of it in the elegant Frank Lloyd Wright style of Atlantis.
Hallways led from the room in all directions, and gentle light glowed from fixtures above. The floors were tiled in graceful patterns and panels glowed warmly all around them.
It was pretty, which made the now-gone illusions even more annoying.
"I think it's off," Rodney said as he leaned on the console.
"Yeah, you got it," Sheppard told him.
"Good," Rodney sighed and tried to slide to the floor.
"No, you don't!" Sheppard caught him, and wrapped one of Rodney's arms over his shoulder. "Not now, Rodney. We're getting out of here." He paused and looked about the room. "Rodney, where's the fix-it machine."
"What?" the scientist responded softly.
"The device that's going to fix your eyes. Where is it?" John asked firmly. Now that he could actually 'see' the room, he scanned it, trying to find a device that looked like it could fix blindness. Should there be a picture of eyes staring out from it?
"It's by the entrance," Rodney responded, his voice drifting. "Saw it when we came in."
"Why didn't you say anything?" Sheppard asked, exasperated.
"You were whining rather loudly about the bright lights at the moment. I was trying to get you out of there. We're going to use it on the way out." His voice became softer as he said, "God, my head hurts." And he slid down a little further.
"You're not going to sleep on the job!" Sheppard told him. He touched his radio, and said, "Teyla, Ronon, can you make it to the entrance of this place?"
"Yes," Teyla responded. "Now that the chubbocks are gone, we should be able return to that site."
"The shield is down. You should be able to get inside. We'll regroup at the entrance. Sheppard out."
And now, he just had to get Rodney out of the place, but he frowned as he looked at the series of hallways. The complex seemed entirely different with the illusion machine shut down. He was fairly sure which doorway had been their entrance to the room, but he wasn't certain.
"Which way?" he asked Rodney, but McKay made a soft whimpering sound and his head came to rest against John's shoulder.
"Give me a couple minutes, okay?" Rodney said. "That thing really did a number on my head."
Damn it, Sheppard thought.
And then his eyes fell on the dead tambire, just barely visible behind a partition. It was the only real thing he'd seen during their journey. How did the leopard get in here? A kitty door? And he saw the tracks it had left on the pretty tile floor.
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TBC - Keyanna wanted to see a
lizard-controlled giant robot named Stan. So, there you go.