Part three

Beauty and Beast

"CHITTERS!" Danny woke to the all too familiar chitter-squabbling-howls of the tadpole baboon creatures that were all teeth, and his sister Nina had rightly dubbed as Chitters. The sudden hammer of adrenaline in his veins roused him from sleep so fast he forgot he'd been cat napping on Bagheera's back. "Whoaah-oof!" And the boy unceremoniously plopped to the ground.

Groaning, Danny rubbed his tailbone and glanced up at Bagheera. The big feline gave nothing away, nor did he spare the child a moment of attention. Aside from a single flick of his twin tails, Bagheera remained perfectly still. Danny silenced himself. Even attempting to quiet his breathing which sounded ridiculously loud to his ears. He knew this behavior. Knew that if he wanted to survive, he best pay attention to Bagheera's subtle ques and embody granite the way the big feline did.

Pichu whined, and Bagheera turned his head abruptly and silently bared his teeth. Danny tensed at the display and felt Pichu flatten herself against his head. Once silenced, the big feline's head swiveled away, and Danny exhaled the breath he'd been holding.

Danny sympathized with his tiny yellow friend. More than anything in the world, the boy hated feeling helpless. He was no match for the Chitters. Hell, not even Baymax and Nina had stood a chance, and they were twice his size and way scarier. Bagheera was huge and imposing with lethal claws and teeth, but Danny wondered if it would be enough to deter a pack of those toothy things.

Danny felt the weight of his backpack on his shoulders and quietly slipped it off. Bagheera's ears twitched at the sound but ignored him otherwise. As quietly as he could, Danny unzipped the pack and inwardly cursed his sister. She didn't like him handling the Yautja weapons. But what was wrong with a burner? Sure it made bigger holes, but it wasn't all that different from a shotgun. He could handle it. But noooo, Nina had put her foot down about that one. And even when he asked Pakkun behind her back, he'd firmly said no too. Still, this hadn't discouraged him much. And while Pakkun was adamant about teaching him the proper techniques of each weapon, it was Lobomon who gave him his first real weapon aside from the Xenomorph fang.

Danny pulled out Stinger, a short blade katana style weapon the length of his forearm. Lobomon had been showing him how to use it in a reverse style grip so that the blade was always guarding his arm. While it wasn't as frightening to look at as say a glaive or a maul, it had lethal in spades. It had a slightly curved blade made from a pearly black metal unlike anything Danny had ever seen in the movies before with a handle carved from bone. He couldn't read the markings etched into the aged bone, but he also realized the symbols weren't in the Yautja text either. He imagined Lobomon defeated some badass alien and took it as a prize, and could hardly believe his dad had given him something so cool. Danny inwardly grinned, remembering when Lobomon had handed it to him. Danny had teased the big Yautja, saying Nina would kill him if she ever found out, but that only seemed to weirdly please Lobomon more.

Leaving the backpack where it rested on the ground, Danny silently crept closer to Bagheera's side. The big feline's shoulders flexed, but he remained vigilant and kept his gaze forward. Danny leaned close to Bagheera and whispered, "We need more room to move."

At this, the big feline did look at him.

Danny wasn't sure if leaving the relative safety of the brambles was a good idea or a bad one. Going out into the open meant they'd be more exposed, however, if they stayed here it was equally dangerous because they couldn't move freely without risking getting skewered. Danny's face scrunched, both options were hazardous. What's more, he hated the thought of being wrong and getting them killed.

However, to his surprise, Bagheera grunted and dipped his head in agreement. Or at least, it appeared this way to Danny as the big feline started moving swiftly out of the thicket.

It'll be okay, Danny thought. Nina... where are you?...

...

They'd made it as far as a circular clearing before the Chitters were on them, but the forest's edge was still several yards away. And the Chitters quickly swarmed them on all sides barring any chance of escape. The dark furry bodies of the chittering-squabbling creatures were lumped so closely together it was hard to figure out where one set of teeth ended and another began. And in the fading light of the dual suns, the Chitters loomed over them like a living, undulating shadow ready to snuff out their existence.

They'll come, Danny thought with conviction, even as the fear of being eaten alive threatened to consume him.

Danny realized at that moment that he'd gotten used to being rescued. Lobomon... Pakkun... Nina... They wouldn't wait around to be rescued, he thought with a swell of choking shame. The Yachu don't wait to be rescued... And what if this time no one came to save him?

Danny swallowed hard and pressed his back to Bagheera's ribs. They were up shit creek. In defiance of the fear slamming through his veins, he bared his teeth and widened his stance. He'd wanted an opportunity to prove he could hunt with the Yautja, now was his chance.

Sucking in a deep breath, mirroring a Yautja's battle cry, Danny roared at the Chitters. The unexpected thunderous sound caused him to jump. Danny blinked. That hadn't come from him.

Another roar echoed the first, the sound so menacing it could only come from one Yautja.

Lobomon?...

In front of him, the wall of furry bodies and gnashing teeth exploded outward. Danny's mouth formed an 'O' of surprise a second before a powerful... something swept him off his feet, blew past the mass of disoriented furry bodies, and vaulted over the last remaining veins between the clearing and the forest's edge, and set him back on his feet. All of this happened in the blink of an eye and Danny's face was still stuck somewhere in protest and shock when the cloaked figure who'd hauled ass out of the forest decloaked and knelt in front of him.

"Nina?..." The boy said more than a little shocked that his sister had pulled some seriously wicked cool ninja shit.

"Danny," she breathed. Wrapping the boy in a familiar crushing embrace.

"I'm fin-"

Nina held him at arm's length and spun him around, causing him to stumble as he was suddenly jerked to a stop mid-spin as his sister laid eyes on the wounds across his back. A growl curled in her chest, and Danny blinked in surprise at the very unhuman rumble coming from his sister. It sounded more canine to his ears, which in turn, brought back the horrifying memory of Baymax bloody and unmoving, and for all the world dead lying on the ground.

"Nina-" He tried to turn but found he couldn't break his sisters hold.

"Stop moving-"

"Nina! Baymax! Wha' happened to Baymax?!"

Nina glanced up at her brother, noticing the desperate sheen to his emerald orbs as he focused on her face from over his shoulder. The stony set of her jaw relaxed somewhat as she tried to smile in an attempt to soothe his anxiety. "Baymax is fine, baby bro," she brushed a rust-colored dreadlock from his forehead. Her eyes briefly lighting upon Stinger in his grip, but to his surprise, she didn't comment on it. "He's resting in the shuttle."

Danny exhaled, his shoulders sagging as some of the tension he carried there evaporated. It lasted for about 2.5 seconds then his shoulders jerked back up and his head snapped around as the fight he hadn't been paying much attention too abruptly spilled out of the forest. "Pakkun! Lobomon! Bagheera!"

Once again, quicker than she'd ever been, Nina grabbed up her brother and lept backward and well out of range of the fight. Danny barely had a chance to blink before she set him down and whirled on him. "Stay here." Her voice brooked no argument, and for once Danny didn't feel compelled to argue with her.

Danny stared up at his sister as if seeing her for the first time. She looked every bit the badass like Erza Scarlet with her chestnut red hair up in a high ponytail that swept her scar-riddled shoulders and the top of the black leather bindings fastened across her chest. Her midriff was bare, showing off even more scars than Danny remembered her having. The leather pleats of her warrior style skirt reached midthigh, but the metal plates attached at the hips and the front hung lower. She wore no shoes, something that made him inwardly smile and remind him this was definitely his sister. Though, when his eyes caught sight of the alien gauntlet thingy that had attached itself to her arm, he couldn't help wondering if Nina was really Nina anymore. He met her eyes and focused on the tiny "slutty number four" -Nina's words not his- stone inside her left iris, but when he shifted to actually focus on her eyes, he saw his sister there.

This is Nina, he thought to himself. No one else could exude such a strong desire to protect him the way she did. No one.

Danny finally gave his sister a micro nod of acknowledgment. She smirked, and it was full of so much southern badassery that Danny couldn't help but return it. She walked away and into the fray, and Danny stared after her, trying to figure out when his sister had gone from just being a kickass albeit klutzy big sister to being a beast.

The Chitters swarmed out of the forest like a dense smoke, and it was hard for Danny to focus on their chaotic movements as he watched the battle. He'd seen both his fathers fight many times over, but these things were relentless. The sheer number of them was daunting, and Danny chewed his lower lip.

He glanced at Lobomon, who seemed to be chucking the Chitters off of him as fast as they crawled over him. The big Yautja snarled in frustration, and the guttural sound sent a hesitant ripple through the sea of teeth and fur. They squealed and squeaked in fright as Lobomon's movements became more agitated, and he went from simply tossing the Chitters to tearing them apart. Shredding limbs and sending chunks of bloody gore to the ground. Danny pursed his lips at the gruesome sight and tried to ignore the vile stench already wafting from the corpses. He'd thought the Chitters smelt rank before, but that was nothing compared to the smell of their exposed guts. Blue guts. Their blood had a greasy appearance like congealed fryer fat that's been used way too long.

The sight grossed him out, but a glance in Pakkun's direction wasn't much better. Even though he didn't share Lobomon's zeal, there was a Jedi awesomeness to his movements as he sliced through furry body after furry body that shot up to try and grab his helmet covered face.

Despite the awe-inspiring fierce display of the Yautja, it was his sister that Danny found himself focusing on. For all the whining she did during training, she sure as hell put it to good use. Her movements weren't as clean as a Yautja's, but she was fast, and Danny grudgingly noticed that unlike him, she didn't allow her short stature to hinder her. She took advantage of it and slipped through the mass of fur and teeth with unexpected ease, and cutting them down as she went. Bagheera worked in tandem with her, moving as if they'd been fighting side by side together their whole lives. Danny's brow furrowed in question at this, though he saw no reason to wonder about it now.

And to be honest, what really stumped Danny was his sister's sudden ability to control her motormouth. And it had to be killing her.

"Twenty-three!" Hack and slash. "Twenty-five!" Nina shouted, her emerald green eyes glittering as she shot Lobomon a fierce grin.

Lobomon snarled something Danny couldn't quite catch, but his sister's laughter told him it was probably something nasty.

Danny smiled and rolled his eyes. Same old Nina. What the heck had he been worried about?

An alarming shriek cut through the din of battle and Danny's face shot up, eyes rounding at the sight of the Venomoth alien exploding out of thick greyish pink clouds and diving to grab him. Stinger was clutched at his chest, but he had no time to react. All he could do was stare an-

A startled yelp leaped from Danny's throat as he went sprawling in the sand. His sister was in front of him, back arched and shoulders set. A great shadow fell over her. Danny could feel air from the beat of its wings. His eyes jerked up. The Venomoth slowed its descent. Water sprayed up around his sister as it lithely landed in front of her. Nina didn't flinch and stared the creature down. The creature's V-shaped slit of a mouth opened and shrieked at her.

The intense sound made Danny's bones ache and fear slammed through him. "Nina!" he shouted, but it was lost in the creature's wailing cry.

The Venomoth alien straightened, towering over his sister. Danny didn't understand why she wasn't running and could only watch helplessly as a long black tongue darted out of the creature's slitted mouth to wrap around Nina's throat. Yet, still, she didn't fight back!

Danny hurried to his feet and brandished Stinger. He started to move only to freeze as his sister gave him a black look from the corner of her eye. That one look warned him not to take one more step or risk a tongue lashing that would make the devil cry out for mercy.

Danny stayed were he was. Neither advancing nor backing away. He trusted his sister, but if the creature tried to take Nina into the sky, all bets were off.

Time didn't slow down or anything like that, but Danny could sense something strange. He suddenly felt smothered; kind of like the time he'd wandered into an airlock on the ship, messed with the touchpad trying to make an antigravity chamber but ended up accidentally messing with the pressurization and almost lost consciousness before Lobomon found him.

And as he watched his sister finally take a step back and hold her ground, Danny felt an unnatural ripple of air sweep around him. It lifted the fine hairs on his arms and legs in alarm. Danny shivered but not from cold. He took a step back, unaware he'd even moved as he noticed Nina's long red hair begin to float and thrash as if she were standing in a wind tunnel. But there wasn't any wind, not even a breeze.

Danny blinked, and it was as if the tiny beat of his lashes set off a butterfly effect. The pressure intensified until his ears popped. And he could smell something like wires shortening. Nina wound her left arm around the creatures tongue, her face a seething mask of rage. Danny's eyes jumped to the furere and stared dumbfounded at the arks of pinkish energy it spat. Nina's mouth worked, but Danny couldn't hear what she said. There was a strange crackling roar, and Danny was swept off his feet and thrown into the sand. He blinked. Tried to find his sister but in the next instant heat and light consumed him. A body fell over his. Danny couldn't tell who it was, nor could he hear the high continuous scream tearing up his throat...

A/N: Hello lovelies! Hope you enjoyed the update. Sorry for grammar errors. Just FYI, I've recently updated A Fangirl's Crack'd Afterlife as well! It's my newest human/predator romance story! Also, I may be posting Punctured Souls and Other Black Holes next Thursday. (If you're a fan of TK's world then you'll enjoy the story.) Again a human/pred pairing but with a twist ;) Back to the normal POV for this story next update! Thanx for all the love and support!

Puffgirl1952 the 2nd: Haha XD Mother nature on steroids!

Third Destiny: Awe, thanx, Third Destiny! You're so sweet! I won't forget you! Promise! And I agree. A rushed story feels and reads that way. I'll try my best to always give the readers my best. It just might take a bit longer ;)

angel987: Thanx, angel! :)

DeadlyNightshade97: Well, thank you, DeadlyNightshade97! Your review left me grinning :) It'll all come together, I promise.

Tenfangirl: Ah, BabyBlue. That's cute! XD Thanx so much for the love and support! :)

Akari Wolf Princess: Lol, yup, there was a very loud "FINALLY" from all the reviewers' XD Omg, your reviews left me chuckling and smiling for a while. Lol, I'd say Nina's pretty lucky too ;) And Baymax survived! No way could I kill the dog! Thanx for all the love! XD

sempy: Thanx. I wanted there to be more to Bagheera and Pichu rather than simply being pets. It'll definitely add to the overall story. And I'm really happy you're enjoying it. :)

sousie: We'll find out ;) Her mates are definitely potential trouble for Bagheera, but I think I've got it figured out. Thanx, sousie :)

Guest: Ah, shucks. Thanx XD

Sleepyhallow01: Hope you enjoyed the update :)

helloabby04: Lol, well, your excitement makes me uber happy XD Glad you liked it! Thanx for the love!

DeathlyIceMaiden: Baymax is okay ;) I could never kill that dog! He's gold!

Kay: Lol, I have a couple of weeks of third-trimester hell left. Go me. Updates will definitely be slower, but Precious will try her damnedest not to forget! The last thing I want is to put this story in limbo for a year! Again! Lol, so Uz is your favorite, neh? Truthfully he's my favorite too. He'll be back in the picture soon. Oh! If you like Uz then you'll definitely like this story I've been working on. Its called Punctured Souls and Other Black Holes. It's another pred/human romance. The main female character isn't as kick butt as Nina but the pred (spoiler!) is actually a Bad Blood! But not the kind of Bad Blood your brain probably just jumped too ;) I plan to post the story soon. Maybe next Thursday. Yes. I know. I'm insane XD Also, there's Kasai'sa! He's my newest pred in my other pred/human romance story A Fangirl's Crack'd Afterlife. Not quite as big as Uz but uber protective of his mate too. Though, not nearly as controlling. (Hehe, that's actually a bit of a spoiler since I haven't introduced him to the story yet!) XD (Sorry for the info dump. I just wanna give you more options since it takes me longer to update these days.) Lol, I have way too much fun creating hunky Yautja! Yup, yup, Precious is a weird one. Anyway, thanx for the love! I'll be back with an update as soon as I can! Chi'ytei!

Lola: He's a young kid with an overprotective sister. This story roughly spans six months and behavioral development is based on many different factors. All I can say is Danny will mature at his own rate. Thanx for reading. :)

Snickering Fox: Thank you so much for the reviews! Lol, and yes, Nina's life has literally been one mess to the next but I'm not sure she'd know how to function without chaos in her life ;)