"Okay, Malloy, you have ten minutes to find that book before we blow the sprinklers and flood this place!" Ripley called up to Mallory as she effortlessly flew in the air, going up to Row 74. She knew what the book looked like and there's hundreds of books lined in the shelves. So many looked alike, that Mallory just straight up tossed them behind her, calling down to the two below as she does it. Forty books weren't what she's looking for, so all she did was give it an arm swipe and threw them to the ground.
She did so many times, there's a pile on the ground underneath as she made towards the end, and spotted an elegant brown book. Like a child on Christmas morn, she grabbed it, and yanked it out of the shelf.
Opening it to confirm it's the journal she's been looking for, Mallory's burgundy lips widened as she's pleased that it's the actual journal. Opening her suit via the chest, she put the book inside her suit, and zipped it tight.
Taking out her gun, Mallory pointed it clear shot of the sprinklers, prepared to set them off. Her padded finger's on the trigger when she heard a hiss and turned her head. Poking through the darkness of the shelves, a pale faced Matt with black eyes and a low jaw, dripping with ink and sharp teeth.
"Sorry, sweetie, you're interrupting patrons, I'm going to have to ask you to leave," Mallory pulled her gun on him and attempted to shot him, but he disappeared into the ink blob.
Mallory fired her gun several times, trying to shoot the ink monster, but it slithered away, until it formed a hand and knocked her gun out of hers.
The pale faced Matt reappeared as he gurgled. Even without irises, Mallory felt his eyes pierce hers, and she quickly flew away from him.
Calling down to Matt and Ripley, Mallory attempted to warn them of the ink monster, but it tried to grab her mid-flight. She raised her foot and burnt the hand as it tried grabbing her leg, biding her time as she flew off as tendrils tried grabbing her.
"Great, where did it go?" Matt struggled to look for the gun.
Ripley helped him and found it under some books. She held it and looked up to see the ink monster slowly dripping down the side of the bookcase, coming towards them.
"One good shot and that'll start the sprinklers," Ripley held up the gun towards the sprinklers above them. A good shot'll cause them to react and cause the liquid to pour down, soaking the ink monster.
About to pull the trigger, she heard a low groaning beside her and Matt grabbed her by her jacket and yanked her away. He fled with her as the ink monster pulled down the tall book case, nearly capturing Ripley below it.
She ended up dropping the gun as Matt pulled her to safety and they saw trillions of books piled up, propping up the bookcase, barring them from going back through where they came from.
"Oh wonderful, just what we needed," Ripley muttered as she fled with Matt.
They looked up, but didn't see Mallory anywhere, and looking back, a blob of ink slowly followed them.
Setting a fire to set off the sprinklers would've been a plan, if not for the fact there's no way for them to safely escape the inferno. All these books, the wood, there'd be no way for them to get back to the team and Jodie in time.
"We'll just have to use the grenades," Matt huffed as he ran.
It's not ideal, but they have no choice.
Armed with grenades, they turned around, to find that the blob monster disappeared.
"Wonderful," Matt coughed as he lowered his arm.
Looking up, Ripley tried to spot the ink monster, but it's hidden somewhere, and as the two cautiously looked around, they spotted a face in the bookcase.
Raising his arm, Matt studied the face, and saw it was his.
"Fire in the hole!" Matt shouted as he tossed a grenade at the bookcase and shielded Ripley as the grenade slammed against the bookcase, setting off in a boom.
The explosion caused the bookcase to groan and wood started snapping, books started raining down.
Grabbing Ripley's hand, Matt fled with her as they ran away from the bookcase as it came down, books turned into mountains as they piled onto the ground.
Fleeing, the two ran and slid across the waxed floors as they nearly slammed into a bookcase and turned around. They went the wrong way.
"Oh for the love of…!" Ripley huffed as they're boxed in with two bookcases opposite of them and the one behind.
Looking up, Matt flinched as he spotted the ink monster moving across the bookcase near them and like molasses slowly reached around it.
"Ripley!" Matt pushed her to run as he heard wood groaning.
Fleeing, the two got far away enough to avoid crushed by the books as they poured from the fallen bookcase.
Matt spotted the aisle they didn't take before and pointed it out to Ripley. They fled through it and as they did, they heard more bookcases falling behind them.
"Where's Mallory?" Ripley huffed as she ran with Matt.
While the AID incident took it out of her, mental wise, it really helped her knee a lot. She wouldn't have kept up if her knee didn't get the surgery.
"I-I don't know," Matt heaved as he felt his heart beat against his chest, trying to flee with Ripley through the winding aisles as they fled from the ink monster, hellbent on getting them.
He didn't know where Mallory went and he knew that she wasn't going to let them die, but he hoped she had a plan for dealing with the ink monster.
There's a crash sent the two spiraling in opposite directions.
Looking back, Matt saw that Ripley's on the opposite side of the mountain of books and bookcase.
Panicking, he shouted for her to hear, that'll he finds another way and find her. Pushing himself up, Matt skid across the floor as he tried to find a way around the aisle to retrieve Ripley.
Separated by Matt, Ripley's forced to divert to another aisle, with no light from Matt's Sonic Screwdriver, it proved difficult, and she struggled to keep running.
Sliding on the waxed floors, Ripley came to a stop as she found herself blocked in. Like a maze, she's stuck in a dead end.
Turning around, Ripley froze as she saw something black slithering across the floor. Gurgling, she saw Matt's face poking out of the black ink, and he hissed at her, showing her his black pointed teeth.
"For a guardian, you're not doing a good job," Ripley coughed as the black ink slowly came towards her.
Her back pressed against the bookcase; Ripley didn't know what to do. She couldn't run past the ink monster and she couldn't use a grenade without causing herself getting boxed in further. Climbing up a tall bookcase wasn't a good plan either, it'd knock her down in a heartbeat.
"Get down!" Ripley heard a voice coming down from above one of the bookcases. It's distorted as it echoed, so Ripley didn't know who it was, but she did what she was asked and heard hollering coming from the creature as she smelled bleach.
The ink monster shrieked as smoke came off it and fled the area, knocking into bookcases as it tumbled out of the aisle.
Standing up, Ripley looked ahead and saw the aisle empty. She looked up to the bookcases, but didn't see anyone.
Shaking her head, she fled towards another section of the library, hoping to catch up to Matt.
Unfortunately, the ink monster's not done with Ripley and quite irate when she ousted it the first time.
Hands with patchy white shards stuck to it popped out of the bookcases as it tried grabbing Ripley. She ducked in time and hurried away from the hands as they turned sharp and tried to yank her into the pooling ink attached to the bookcase.
Turning the next corner, Ripley's besieged by the books as they rained down. Covering her head, she fled through the aisle, until a good toss from above knocked her on the ground and she's forced to duck her head as books continued to rain down.
Coughing, Ripley raised her head to see the ink creature with long appendages as it crawled over the bookcase, the head faced the bookcase until it slowly turned around, looking down at Ripley.
It's grinning at her as she's stunned and cannot move.
Primed, it's about to drop on her and savagely rip her apart.
"Get away from her!" Ripley heard a distinct woman's voice, it wasn't Mallory's, and raised her head to see a flash and the ink monster hollering in pain once more.
It fled and gave Ripley time to flee through the aisle.
Coughing, Ripley's unable to run any further, and stayed near the next aisle, she cautiously glimpsed around, looking for Matt.
Worried, Ripley prayed he got back to the others at least.
Catching her breath, Ripley fled through the aisle, and came to another stop as the ink monster had enough and tried to block her way completely.
With the grenade Matt handed her, she readied, and tried throwing it, but the ink monster slithered quickly towards her and a pale hand formed around hers.
"You… you think you can beat me?" Ripley heard the ink monster ask her.
She watched as the fake Matt stepped out of the black wall and pushed her back, showing his teeth as he talked.
"I was going to give you a quick death, but you forced my hand. I think I might have to… uh… get creative," he sneered at Ripely as he further pushed her back.
Ripley couldn't free her hand and it wasn't her right hand, so she tried to use it on the ink creature, hoping it'd stun him enough to let her go.
She grabbed his clammy hand and exerted force on her hand, trying to use her hand on him, but all it was take the wind out of her and she's not able to move her hand as he grabbed it with his other hand.
"Hm, I might need you," the fake Matt said. He looked her over and she felt his black eyes slowly moving up her body before reaching her face. "If I can't have him, then you'll just have to do."
If the ink monster can't have Matt's body, then he'll just have to take Ripley's and when he reached Matt, he'll take it like he planned.
Ripley looked down as the fake Matt enveloped her legs, trapping her.
She barely moved her head as tendrils kept it in place as the fake Matt slowly moved towards her face.
"Burn… in… hell!" Ripley coughed as she tried to fight the ink monster.
As she saw the pale face coming towards her, there's a roar in the distance and it's enough for even the fake Matt to stop what he was doing and look past Ripley to see a giant wave of liquid barreling towards them.
Ripley couldn't see on the account she couldn't move her head, but the face on the ink monster's enough for her to gauge what's coming towards them.
Shrilling, the ink monster fled, sending Ripley to the floor as it fled from the incoming tidal wave.
Temporary stunned, Ripley forced herself up from the ground and turned around as the waves slammed against the bookcases, sending books into the water.
Turning around, Ripley fled, she couldn't outrun the wave and almost became enveloped in it hadn't a ladder caught her eye.
Running towards it, she pushed herself up the ladder, hurrying as she saw the waves slamming against the sides of bookcase. The force enough to keep the bookcases in place as the tidal wave narrowed on Ripley.
Ripley got further up when she slipped and nearly fell off the ladder, she slammed into the bookcase trying to get her footing, and grabbed the bars tighter as she felt her heart beat against her chest.
Trying to reach the top, as further one could, the waves slammed into the ladder and Ripley nearly lost her footing again as the ladder jolted to the side. Pushing against the ladder, Ripley looked down to see the last half of the ladder she climbed obliterated in the wave.
Exhaling sharply, Ripley pushed her way up the ladder as the water started climbing.
Even as a child, Ripley hated heights.
As an adult, she hated them for practical reasons and that the higher someone was, the easier they're picked off by the Sabbek if they're so inclined.
… Ripley heard stories of people on the top of buildings in one of those rooftop bars or parties simply swooped off his or her feet as a Sabbek grabbed them in one fell swoop.
At least Drekker didn't do that, they're more inclined to stay on the ground when they hunt, unless provoked. Which case, they're not so clean when they grab someone off the rooftops.
… Ripley had to hear from listening in on chatter about them leaving bloody bits when they grabbed someone that they particularly had it in for.
"Okay, primary school, Rip, primary school, you used to be queen of the monkey bars!" Ripley told herself as she climbed up the ladder, trying to not loose her footing again.
She used to take over the old monkey bars at her primary school she attended before she became a ward of the county.
Used to be nimble, she'd climb them even before the other kids got up there, and she'd take over. Perched, she'd look over the schoolyard as the kids looked up at her.
The custodian didn't like it and neither her former headmaster.
Granted, this was sometime ago, way before Brookhaven, and Berkley didn't have monkey bars. Ripley might've become rusty after a while.
She forced herself over the top of the bookcase and exhaled sharply as she felt the top on her back, looking up at glass ceiling above the library with a latch that opened to ships.
Her heart beat against her chest as she pushed herself up and glimpsed below to see the water raised beyond Row 74.
Cautiously, Ripley walked on the top of the bookcase as she tried to find the others.
"Please tell me you're alright," Ripley muttered under her breath.
She hoped that they're fine and she'll smack them silly for giving her a scare.
Her legs wobbled on their own as she tried to walk on the bookcase, when she heard something heavy thudding behind her. Turning around, she saw the fake Matt once again, his arms black, like he's stuck them in printer ink, long sharp claws where his fingers used to be, and his jaw dangled, showing her his black tongue on top of his black teeth.
"Nowhere left to run!" Ripley listened to the fake Matt gurgle as he hobbled towards her, part of his left leg encased in solid ink, unable to form over it, and use it proper.
Ripley gave herself distance from the ink creature and winced when she saw it with her grenade. It yanked it out of her hand when the waves came and it fled from it.
He planned to kill them both with it and he mused that he never seen a human explode before.
With the grenade, the creature chattered as it hobbled towards her, fully intending to explode with her.
He couldn't grab her, having gotten soaked in spots, the ink monster couldn't regenerate itself. To save resource, he avoided using it's tendrils as it came towards her.
Looking behind briefly, Ripley saw she's almost coming to the end of the bookcase and there's a gap between it and the next that she couldn't reach without a prayer.
Turning back, she saw the fake Matt slowly making his way to her.
Around them, the air shifted, causing Ripley's hair to waver in the breeze.
Looming over them, the ship used by Mallory and her team.
Ripley held a hand over her face as the bright light showered them and heard a voice over the speakers, "Hello, sweetie!""
It's Mallory.
She and Samuels piloted the ship and without hesitation, fired several shots at the fake Matt, sending him toppling over the side, a look of surprise on his face.
He disappeared into the darkness below and presumably fell into the murky waters.
Ripley exhaled sharply and turned her head to see the ship hover beside her and the latch opening. Two familiar faces helped her inside and closed the latch.
Matt immediately hugged her, apologizing profusely as he told her, "I got turned around, I didn't know where to find you!"
Ripley patted his head as she told him, "I'm fine, winded, but I'm fine."
Jodie asked how she managed to flood the library and Ripley stopped.
"I thought it was Mallory," Ripley pointed at Mallory.
Mallory turned her head lightly as she replied, "No, sweetie, I had a bit of a problem with getting the sprinklers working. Had to abandon that plan and here we are now."
Ripley asked her, "So, it wasn't you that saved my skin and put up a ladder for me?"
Mallory shook her head and Ripley's flummoxed.
Matt asked what was wrong and Ripley told him, "I swear, I heard a woman talking. If it wasn't any of you… then… who else was here but us?"
Samuels answered her question with, "Two people."
It confirmed that Ripley saw two people and she asked for more information, Samuels didn't have all the answers. He said that he knows it was a man and a woman on the scanner. He didn't know where they went.
Sighing, Ripley sat with Matt and Jodie as Mallory and Samuels piloted the ship out of the library.
"You better not tell me I haven't exercised enough today," Ripley eyed Jodie.
Jodie raised her hands defensively as Matt poked Ripley.
"You alright?" Matt asked her.
Ripley gestured with one hand.
"Who knew track would've come in handy?" Ripley responded.
The times that Ripley participated in tracks helped Ripley in keeping pace without pulling a muscle.
"Good," Matt exhaled.
Ripley asked if he's alright and he nodded. He showed her the Sonic Screwdriver as proof.
Clunk!
The ship suddenly stopped moving and suspended in the air.
Rebecca screamed as Clarkson held her.
The ink monster's returned and attempted to grab the ship, pulling it into it's maw.
Mallory's barking orders as Samuels worked with her to fire weapons at the ink monster.
The weapons fired as the ink monster roared, attempted to yank the ship into it's mouth.
"We can't get loose!" Mallory cried as she hit buttons on the console. Samuels tried to help as he calmly pushed buttons on his side.
Getting an idea, Matt grabbed Clarkson's gun and used his Sonic Screwdriver on it. Jodie and Ripley held him as he opened the latch and started firing at the ink tendrils holding the ship.
The modified, enhanced, gun shot through and cauterized the tendrils.
Unable to hold onto them, the ink monster's forced to release them and quickly, Mallory and Samuels began punching coordinates to propel the ship through the glass at warp speed.
Pulling him back into the safety of the ship, Matt lost his footing and ended up pushed against Ripley as the ship rattled from the turbulence.
Awkwardly, Matt had his arms around her before pulling them off her and apologized profusely as Jodie closed the latch once again.
"I'm never stepping into a library, ever again!" Clarkson coughed as he proclaimed himself never going near one.
Rebecca asked if it's finally gone and Samuels stated that there's a 99.9% it is.
"Everyone okay?" Ripley asked Jodie and Matt.
Jodie and Matt nodded.
"We'll head to the space station," Mallory told them the plan.
Obviously landing anywhere on the surface wouldn't bode well, so they'll ascend into the atmosphere, and return to the space station they came from where they'll go from there.
"Sorry for giving you a scare," Samuels told Ripley.
Apparently, they were meant to pick her up much sooner, but gotten sidetracked due to issues including the tidal wave.
"Hey, I'm still kicking, so that's something," Ripley waved her hand at him.
Exhaling, Ripley settled in her seat next to Jodie and Matt.
"For once, overstocking worked out!" Jodie pointed out Ripley's tendency to stock up on the necessities whenever possible.
Ripley shrugged as she reminded Jodie that'll she need to replenish the used stock.
"I just don't understand how the library flooded," Clarkson spoke up. "Samuels made sure that canister couldn't work without you plugging it up to the sprinklers."
The liquid Samuels mixed with the supplies replicated too fast and vast quantities compared to what he programmed. Almost like someone messed with it.
"The ink blob?" Rebeca turned her head.
Clarkson shook his head as he pointed out, "What would it tamper with it and set it off?"
Tap… tap… tap…!
There's a faint tapping coming outside of the ship as it soared through the sky.
Samuels' eyes moved towards the latch and set the autopilot as he got up from his seat.
Walking towards it, he attempted to scan, and as he did, a long black spiny tendril shot through his lower abdomen, white liquid splashing from the back.
Rebecca screamed as Clarkson yanked her away.
Samuels didn't react like a human did and that's probably for the best as the spiny tendril twitched.
Jodie and Matt helped yank Samuels off the spiny tendril and pulled him to safety.
Ripley, fed up, grabbed the only logical thing she can think of in a time like this.
"Hey, Inkwell, what's cold and burns?" Ripley asked the spiny tendril as it slashed the air.
She yanked the nozzle and sprayed the tendril with the nitrogen. The tendril seized and Matt snapped it off with a wrench. Jodie grabbed it and helped shove it out of the ship as Ripley sprayed the remaining bit of the ink monster attached to the ship, beyond angry, and beyond reproach.
With Matt's Sonic Screwdriver, the nitrogen tank exploded in the blob's face and seized.
Closing the latch and plugging the hole, Mallory quickly punched the button, and sent the ship through the stratosphere, the heat from the ascension and speed helped solidified the ink monster's death.
"Persistent bugger, innit he?" Ripley coughed as she helped with Samuels who reacted normally despite the circumstances.
"Thankfully it didn't puncture your power source," Mallory pointed out as she knelt beside Samuels lying on the ground. "Oh, Samuels, what ever will I do with you?"
Samuels replied, "Return me to my charge?"
Within minutes, the ship docked at the space station, where the HVEC team ensured that the ink monster didn't try to attack them once more.
Eventually cleared, the team's set off with Samuels to debrief their mission, and for Samuels' repairs.
"He gonna be okay?" Ripley asked about Samuels.
Mallory affirmed that he'll be fine. Just need some tune up and an oil change.
"Well, what now?" Matt asked her.
Mallory told him that since she had what she wanted, nothing.
Ripley asked about the real Alexandria's library and Mallory laughed. She told Ripley that, "It's not in my contract."
Considering the hell the fake Alexandria's library put them through, Mallory didn't want to push her luck with the real deal.
"Think someone'll find it?" Ripley asked her.
Mallory shrugged as she said she wouldn't know. She believed that it's probably for the best that nobody go looking for it and leave it in the past.
"Gee, coming from you, that's a shock," Ripley pointed out that usually, Mallory would've jumped at the chance, but considering what they went through with just the fake one, it'd be probably for the best.
"What's going to happen with the excavation, now?" Matt spoke up about the excavation that they planned.
Mallory said that as far as she knows, it's cancelled, and that as far as she's aware, it wasn't completed.
With the hat said, the team's services from this point on rendered. Where they go from here, Mallory's uncertain.
The trio talked until Mallory told them that she needed to take her leave. She has things to do.
"Well, I suppose we'll see you… when we see you…" Matt rubbed the back of his head.
Mallory smiled as she thanked him for his help, even added a hug for his troubles.
She did the same for Ripley and she told them to keep out of trouble, especially Jodie.
Watching her leave, Ripley sighed and shook her head.
"Is this our curse?" Ripley wondered.
Matt responded, "Well, better us than someone else."
It's best that they're the ones who help Mallory instead of somebody else, if only the chance of something bad happening or worse.
Ripley sighed once more and told Matt to fetch Jodie from the repair shop.
She's tired of this and wanted to go home, something Matt shared.
Watching him leave to fetch Jodie, she'd gone with Samuels to either spite him or other, Ripley waited for them by the crates.
"What a day this's been," Ripley exhaled sharply.
Ran like a track star, climbed like a kid, destroyed a library, and destroyed a persistent ink blob that wanted to kill them.
Sounded like a normal day and that started scaring Ripely.
Waiting, Ripley watched people come and go, and as she did, she spotted movement in the corner of her eye. Turning her head, she swore seeing a woman with blonde hair, pinned back, eying her from afar. She couldn't make out much of the woman as she disappeared behind some crates.
Roused, Ripley went to investigate.
Upon locating where the woman disappeared, she turned the corner, and found nothing there.
Rubbing her eyes, Ripley mustered, "I'm going crazier than an asylum!"
She felt a hand on her shoulder and turned around swiftly to find Matt looking at her, concerned.
He asked her what she was doing and she pointed towards the corner and told him what she'd seen.
Matt believed her, it's only fair considering she'd believed him.
"Who'd you think it was?" Matt asked Ripley.
Ripley shrugged as she said she didn't know and that she didn't get a good look.
Sighing, Ripley didn't have the energy to continue and went with Matt to the blue beauty tucked away, waiting for them.