The trio stride along at a reasonably quick pace, Celtic carrying his spear in both hands. Gwen and Hayley were both holding knives fashioned from the Alien's tail. They also had makeshift shields created from the Alien's armour. Celtic had showed them that the Alien's acidic blood couldn't get through the creatures natural armour plating.
Suddenly they heard a distant sound of stone moving. Their 10 minutes were up again and the Pyramid was reconfiguring once more. "Get ready for anything", Hayley said tightening her grip on her knife. She, Gwen and Celtic stood close together, all keeping an eye on different directions, watching for any movement of stone.
The noise grew louder as stones closer to them began to move.
Then the one in front of Hayley started to shift. "Guys, this one is moving", she warned Celtic and Gwen. All three of them watched tense, ready to fight if necessary. Only they didn't have to as the wall revealed Lex, Sebastian, the Doctor and another Predator.
"Hayley!" the Time Lord exclaimed overjoyed to see his companion standing there very much alive.
"Doctor", Hayley said equally happy to see him. She dropped her shield and knife when the Doctor moved forward, embracing her in a tight hug. The brunette was rather shocked when he pulled back only to cup her face and kiss her!
"I love you", he declared.
Hayley stared at him, rather speechless by his declaration. Admittedly she was starting to develop some feelings towards the Time Lord but she had no clue he even felt the same way about her. Especially since the first time they met, she had punched him in the face. Granted she was pissed off at him but still… "I…uh…" she stammered, still finding it difficult to even know what to say.
"I knew it!" Gwen blurted out pointing at the Doctor "I knew you liked her more than just a friend!"
Before the Doctor could say anything, Scar spoke up "is this your mate, lord of time?" the two Predators had noted the Doctor's dual heartbeats and knew immediately what he was.
"I suppose you could say she is", the Time Lord said with a grin. Hayley just stood there still rather shocked by what happened although there was a bit of red in her cheeks from being called the Doctor's mate.
Suddenly there was a blood-curling scream which echoed alone the long stone corridor. "What the hell was that?" Sebastian asked. Gwen noted how scared Celtic looked when he heard the noise. That was a first. A formidable warrior alien such as himself was afraid? If he was afraid then they all should be.
"We need to run. Now", the Doctor ordered grasping hold of Hayley's hand tightly. He'd just got her back, there was no way in the universe he was ever letting her go.
"Agreed", Lex said and they all took off, away from the noise.
The group raced through the corridors and back into the Sacrificial Chamber. "We can't let those things get out of here", Gwen stated as they crossed the room to the other side. Scar and Celtic exchanged glances before they both pressed buttons on a device strapped to their wrists.
"What is that?" Hayley asked.
"A bomb", Scar replied.
"I hope two of those are powerful enough to kill every single Xenomorph in the godforsaken place", Hayley said.
"Those are like mini atomic bombs", the Doctor told her "they'll do the job". Scar and Celtic removed the device/bomb from their wrists and hurled it back the way they came.
"Time to run again", Hayley muttered as they did just that.
"Whoa!" Hayley cried as she slid down the icy steps having lost her footing as they all raced down them.
"Are you ok?" the Doctor asked helping her up.
"A little sore but I'll live", Hayley answered. She, the Doctor, Lex, Gwen, Sebastian and the two Predators sprint towards the mouth of the tunnel where two equipment 'sleds' were waiting. Not wasting anytime at all, Gwen and Lex sent the 'sleds' going. The Doctor, Hayley and Sebastian quickly clambered onto one of the 'sleds', holding on tightly. Lex, Gwen and the two Predators were about to get on the other one when all of a sudden an Alien jumped onto the back on Celtic.
Scar immediately went to help his comrade when another Alien appeared. Gwen noticed a Piton gun attached to the 'sled' and quickly snatched it up. She pointed it at the Alien attacking Celtic and fired.
Perfect headshot.
The Predator nodded a thanks to the blonde. Scar didn't take long to dispatch the Alien he was fighting against and then all four of them jumped onto the 'sled', clinging on for dear life as it whizzed up the tunnel.
Everyone minus the Predators yell as the two 'sleds' leap out of the tunnel, ploughing into the snow, throwing all the riders off. Despite this, they all managed to get quickly to their feet and started to run as fast as they could to get as far away as possible before the two Predator bombs exploded.
Hayley panted as she ran through the Whaling Station still holding tightly onto the Doctor's hand, feeling a stitch in her side. But she didn't stop, she couldn't afford to stop. Then without warning, a massive fireball burst from the tunnel. The Predator bombs had gone off!
It swept through the Whaling Station, setting buildings alight and throwing debris into the air. All the Aliens that had been trying to pursue the group were taken out by the fire. The force of the explosion knocked them all off their feet. The Doctor covered Hayley's body with his own to protect her from raining building parts. He barely had a chance to ask her if she was ok when what was left of the buildings started to collapse around them and the snow and ice began to crack beneath their feet.
The Doctor tugged Hayley to her feet and ran as fast as he could. Lex, Gwen, Sebastian and the two Predators hot on their heels. Unfortunately, it didn't matter how fast they ran, the cracks already spread far ahead of them.
The Time Lord, Hayley and Gwen managed to jump the gap easily as it wasn't too large. The Predators were able to cross the gap as well. Lex and Sebastian had to jump slightly further, almost not making it if it wasn't for Gwen grabbing Lex's hand and Hayley quickly grasping her Italian friend's arm. The brunette flopped down against the snow, despite how cold it was, she didn't want to move another inch.
Lex watched as Scar took out a piece of the Alien from his belt and approached her. She flinched but didn't make a sound as the Predator etched the warrior's mark on her cheek. Celtic noted this and decided that if that particular female had done enough to deserve the mark then so had the two females that he'd met. They'd more than earned it in fact.
He turned to Gwen and tapped her on the shoulder. "What is it?" she asked. Celtic pointed to the mark on Lex's cheek "You want to give me one too?" The Predator nodded. The blonde didn't even flinch or make a noise when Celtic put the mark on her left cheek. The Predator then pointed to Hayley who by now was sitting up, leaning against the Doctor. "You want to give her one as well?" Gwen questioned. Celtic nodded once again. "Hey Hayley!" she called to the brunette "could you come here for a second?"
Hayley got up from where she sat with the Doctor and walked over to them. "He would like to give you this mark" Gwen pointed to the mark on her cheek.
"Ok…why?" Hayley asked.
"It is a warrior's mark", Celtic told her "you both have earned it".
"Really?" Hayley asked and Celtic nodded "that's quite an honour, thank you", she added in a polite tone. The brunette doubted very much that the Yautja were in the habit of giving their warrior mark to someone who wasn't one of their own. Hayley stood very still as the Predator etched the mark on to her skin. The time vortex shimmered under her skin, healing this new facial marking until her skin was smooth. However, the Predators could still see it as if still there.
The Doctor watched this, his hearts full of pride for his companion and as the Predator put it his mate. He'd never known a human to receive the Yautja's warrior mark and yet Hayley, Gwen AND Lex have all got it. A potential first step towards a Predator-human alliance. Actually, it was more like the potential second step. The first being that Celtic seemed to stick close to Gwen. Could it be that he saw her as a potential mate? If so this was turning out to be not only a deadly detour but a turning point in the history of humans and Predators alike.
Suddenly a very large Alien burst through the snow behind them! It is the Queen and she is out for blood for the slaughter of her children. Scar and Celtic react with lightening precision they both fired two sharp blades from their wrist guards into the Queen's neck. They then fling a metal throwing disk at her. Scar's one sliced the Alien's neck, leaving a nasty but not fatal wound. Celtic's metal disk, sliced off a chunk of the Queen's crown.
Celtic reach out to catch his disk but before he could grab it, the Alien's tail whips around flinging both Predators into the remains of a building. The pair tried to get up but the Queen smacked them harder into the ground. "No!" Gwen shouted charging at the Alien as she stood over the prone forms of the Predators, preparing to finish them off.
The angry Irish woman threw her knife at the Alien where it embedded itself into the wound on her neck. Lex's spear and Hayley's own knife quickly followed Gwen's knife into the wound on the Alien's neck. The Queen screamed in pain.
"Go! Go!" Hayley shouted as the now enraged Queen turned her attention to the three humans who'd attacked her. Hayley, Lex and Gwen took off across the snow.
"Doctor we've got to help them!" Sebastian exclaimed as the Alien Queen chased after the females.
"I know. Try to wake Celtic and Scar. I'll go help the girls", the Doctor said. Sebastian nodded and hurried over to the unconscious Predators. The Time Lord ran after the fleeing trio and their angry pursuer.
Hayley, Gwen and Lex raced through the whale bones, the large ribs curving around them like a giant cage. Then the bones began to fly everywhere behind them as the Alien Queen crashed through, desperate to get to her prey.
The three females quickly change direction, darting between the ribs. The Queen tried to go after them but due to her size and the speed she was going at, the Alien overbalanced, falling heavily onto the snow and ice, completely demolishing the remaining whale bones.
Despite this fall, the Queen was back on her feet in mere seconds and continued her hunt on Hayley, Gwen and Lex. "There!" Lex shouted pointing to the Separator, their only piece of cover against the Alien Queen. They quickly close the distance between themselves and the Separator and dive underneath it. All of them yell as the Queen slams into the Separator causing it to rapidly drop a few feet, almost crushing the trio if Hayley hadn't managed to summon some time vortex in time.
She, Gwen and Lex flinch as the Alien Queen start to smash through the remaining supports with her claws and tail. The Separator starts to tip over the edge. The Doctor, who'd by this point had managed to catch up with them, had seen the Separator move. If it went completely over, the girls would be at the mercy of the Alien Queen. He had to do something!
The Doctor opened his mouth to shout, when he spotted a flicker of movement. It was Celtic and Scar. They were making their way to the Alien Queen. Right time for a distraction he thought. "Hey you!" he shouted, gaining the Alien Queen's attention "get the hell away from them!"
Taking advantage of the distraction, Scar and Celtic acted. They leapt at the Queen, driving their spears clean through the side of her head. She howled in pain.
Hayley, Gwen and Lex scrambled out from underneath the still moving Separator. As they did so, Lex noticed that there were several restraints attached to the Alien Queen. She nudged Gwen, pointed to one of the chains and then to the Separator. The blonde nods, understanding. She silently conveys the same to Hayley. The three of them grab the chain and drag it over to the Separator. The Doctor noticed what they were doing and quickly went over to help, with all three of them plus the two Predators, they were easily able to hook the chain onto the Separator which was inches away from completely toppling over the edge.
Just as they hooked the chain on, Gwen saw the Alien's Queen's tail lift up, ready to impale the nearest Predator which happened to be Celtic. "Look out!" she shouted shoving him out of the way as the tail came down. But before it could even wound the Irish woman in anyway, it was stopped by a blast of time vortex.
"You will NOT touch her", Hayley said angrily. The Queen snarled at the brunette and made for her when the final leg of the Separator gave way and it tumbled over the cliff taking the Alien with it. The group watched as the ice beneath the Queen and the Separator cracked, breaking up under the combined weight of both.
The Alien Queen plunged into the freezing waters, the Separator quickly dragging her down into the dark depths. A set of running footsteps, caught off their attention. It was Sebastian. "What did I miss?" he asked.
"Quite a lot actually", Hayley answered "but its safe to say that its over". She shivered making the Doctor put an arm around her. To be honest the cold hadn't really bothered her earlier as she was too busy fighting for her life but now…now she could most definitely feel it and kinda wished she'd kept her coat on.
Then Gwen spied something…or more accurately several something's on a low rise which overlooked the area where they were standing. Dozens of Predators. "Uh…guys?" she said "you might want to see this". They followed her gaze to the Predator army.
"How long do you think they've been standing there?" Lex asked.
"They probably saw the whole thing", Hayley answered. Scar and Celtic walked towards the rise, the others following. When they reached it, the two young Predators nodded in respect to their elders. The three humans and Time Lord watched as Celtic received his warrior mark due to his contribution towards the battle with the Alien Queen. The young Predator glanced at Gwen and she smiled at him.
"Congratulations", she said "you definitely deserve it". Celtic then said something that the blonde didn't understand but Hayley and the Doctor did. It made the pair exchange looks. "Uh, what did he say Hayley?" Gwen asked glancing at her.
"He was asking if you wanted to come with him", Hayley said "I think he…likes you".
Gwen's eyes widened "Oh…well I appreciate the offer but I'm gonna stay here…at least for the moment", she said. Celtic nodded in understanding. The Predator was disappointed but at least it wasn't an outright 'no way'.
A Predator Elder stepped forward with three weapons which he gave to Lex, Hayley and Gwen. He nodded in respect to each of them. The Doctor knew by this gesture that the other Predators had acknowledged them as warriors. The Elder joined the rest of the Predators and gestured to Scar and Celtic. "It was an honour to fight with you both", Celtic told Hayley and Gwen "I hope one day we will fight together again". Hayley translated his words for the blonde.
"When that day comes, I will enjoy fighting by your side Celtic", Gwen said giving him another smile.
"Likewise", Hayley agreed. The group watched as the new Predator warriors joined the Predator army before they all filed into the large ship waiting several feet away. Once all the Predators were on board, the ship lifted up into the air and flew off into the night sky. As the ship disappeared into the stars, the Doctor took Hayley's hand. She glanced at him and he smiled. The brunette returned it, intertwining their fingers as she did so.
This was one deadly detour they weren't going to forget anytime soon. But at the very least something good came out of it. And both Time Lord and companion couldn't wait to see what to future had in store for them.