The team made quick progress out to the field next to the base, Elena scouting ahead every now and then to make sure nothing had arrived yet. Just as everyone gathered in the field, they saw a plane making its descent. It looked very similar to the Bus, grey with the SHIELD logo emblazoned on the sides ("Wow, they even have the same logo as us," Simmons exclaimed, and Fitz was pointing out how the different turbines and engines probably worked to allow it to travel in space). It hovered and wobbled unsteadily, and smoke emitted from some of the turbines; it seemed as if the vessel was damaged in more than one place.
The hangar door was already halfway open by the time the plane landed, and the team surrounded the plane with weapons aimed and ready by the time it fully opened. A lone woman stood at the entrance, with wavy light brown hair and a slight build. She looked tired, various scratches and bruises on her face, holding up both her arms in a gesture of surrender. She was half Asian, half-Caucasian from her appearance, and her features were so that if you looked at one hard enough, they seemed oddly familiar, but May didn't waste time thinking too much about it.
"I'm Skye," the woman shouted. "Do you have a medical team, supplies?"
"Right here," Simmons replied, and her and Fitz with the three tactical members heading towards the door. May put out a hand to stop them, and nodded at Elena first. Elena nodded back, quickly scoped and came back.
"It's as they said," she reported. "Just this woman, a woman who looks exactly like you, and someone looking pretty beat up lying in a stretcher."
May nodded, and the medical team proceeded into the vessel, Skye going with them to show the way to the med bay. The rest of the team approached cautiously as a May look-alike emerged.
Everyone was thrown to see two Mays. Even back when the LMD was around, no one had ever seen May and LMD May in the same place. And even though everyone had heard the other May's voice, it was still shocking to find out she looked exactly like her too. The other May, however, didn't seem surprised or flustered at all, simply nodded at May who nodded back after a fraction of a second. May was pretty shocked to stare at someone who looked exactly like her, who could be her clone or LMD, but she filed it away to process later.
"You brought weapons, good," the other May said. "We have a few that would be more effective against these monsters, I'll get them distributed."
Suddenly alarms started blaring around the ship, and red lights flashed. Everyone was immediately on high alert, weapons aimed and ready to fire.
"It means the ship detects a portal opening in the surrounding area, and enemies are coming," the other May explained, as she began to hand out huge blaster-like guns.
"Can you tell us more about these monsters?" May asked, her eyes still scanning the environment to make sure nothing was jumping at them yet.
"Big. As tall as a four-storey building at least. They're kind of like octopi, same number of legs, thankfully only one heart, but can move in land or water, and have really tough skin. Aim for the mouth under its belly, or the eyes. These blaster guns can blow enough of it apart to kill them, if you aim for those spots. Other weapons could also do the same if aiming at those spots, but may take a couple more blows. Don't get caught up in the tentacles, they're strong."
"Wow, great, sounds lovely," Daisy said sarcastically. "Anything else we should know?"
"Don't die," the other May deadpanned, and May saw Daisy grin. She must have thought that sounded like something she would say too.
The other May stopped in front of May, handing her a blaster gun. May opened her mouth but the other woman interjected before she could say anything.
"I know you would only take a gun if you need one, but trust me when I say you need one," the other May said, taking the words right out of her mouth. They exchanged a small smile in silent understanding, and the other May handed her the blaster. Something glinted off the other May's hand, almost like a ring, but the other May walked away before May could wonder too much.
All of a sudden, a loud sound like rushing wind surrounded them, and a portal blasted open beside the ship. Terrifying monsters poured out, looking exactly like how the other May described them. Thick, black leathery skin covered every inch of them. Beady yellow eyes glared out over a large orange beak. They crawled on their back two tentacles, their front six flaying about as if eager to crush them. One of the creatures reared up, opened its huge maw and let out a bone-chilling scream, as if their appearance wasn't intimidating enough already.
"Alright, it's go time," Daisy said, immediately thrusting her arms forward and blowing one of the creatures over on its side. Mack quickly followed up, shooting the blaster gun into its mouth, and the creature blew apart, getting guts over its comrades and the plane.
"Hey, that wasn't so bad," Daisy started, but before they knew it, they were in the thick of the monsters, flailing tentacles everywhere. With the lack of blaster guns for everyone, the monsters proved much harder to incapacitate and kill.
Daisy continued to quake monsters, trying not to crush agents in the process. Mack was efficient with the blaster gun in her wake. Elena zoomed around planting explosives in the monsters' mouths before they even realized. Everyone else tried to destabilize the monsters by shooting their eyes and then blasting the mouths when the monsters were distracted.
May whirled and kicked and punched and blasted, almost rhythmically. The tentacles were like individual strong human arms that were able to swipe, punch, and grab. May almost got trapped once or twice, but soon learned the monsters' moves well enough to stay out of their grip.
Although they were making good headway, the stream of monsters continued to pour out of the portal. Agents were beginning to tire, she could tell, and she saved some of them in the nick of time before they got crushed or eaten.
"Is there any way to close that portal?" May asked the other May, when they were in each others' vicinity. May could tell that the other May was also an experienced fighter, and was secretly happy that this 'copy' of herself was as skilled and fierce as she was. /p
"Only as a last resort," the other May replied, kicking a tentacle out of her way and blasting the exposed mouth that resulted. "If we don't kill all of them, they'll keep coming after us anyways. A group of these are relentless in pursuing their prey once they lock into one, hence the universe-jumping portals they're able to create. They're like space's most relentless predators."
"Fantastic," May groaned, shooting another monster in the eye, "so how many are in this group that's chasing you?"
"Likely twenty or so, not a huge one compared to others," the other May admitted, "we got rid of four or five on our own, but we couldn't kill the whole group with just the three of us. We jumped before they killed us all, but of course we knew they'd be following us. Our ship took a pretty bad beating; our jump drive is malfunctioning, and various systems are down as well."
"So all these things you keep mentioning, multiverse and jumping universes, and we look and sound exactly the same, how does that all happen?" May asked, curious to get some answers.
"Fight now, ask later," the other May replied, ducking as a tentacle swiped where her head was seconds ago. "We'll get around to everyone's questions after."
The fight continued, for how long May wasn't sure. She would see Elena at the corner of her eye every now and then, and various monsters or their parts flying through the air as a result of Daisy's work. It was clear that Piper and Davis had been monitoring them, as small groups of agents would occasionally dart out with gurneys and take the injured back into the base, and fresh fighters would replace the one who were tired out. But the changes became less and less frequent, and May knew that they were reaching their limit.
Eventually, there was only one monster left, though the entire team was worn out. Moves were getting slower and sloppier, and many weapons were out of ammunition or broken. The last monster, clearly taking advantage, swiped up six people at once with a triumphant shriek. One of them was Daisy, and she couldn't quake herself out of it since her arms and hands were tightly wrapped by the tentacle. The other May was also captured, though she fought furiously to try and free herself, her limbs were also all bound. The remaining agents rallied to try and free them, though the flailing tentacles and the people hostage in them made it difficult to try and aim.
Seeing Daisy in danger did not sit well with May, and she sprinted toward the monster with her blaster aimed ready, trying to find a spot she could fire at without hurting any of the hostages. Her panic grew as Daisy screamed when the monster began squeezing. Mack was shouting something, and Elena was trying and failing to run up the monster's slick body.
Suddenly, something glinted in the sun as it whizzed out of the plane and struck the monster directly in the eye. The monster roared, rearing up on its two back tentacles, and May quickly blasted the monster. It promptly began to fall apart, and all the hostages were dropped unceremoniously to the ground, Elena speeding back and forth to make sure they didn't land too hard. With the last monster dead, the portal closed with a rumble and vanished as if it was never there at all.
Skye was already running out of the plane towards the other May as the monster collapsed. May analyzed and realized that, judging from the knife sticking out of the monster's eye, Skye must have thrown it straight there from the elevation of the open hangar door. As May was running over to Daisy to make sure she was alright, she took a moment to be impressed with Skye's quick thinking and flawless aim.
"Daisy? You okay?" May said as she helped her stand from the ground.
"Uggghh, felt like my chest was going to be crushed," Daisy moaned, testing her weight and gingerly stood on both feet, gradually releasing her grip on May. "Definitely would not recommend."
Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Skye sobbing and launching herself straight at the other May and gripping her in a tight hug. To May's surprise, the other May actually hugged her back, seeming to whisper encouraging words in Skye's ears.
"How's everyone else doing?" May asked as Mack and Elena approached. They both had a fair share of scratches and bruises but otherwise seemed fine.
"Heard from Piper, all the injured agents are secure in the base. No one killed, thankfully, and everyone is accounted for," Mack reported. "But we should probably seal up this area as soon as possible, don't want any civilians or authorities poking around."
May nodded, seeing the logic. "I'll put you and Elena in charge of organizing it then. Fence off the field, throw some tarps over the bigger piles of gunk until we can clean it up properly. If any authorities come by, say it's…" - May pursed her lips and thought for a while - "a biohazard spill but that we have it under control." May thought it was funny she had defaulted to Coulson's favourite cover-up excuse. "Daisy and I will check up on Fitz and Simmons."
"Copy that," Mack said, and he and Elena walked back to base, talking quietly to each other along the way.
"Well, now that the monsters are gone, hopefully we'll get some answers," Daisy quipped optimistically.