Madoka was busy wiping Akihara's blood off her face, looking into the small mirror in sick bay. Hitomi and Homura stood just outside in the corridor, quietly and nervously keeping watch down the hallway in either direction. Tyrone was doing something in the far corner, next to the comatose Osakawa. He had explained something about e-tags, which were electronic implants for tracking and identification. Madoka had opted out, but Mami was willing to accept it.

For a moment, Madoka felt dizzy. She braced herself against the counter in front of her. "Damn it... I need a drink."

Homura peered in from the hall. "Madoka, are you alright?"

She shook her head. "Something just feels... off. Feel like I should have stayed asleep today."

Homura frowned. "I know how you feel. My stomach has been upset all day. I suppose it could just be from sitting in cryo for so long, but-" Gunshots cut her off, bullets ricocheting down the hall around her. She ducked into the sick bay, then poked her head out to see who was shooting at them.

Hitomi stepped in, shoving Homura back. "Get the fuck out of the way!" She smacked the control panel on the wall, closing the door just as more shots bounced off the door frame. She turned to the rest of the room. "Captain, that's one of yours shooting at us. Semi-automatic. They've been to the armory, so it can't be Fukawa or the ones on the bridge."

Tyrone tossed his pistol over to Hitomi, who caught it deftly. He nodded. "Make sure they know who they're shooting at and bring them in here. We can use that weapon. And please try not to hurt them. Shoot only if they leave you no choice."

Hitomi rolled her eyes. She opened the door and took cover just outside the hall. She leaned forward a little and called out to whoever was out there. "Hey! Rory, is that you? Your brother is in here! If you're not Rory, fire off a few shots!" Right on cue, a spray of shots ricocheted around the hall near her. She immediately pulled back. "Whoever it is, they know we're here and they're still shooting." She shook her head. "Fire again if you're okay with us shooting back!" The response was the same.

Tyrone called over to her. "Hey, don't shoot to kill. Still one of my people."

"Sure." She stepped out and aimed down the hall, firing off a warning shot. The assailant stood up at fired off several rounds before Hitomi squeezed the trigger again, the shot taking them in the shoulder and dropping them on their back. Hitomi quickly patted herself down. She let out a quick laugh. "They all missed me."

A shot hit her leg from behind as another gun opened fire somewhere down the hall in the opposite direction. She fell over onto the wall and aimed behind her, firing off three quick shots. They all hit, and the second attacker collapsed onto the floor. She lowered the pistol and let out her breath.

The computer sputtered to life. "Dai- -gima, de- -sed."

Hitomi glanced over to the first attacker. "That looks like Akamiya. What's she doing down here?"

Homura jumped out into the hall and wrapped her arm around Hitomi, hauling her back into sick bay. She looked to Tyrone. "The computer is on the fritz already. We have to assume the tracking doesn't work anymore."

From out in the hall, they heard Akamiya feverishly murmuring. "Don't look outside. I can't see it... it can't see me... it saw me... Don't look outside."

Madoka groaned. "Great, what's she going on about?"

Homura set Hitomi down against the bulkhead and waved to Madoka. "We can't leave her out there, especially not with a gun we could really use right about now."

Madoka shrugged and followed Homura out into the hall. She grabbed Homura's shoulder and turned her around. "I'll get Akamiya, you get the other gun."

"Right." Homura nodded. "Yes. Okay."

Madoka watched Homura take a few steps in the other direction before moving over to Akamiya's side. She knelt down beside the wounded woman, grabbing the gun away from her. She leaned in close, cautiously addressing her. "Are you alright down there?"

Akamiya groaned quietly. "It hurts... it saw me... it hurts..."

Madoka sighed. "Of course it hurts. You were shot. Now quit complaining. We have to get you back to th-"

Akamiya exploded, showering Madoka in blood.

Sayaka swung as hard as she could, aiming straight for whatever was coming through the hatch onto the bridge. A young, dark-skinned man duck under the flying fist and raised his hands in defense. Sayaka stopped, realizing she was dealing with a Human. They both took a moment to catch their breath. A woman limped in behind the man, and then door closed.

Behind Sayaka, Nakashima cried out. "Fukawa! You're here!"

The man held his hand out to Sayaka. "We never got to meet. I'm Rorland." Before she could act on the offered hand, he held out a long rifle. "Can you use one of these?"

She took the weapon. "Yes. Why?"

Fukawa hoisted her own weapon. "I'm sure you heard the overhead. The captain must have ordered the ship's computer to do that, and from it we know that there are a number of alien lifeforms on the ship. We've already figured that the computer can't recognize you and your friends at all, but it identified xenomorphic lifeforms. There are three, from what we heard."

Sayaka grimaced. "Three... one of them got in here. It killed Kyosuke and..."

Nakashima finished. "It was in the forward section with Kyoko when it was sealed off and depressurized. And then Akamiya ran off on her own!"

Fukawa turned and aimed at the door she had come through. "Great. One of those things was chasing me. I don't know if I lost it or what, but we can't let our guard down." She shook her head. "And, uh... no. Sorry. There's still three. The depressurization came before the xenomorph warning. Either that thing held on tight or there were four."

Sayaka started to inspect her gun. "Yeah... I think we can take them."

Rorland grinned. "I'm for it."

Fukawa nodded. "Okay, are you sure we can hold out?"

Looking down the sights to test the weapon's aim, Sayaka corrected her. "That's not what we're doing. We're hunting those things down. They're going to pay for what they've done."

Nakashima waved her hands, shaking her head. "No way! No fucking way! We can't fight three more of those things!"

"Never underestimate..." Sayaka opened the door out into the corridor. "...a pissed off Miki."

A minute later, they were walking through the halls. Sayaka had point, with Rorland's rifle aiming over her shoulder. Fukawa was at the back, still limping behind the rest. Nakashima was in the middle, though against her will. She had resisted going out, but didn't want to stay behind all alone either. At every intersection, Sayaka and Rorland stopped the procession and cleared the corridors they would not be using before continuing on.

At one stop, Fukawa made an observation. "You know, Nakashima, Akihara was in the middle position when she died. It's not exactly any safer."

"Don't talk to me."

Sayaka started, then immediately stopped, causing everyone behind her to bump into each other. She looked down the corridor ahead of them, then at the door on her right. "Where does this go?"

Rorland nodded. "That's engineering. Fukawa's station."

"What's that noise?" Before anyone else could say anything, Sayaka answered her own question. "Oh, must be the engines. With that incessant mindless throbbing I thought someone was playing Muse."

"What?"

Sayaka rolled her eyes. "You don't know what Muse is. Why couldn't I have been born in your time?" She shook it off and opened the door. "Well, maybe there's someone in-" She stopped cold, her eyes fixing on the huge black creature climbing down the side of the reactor core. She couldn't tell if it was the same one that killed Kyosuke, the one Kyoko took with her, but it was definitely the same species. Rage suddenly flared within her, and she raised her rifle at the monster. "THERE IT IS!"

There wasn't any time for anyone to stop her.

Madness, in high enough concentrations, can have a physical presence. It has mass. When there is enough of it, it can warp things. Warp minds, space, time, and matter. The closer Ghroth drifted to the Prometheus and the Epimetheus, the more of their hulls twisted and changed, breaking and falling into decay. Anyone who chanced a look outside and saw the colossal form drawing near would have surely had their minds and even their bodies dreadfully effected.

The ship still wasn't damaged enough to fall out of the sky, though. At least, until someone shot a hole in the reactor core on the Prometheus. One by one, the engines cut out and the lights went dark. All systems began failing. Computerized emergency protocols, programs most protected from damage, managed to cut into place and begin closing blast doors across the ship. Madoka and Homura found themselves stuck just outside the sick bay, with Mami, Hitomi, and Captain Douglas trapped inside with Osakawa.

Madoka pounded on the blast door with her fists. "Damn it! I need a towel!"

Homura ducked into the corner, bracing herself. "Don't panic, Madoka. We're going to be fine. The emergency measures are in place, so we have nothing to worry about."

"I'm covered in blood, Homura. I need a towel. A shower too, if it isn't too much trouble." She fixed Homura with a blank stare. As familiar as she seemed, Madoka was very quickly learning that Homura probably wasn't someone she genuinely enjoyed being around. "You need to pull yourself together."

Homura shook her head, ducking into a corner. "No, no, this is just like my nightmares. We're all going to die again! Don't you get it, this is exactly what happened!"

Looking back at Homura from inspecting the outline of the door, Madoka rolled her eyes. "Don't be ridiculous. There were no black people in your dream."

"Madoka..." Homura braced herself against the wall. "The ship's hull is heating up. It's an uncontrolled atmospheric entry. We're going down. Hold on to something."

Madoka grimaced, looking down at the exploded remains on the floor. "She's probably gonna go flying all over the place. This is gonna be great, I can tell." She braced herself in front of the door without bothering to sit. "Did the ship crash in your dream?"

Nagisa had initially thought it weird, living as this giant Witch form. Of course, she'd gotten quite used to it over the countless years, but it never truly ceased to be interesting to float around in the air. It was something she never got tired of, and she meant never.

She knew the others had gotten on a ship and went up into orbit, and she was just waiting for them to come back and get her. Then they would all continue on their journey together. She looked up at the sky to see if they were returning yet.

Something was coming down, and coming down fast. Whatever it was, it was burning up on reentry and only picking up speed. She'd seen more than a couple meteors hit, but this one looked different. It was tumbling strangely, almost as if it was made up of two separate entities both fighting for control. It certainly wasn't a ship, so her curiosity got the better of her and she headed to where she estimated it would land.