Heh heh, hello again. Hope you guys are enjoying the 'chapter per day' scedule that I've set up.
Replies:
Bsdisaster: Well, the time is NOW! Glad you like my methods... I always wondered why nobody in the movies ever tried it...
OtakusVengeance: Well, I like to make it a point to talk to everybody who like my stories! It's you readers that inspire me to continue writing, after all! Heh, and I swear, it is absoluely true thatI always die in those type of time limit games at least seven times before I get it right(sulks)
Ranma Hibiki: Keeping a Facehugger as a pet...? That would be awsome! To quote that nicely animated movie, Monsters Inc. "I always wanted a pet that could kill me!"
DarkXeno: Heeeey, now. One fact that I should probably not say but I will anyway is that I am extremely, EXTREMELY gullible, so don't torture me! I like your throey about Facehuggers, and you're probably right except for in the first movie it said that the legs were strong enough that the people couldn't get the facehugger off unless they wanted to rip the guys skin off with it, but that's probably a muscle locking factor and has nothing to do with strength... Chesburster Javalin, huh? How would that work, see how accurately you can kill a person at various distances? XD
Never played that particular game, but I might take your suggestion on the opponents. That would be fun just to write a pure Melee one-shot XD
Time trials... (shudders)
Butterflydragon: Yes, you are correct. I'm sure a scene with Lex and me talking would be quiet funny indeed... But no more spoilers for later! XP
Raptor-chick: Welcome back! Heh, I don't know what I'm gonna do with Scar quiet yet, still working on that detail... As far as I know, another Grid alien is not going to appear... but that's only as far as I know.
I was obsessed with all sorts of monsters... heh, looked like all us dinosaur fans have a commen intrest here, too, eh? Oooh, Oviraptor! I was actually planning a bit of a Robert T. Bakker style story about a young Oviraptor male called Indigo Whorl, but that idea got put in the archives along with a few others to make way for my sci-fi stuff. Heh, a lot of your favorites are mine, too XD
Pervy-elf-fancier: whoa, almost missed you, there! Hehehee, Lex and Scar... they come in sooooooooooooon.
"Let's try not to get blown up, shall we?" I growled as I ran, talking more to myself than the two Yautja that were taking the many passages and turns with a certainty that was surprising, considering that they had been taking their time to investigate things before. I guess they hadn't been in as much of a hurry to get out of this place as I had been, probably because they wanted to make sure every Xeno was dead before they left. It was a smart thing to do, but I already knew that every Xeno would be dead pretty soon anyway.
Suddenly, we erupted out into clear air, and I saw the exit of the pyramid before us. It was like some sort of glorious, glorious sight that made hope just bubble up within me. I was going to get out of here! I laughed with glee as I ran, just happy to be alive in that single moment that gave me more satisfaction than my entire life had before.
"Hey, who are you?"
I glanced back at the question, and gaped as I saw Lex, the main heroine of the movie that I loved so much, running parallel to me. The Predator known as Scar ran beside her, growling to the other Yautja, who were clicking and rumbling in return as they ran. Hell, it was just a big ass reunion here, wasn't it? I grinned slightly and tried to concentrate on keeping my feet on a straight course. I could see how confused she was, judging from the shocked look on her face and the unrecognizing eyes. She was probably wondering why she had never seen me before, and I wasn't about to tell her the reason.
"You know, I really don't think now's the time for introductions," I replied, "Let's just get the hell outta here before we get blown up!"
"Fine by me," she agreed, and I nodded as we ran down the steps. I nearly tripped several times, and I wasn't making all that fast a time; steps were my worst enemy in this dimension as well, it seemed. But somehow I made it to the bottom without breaking a leg, though the others were pretty far ahead of me by then and I upped my speed to almost breakneck to keep up with them, breath coming out in short gasps of foggy vapor. Chopper slowed slightly, looking back, and then let out a roar of alarm as I was knocked to the ground by a Xeno that I had never seen coming. I cursed, knowing that I should have been on the lookout for the things that I had known were going to appear down here.
"Get off me you bastard!" I screamed, twisting and jabbing my spear up futilely as I tried to wriggle out of the creature's grip. It screeched and I felt an agonizing pain shoot up my arm as the tail sliced through the skin, but it was a glancing blow and I retained control of the extremity. Still, the next blow was sure to be more accurate, and I couldn't fight effectively from this position at all.
Not like I had time to fight.
Suddenly, the weight was gone, and I lurched upright in time to see the Xeno get beheaded by Chopper's shruiken. Bright green blood flew in all directions, and I yelped as some of it landed on my coat, ruining more of the soft synthetic leather material. Chopper turned to me with a strangled bark of command, and I began running once more, glad that the wounds on my legs weren't too bad. Otherwise this would have been very difficult, especially since I could see the others already at the lift panel up ahead. A few dead Xeno's nearby and a discarded gun told me that another movie event had just occurred right on schedule, and that the lift would start moving right about…
Now! I leapt forward at the same moment as the others, grabbing the bar on the back of the lift as Lex, Scar and Celtic managed to squeeze onto the platform part of it. Chopper latched on next to me, and suddenly we were moving at a breakneck speed, the intense and mind-numbing cold of the ice below me burning on my limbs as I slid. All I could think was how incredibly thankful I was that the passage was smooth, otherwise sliding up the tunnel at somewhere between sixty and ninety miles and hour might have been a little uncomfortable.
Yeah, like it wasn't already pretty damn uncomfortable.
I grit my teeth as my hands began to give, the cold of the bar numbing my fingers so that I couldn't keep a good grip even if I had wanted to. My arm was rippling with pain; I could literally feel the muscle tearing as I struggled to lock my hold. I didn't want to let go, not when I was so close already…
So close…
Ultimately, I failed, and I cried out in dismay as my hands slipped off the bar, that one moment seeming as if time had stopped completely as I heard the echoing blast of the bomb erupting behind me with the force of who knows how many destructive things. My eyes closed as I finally accepted my fate; I was no warrior, no person cut out to be a hero. I had failed to survive… I had just plain failed, when it came down to it.
But at least I had changed the events a bit, and as long as that was true then I had left my mark on my favorite world. At least that was something to be proud of; I had changed the course of events.
Now I would die.
Suddenly, some force jerked me forwards once more, and I looked up in surprise as I saw that Chopper had used his melted wristblades to hook my coat –that blessed, blessed coat- and keep me moving with the lift. I wouldn't die after all!
I didn't have much time to celebrate, considering that the lift was abruptly flying through the cold, dark air of the outside world. Instead, I screamed as I was reminded quite unexpectedly of my trip into this world and exactly how terrifying falling was. In a few moments I was flung into a large bank of snow that, thankfully, had nothing sharp or solid hidden under it, my wits scattered but enough coherency left in my mind to give me one clear goal; one word that dictated all I could do at the moment.
RUN!
And so I staggered up and ran, my feet flying over the snow as I looked in all directions for those that had been flung into the air alongside me. A few dozen yards away I caught glimpses of Scar and Lex running just as desperately as I was, and further ahead there was Celtic, but where was Chopper?
With a cry of alarm I slowed, looking back at the fire that was rapidly approaching and cheering on the lone figure that was running as fast as he possibly could towards me. I wasn't going to leave him to face that explosion alone, no, not after he had saved me from falling back down that ice tunnel! I owed him big time, and I always repaid my debts, apparently even if I had to risk my life to do so. In moments he had caught up, and I began running once more, legs flying over the thick drifts at a speed that I had only ever dreamed that I could achieve as the sweltering heat of the explosion pressed against my back, only making me want to move faster.
Suddenly, the shockwave passed over us, and I was shoved to the ground as if by a gigantic hand as the force of the explosion rippled past me, destroying buildings all around as it went. I staggered up one more, ignoring the pain in both my arms and legs and the gasping shortness of breath that I was suffering from as I began to run yet again, sensing that Chopper was doing the same just behind me.
I cursed under my breath as the ground below began to give way, making the already uneasy footing even more precarious than it was as large sections of the snow and ice began to fall away into the deep abyss below. If things weren't difficult enough! Now I knew how people felt when they were stuck in an earthquake, because I was pretty sure that having the ground shake like this could be considered fairly close to earthquake situations. As it was, I nearly lost my balance when a huge column of ice jerked upwards under my feet, causing me to step forward prematurely and stumble, my momentum taking me farther than my stride had accounted for.
But I had pretty good balance, and I managed to save myself from another fall and lurch forward at a pace that I wasn't sure I could stop if I wanted to. I glanced back quickly to see if Chopper was keeping up, and a small part of me was relieved to see that yes, he indeed was keeping up with my crazed speed. I looked forward once more, and the sight that greeted me would have made me stop if I had been able to safely.
"That sucks," I huffed angrily, the ice only a few yards before me beginning to fall away from the solid and unaffected ground, creating an ever-widening chasm that I wasn't sure I could leap across. I could feel the surface under my feet beginning to angle slightly as it fell away, and I put on a final burst of speed that brought me to the edge, leaping with all my might put into that downward thrust of my legs.
There was a strange moment of weightlessness, and for a single flickering instant it was as if I could fly like I had always dreamed before gravity pulled me back into its clutches, bringing the ice towards me with the cruel promise of a hard impact. I strained my arms as I reached for it, seeing that there would be a close shave from me falling into the abyss or me landing on the ledge. Neither option looked pleasant, but at least I would survive getting flattened on the ice.
The breath was knocked out of me as I hit the edge of the ice, my fingernails digging into the cold and unforgiving snow desperately as I pulled myself up. I felt the dull thud as Chopper landed on his feet a few yards away, and I cursed him and his amazing leaping powers. My hands were freezing by the time I was able to stand up, which was barely a few seconds after I had impacted on the ledge but seemed like a few hours, and I was about to shove them into my pocket when I noticed that I was still tightly gripping Chopper's spear. I gaped at the weapon blankly, wondering how in the world I had been able to keep hold of it after all I had been through.
I must have been even more stubborn that I had thought.
Suddenly, there was a roar, and I looked over in time to see yet another movie event unfurl as Scar, his mask removed and mandibles flaring, attempted to intimidate Lex. The girl stood her ground, and I nodded approvingly; I had always loved that part of the movie. After a few seconds of regard, Scar brought out a Xeno claw and, upon Lex's approval, traced the warrior's mark upon her cheek. I grinned and began making my way over, Chopper following at my gesture.
Suddenly, there was an eruption of snow and a screech of primal anger, and I groaned and smacked my hand to my head. Of all the things to forget about a movie, this was the worst! How stupid could I possibly be! Instantly, Chopper ran to the other Yautja, who attempted to circle the gigantic screaming black demon that was the Xeno Queen, and I moved to stand beside the newly scarred Lex, my spear held at the ready. I looked at her and grinned slightly, seeing her face illuminated eerily by the flash of a plasma cannon as she stared back with wide eyes.
"So," I said challengingly, "How about we help take down the biggest bitch in the valley?"
Indeed... wonder how that's gonna turn out... (auther sees herself flying into oblivion for no reason) O-kay...
