Hello there! Obscenely short chapter, but I had to cut it off short or else It'd be kinda... bland.
Bsdisaster: no, they never do work out like they should... at least for me they don't XD
RaptorChick: Yup, read it, loved it, am currently trying to find it somewhere. I got it from the library when I read it...
Here's hoping the outcome of the fight is good...
DarkXeno: Yes, yes, I KNOW! (screams and runs around like a headless chicken) Gah! The obly reason I'm pausing that one is becuase I have another, different fic that I'm co-writing with someone that my part was actually due about a week ago, and I need to drop everything and get THAT finished and patch up what I'm sure are a few frayed nerves on my co-writers part before I can start writing the rest of the eleventh chapter of EoaPS. But as it's about halfway finished,I don't think that'll take very long. Maybe another week... if I'm lazy with the co-writer stuff.
Ranma Hibiki: Well, in the movie, the Queen was able to withstand several neck hits, a direct hit to the head, several puncture wounds to vital areas, and a few deep slashes with the sruikens. I just gathered that the Queen was a tough ass bitch and wouldn't be bothered much by a leg wound, even if a sucessful -albeit almost impossible- breakage of the leg would result in a nicely crippled creature.
Fan Girls? I wouldn't be afraid of them, 'cause I'm female too! Now bees... get an army of bees and I'll be running for the hills...
ButterflyDragon: Thanks for the heads up! We'll miss ya, but I'm sure you will have a lot to read when you get back XD Glad I could help you find the title.
There has to be a way! There's always a way! My mind screamed at me as the Queen advanced, shrugging off plasma blasts as if they were nothing while she determinedly strode forward. Within an instant Chopper had charged into the conflict, leaping past the thrashing tail to slash at the leg that I had injured in an effort to cripple the huge beast, but she oriented on him and her tail caught him across the middle. He flew back with a roar of pain, older wounds ripping open with a spray of neon blood as the bony projections on the tail slashed across the damaged skin.
"Oh, you did not just do that," I growled angrily, mind racing as I looked for something that would help. The water tower idea had gone down the drain, and I was pretty blank; why had this not happened like it had in the movie! That would have been so much easier than this! My head snapped over at a sharp growl and I saw Scar run into the fray, taking the place of Chopper and distracting the Queen from the two humans that were standing like idiots right out in the open.
"What does it take to kill these things?" Lex gasped, watching as yet another blast caught the Queen in the side, yielding more blood and serving to turn the creature again. I straightened with a small gasp of pain, putting my spear into the snow to balance better and shaking my head.
"No idea, I just usually hit 'em until they die," I replied, "But this damn bitch is tougher than the others. The water tower would'a done it, but that plan didn't go down as well as I might've hoped…"
"Is there a way we could lure it off the edge somehow?" she suggested. I grunted in reply, my gaze roving over the surroundings as my racing mind ran faster than it had ever done in my life. Suddenly, my eyes widened slightly as the solution became clear to me. I looked at the water tower that had fallen a few yards away, which was currently groaning in a very foreboding manner as the Queen attempted to free herself from the clutches of the tied-off chain and the weight that restricted her mobility, and then at the fight. Lex looked at me as I nodded slowly.
"Oh, god, there could be," I whispered, throat closing slightly as I choked on the words that ultimately left me one option.
Well, if this was the way it had to be, then this was the way it had to be. I was the only logical choice for this, anyway; I couldn't run anymore, not with my back the way it was. Hell, I was already half-dead from the cold, and having anyone else do this would be wrong, as it was my idea. I looked at Lex with my face set into a determined mask of confidence, hiding my pure terror behind it as I gripped her shoulder to get her attention.
"Listen to me closely, 'cause I'm only gonna say this once," I said, forcing my voice to remain steady as I looked into her eyes, "Get the others to run, okay. Make sure they do…"
Then, I outlined the plan to her, seeing her eyes widen in horror much as mine had when I had thought of it. I could tell she was about to protest, but I stopped her with a hard slap on her back, pushing her forward and away from me as I lifted my spear and staggered slightly from the sudden absence of any support. My gut was roiling, and my eyes were again glistening with tears as I fought down the urge to run from this whole situation. What was I thinking? What in all hell was I thinking?
"Get going!" I yelled brokenly, backing up as I struggled with something on the tower before clearing my mind of all other thoughts and looking directly at the Queen, my eyes daring the creature to notice me. Almost as if she sensed my gaze the gigantic Xeno paused in her thrashing and fighting, that crested head rising to regard me with a feral snarl before she stepped forward. With a grin that was more for show than anything, I hauled back on the chain that I held -the chain that I had untied from the water tower- giving the Queen a slight tug that didn't move her at all, but served very well to anger her. I could almost hear her thoughts, her indignant growl that practically dared me to try it again.
I couldn't help but think 'Am I actually doing this? Why am I doing this?'
Well, I had always wanted to be a hero…
"Come on, you ugly ass bitch!" I taunted, hauling harder on the chain and moving the Queen slightly as her screech of fury rippled through the artic air. Somewhat near her I could see Lex trying her best to get the Yautja to leave, though she wasn't very successful at it. There was a sudden blue glow as another burst of energy came from Celtic's plasma cannon, but the Queen ducked easily, all her attention riveted on me and me alone as I walked slowly backwards, pulling on the chain at intervals and laughing manically at my own idiocy.
The Queen followed slowly, her movements slow and very, very deliberate. She wasn't very happy at all, I could see it in the menacing snarl and the arch of her back as her tail thrashed behind her. In a way, she seemed undecided about what the best way to kill me would be; her talons flexed and flashed under the cold artic moon as she opened her mouth, second jaw trembling in anticipation. I stumbled slightly as a jolt of pain flared up from my back, hissing through my teeth as I struggled to stay upright and keep the creature's attention on the intricate dance of wills, but already the spell was broken.
With an enraged screech the Queen lurched forwards, thick black legs pounding into the snow and sending it flying behind her as I turned and jumped painfully into the sheltered space by the fallen water tower, hoping desperately that my crazy, half-thought-out plan would succeed. The Queen's crested head slammed into it with another resounding crash, second mouth flying out and teeth snapping as she tried to reach me. Already, though, I was moving towards the other end of the thing, mind on my goal as the Queen again smashed her head into the metal, unaware that I had escaped from her immediate clutches and was trying to get the relatively thin layer of ice off the crack in the metal with my spear.
Her cry of anger told me that I had run out of time, and I closed my eyes in regret as I breathed out slowly, my spear slamming into the flimsy metal of the tower with a sound much like aluminum foil ripping. It was as if someone else was moving my limbs as I used both hands to rip downwards in a jagged slash that gushed freezing liquid over my hands, cutting off all sensation from the extremities in a matter of seconds.
The Queen paused in her rampage as a loud scream of tortured metal cut through the air, and there was an instant of complete and utter silence that stretched into eternity and beyond before the tower literally exploded, sending a torrent of unstoppable freezing liquid gushing out, taking the Xeno off her feet and sending her straight towards her watery doom below.
I screamed as I was lifted from my place as easily as if I had been made of air, my legs and arms thrashing in the current that I couldn't even feel anymore. I was amazed at how numb I felt, and not just from the cold, either. I felt no fear, no terror… no emotion at all. My mind was filled with nothing but a bleak, almost sad resignation of my fate, the fate that could not be avoided this time around. I could almost have felt amused, if I had been feeling anything at the moment.
Suddenly, my feet hit something solid, and I was slammed up against the crested skull of the Xeno Queen, who had somehow managed to get a grip on the ice and snow that was rapidly melting under her clawtips, but was still solid enough for her to prevent herself from falling into the abyss. I growled as I caught one of the blunt tines with my numb fingers, the sound nothing but raw emotion, and knew that my job wasn't over yet.
"I'm not going down without taking you with me," I snarled, raising the spear in my hands and bringing it down as hard as I could right into the frontal skull of the Queen, burying the weapon up to the grip and hauling back on it for good measure. The crested head suddenly came up with a scream of pain and rage, second mouth flying out much as it had done with the red striped creature before the Queen lost her precarious grip on the ice, falling back as the last of the water pushed her over the edge and into the empty air beyond.
I fell with her, somehow managing to rip the spear back out of her head before I lost my balance and fell away, arms spread like wings as I looked down at the rapidly approaching water below. Damn, it was a long way down, but as I was no longer feeling fear at the moment I just stared at it blankly, small images of my life playing before my eyes as I contemplated death.
I realized that I really hadn't done much in my life. Well, not that I had had much of a chance to, yet; I was only seventeen, after all, but I hadn't really lived in all my life besides this one, glorious day that I had spent in this dimension that had already taught me so much. Too bad I wouldn't be able to use that teaching, though; but oh, well, I'd had a good run.
Or had I? I mentally slapped myself in the face as my numb mind sped up a little. Was I really going to give up now? I mean, since when was I not stubborn in the face of everything, from my mom to a pack of Yautja warriors?
I had a reputation to uphold, here!
"I refuse to die," I whispered determinedly, my eyes lifting and watering from the ever-cold air that was blowing past me, "I refuse to die!"
Yes, but can refusal really work?
