Questions or statements by reviewers:
nightmaster000: Depends, the OC can't be some Mary Sue or someone than seemingly can do no wrong and knows more than anyone. Also they have to fit into the theme of the story
gunman: Dead Space is pretty much suspense, gore, horror and a sudden desire to have your own rig and a Plasma Cutter like in the games. Find series, hope it continues down the road…
Slash17: This arc which will last another six chapters and the next several will start to see the development of the four's relationships with each other
Disclaimer: I don't own any Marvel or DC characters seen, mentioned or used in this story
Three days earlier…
Peter could shake the odd feeling that he, En Sabah Nur were being watched as they were making their way towards the ship's bridge. It also didn't help he kept hearing some kind of faint whispering in his ear every once in a while.
"Your troubled" En Sabah Nur said as he walked slightly ahead of Peter
Peter seeing there was no real harming in admitting it shrugged "Yeah, something about this ship is starting to unnerve me..."
The large son of Darkseid made a sound of agreement "When we are done here, set the ship's reactor to detonate"
"And if the core is offline or incapable of doing so?" Peter asked as he passed a large tear in a wall that was dripping with blood and inside was filled with some kind of biomass that he was tempted to sample but thought better of it.
"I'm sure you'll think of something" En Sabah Nur said with a grunt as he ducked under a jagged piece of metal embedded in the ceiling that looked like it was coming from the floor above.
Peter snorted in amusement "I have a few ideas that may wo-"
"RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!"
Both sons of Darkseid along with their Parademon guards turned to see something in the shadows charging towards them. Peter raised his hands and channeled his venom blasts while En Sabah Nur formed a cannon with his hand.
"Open fire!" En Sabah Nur ordered as the figure emerged into the light.
…
Present…
Diana, Psylocke and Warbird made their way down the dimly lit hall with the Parademons following close behind. The hall was covered in dents, scratches and blood stains. The air was filled with the smell of rotting flesh, discharged weaponry, and ozone.
Diana grimaced when she passed a door that had what looked like chunks of bones smashed into it, the bits of white seemingly embedded into the metal through brute force.
"What could do such a thing?" Diana asked Warbird who was using a small ball of energy in her hand to light the way.
"Don't know, likely the ones responsible for the Agooma's silence, and likely Peter's and En Sabah Nur's." Warbird said with a frown as she passed a hole in the wall that had blood dripping from it and bits of gore scattered further down the tunnel.
Psylocke made a noise of annoyance as she kept trying to scan the area for any other mental activity "I can't sense a thing in here"
"What do you mean?" Diana questioned with said with her eyes narrowed in confusion.
"I can't sense any minds here. Not us or the others. Something's blocking my ability to do a physic sweep of the ship." Psylocke said with a frown "…Which means, whatever attacked this ship is still here"
"How can you tell?" Diana questioned.
"Because if it was some sort of tech the ones responsible for this would have taken it with them. You wouldn't leave something like that behind and if it's an individual that's behind Psylocke's attempts to scan the area…" Warbird trailed off.
"Their likely a powerful telepath, even more powerful than me" Psylocke said with a frown "And possibly En Sabah Nur…"
Diana's eyes widened at that information, so far both Psylocke and En Sabah Nur have proven to be amongst the most powerful telepaths she's ever encountered. They could very well rival the Martian Manhunter if not surpass him!
"Should we regroup? If whoever or whatever is still here, then being separated might not be a sound plan" Diana said as she gripped the handle of her sword and scanned the hall for any possible threats.
"We can try but for now, let's stick with the plan of getting to the bridge. Once there we'll hopefully have a better grasp on the situation and plan accordingly" Warbird stated.
Diana nodded at the logic of the blonde's planning and chanced a look over her shoulder at the rear guard. It was then that she saw that they were missing a few Parademons from their group
"Warbird, Psylocke, we're missing several Paradeomns" Diana said as she drew her sword while a few of the alien foot soldiers also took notice of their missing comrades and readied their weapons.
Warbird shot a small ball of energy down the hall they went and waited it was a good distance away before she caused it to detonate and engulf the area in a bright light.
Everyone held their breath as they examined the much brighter hall for any signs of the missing Parademons. The lead Parademon of the group sent out a series of grunts and growls and waited for a possible response. Several minutes of eerie tense silence passed and still no sign or response.
"We need to regroup" Psylocke said as she drew her sword and channeled psionic energy into the blade causing it to glow a purple color "Whatever it is, we'll have a better chance of eliminating it together instead of scattered"
"Agreed" Diana said as she tried to com Grail's team but only got static. She tried several other channels and contacting Barda and Lemenus "Something's blocking our coms, I can't reach them"
"RAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!"
A sudden blood curdling scream caused everyone to tense as they looked down the hall it came from. Then the lights, the few still one, began to go out. They started at the far end towards the doorway that the team entered and was slowly approaching them, as if the darkness was some predator that was stalking them.
Diana looked at the approaching darkness with a feeling of dread in her stomach "Warbird… I don't know how but I can sense something is in their approaching us"
Warbird narrowed her eyes at that and looked to the Parademons "Open fire in that direction!"
The Parademons spread out and aimed their advance energy weapons at the approaching darkness and opened fire. Diana raised her blade as she watched the energy bolts fly into he darkness and strike the walls until one hit something and for a brief moment she saw movement in the shadows.
Her eyes narrowed at the sight "Warbird"
"I saw it" the blonde said before she than sent a wave of photon energy down the hall, spreading from the floor to the ceiling and reaching both sides of the corridor. The wall of energy tore through the hall until it finally hit something massive and caused it to grunt in slight pain.
The Parademons didn't hesitate to open fire on the unknown being as it let out a dark roar of rage and began to charge through the hail of energy bolts. Diana's eyes widened as the creature finally came into the light and she cringed at the sight of it.
It looked like it was some sort of deformed dead Parademon with it's flesh exposed in certain parts of it's large body, particularly around the shoulders to presumably allow for greater flexibility. It's legs were elongated and bent in reverse while it's arms were large and covered in some sort of bone encrusted flesh that made the limbs even look large than they already were. The head was missing the lower jaw and was instead replaced with what looked like small barbed tendrils that seemed to be drooling blood.
To Diana, the beast looked like someone took several dead inbred Parademons and then for whatever reason morphed them together into this abomination.
"OPEN FIRE!" Warbird shouted at the Parademons who were desperately trying to kill the charging monster. The blasts made contact with it's skin and flesh only to cause minor burns at best.
"RAAAAAWAAAR!" the monster bellowed as it barreled intot he first few Parademons with a force that tore the Apokolips warriors to pieces.
A Parademon behind it opened fired on the exposed back only for the large brute to smack it away with its large arms. Diana gaped as she, Warbird, and Psylocke watched the Parademons being violently torn to pieces by the large brute. Warbird's eyes narrowed as she shot several powerful blasts at the creature, one of them hit it in between the neck and shoulders and blasted it's arm clean off.
"RRRRRRRRAAAAAWWWWWWWW!" the monster let out a roar of rage as it immediately set it's sights on Warbird and charged after on one arm bashing aside any Parademon dumb enough to get in it's way.
Warbird shot another blast at it's head and shot it clean off but to her surprise and that of the others it kept charging. Diana drew her sword and suddenly rammed into the beast and stabbed it right into its side and pinned it to the wall. The beast struggled violently as Diana stood back and out of the creatures thrashing while what few Parademons were left surrounded it with their weapons raised at it's form.
Warbird approached it while Psylocke kept an eye out for any more, it was unlikely that the shooting and this creatures roaring didn't attract attention.
"What in the Source are you?" Warbird said as she examined the creature up close that she saw was clearly made from multiple Parademons and a few bits of something else as well. She made a face of disgust before she blasted the thing at full power with her energy blasts.
The creature began to shriek as it redoubled it's efforts to free itself while it's body slowly began to burn away under the intense heat of Warbird's blasts and that of the Parademons that opened fired on it. Diana shielded her eyes from the light and waited until it faded before returning her gaze to see the large beast was now a pile of burning mush and bone.
She looked towards Warbird "I take it you've never encountered something like this?"
"No" Warbird shook her head before she looked towards the Parademons "Collect what weapons you can from the dead"
The Parademons nodded and began to go about policing the weapons of their fallen Parademons without much care to their bodies while Diana grabbed her sword and tore it from the wall. The blade was glowing slightly as was the handle, but the heat was palpable to her.
"We need to move" Psylocke said as she watched the halls and shadows "If there are others on this ship still, they would have heard this"
"As would Grail and the others" Diana said as she kicked away a piece of Parademon with a face of disgust.
"We make for the bridge now!" Warbird commanded and was about to turn when they heard a distant roar down the hall towards the bridge followed by what sounded like shooting.
"That's not one of ours" Diana said as the sound of the weapon going off didn't match the ones carried by the Parademons "Possible survivors?"
"Or maybe Peter" Psylocke said in a hopeful tone as she drew her sword and began to make her way down the hall followed quickly by Warbird and the Parademons.
Diana watched them go and looked down the hall that led to the ship's bridge. The hall's lights had since gone out and even with her eyes she couldn't make out anything in the darkness. For a long moment, she stood there and stared into the shadows before she turned and followed the rest of her group while keeping a firm grip on her sword.
…
"Well this isn't what I was hoping to find" Warbird said with annoyance as the group had finally arrived at the bridge of the ship.
They had yet to encounter anymore of the fused dead Parademons and make contact with Grail and her team. They also had yet to discover the status of both Peter and En Sabah Nur, though Psylocke and Warbird were more focused on the first individual. Diana followed Psylocke and Warbird on to the bridge while the Parademons stayed outside to guard the entrance in case more of those undead monsters appeared.
The bridge was covered in claw marks, plasma scorches, blood stains and bits of flesh and bone. Many of the terminals were either damaged beyond help or held numerous cracks in it. Power also seemed to be off as all the undamaged monitors were black.
Diana held in a grimace as the odor of the room hit her nose and nearly caused her to gag at the sheer potency of it. She could make out Psylocke and Warbird having similar difficulties but remained composed.
"Do you think Peter made it this far Carol?" Psylocke questioned as she kneeled and picked up a piece of a blaster rifle that seemed bent, but the slight heat of the nozzle indicated it was used recently, possibly the weapon they heard earlier.
"Yes…" Warbird pointed up towards the ceiling which Diana saw had several strands of webbing on it with what looked like dead Parademons and other creatures she couldn't identify in cocoons "I also make out damage from his venom blasts on the walls. He at least made it this far"
"Now all we have to do is find him and we can leave this place" Psylocke said as she scanned the room "There's something about this place that's wrong, something unnatural…"
"What of En Sabah Nur? Shouldn't we try to find him as well?" Diana questioned with uncertainty. She didn't think Grail would be too fond of leaving the more powerful brother behind.
"Grail is more than capable of finding him, Peter is my concern Diana" Psylocke said with obvious contempt in her voice.
"Diana go make yourself useful and check on the Parademons" Warbird gestured towards the door "The Source knows they need an authoritative figure around to keep them in line and focused"
"I may be of help in loc-" Diana began only to be interrupted.
"Oh spare us the bullshit! We all know that you can care less for Peter so stop pretending that you actually give a damn about his well-being!" Warbird rounded on Diana angrily, her eyes glowing.
Diana felt her temper flare as she narrowed her eyes at the other woman "I do care for his well-being Warbird…"
"Oh sure you do! I bet your hoping we don't find him so that way your marriage to him is annulled so you can go back to the backwater planet to be with your pathetic Kryptonian" Warbird growled out with the energy in her hands building.
Diana saw this and raised her blade slowly "I do not wish to fight you Warbird… stand down!"
Warbird looked like she was about to say something when Psylocke suddenly shouted and sent a wave of psionic energy at both to get their attentions.
"ENOUGH!"
Both women were startled by the sudden outburst and looked to see the purple haired woman glaring at both of them with her eyes glowing purple and a faint 'mask' of purple psionic energy around her face that looked similar to that of a butterfly almost.
She than spoke in a cold tone "Right now our main concern should be finding Peter! Not arguing about Diana's lack of love for him"
Warbird seemed to consider the psychic's words as the energy faded from her hands and eyes "Agreed…but don't ever speak to me like that again…"
Diana lowed her bade and let out a breath she didn't know she was holding before they all turned towards the door at the sound of something heavy hitting it. Diana frowned as she steadily approached the door with her blade at the ready while Warbird aimed her glowing fists at the door and Psylocke reached for her sword on her back.
KRAKOOM!
The doors flew open and Diana was forced to duck as the jagged piece of metal flew over her and embedded itself in a row of monitors. She looked up and gaped at the sight of a humanoid looking figure standing their only they were pale, naked and had some sort of greenish acid leaking down their mouth as it glared at them with yellow eyes.
"RRRAAAAAAAHHHHHH!" the creature yelled before it reared it's head back and shot a stream of acid at Diana who dodged the hit and blitzed towards the hostile and rammed her sword into it's chest.
The figure didn't even so much as flinch and grabbed Diana's wrist and opened it's mouth to spray her in the face. Diana took her other hand grabbed the pale figure by the throat and cut off the buildup of acid and lifted it in the air before she threw it to the far side of the room.
Warbird used that moment to fire of a blast of her photon energy and blast it's lower body off, causing it fall to the floor and it's acid to pool around it. This didn't even slow the creature down as it started to quickly crawl back towards the trio while leaving a trail of acid behind in its wake.
Psylocke narrowed her eyes at the abomination before she quickly approached it and created a ball of psionic energy in her hand and threw it towards the legless undead monster.
The result was it being blown apart with acid and blood flying everywhere. Diana made a noise of disgust as he raised her gauntlets to block some of the gore from hitting her in the face, while Warbird grumbled about it getting in her hair.
"Well that could have gone better" Diana said as she chanced a look towards the door to the bridge and frowned "I think it's safe to say that the Parademons failed in defending the door"
"Useless" Warbird sighed as she turned towards Psylocke "Remind me to speak with Dessad about improving the Parademons performances when we get back"
Diana was about to comment on that when the three heard a roar that sounded close by followed by what sounded like energy blasts being fired.
"That's Peter's venom blasts!" Psylocke said before she quickly rushed out of the bridge followed closely by Diana and Warbird who flew after her all unaware of the lone figure that was standing in the corner watching the three since they arrived with narrowed yellow eyes.
'Hmm…their being here will complicate things' the figure thought as they quietly followed the three powerful women.
And done.
Short chapter yes but the next one will be longer as it goes into more detail about what happened to Peter and En Sabah Nur after they arrived and who the mysterious figure was at the end.
