"N-never again...never...never a-ag-agai-oh f-fuck..." I gagged while slightly spasming on the ground.
"You good?" Decker asked as he lightly rubbed my back.
"It...it f-feels...feels like my in-insides have b-become my outsides..." I hissed after a second of trying to pull myself back together.
We had just gotten done going through the teleporter, well, to be more specific it was more like a giant rip in space just underneath the Lounge. To put it simply, I absolutely hated the experience, the whole process of going through that fucking thing was undescribably horrible. In all honesty, it had felt as if all of my organs were trying to violently force themselves out through any opening possible on my body.
"You'll get used to it, eventually." He chuckled while helping me to my feet.
Stumbling ever so slightly as I got up, only one thought was going through my mind at that moment. (Note to self, learn how to fly as soon as humanly possible...)
"W-where are we even going?" I muttered while holding my head.
"I'll carry you there, it'll be faster that way." He hummed as he carefully picked me up, and honestly, I was thankful for it, mostly because I really didn't want to walk in my current state.
(Let's just...just hope that I don't vomit out my own intestines before we get there...) I thought to myself as we began to move once more.
As we did however, I took the moment to glance around at my new surroundings, and boy, was this place bloody confusing. Hundreds of differently shaped and designed doors hovering in the air high above us, passageways and winding stairs that casually defied the laws of physics, even gravity and space seemed to fluctuate every now and then.
We weren't alone here either, in fact there were dozens upon dozens of various Alternatives as well as Helpers moving around from place to place. Some of these other individuals were talking to each other while many others opened the previously mentioned doors before entering them to who knows where.
Anyway, Decker made his way over to one of the Helpers that was hovering in place not far from us. The moment he started heading towards it however, the little thing almost immediately noticed us and floated over happily. I didn't understand what my Mentor said to it, mainly because he was speaking in that other language of his again, but their conversation lasted for only about forty or so seconds.
Once they were done a dark oak door, one taller than Decker himself, suddenly manifested out of nowhere next to us a moment later. Without much ceremony Decker quickly opened the door allowing me to see what lay on the other side. What I saw looked to be a rather fancy VIP suite, the type that was way, way too expensive for most people in my original world to stay in.
"What now?" I asked, still glancing around.
"You stay here, have a look around, get something to eat or drink, and meet the other brats while you're at it." He mused as he began to walk off deeper into whatever this place was.
Actually...I was rather surprised to be honest, mostly because Decker, who was around twenty meters tall when standing up, was able to comfortably fit in here without changing his size. It was as if space was bending around him, around the room, making it possible for him to move here freely without smashing into the ceiling.
"And where are you going exactly?"
"I'm going to grab the others." He mused out a response without looking back at me.
"Alright."
Sighing once he was gone I couldn't help shake my head slightly. (Guess I should check this place out then.)
Moving on though, I decided to take a better look at my new environment. And so I entered what appeared to be a kind of living room, and honestly, I found the atmosphere rather...pleasant to say the least. From what I could tell, a part of the reason for why exactly I was feeling far more at ease here was rather simple, it was because my instincts had drastically calmed down and were not screaming at me anymore. Additionally I was no longer out in the open, a fact that made my Xenomorph side far more relaxed and easier to deal with.
Unfortunately I wasn't the only one here, so sadly I could still hear that little voice in the back of my head, thankfully it wasn't nearly as bad as it was before. As for who was here exactly, well, off to my side, at the far right corner of the room, there was a girl. A girl who was currently sitting on a one person couch reading a book with her knees up against her chest.
She just so happened to have long black and light blue hair that seemed incredibly silky, along with incredibly smooth and pale skin. She was mostly wearing all black with what appeared to be cyan coloured bioluminescent markings all over her body. Additionally her eyes, which were also a lightly coloured cyan, glowed with the same kind of bioluminescent light, a light that I found oddly enchanting to look at.
Overall she was rather beautiful to say the least, although I didn't really care about that at the moment, after all something else had gotten my attention. I was currently focused on the gills that lined her neck, gills that appeared to be closed for now, as well as a long fish-like tail covered in black and cyan scales.
Apparently she hadn't noticed me enter, probably because she was a little distracted with that book of hers. "Hello there." I said in greeting, however I wasn't expecting the reaction I would receive in return.
The girl seemed, well, rather skittish and fearful to say the least, if her visibly flinching in fright at my presence was anything to go by anyway. (Right, just because I'm small now doesn't mean I'm not a horrifying parasitic alien...) I mentally slapped myself.
"My name's Carmen, and you are?" I introduced myself while trying to appear as unthreatening as possible, which was hard considering what I was.
"S-Sapphire..." She whispered, obviously still apprehensive about interacting with me.
"Good to know." I nodded before continuing with my next inquiry. "Is it just me and you here or...?"
"T-there...there are four others...their erm...their in the back...I think anyway..." She muttered quietly and I couldn't help but feel somewhat bad for her.
(So there are six of us here, I wonder if they're all as fearful as this one.) I thought but was interrupted before I could ask anything else.
"Oh cool, guess you're the last to get here?"
"Huh?"
Glancing over my shoulder where the unknown voice had come from I noticed someone new walking into the room while holding a drink in their left hand. I couldn't tell what they actually looked like considering that most of their humanoid upper torso was covered by a cloak made entirely of playing cards. As for their lower half, well, it was made up of six sharp crab-like legs that poked out from under the previously mentioned cloak. Each of said legs were also made of cards as well, a fact that led me to believe that their whole body was actually made out of differently designed playing cards.
"And you are." I asked with a slight tilt of my head.
"I'm Lucius, nice to meet ya mate." He was clearly male from the sound of his voice. Actually I had no idea if he even had a mouth to be honest, mostly because the area underneath his hood was just a black void from what I could tell. "And you're Carmen right? Sorry for eavesdropping, however I couldn't help but overhear."
"It's fine I gues-" I was about to say before a sudden loud yell cut me off.
"GET AWAY YOU FOUL BEAST!"
"The fuck was that." I asked somewhat alarmed.
"It's probably the others, there in the back." Lucius explained while taking a sip of his drink, as he did the liquid seemed to be absorbed by the darkness under his hood.
(How is he...you know what, let's just not question it and move on.) I shook my head before deciding to investigate just what the heck was happening.
"I'll be right back in a second." I muttered as I walked off. In the end it didn't actually take me all that long to realize that the yell had come from what I guessed to be the kitchen, ironic considering what I would soon discover.
There, just in front of me, were two entities. The first appeared to be some kind of zombie, if its partly melted skull was anything to go by. In fact it's overall look just screamed undead, however it didn't seem mindless like you'd expect it to be, in fact it was clearly intelligence and was acting almost playful in a way.
As for its appearance, well, it, or he, was clearly male, he looked somewhat scruffy and even rather insane if the smile on his face was anything to go by, however he also had a mischievous glint in his hollow milky white eyes. He also had messy brown hair with patches of dried blood mixed into it as well as a body that was for the most part completely intact, except for his previously mentioned skull that is. Additionally he was wearing a somewhat torn and battered military uniform, the kind worn by commanders and generals in World War Two.
As for the other one...well...that's where things got interesting. I had no idea if they were male or female just from their looks alone, however from the sound of their voice and their well tailored outfit it would appear that they were male as well. What was odd about them however was the fact that they didn't have any skin...or muscle...or bones for that matter.
If you couldn't figure it out by now, well, let me spell it out for you. They were literally a brain and nervous system that was somehow speaking with a very posh and somewhat old fashioned British accent, without an actual mouth I might add, and wearing the kind of suit you'd only see on a very wealthy butler. Additionally they had around sixteen multi-coloured eyes, each of said eyes were floating close to their brain, almost like they were orbiting around it.
"Brain~!" (✧﹃ ✧)
"Leave me be your horrid thing." The walking nervous system hissed as it sat on top of what I believed to be some kind of sci-fi looking fridge.
"Brain brain?" (ˊ• ^ •ˋ)
"Of course not, do you think me a fool!" He gasped, sounding completely and utterly appalled by whatever the zombie had just asked. "I will not come down from here, I will not allow you to feast upon my supple form, no matter how nicely you may ask!"
"Brain..." (╥﹏╥)
"What the hell is going on here...?" I asked with a dumbfounded look on my face.
To my surprise I actually got a response, however it definitely wasn't from anyone that I was expecting. "Probablement une sorte de rituel d'accouplement bizarre." Someone said in French from behind me.
"Jesus fucking christ!" I yelped, after all I hadn't noticed their presence at all.
Quickly turning around I was met with a wall of shifting, moving pink. It took me a second to realize what I was looking at, and honestly, I was no longer surprised, mostly because of all the weirdness I'd experienced and been exposed to today.
Anyway, standing before me was a clearly female humanoid figure made of some kind of pink gas with glowing green crystals that occasionally pulsed with dark emerald coloured energy hovering around her form. She had "hair" that went down to just below her waist, however she had no mouth, in fact she had no facial features at all. Additionally her legs ended in sharp points instead of normal feet and toes, in fact the way they were shaped kind of made it looked like she was wearing high heels in a way.
(Of course I wouldn't be able to sense her...she probably doesn't have any electrical impulses running through her body, after all she seems to be made of some kind of gas.) That was true, in fact it was at that very moment that I realized something else I hadn't actually noticed before as well. (Now that I think about it, I wasn't able to sense Decker or that Lucius guy either.)
"That could end up being a big problem down the line if I'm not careful..." I muttered under my breath before turning my attention back to the person in front of me.
"Sorry about that, I'm Iris by the way." She hummed apologetically, her voice sounded ethereal, almost like the whistling of the wind.
"Carmen..." I mused a little more defensively than I meant to, although she didn't seem to mind.
"Never thought I would see a tiny Xenomorph today." I just shrugged in response at that
"You could say the same thing about anything that has happened today."
"Fair point."
"By the way, were you just speaking in French a moment ago?" I asked, causing her to nod her head slightly.
"I was."
"Connaissez-vous d'autres langues?" I chuckled, I wasn't completely fluent in French but I did know enough to have a somewhat in-depth conversation.
Hearing me the crystals that hovered around her body seemed to glow brighter, a fact that seemed to indicate delight or joy if her happy tone when she responded was anything to go by. "Je fais!"
(I can tell that we are going to get along.) I smiled internally before turning my attention back to what was going on behind me.
"Brain!" ( ˘ ^˘ )
"What in blazers do you have to be upset about?" The Brain in a suit asked with a blank look. "After all, I don't see someone trying to eat you for no god forsaken reason!"
"We should probably break this up." Iris muttered.
"Right..." I sighed as I moved to do just that.
Deactivating the Minimize Gift I felt my body transform and warp back into its full near six meter tall self, a feeling that wasn't all too dissimilar to releasing your gut after sucking it in for an extended period of time. Thankfully though the space around me shifted and expanded, a fact that allowed me to exist here without smashing into anything. As for the reactions of those around me, well, Iris for her part just whistled at my sudden growth while the two idiots in the room didn't notice me until my clawed hand slammed down in between them.
"Brain brain?" (•◇•)
I had no idea what the zombie had just said, however I was quickly given an explanation a moment later. "The fiend is surprised about your large size madam."
(I'm just going to ignore that unintentional jab at my "size"...) I growled internally.
"Oh...wait, how can you understand him?" Iris, who had walked up next to me, asked curiously.
"It's an ability of my species, I can get a somewhat rough grasp of any language that I hear." He responded promptly as he got down from his elevated position.
"I suppose that makes sense."
"I thank you for your timely intervention my good friend, a second later and I might have found myself in quite the predicament." He mused before politely bowing towards me.
"It's not a problem." I responded before noticing something that made me sigh outwardly. "Although it doesn't appear our zombie friend is done with you just yet."
"Hmmm?" He mused while glancing behind himself and towards what exactly I was looking at.
"Brain brain, brain brain brain~" (☆ｗ☆)Ψ
"Put that fork down, where did you even get that blasted thing?!"
(He does realize we're in a kitchen...right?)
_ _ _Five Minutes Later_ _ _
"So, you done?" I asked now back in my smaller form.
"Brain..." (˘—3—)
"Good."
(How many times am I gonna have to introduce myself today?) I sighed after a moment of silence between us all.
"I'm Carmen, and you two are?"
"My word, to think I would allow a lady to introduce herself first, how very rude of me." The brain with sixteen eyes gasped in shame. "Allow me to rectify this blunder of mine, I am Fung'fu Lemagor Gringus, and may I say that it is an honor to make your quaintance my dear."
"That's...quite the name you have there..." He puffed up his chest proudly at that, apparently taking it as a compliment. "And...erm...you are?"
"Brain!" (>ω<)
For a second Iris and I just looked over at Gringus with somewhat questioning expressions. "There is no need for me to translate that, his name is exactly what you heard."
Nodding slowly at that I quickly continued while trying not to sound socially awkward as I did. "Well, nice to meet you two I guess."
"As it is to make your acquaintance as well miss."
"Brain brain." (=ヮ=)b