Twi-Blight: Ch 2, Out-Bleak, Pt 4

Twi-Blight, Chapter 2: Out-Bleak, Pt 4

A thought germinating in his mind, Issam said in panic: "Good lord, do they really intend to help us, or kill us?" Grasping his thought process & worried out of her mind, Pearl rushed to the command board, but before she could do anything, she was contacted by the warships: "Attention, infected ship! Any attempt to leave will be deemed a criminal act & responded to with firepower! Hold your position and be ready to open the hatch to our units when ordered!" Pearl addressed her friend tensely: "Listen closely: don't defy their orders or give them reasons to kill us. But should they mean any of us harm, we fight to the end." Issam nodded & tried regaining his composure as his alien friend waited for the signal. A minute later, the ship’s radio broadcast another message: "Plague units are now standing before your ship's gate; open the hatch to let them in." Readying her own weapon for the worst case scenario, Pearl unlocked the hatch with the click of a button & then rushed to Issam to stand with him near the vault containing their sick friend. Seconds later, numerous aliens in hazmat suits and carrying weapons stormed the main deck. Their leader wasted no time asking: "Firstly, did you stop anywhere at all after leaving Earth with the patient?" The two shook their heads & said "No." "Where's the infected now?" The leader curtly added. Suspicious, Pearl kept her cool & asked: "Why the weapons? I requested help from medics, not soldiers." –“We can't afford to waste any more time, the leader retorted. Galvan Prime risks severe contamination with the infected and their pathogens nearby!"

Not liking the answer, Pearl read the alien's mind while Issam tried deducing their intentions through their words alone. "You're not planning to save our friend, are you?" He asked bitterly. The troop leader blurted unflinchingly: "What's the point in risking a galactic outbreak looking for a cure? Humans are going extinct soon enough regardless, based on their recent severe population drop." Shocked and indignant, Issam stayed silent while Pearl retorted in calm disdain: "You know living beings are more than just a species' gene bank, right? They're each their own unique, irreplaceable individual. Everyone has the right to live and pursue their own dreams!" –“Maybe it’s true, the leader replied, but we also have every right not to endanger our own kin for the sake of aliens. I'll ask again: where's the infected?" –“That man offered vital help to save the entire universe from a viral demon! Is that how you ingrates repay him?!" –“Who said that!?" The alarmed leader said as the others pointed their weapons in every direction. –“Everyone stay calm, Issam intervened. It's an A.I. speaking through a device in my pocket. See?" He slowly took Rhapsody's PC out of his pocket. The leader looked at the device skeptically for a few seconds, after which Rhapsody said: "Happy? I'm still waiting for an answer." –“It's not about just him, the leader replied. Taking the patient in might devolve into a catastrophe." –“Fine, you made your point, Pearl sighed. You don't want us anywhere nearby, I understand & accept it. Sorry for wasting your time, we'll be leaving..." -"Don't move, the leader yelled as the troop took aim. We’re quarantining the ship & crew to ensure the disease can’t spread any further."

As the duo mentally cursed how things turned out, the leader added somewhat empathically: "Look, I’m sorry for this mess, but I'm doing what must be done to safeguard my own home & people; it’s nothing personal." –“I understand," Issam compassionately said, putting Rhapsody's PC back in his pocket. But the troop didn't notice he was also taking hold of a smoke bomb. "It's reciprocal after all," he added dropping the bomb to fill the room with a thick smokescreen. Having guessed her friend's plan ahead of time based on previous interactions and her telepathy, Pearl had kept at arm's reach special goggles that she quickly put on after her friend made his move. As the troop was distracted for a split moment, the duo dispersed to try and take them down. Wearing his own goggles & his Bo set to stun, Issam nimbly leaped between the aliens & struck their limbs joints with paralyzing energy to inhibit their mobility, while Pearl deployed a portable energy shield to execute a more defensive version of Issam's attack. The confused soldiers shot blindly in all directions, hoping to score a lucky hit as a few moved in the blind, succeeding mostly in damaging the ship's machinery. Eventually though, they managed to land a couple of blows: as Issam jumped around frantically, he was hit by a blast in the chest, falling down with a loud thud, & a soldier managed to sneak behind Pearl to shoot off her goggles, while also singing part of her face. Despite the smoke & her pain, Pearl could still feel her comrade was in trouble through her emphatic powers. Based on the thud & sensing Issam’s brainwaves, she rushed her wounded friend’s location to shield him from incoming blasts. –“Issam my friend, are you alright?" She asked concerned, the latter lying on the floor. –“I'll live, he grunted, but my heart's aching too much to continue fighting." –“Hang on, we’ll make it out somehow,” she tried reassuring him, despite not believing her own words, “even if it would take nothing short than a miracle,” she grimly mumbled to herself. Unfortunately for everyone, her plea was “answered” in the worst manner possible. The ship's system having been damaged by the blind firing, the vault inside of which Jazzuffa was concealed malfunctioned & opened up.

The human was almost completely transformed into a Slimebiot, only his head's upper right part staying intact. When his lean & monstrous silhouette appeared behind the smoke, the troop leader hastily contacted the other ships on a device: "ALERT! The patient escaped confinement! Fire in 1 minute if we don't call back!" The monster swiftly sprung at them, knocking off their communicator & slashing their suit with huge claws. The leader screamed in pain as blood spurted from her gaping wounds at an unfazed Jazz, who wasted no time in pouncing at the rest of the troop as quick as lighting, stabbing & scratching them in quick succession. The smoke having finally dissipated, Issam & Pearl were treated to the view of bloody, lifeless bodies littering the main deck. Seeing their good friend hideously mutated & covered in blood made them feel as helpless as dreadful. –“Commander, the delay is over!" Another ship contacted the troops. "Can you hear me!?" Groaning in agony, the leader muttered "Fire away" before fainting. Terrified, Issam & Pearl knew they’d end up skewered either by the ships’ lasers or their mutated friend’s claws. But something was off about the latter: he hadn’t leaped yet at his former friends to kill or convert them; he just stood there, his eyeball rotating around as if assessing the situation. Resigning to her seemingly inevitable fate, Pearl pleaded with her infected friend tearfully: "Jazzuffa, can you hear us?" The mutant looked at her perplexed. –“If we're all goners,” she resumed, “I wish for us friends to stay together till the end; please." The slime stayed put, yet his body was shivering. –“My pupil, Issam added panting, please answer us: are you still in there?" Outside, the armed spaceships had finished charging their beam weaponry, which they fired simultaneously at Pearl's ship, forming a searing column of bright light. Jazz-Slime's eyes captured the intense flash, then almost instinctively, he leaped like a feral beast claws first at his two former buddies.