Suppressing a groan of exhaustion, I rolled onto my back and focused on the tranquil, beautiful blue sky in attempt distract myself from a throbbing headache that had made me so nauseous moments before.
Fragments of memories, from when I forced myself down the monster’s throat, filtered across my mind's eye and I couldn’t help but laugh. I wasn’t only overjoyed that I had survived my retarded strategy but, what could have been my final words, were incredibly entertaining.
-”Maybe I am really losing it this time?”
I flexed my arms and legs, noting how weak and strange they felt as well as, what I could only describe as, the sensation of a strong pull at the base of my spine.
The feeling was strangely familiar, similar to when I woke up in the devastated clearing, and a subtle sense of dread washed over me.
-"I wonder what changed this time? At least I don't feel like a toddler."
-"Our body mass and profile have moved towards its optimal build, however." The voice hesitated, -"It appears that the biomass we acquired had many toxins and indigestible components. The available amount of potential sustenance seems to have tricked us into a growth state without providing the nutrients to support said growth."
I squeezed my eyes closed. I had so many questions, but I decided to focus on what I deemed to be the most important. -"Is the damage permanent?"
-"No." The voice sounded extremely happy. -"If we find the nutrients, our body with adapt appropriately or we will need to enter another metamorphosis stage. While it can be done at an accelerated rate, taking no more than a few minutes, it will be excruciatingly painful. I don't want that and I know you don't so I suggest we make finding a food source our top priority."
During this whole time, I had still been laughing, the euphoric feeling not diminished much by the voice in my head. I had defeated a gigantic monster. How hard would finding something to eat, be?
“What is it?”
A light, feminine voice, vastly different to the one I was used to hearing, interrupted my thoughts.
My laughter died as I felt my face contort into a frown. That didn't sound like it came from inside my head but behind me.
Watching the vapour from my breath diffuse into the air I cringed. I hadn’t checked my surroundings for threats as I escaped that fleshy tomb.
Shuddering from the memory of feeling trapped, I tilted my head slowly upwards, the bright blue sky gradually being replaced by green hills and... the upside down view of three people.
Typically, looking at people upside down should be disorientating, however, for some reason, it didn’t affect me in the slightest and even felt utterly natural.
Around twenty meters away, stood two men and a woman, wearing clothes that looked appropriate for beings from the stone age or some post-apocalyptic world. They were in a triangle like formation, reaffirming the belief they weren't here for a stroll.
My eyes scanned the group, noting the staff, metal club and shield and twin daggers the strangers were carrying.
-"These guys are armed and judging by their stance; they aren't amateurs."
I didn't know how I could judge them, having little to no experience of this back on Earth but the feeling I got from them was around one third less danger than the monster I had torn apart from the inside.
I felt my eyes narrow, my instincts screaming to eliminate the threat in front of me, but at that moment, the female voice in my head spoke.
-”It was at this moment he knew; he fucked up.”
Resisting the urge to laugh, especially as it was done in the correct voice, my mood instantly lightened and the bloodlust I had been feeling moments before all but vanished.
-"Good, you have calmed down. We need to think this through clearly. Our actions will have consequences."
Humor had always been my weak point, almost resetting any mood I was in, and now I could think a bit better, I realised that my unnatural aggression was not really me.
-"Says that guy who slaughtered their way through a forest or jumped down the throat of a monster when he realised he had no chance to kill it by conventional means."
-"I meant unprovoked."
I was sure the voice was trying to distract me from something, I just wasn't sure what.
-"What did the monk-"
-"Shut it; I think I liked it better when you couldn't string a sentence together. Anyway, we have guests so stop distracting me."
Focusing on the people and ignoring the voice, by the look of fear and confusion on their faces, as well as the fact they looked like they were about to turn and flee at any moment, it seemed like this situation was as much as a surprise to them than it was for me.
-”Though I wanted my first meeting with other humans to be… more discreet, it seems Life doesn’t like me in this world either.”
It was at this moment that I noticed the strange silence and decided I needed to break the ice. I needed to say something but what?
Frowning, I said the only thing that came to my mind. “Boo?”
I sighed. -"Did I really just say boo? Was that all I could think of? Why not hi or hello. Hell, whats up would have been better."
-”That makes two of us that hate you. You decide that being eaten is a good idea again and host or not; I am going to turn you into a vegetable,” said the voice in a joking tone.
However, it seemed that the voice didn't know me as well as it thought it did. The moment the threat was uttered, my goodwill towards it instantly evaporated.
How dare it! And what the fuck did it mean when it called me a ho-
“Hello?” A deep voice once again interrupted me.
I clenched my jaws.
There was one good thing about being alone, and not having an irritating, retarded voice stuck in your head, the quiet. I started to miss the first days I was stranded here. How peaceful and simple things were. No Giant bug monsters, voices in my head or irritating humans.
-"I guess some things never change. My irritating species being one of them."
“Can you understand me?” It seemed like the group wasn’t about to go away if I just ignored them. I mean, I just burst out of a monster. Shouldn’t they be running away in terror?
The image of a film I had watched, where a parasitic organism would burst from the chest of its victims came to mind.
-"Are they idiots? I would have left nothing but dust after seeing something like that."
I know I was distracting myself from the real issue. My anger and desire to strangle the voice but at the moment what could I do. Stop talking to myself? Maybe I could do a self-lobotomy?
"CAN. YOU. UNDERSTAND. ME." One of the men was definitely English. Only we were that obnoxious to think that by yelling while speaking slowly would make anyone understand us better. -"Prick."
I released an irritated sigh. “Unfortunately I can. What do you want?”
Okay, I was in a terrible mood. My body hurt like hell and my plan of observing the other humans from afar was shattered, but that wasn’t what was really pissing me off.
Yes, the threat had irritated me but what it brought to the surface was something I had been trying to repress since I regained the notion of myself. While I was inside the monster, it was as if I had lost control, like someone had taken over and that was something that terrified and enraged me in equal measures. The fact that that had happened and then the voice mentioned the ability to turn me into a vegetable was a coincidence I wasn't inclined to believe. It also seemed to be reading my thoughts which meant that, in theory, I could be nothing more than a puppet.
In no more than a few words, the voice had gone from annoyance to potential threat. And the one thing about me, a trait that would never change as long as I was me, was that I eliminated any risk to me or my own without restraint.
-”I would never hurt us. I… I just don’t want you doing that again. I thought we would die. I was scared. I wanted to let you know I was upset about it in a joke form. Please~ Stop thinking like this. Please don't treat me like the rest. We are one. I will never harm you. Your paranoia will create a conflict in our very being.”
The voice sounded terrified.
And damn, right it should. It had made its way to the top of my hit list, not that there were any others on it at the moment since I had already dealt with the previous entity.
The mummers of the man talking in the background finally penetrated my concentration. “Hello? Are you still listening?”
"WHAT THE FUCK DO YOU WANT?" I roared at the man, my eyes narrowing.
"I have literally been beaten to a pulp, eaten alive by a monster before fighting my way out of its guts. Then, instead of getting a chance to catch my breath and enjoy a few moments of peace, I have the voice in my head threatening me and a group of Mad Max wannabees that won't shut the fuck up.
I would have said it was impossible having seen their expressions earlier, but the three people eyes widened even further.
Taking a deep breath, I was about to continue, when I realised what I had just said.
-"Great, now they will think I am crazy as well. I was never great at first impressions, but this is ridiculous.
Focusing on the group, trying to analyse their facial expression, I watched as the fear that they displayed slowly changed to confusion.
WAIT!
Why do they all look like supermodels? Even the gross bodybuilder type, looks like he could charm his way into a nuns underwear with a single wink.
-"Don't tell me..."
I always had thought humans were vain creatures; I even included myself up to a certain point but, did they really want or desire to look 'hot' so badly that it triggered a mutation? If that was the case, what else had they pointlessly changed?
My gaze moved to the woman. Her mouse blonde hair was tied into a Viking style braid, her strong cheekbones and pouting lips only accentuating her almost perfect, hourglass figure.
-"REALLY? You get dropped onto a hostile planet that the first thing you want to do is increase your sex appeal? Sure that's a smart thing to do when you are surrounded by men and no laws exist."
As if sensing my gaze, the woman flinched and took an unconscious step back, frowning slightly.
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Pushing the thought that maybe I was now the ugliest, smelliest and most repulsive human on this planet, something I didn't mind as much as I thought I would if it meant I wasn't as retarded as the rest, I struggled to think of a way to improve the situation.
Judging by their stances, they were becoming less scared of me, which would have been good if they weren't growing more aggressive as a result.
The sensation that unless I improved things quickly they would attack, washed over me as the tingling of danger started to spread across my skin.
Not being able to think of anything, I decided to go with the make a joke and make them smile approach. It seemed to work on Earth.
“So~" I mentally cringed, already hating myself for what I was about to say. "What is a good looking girl like you doing with Captain Cave Man and Billy the Kid on a crappy world like this?”
The woman’s lips twitched, slowly turning into a smile before she burst out laughing, the tension in her body slightly relaxing. “You could learn a thing or two from it, Frank. It might look like a demon from hell but it knows when to compliment a lady.”
It? Creature from hell? Hey, thats rude.
The two men displayed nervous grins, apparently not finding my words as funny or disarming as the woman, however, the muscle man did lower his shield slightly.
The battered thing looked like it would fall apart at any moment, seemingly made from branches and animal hide. Then again, I doubt many twentieth century humans would know how to make a decent shield.
“My name is Mark Travion; these are my comrades, Clare and Frank. As representatives of the human race, I wish to express that we come in peace, though if needed, we are ready and more than able, to commit to the path of war.”
“Pfft,” I couldn’t help myself as I started laughing. Really, what was with that introduction? I know I have the arms of a monster, but the rest of me should be reasonably human.
Muscle man, I mean Mark looked at me with concern and I had a distinct impression that he thought I had just rejected, or maybe insulted, his introduction.
He cleared his throat as his fist tightened around his metal club. “Are you friend or Foe?”
Realizing that I must look pretty pathetic on my back, I rolled to the side, this time unable to resist the groan as my muscles cramped and spasmed, seemingly wiggling around my body. I shakily stood up. “First I know exactly what you are, human, as I am one myself.”
Quickly adjusting to the new dimensions of my body, I noticed that I couldn’t feel the heat of the sun or the gentle breeze that seemed to be carrying a white and green powder away from me.
“My name is Al, and at least for now, I am neutral. You don't know me and I don't know you, how could we be anything different?”
Mark scowled in suspicion, and I picked up the scent of adrenalin and sweat rolling off him and the others, their muscles tightening and relaxing as if they were ready to fight or flee at any moment.
-”Are my arms that terrifying?”
Their continued stares started to unsettle me. I had never been one for standing in the limelight. “Didn’t your mothers tell you it’s rude to stare?”
The man next to him chuckled. “For a parasite, at least it has a sense of humour.”
-”Parasite? What because I came from inside a-”
The missing piece of the puzzle clicked, and I felt something tremble deep within me.
-”Ah~ So that is what you are my little, feminine voice~. Or should I say, my little water snake.”
There was no response, but I could feel the fear radiating from my lodger. It looked like my theory was on the mark.
“So, you are also from Earth?" said Mark in a tone that made it apparent he didn't believe me. "If so, what country was Einstein president of?
Mark, who I now recognised as the leader, took a tentative step forward while moving his weapon into a better position.
Looking at it carefully, I couldn’t even think of the lump as a weapon anymore. I mean, yes if you hit someone with it, it was bound to do some damage but really, it looked like its edges would damage him as much as his foe.
-”Oh shit.” I realised they were looking at me weirdly again, better answer.
“Yes, and he wasn’t a president but a physicist from Germany. Pretty smart man.” I paused.
Thinking about the question and what it could represent, I sighed. “The real problem is why you would ask that question. The first thing I can think of is that there are dangerous creatures out there that can imitate humans. The next is that you are trying to lure me into a false sense of security with your position by putting me on the defensive. Which would mean you are either humans that prey on their own kind or creatures that prey on humans.”
The man snorted, lifting his shield and weapon as the others tensed. “Unfortunately, the first idea you had was correct. Some creatures can shape-shift and sound like humans and, unfortunately for us, they are less than friendly."
The woman looked confused at Mark's actions, seemingly wanting to talk things out, while the man called Frank, just smiled. "The question was a common test. However, every human who was brought to this godforsaken world knows this is standard practice. Your story was almost perfect if it wasn’t for that fact that you would know that if you were human, you would have fooled us.”
“How would they know?” Thinking about it for a few seconds, I answered my own question. “Oh, you all landed together? I thought everyone got the single pod express ticket to this shit hole and would have been scattered about.”
I mentally sighed, things were about to get ugly. They were now approaching in a very aggressive manner.
All bar the woman that was, she was watching me with a complicated expression. “He’s way too human. If this is the level of imitators in the south, we are in serious trouble if they are hostile. I mean, look at him, he is slowly turning human as he sheds his shell.”
“Turning human?” I subconsciously said the question out loud. There was too many inconstancies from what they were saying unless…
Had my appearance changed that much since I saw my reflection in the pool? If th-
The air around the woman was shimmering intensely, and for brief moments, I lost track of the movements of the man to Marks right, causing my skin to crawl.
-"FUCK."
I had forgotten entirely that everyone else was, more than likely, the same as me. They had been injected with that mutation shit and dropped on a planned to evolve and survive. The group in front of me looked like normal humans, bar their ragged cave-man style clothing, but that didn’t mean they were simple. If anything, to survive in this world they would have needed to evolve other aspects than the looks.
A subconscious hiss, one that was so primordially terrifying that it chilled my own blood, erupted from my throat as I started to back away, my straight posture turning into a crouch as my arms moved to the sides as if I would pounce at any moment.
This was bad. I knew I was in an extremely weak state and needed sleep and eat to recover.
They, on the other hand, looked fresh and ready.
Suddenly, I lurched forward, making the two men approaching jump as my weight changed. It was as if something heavy had just dropped off and I could no longer feel the pull from the bottom of my spine. Even though I was concerned, I couldn’t spare the time to look back.
The men split up, one going to the left while the other moved to the right.
I almost wanted to cry as for how unfair life seemed to be.
-“Out of the fire and into the frying pan.”
My skin tingled as my heart rate increased. I felt so weak compared to when I fought the monster. It was as if my body had been broken down and rebuilt a million times.
I pulled my fingers together, expecting to hear the clatter of the bone-like substance hitting each other but what I felt instead was… flesh.
Glancing at my left hand, not wanting to take my eyes off the threat in front of me for too long, I saw the last of my claws hit the ground, the rest already there in various states of turning to dust.
-”No no no no no.”
-”Prepare yourself; this is going to hurt.”
-”What?”
The fear in the voice had vanished, now booming with an iron like resolve. What it had said confused me, but at the same time, I felt a strange sort of comfort from the words. My earlier anger at it was diminishing slightly at the realisation that if I died, I would be taking the voice with me.
Calming my mind, I focused.
I knew my options were limited. I couldn’t bluff as it looked like I was falling apart and negotiations would fail as they, at least if I were them, would assume that they had the upper hand.
Run or fight.
Fighting an unknown was a bad idea, especially three of them, but running was just as risky.
Suddenly, my body violently shook as my jaw locked together. Intense pain, as if I was slowly lowered into magma as fire ants consumed my nerves raged across my body, forcing my eyes closed as I subconsciously tried to scream with all my might.
Though the pain, I could feel my flesh, bones and muscles distort and move, as if they were alive, vaguely reminding me of my time in the pool and the belly of the monster. I had experienced this before, but for some reason, I couldn't remember it clearly.
As sudden as it started the pain stopped, and I opened my eyes, the memory of pain causing me to gasp for breath. The time I spent in agony felt like hours but, judging from the position of the sun and two men, who had halted in their tracks, only a minute or two had passed.
I clenched my fists, feeling much stronger than I had earlier as I glared at my assailants.
Wide eyes, with their mouths open the three people stared at me as if I was some sort of walking miracle. However, that wasn’t the strangest thing.
-”Why do they look so much bigger?”
Mark seemed to be the first to recover from whatever had happened to me. “Well, he looks pretty human now.”
He spoke in nothing more than a whisper, but the voice resonated like thunder in my ears. I did not realise it earlier, but my senses were severely dulled in my weakened state.
My mouth twisted into a grin. Though nowhere near as strong as I had felt before, I felt as if I had just drunk a bag of sugar diluted into a dozen energy drinks.
My body was still violently shaking as I felt the nerves and muscles seemingly reconnecting, then adjusting themselves as they seemingly adapted to their new positions.
Bringing my hand in front of me, not willing to let the humans out of my sight, I was once again greeted by a small, childlike appendage.
It was only then that it struck me that earlier when I looked at my hand, it was back to its normal size.
-”What the fuck is going on? Is this what the voice meant when it said metamorphosis?”
Shaking my head, I sighed and pushed the thoughts threatening to overwhelm me from my mind. Why did I always have so many damn questions? It seemed that for every one I got answered, another ten would stand in its place.
“I say we kill it. It looks weaker than before,” hissed the dagger-wielding Frank. “It's more than just a shape-shifter. We can’t let this get back to outposts.”
Mark shook his head, a conflicting expression appearing on his face. “Al, why do you now look like a human child? Do you think it will make us hesitate in capturing you? Actually, how do you know what a human child looks like?”
“CAPTURE?” roared Frank, disbelief evident on his face. “Do you not see what is in front of you. It killed a Crawler, can change its shape and appearance and is intelligent to the point of, if you ignored its previous appearance, could fool even the truth manipulators. It needs to die. They can study the corpse.”
Mark sighed, his shoulders slightly sagging. “Alive.”
I hadn’t even blinked but the moment the words left Frank's mouth, he had disappeared into thin air.
Thankfully his outburst had put me on edge, and the moment I felt my skin begin to prickle, I dove forward, twisting as I regained my feet.
-"Huh? I have both feet?!?"
I didn't have time to be shocked at the reappearance of my foot because, where I had been moments before, Frank stood, his hand outstretched to where my neck had been, his face a picture of disbelief that I had dodged him.
I released a rumbling growl as I felt a cold, wet sensation start to flow on my arms. It was time to get serious.
However, in the next instant, my growl was cut short as, what felt like a brick wall, slammed into my side and sent my flying.
Slamming into the ground and rolling, I dug my fingers into the earth, giving me enough leverage to flip myself back on my feet.
Mark was a couple of meters away, getting back to his feet and Frank slid to a halt, ending his charge, as my eyes locked with his. He swallowed hard as fear once again crept onto his features.
Cursing myself for my stupidy, focusing only on one opponent, I wracked my brain trying to think of a way out of this solution. I had been knocked to the back end of the creature, however, without turning around, I wouldn’t know where it ended. If I ran blindly, I could be running into a wall and revealing my open back to the two opponents in front of me.
My pupils constricted. -"Two!?!"
A soft, delicate hand fell on my shoulder as something hard pressed into my spine, causing me to tense. For some reason, my ever so reliable sixth sense failed to activate.
I wanted to roll away, turn and attack or even kick backwards, however, the two men in front of me made that impossible, at least without giving them an opening and I was almost certain they were a bigger threat than the woman.
A seductive, sickeningly sweet voice whispered in my ear. “Relax, I will not hurt you and neither will they. Let's just calm down and talk this through.”
The two men that had been advancing steadily stopped. Mark nodded in approval, but Franks face twisted. “We should just kill it. There is no way we can get it there without someone dying. What are we going to do, hog tie it?”
“Shut it, Frank,” hissed the woman behind me, her voice turning into a domineering sound. "We won't need to if we don't become enemies. This isn't our world anymore. We are not the undisputed rulers. You remember the council meeting. We need strong allies."
She cleared her throat, her voice returning to what I had heard earlier. "This creature took on a Crawler, which five of us were sent to kill, alone. It also can talk, think and react. It displays feeling and emotions just like us. Also, it hasn't acted aggressively without being provoked."
"And if you insist on fighting it, think about this. Yes, it is injured, but Lisa isn’t here, and Dave has run for the hills like the coward he is. If we continue this, it's likely that only one or two will walk away and unlike you, you speedy piece of shit, I don't rate my chances very high.”
“You have the drop on it though?” growled Frank, the skin around his knuckles turning white from how hard he was gripping his daggers.
"I'm a fucking healer, you moron. Not only are my attacks weak as shit but you just saw its regenerative ability as it moulded its body in front of us. What should I do? Heal it to death."
Frank closed his mouth.
"With my ability, I can see a hint at what its body is capable of." The woman's voice quietened, fear seeping into it. "I don't think we would be able to kill it and if it was at full strength, I doubt even Lucy would be able to put up much of a fight one on one. The best we can do is incapacitate but that is something I am not willing to risk my life for."
Both Mark and Frank had a look of ‘Why the fuck did you tell him that.’ On their faces, but I ignored it. Healing is only one side of the coin. Damage is the other. Medicine and poison are, most of the time, interchangeable. Either she was playing down the threat she represented now she had her hands on me or, she was ignorant to the full potential of her abilities.
Plus, you don’t have to be a fighter to kill something. The first few days I was here was a prime example. What I really wanted to know was how she got the drop on me.
The grip of the delegate hand resting on my shoulder tightened slightly. “I told you the truth and by doing so, put myself in danger to prove my sincerity. Can start afresh? My name is Clare; I am a mutator with the power of healing. I have a proposition for you, one that will benefit both sides.”
I could hear my teeth grinding. I had made so many mistakes. If I were to become an alpha, to rise to the top of the food chain, I would need to learn from them and fast.
But to do that, I would need to survive this encounter.
The aches and pains from my shoulder received as a eutrophic-like feeling spread from where her hand was touching, slowly whittling down my will to fight as the urge to sleep started to make thinking hard.
I bit my lip, angered at myself for succumbing to the gentle warm feeling that threatened to send me into a deep sleep. I knew that the feeling was a positive one, I could feel my body gradually healing, but how could I trust the people in front of me willingly. In fact, I would be stupid to.
My muscles tensed and, just as I was about to move, the woman called Claire whispered into my ear. "I'm sorry, maybe when you wake up safe and sound, you will be willing to give us another chance.
Against my will, my muscles relaxed, and I felt the wind against my face as I fell into darkness.
-"... Bitch."