Team Two
The next fifteen minutes after returning to the ship was a whirlwind. Between hugs, an attempt on Kokichi's life, happy reunions, and a quick trip to the bathroom to finally cave to previously mentioned episode, Kaito felt like he had been through a war. Now at least he was able to relax. Angie had taken initiative and sat everyone down to review the body cam footage. She stated that it was the best way to see what the other team had been up to. Kaito found himself agreeing, as well as being happy about being able to sit.
Throughout the team one video, team two watched quietly, and save from a few swears from Miu at appropriate parts, it was quiet. Kaito thought that team two was in their own stage of recovery, Himiko especially. She was refusing to be alone, especially in the dark.
Kaito felt himself sitting on the edge of his seat when Angie switched to the team two footage. The rest of the crew seemed exhausted and pleased the ordeal was over, but Kaito felt strangely alive. He wanted to see what else the alien ship was hiding, even if the only view he would get was from a video.
The footage had been hastily spliced together by Angie, and switched body cam views depending on who had the best shot of the action. The video, like team one's, began in the transport pod as team two prepared to depart for the ship. In the corner there was a small label marked, Amami. R. At least it was easy to discern who's camera was being used.
"Ok. Let's all take a deep breath." Rantaro's calm voice was the first thing to pick up on audio. "We're gonna be just fine. In and out. Quick and easy."
"If you say so." Tenko said nervously. She was seated next to Himiko, hunched protectively over the redhead's chair. Himiko seemed to scared to mind.
"Gonta will protect friends." Gonta said. "But Gonta's seatbelt is tight, so Gonta would like to leave soon."
Rantaro laughed. "Alright then, no time like the present. Miu, take us out."
"Uh, ok." The girl genius's voice was slightly shaky. "I should have had you all sign a waver or something." Miu carefully slid the shuttle out of the ship and out into the stars.
"Oooh." Gonta said. "Like lightning bugs but bigger."
"Look Himiko! It's almost like magic!" Tenko said, clearly trying her hardest to distract Himiko. Himiko slowly leaned forward, and seemed to relax a little as she watched the stars.
Kirumi sat calmly, hands clasped in her lap, focused on her teammates. Kaito assumed Rantaro was also facing them, due to the camera view. Miu wasn't currently visible, but he could hear her muttering about cheap designs.
The only interesting part of the ride came when Miu indeed crashed the shuttle into the wall of the alien ship. The footage shook sharply, before switching to Kirumi's camera.
"Miu!" Tenko yelled. Himiko wailed.
"I'M TRYING!" Miu snapped, backing up, and sliding into the ship on her second try.
"Everyone ok?" Rantaro asked. He seemed calm, but he was clutching the back of his seat tightly.
"I want to go home." Himiko sniffled. "I want my mom. I want a hug."
"If that is what you request, than I will gladly provide." Kirumi said, giving Himiko a hug that radiated maternal protection, even through a screen.
As the crew climbed out of their ship, Kaito could hear his own voice as a part of the first conversation they had upon entering the ship.
"Where's shuttle B?"
"We're here." Rantaro said, helping Himiko out of the shuttle. "We had some trouble getting in. Miu hit the side of the bay-"
Miu flinched, face turning scarlet before yelling "I've never fucking flown one of these before!"
Rantaro bent down to examine a back thruster, which was slightly dented and giving off small sparks. "One of our thrusters is a little sparky, but I think we'll be ok."
The video continued through the count off. Gonta began to wander down a hallway, before being called back by Rantaro.
Kaito watched as team two carefully made their way through the winding halls, looking for the comms. Himiko stuck close to Kirumi in the back, while Kirumi and Rantaro lead the front. It was silent until Himiko let a small squeak, stumbling over something unseen. Kirumi easily guided her back to her feet.
"You alright?" Rantaro asked.
"Jesus! Don't do that! I thought we ran into something scary." Miu snarked.
"I tripped." Himiko said, nudging something with her foot.
"Don't touch that!" Miu snapped, pulling her away before bending down to examine it. "I swear, I'm working with a bunch of fuckwads-Uh oh."
"What?" Rantaro said quickly. Himiko went pale. Before anyone else could speak, Gonta visibly straightened.
"Gonta hear something."
Team two stood silently, and before long, Kaito could hear the familiar skittering noises.
"Hey, so I think you tripped something." Kokichi said. "I think some doors just opened, and the ones behind you closed."
"Move." Rantaro ordered. "Can you see what's coming?"
"Nope, sorry. Only cams in the entire place are with you guys. I'm sure it's something friendly though. And cute! Space puppies or whatevs."
"Space puppies?" Himiko perked up a bit.
And that was when the first creature rounded the corner with a screech.
"THAT'S NOT A SPACE PUPPY!" Tenko screeched.
There was a blur motion and Gonta moved forward, grabbing the head of the creature and punching it until it fell to the ground, mutilated. Now Kaito could see that it wasn't one of the creatures. It was smaller and silvery. It was some kind of robot.
"Holy-Gonta, you ok?" Rantaro asked.
"Gonta protect friends." Gonta said proudly. Miu made her way over to the wreckage.
"Is everything ok?" Angie's voice could be heard over Miu's tinkering.
"Yeah, this is some kinda trippy security drone." Miu said. "I've never seen anything like it before. I could make a few guesses on how it works, but me trying to make it work again would be like a virgin-"
"Ok, thanks Miu." Rantaro said quickly. "I think we're good now. There was only the one, and Gonta handled it pretty damn well."
"D-don't give him all the credit!" Tenko said. "I could take one down too! I'll take the next one!"
"Don't jinx us. Maybe another one won't show up." Himiko said.
"Either way, let us continue." Kirumi said. "Angie, are we close to our destination?"
"Mhm! Mhm! Go down that hatch!"
The camera view switched to Himiko as she stared down the dark hole. While team one had climbed, it seemed that team two would descend. Kaito could see the top of a ladder faintly in the darkness.
Himiko shuffled back several steps. "I don't wanna."
"I'll go first." Tenko said.
"Touch your chest." Rantaro said, as she prepared to climb down. As Rantaro spoke, Tenko perked up like an attack dog.
"EXCUSE ME? WHAT DID YOU JUST SAY TO ME?"
Rantaro held up his hands in surrender. "Woah, easy. I meant tap the chest of your suit. It should give you some body lighting."
"Oh." Tenko relaxed. "Sorry." She tapped the chest of her suit, and it lit up with a small, but steady blue light.
The camera view switched to Tenko as she climbed down. The footage was shaky, and the only noise was Tenko's breathing, but she had arrived at the bottom within a matter of seconds. She slowly looked around the dark expanse of the hallway before you. "I don't think there are any lights down here!"
"What? Why?" Rantaro yelled back.
"I'm not sure-" Tenko's voice faded as the skittering sounded. "Hey, I think there's another drone!"
"Gonta get down there and help." Rantaro said.
"I don't need help!" Tenko protested as Gonta climbed down. "I got i-oh shit."
This was most certainly one of the creatures. It was large, and Kaito realized he hadn't really gotten a good look at them before.
To Tenko's credit, she didn't back down despite the larger size. The creature eyed her for a moment before screeching. Tenko yelled back before dashing forward, kicking off of the creature's torso, and landing a swift kick to its head. She hit directly under the armor and a splash of blue blood gushed from the wound.
Tenko rolled to her feet and prepared for more. By that time, Gonta had arrived beside her and both waited for the creature to make a move. It eyed them, hissing, seemingly unsure.
"What's going on?!" Miu's voice seemed to snap the creature out of whatever limbo it had been in and it lunged. Tenko landed another kick to the same place, and the creature recoiled, allowing Gonta to grip it and tear its head off. A spray of blueish blood coated the surroundings.
"EEK!" Tenko yelled as it spattered her.
"Are you idiots dead or not?!" Miu yelled down.
"It's ok now." Tenko said, attempting to wipe herself off. "If there were more I think they'd show themselves by now.
One by one, the other four members climbed down.
"I can't get comms with anyone." Rantaro said. "So I think we're pretty much on our own for now."
"There is only one hallway, so I assume we are still on the same track." Kirumi said. "Hopefully by the time we reach more options, we'll have communications back.
"Ok. Let's go." Rantaro said. The team moved forward, all except for Gonta, who was kneeling on the ground.
"Hey, Gonta, come on!" Tenko called. Gonta looked up with tears in his eyes.
"It was alive. Gonta hurt living thing."
That made the team stop. Rantaro was the first to speak again. "It was attacking us, we didn't have a choice. Besides, it's part of the enemy. You also didn't even know it was alive.
Gonta nodded sadly, before standing up and following his teammates.
The walk to the comms room was fairly quiet. No one spoke, although Kaito could see how worried they were. Upon entering the comms room, they began documenting everything they could. Unlike the comms room team one had found, this one was large and elaborate, with no trace of any recognizable symbols.
"Well, I think we got it all." Tenko said finally. She hadn't stopped glancing over her shoulder since the encounter with the creature.
"So do those fuckers just roam around normally? Or did Himiko tripping do this?"
"I bet it was magic." Himiko said.
"Perhaps they are a sort of security system. They are released into the ship to presumably take out any intruders." Kirumi said.
"Hell of a security system." Miu grumbled. "So, what now? We found the comms. Any luck with Angie?"
"No." Rantaro said. "There's only a little static. Mostly silence."
"So...what do we do?" Himiko asked.
"We can keep going." Rantaro said. "I don't think this is the lowest floor. Maybe there will be something else that's more useful."
"Ok, I mean, no one has any other ideas." Tenko shrugged.
"I think we should go home." Himiko said.
"I don't think we can go back the way we came." Rantaro said. "Kokichi mentioned doors closing, meaning that our enterance route might be closed off now."
"We're gonna die." Himiko said sadly.
"No, we're not gonna die." Rantaro said. "It's just one more reason why we should keep going. We're going to make it out. I promise."
"Ok." Gonta said. That seemed to settle it for everyone, because the team exited the comms room and headed down the hallway.
It only got darker. The team was forced to illuminate their lights on their suits, and although the light did help, it barely penetrated the darkness around them.
Himiko was visibly trembling. Gonta still seemed upset over the alien.
"Do we have any idea where we're going?" Tenko asked.
"Uh, obviously not." Miu said.
Rantaro was trailing his hand along the wall next to them. "Good news is that it's a straight walk back to the comms room. If we do need to double back, it'll be pretty easy to."
"Why is this part of the ship powered down?" Himiko spoke up. "There was light upstairs."
"That is a good question." Kirumi said. "Aren't comms a vital part of any operation? Wouldn't powering them down leave the occupants of this ship at a disadvantage?"
"Speaking of, where are they?" Miu said. "The only freakshow we saw didn't resemble the pictures we saw at all. They're all super freaky and bug like, but these ones were on four legs. The others were humanoid."
"Bugs not freaky!" Gonta protested.
"We can rule out the creature we saw being a member of the dominant alien species. I would assume it was a version of an animal." Kirumi said.
"Real fugly pet." Miu grumbled.
"Bugs not freaky." Gonta said sadly.
Team two walked for a few more moments in silence, the lights from their suits the only source of visibility.
"Ew, what the hell is that?" Miu said, sounding disgusted. "The fact that I can smell something with a fucking helmet on-"
"Wait, hold on." Rantaro said, holding out his hand. Himiko walked into him.
"Ugh, I smell it too." Tenko said. "What the heck even is-"
A skittering sound could be heard a little ways into the distance. Everyone tensed.
"My assumption is that the scent originates from fecal matter." Kirumi said softly.
"So we're smelling SPACE SHIT?" Miu yelled.
"Shh!" Rantaro hissed. The skittering paused for a moment. Everyone held still, although Himiko could be heard whimpering.
"Ok." Rantaro said finally. "I think we should try to head back to the comms-"
There was a screech and the camera view whirled upward. A creature was hanging from the ceiling, two others slightly behind it.
"RUN!" Rantaro yelled, yanking Himiko with him. The creature screamed and gave chase, dropping from the ceiling with a thunk, blocking off the way that they had come.
The camera footage was shaky and hard to see, mainly because team two was sprinting. Kaito could hear their ragged breaths, Himiko still whimpering.
There was a skidding sound and a yelp as Miu suddenly pitched forward.
"Miu!" Tenko yelled.
"Oww, what the fu-" the camera switched to Miu, and provided a crisp down view of a dark, viscous material spread over her hands and suit.
"Fecal matter." Gonta said.
"EW! AGH!" Miu shrieked. "OH MY GOD I'M GONNA THROW UP!"
"I would not recommend that in a spacesuit." Kirumi said.
Gonta picked up Miu before returning to the front of the group. He was abnormally fast, Kaito noticed.
"Test four hundred and seventy nine." Kokichi's static ridden voice could be heard. "Test four hundred and sevent-"
"KOKICHI!" Tenko yelled. "HELP!"
"Huh? Oh hey! Got em!" Kokichi yelled. "Wait no Kiiboy don't you fucking think about moving. You're heavy and I took forever getting you into that pose-"
"Hello!" Angie said cheerfully. "What are you up to?"
"I'M COVERED IN BUG SHIT!" Miu yelled.
"Oh my, that's certainly-"
"We're being perused by three hostile alien lifeforms." Kirumi broke in. "Any aid would be appreciated."
"Can't Gonta just fight em?" Kokichi asked.
"I'm useful too!" Tenko protested.
"Gonta no can handle three." Gonta said. "And Gonta no want to hurt living things."
"Fiiine, I'll help you." Kokichi said. "There are heaters in the walls. I hope your suits can handle extreme temperature changes."
"Do it." Rantaro said. Himiko could be heard wheezing behind him.
"There is a small room off to your left. Take shelter there." Angie added.
"Ok, get ready. Gonna barbeque some bugs in three, two, one-"
The camera picked up the heatwaves wavering off the walls as the chamber heated up, illuminating the hallway in a red glow. Team two ducked into the small room, door sliding shut behind them.
"Everyone ok?" Rantaro asked.
"No." Miu growled.
"No." Himiko wheezed.
Gonta set Miu down gently, before turning to Rantaro. "Gonta no want to fight them."
"I know, I know." Rantaro said. "Hopefully Kokichi's stunt with the heaters will do something."
"Yeah, about that." Kokichi said. "Well, it didn't kill em, it just chilled them out ironically. Get it? Chilled? Cause I-"
"Yes, thank you, we get it." Kirumi said. "Are we free to move?"
There was only static in response.
"Dammit!" Rantaro swore. "We lost signal again."
"I think we should run for it." Tenko said. "If they're calm now, they might not chase us."
"No, no more running." Himiko groaned.
"Gonta will carry Himiko." Gonta said.
"Alright, so it's settled? Everyone good with going now?"
"I haven't been good since I fell in bug shit." Miu said. "I didn't even know bugs could shit!"
"We are prepared to go." Kirumi said.
Rantaro slowly pried the doors open, giving Kaito a view of all three creatures, extremely chilled out as Kokichi had said. They were laying down, seemingly blissful. Team two crept out of the room before running down the hallway once more. The creatures didn't give chase.
"Great. Now I owe Kokichi." Miu sighed. Kaito had decided that she was incapable of being quiet for more than two minutes.
"We all do." Rantaro said. "But that's not the point. I think we should just focus on getting out of here. This area is clearly equipped for the creatures, meaning this is their territory."
"Great, we walked right into the zoo of death." Miu sighed. "Hope people come to my funera-"
A massive creature, the biggest once seen yet, dropped from the ceiling, snatching Himiko from Gonta. About twenty others followed it.
"HIMIKO!" Tenko screamed, running at the creature. Gonta was knocked aside by its mandibles.
A blue bolt of electricity narrowly missed the massive creature, slamming into the one behind it, dropping the creature with a squawk.
"My apologies. I missed." Kirumi said, lowering her Stun Gun.
"Is it dead?" Gonta whimpered.
"No, I set it to stun." Kirumi sighed. "If your request is to leave them alive, then I will fulfill it."
"Oh yeah! Guns!" Miu said, drawing hers and firing wildly into the mass of space bugs.
"Don't hit Himiko!" Tenko yelled.
Miu didn't seem to hear her. "STUPID MOTHERFUCKING WHORE-ASS ABORTION SCUM! I'LL-"
Once again, Kaito heard his own voice. "Miu, can you hear us?"
"WHAT? OH HEY! LINES ARE BACK UP! EVERYONE STOP MOVING!"
Kaito assumed she'd said it to try and keep signal, but it was a pretty hard task to fulfill at that moment.
"Hey Kaito." Rantaro said. He had drawn his own Stun Gun and was trying to open a path to Himiko for Tenko.
"Jesus! What's happening?" Kaito heard himself say.
"We, um, seem to have entered some kind of on board menagerie." Rantaro said.
Kaito watched in horror as the massive creature holding Himiko tossed her into the air...
And swallowed her.
Tenko screamed. "ONE OF THEM ATE HIMIKO!" She looked around desperately. "GONTA HELP ME TEAR IT OPEN!"
Gonta and Tenko rushed the creature as Miu, Rantaro, and Kirumi provided backup fire. With an enraged yell, Tenko unleashed a barrage of blows on the vulnerable parts of the creature. She was small and fast enough to dodge the pincers and get under the shell. The distraction of her actions gave Gonta the chance to get to the creature, grip its head, and pull.
The creature screeched as Gonta tore its head off, spattering the surroundings with its dark blood. Kaito watched in awe as Tenko reached into the alien's now headless body, before slowly climbing in.
"I...honestly don't know how to explain." Rantaro said.
"Gonta has torn head off of alien. That was not gentlemanly of Gonta." Kaito heard Gonta say.
Tenko slowly emerged from the alien body, dragging out a terrified, slime covered Himiko.
"It was so dark..."
"There!" Miu said, pointing to a panel. "That looks useful." Rantaro and Miu ran over to examine it, as Gonta, Kirumi and Tenko continued to keep the creatures at bay. Himiko ran around, terrified, trying to stay out of harms way. "Tenko, Gonta and myself are keeping them at bay while Miu and Rantaro gather intel." Kirumi reported. "Himiko is trying to stay alive."
"Nyeh...it's not going well..."
"Rantaro and I have successfully used the weapons." Kirumi said. "Tenko and Gonta have taken the creatures in hand to hand combat."
"Gonta's hands too big for little gun." Gonta said, as he tore at more creatures.
"I'm covered in gross alien slime!" Tenko wailed, as she tried to wipe off the slime she'd acquired while rescuing Himiko. "This is the most disgusting mission ever!"
"We're doing alright-Miu detonate that pocket grenade-We're doing alright." Rantaro said, seemingly trying to convince himself.
"That's one fuckin' word for it." Miu sighed heavily. "Ok, get everyone to the back of the hall. I'm gonna blow this thing like a desperate hooker looking for a fix!"
"Gross." Himiko said.
Miu ran and slapped a pocket grenade on a wall near the bugs, before sprinting back to her crewmates at the back of the hallway. A massive explosion cut off the camera feed, before resuming as Kaito demanded if everyone was alright.
"No." Himiko said. "I'm covered in alien guts."
"Yeah, we are." Rantaro said. "I think we got em. Miu? How's it looking?"
"Uh...you want the good news or the bad news?" Miu said in a small voice, looking like she was about to be slapped.
"Good news." Himiko and Tenko said together.
"Well, good news is that the explosion drove them all away from us." Miu said, looking at her hands.
"Yeah, that's good." Kaito heard himself say.
"Uh..bad news is that they're heading to you guys. Plus I think yours is the side with all the good info. So you're gonna have to get that while trying to stay alive." Miu said, staring at her shoes.
Kaito heard himself and his team panicking before the comms were replaced with Kiyo's voice.
"I believe I have determined where you are. Angie had it marked as a "Live Specimen Containment Center, which I suppose was accurate...Nevertheless, I know where you are. Keep going straight."
"Did I just kill team one?" Miu said in a small voice.
"No, not yet." Kiyo responded.
"Jeez, this guy is brutally honest." Tenko said.
"I can hear you." Kiyo said bluntly. "And personally, I don't think this is the time to sugarcoat, but if you insist."
"Finally. Some positivity." Tenko sighed.
"I'm sure you're so pleased with the encounter with the beautiful fauna of this remarkable ship, on this enchanting mission-"
"Ok, stop." Tenko snapped. "Point made." Himiko giggled. Kaito found himself smiling too. Kiyo apparently did have a personality, and a fairly sassy one at that.
"Very well. Go forward."
Team two followed Korekiyo's instructions for a few moments, traveling through more creature-friendly rooms.
"There is breeding center. And there is feeding chamber." Gonta said brightly. He seemed to be enjoying this. "And there is nursery, and there is-"
"Ok, thank you Gonta." Tenko said. "How much longer until we get out of here?"
"Let me check my schedule-"
"Enough! No more sarcasm." Tenko sighed.
"Gonta! Don't go in there!" Rantaro yelled. Gonta slipped out of a nearby room, looking guilty.
"Well, Kokichi is going to blow up the ship so-"
"I said no more sarcasm!"
"I'm being serious." Kiyo said. "Fortunately for you, this section of the ship is a loop. Keep going straight, then climb up the hatch. Take the next three rights, and you will return to your shuttle."
"Kokichi is gonna do what?!" Tenko yelled.
"Ah, hold on. I need to examine that..."
"Ok, come on." Rantaro said. "Let's keep going."
"Here, have a gps." Kokichi's voice could be heard.
"I am not a gps, although I do have those functions." Kiibo's voice could be heard too. "Hello everyone."
"Hi." Rantaro said.
"I'm currently processing several digital tons of data, but I believe I divide my consciousness to help aid you as well."
"That's creepy." Himiko said.
"I-I'm not trying to be!" Kiibo wailed.
"Talk later." Miu said. "Straight yeah?"
Under Kiibo's guidance, team two quickly made it back to their shuttle, which somehow looked worse.
"Riiiight, I forgot about that." Miu said. "Gimme a sec, I can fix it."
"I need to go to the bathroom." Himiko said, looking around.
"I do not think that there is a bathroom that would suit your needs." Kiibo said.
Miu kicked the thruster. "Work dammit!" it slowly rumbled to life. "Ah-haha! I've got the magic touch!"
Rantaro eyed it skeptically for a moment, before deciding. "Alright, let's try it."
Team two piled into the shuttle, and Miu guided it out of the alien ship. It was mainly a smooth ride, save for a terrifying moment when the thruster shorted out, jerking the shuttle wildly.
Miu swore and yanked the controls, leveling out the ship.
"I don't need to go to the bathroom anymore." Himiko peeped.
Soon, the glided back into the main ship.
"Well, mission success?" Miu asked. "I gotta fix this piece of shit for real..."
Himiko shakily climbed out of the shuttle. "I don't wanna do that again."
Team two wandered down through the ship until they found the communications room. Kokichi was animatedly yelling directions to blow things up. Kiibo was in an admittedly ridiculous position. "Kokichi said I get the best signal like this." he explained as he caught team two staring.
The video ended on a shaky shot of Angie, who appeared to be praying, and Kiyo, who was tugging on his hair, muttering as he poured over images of the strange alien language.
"And scene!" Angie said, switching off the footage.
"Uh, Himiko, you ok?" Kaito asked.
Himiko nodded. "It was scary, but I've seen worse. Magic can be scary."
"Himiko's so brave!" Tenko gushed.
"Good job guys." Kaito said, clapping Rantaro on the back.
"Yeah, that was only mildly a disaster!" Kaede said.
"We still got a long ways to go, but we didn't do too bad." Ryoma said.
"How charming." The woman's voice played overhead, and everyone picked up on the discernable change. Her voice wasn't flat, it was angry.
"Uh, hi?" Tsmugi said.
"I hope you're pleased. You've single handedly destroyed every rule and possibly doomed everything."