Emergency
Kaito felt himself get flung out of his seat, he braced himself to hit the hard floor-
He hit something soft instead.
He looked down to see that he was laying directly on top of Maki. "Uh...what's up?" He asked awkwardly.
Maki's face was as read as her shirt. "Do you want to die?" she snapped, rolling over and dumping him on the floor.
"It was an accident!" Kaito protested, genuinely fearing for his life. As if to back up his argument, the ship shuddered again.
"Well-This-Is-Not-Good." Monodam commented. He had managed to grip onto the wall and floor, stabilizing himself as members of the crew stumbled and staggered.
"NO SHIT!" Miu yelled, clinging to the couch as the ship tilted dangerously. "THE FUCK ARE WE SUPPOSED TO DO?"
"Get to weapons!" Kaito yelled, carefully getting to his feet. "Maki, back weapons. Rantaro, I need you as a co pilot. Kiibo, Kokichi, get on comms. See if there's any alien chatter. Kirumi, go with them just in case. Everyone else hold on!"
"Why are we listening to you!" Tenko yelled. "You faked your exam! You probably don't know anything about space!"
Kaito felt his chest swell with rage. "I FAKED MY CREDENTIALS! NOT MY TEST ANSWERS! NOW DO YOU WANNA LISTEN OR DO YOU WANNA DIE?!"
"That's my line." Maki mumbled. Tenko's face reddened and she looked at the ground, sheepish.
"S-Sorry-"
"Don't worry about it." Kaito said. "Everyone move! Well, not everyone, the people I told to move!"
"Gonta has tape." Gonta said, taping Kaede down. "Now friends will be safe."
"That's actually a great idea!" Kaito said. "Keep doing that. Rantaro, Miu, to the cockpit!"
"How-May-I-Be-Of-Assistance?" Monodam asked, picking up Himiko with an extended arm and placing her back on the couch.
"You can stay on specs in the cockpit. See if there's any radiation or other bad stuff."
"Bad stuff? You don't sound very professional." Miu snapped. Kaito was about ready to pick up and throw the nearest object at her. That object happened to be Monodam.
"Hey, can we argue when we're not in an emergency state?" Rantaro asked, already making his way forward.
"Good point." Kaito said. He started to follow, but was sent tumbling backwards as the ship tilted again. Ok, so moving in general was going to be harder than he thought.
"Allow-Me." Monodam said, scooping him, Rantaro, and Miu up with surprising strength. His feet..paws? Kaito wasn't sure, but the point was two wheels with traction descended from beneath them, sending them rolling into the cockpit.
"That's useful." Kaito said, surprised.
"I-Hope-All-Of-My-Functions-Are-Useful." Monodam said, placing them all in seats before wheeling over to the specs system.
"Alright, let's see what we got here." Kaito said, fingers flying across the dashboard. "I need eyes on whatever's on us. God I hope the cameras are intact-What the..." The cameras were indeed functional, but one in particular was showing a brilliant yellow screen. Kaito clicked buttons, but the image didn't clear.
"What's up?" Rantaro asked, leaning over to look.
"Good question." Kaito said. "It says the camera's working, but it's showing that. Maybe it's glitching? But wouldn't the system say something?"
"Uhh...Kaito?" Rantaro said slowly. "You might wanna look again." Kaito turned back to see the yellow roll slightly to reveal a dark, black center. Kaito blinked at it. It blinked back.
"Holy shit!" Kaito yelled, jumping.
"Gonta think we have problem!" Gonta yelled, running into the cockpit, a whimpering Blinky at his heels. "Blinky acting like he see predator."
"Gonta what are you doing?!" Kaito yelled. "Get to safety...wait what did you say?"
Gonta was now focused on something else. "Eye." He said, pointing to the camera screen. "Gonta think that is predator."
"That...is not good." Rantaro said, paling. Suddenly the comms crackled, Maki's voice playing into the room.
"Uhh...guys? I'm at the back and...there's something out here. It looks like a tail? It's not a ship...I think-"
"It's alive." Kaito said. The yellow eye jerked suddenly, and movement flashed around over half of the cameras.
"B-b-big" Miu stammered. "It's b-big!"
As Kaito's dread reached a peak, a massive snakelike head crested the front of the ship, looking into the window. It had three of the bulbous yellow eyes on each side of its head. Spines trailed down the back of its long, thick, serpentine body. Its scales were rough and jagged looking, each a dull colored dagger making up the creature's natural armor. It's mouth was slightly open, too small to contain the massive fangs crammed into it's mouth. It's tail ended in a scorpion-like point.
"Space snake." Rantaro said, in a surprisingly calm voice. However, his eyes were wide, body trembling slightly.
"Snakes eat bugs." Gonta supplied, stroking Blinky, trying to calm the alien down.
"I think it can eat us." Kaito said shakily. The snake creature blinked at them again, before a long, pink, slimy tongue dropped out of its mouth, dragging across the front window.
"Ewww." Miu whimpered.
The snake thing seemed to decide that it liked the taste of the ship, because its mouth opened wider, giving the three an excellent view down it's black, dripping throat. Kaito stared into the abyss in horrified awe."
"KAITO!" Rantaro yelled, yanking him back into action. Kaito yanked the thrusters, sending the ship speeding backwards milliseconds before the snake lunged, jaws snapping shut inches away from the ship.
"HOLD ON!" Kaito roared, yanking controls and shooting upwards. Alarms beeped, something was obstructing his path on almost all sides. Kaito's mind was spinning, what was blocking the way-
"I-Have-Unfortunate-New." Monodam said. "The-Body-Of-The-Creature-Seems-To-Be-Surrounding-Us. It-Is-Blocking-Our-Escape."
"How big is this thing!? Miu yelled.
"Bigger than ship." Gonta said. "Apex predator." he was still standing in the middle of the cockpit.
"Is it some kind of attack dog? Or do these things just live here naturally?!" Miu shrieked.
"It's practically swimming through space." Rantaro said, eyes wide. "It doesn't need oxygen to breathe."
"CAN WE PLEASE NOT DIE!" Miu screamed, hands gripping the weapons controls so tightly that they were white.
"Shoot it." Kaito said. "Maybe we can blind it, get it to shift a little."
Miu nodded, firing a volley of shots. Most bounced off of the creature's thick scales, but one struck the corner of an eye.
The creature shrieked, the most unnatural sound Kaito had ever heard. Thankfully, as he had predicted, the snake recoiled, shifting, giving him an opening to maneuver out of its many coils. He jerked the controls, weaving the ship through the roiling loops of the snake's thick, muscular body.
"Ok, I'm starting to believe you had some kind of training!" Miu yelled as Kaito pulled off a complex spinning maneuver.
"We're not out of the woods yet!" Kaito yelled. The snake was starting to recover from the shot, one eye red and irritated. It unleashed another shriek, and began to move towards the ship, it's body shifting once more.
"Do we shoot it again?" Rantaro asked.
"No, I can make it." Kaito said, gritting his teeth and focusing on a slowly closing gap in the snake's coils, the stars visible between the space. He sped forward.
"We're not gonna make it!" Miu yelled as the space rapidly closed.
"We're gonna make it!" Kaito said, increasing the speed.
"I don't think we're gonna make it." Rantaro said, as the gap quickly reduced in size.
"We're gonna make it!" Kaito said again, pushing the ship to its maximum speed.
"PULL UP! WE'RE NOT GONNA MAKE IT!" Miu screamed as the ship shot closer and closer to the shrinking opening.
"WE'RE GONNA MAKE IT!" Kaito yelled, willing the ship to stick with its top speed. The ship shot forward like a bullet, nose pointed towards the opening. It had shrunk to a quarter of the size it had been when they had started forward. Kaito felt like he was one with the ship, his heart beat in tune with the rattling of the engines, his heart rate practically matching the speed of the ship, he leaned forward, eyes glued on his goal...
Miu screamed and squeezed her eyes shut. Rantaro flinched back, awaiting an impact that would never happen, never hit them.
They made it.
"HAHA!" Kaito crowed, bringing the ship into a large curve away from the snake, reveling in the open space around them. "TOLD YOU WE'D MAKE IT!"
Clapping came from behind him. Kaito turned briefly to see Gonta, who had tumbled into a corner, Blinky overturned next to him. He was applauding, smiling widely. "Good job!"
"Thanks." Kaito said, turning back around before quickly turning back. "Shit, sorry, do you wanna like, sit in a chair or something so you don't get thrown around?"
Gonta flipped Blinky back onto his feet, and tapped his shell. Blinky began to spray a strange, thick, string like material, sealing him and Gonta to the ground. A strange, insect seatbelt. Gonta patted Blinky again, and gave Kaito a thumbs up.
"Uh, ok, that works too." Kaito laughed. He glanced over at the two next to him. Rantaro looked abnormally composed, but Kaito could see that he had been gripping his seat hard enough for his nails to leave marks. Miu on the other hand was pale and shaking. "You guys ok?" Kaito laughed.
"I've been better." Rantaro said shakily, forcing a smile.
"I've been shaken around so much, I'm pretty sure my ovaries have been flung out of my body." Miu said. "Wait, that didn't make any fucking sense."
"There are no ovaries back here." Gonta said helpfully, making the three of them chuckle.
"I-Do-Not-Wish-To-Break-Up-The-Celebration." Monodam spoke up. "But-It-Is-Following-Us." The green ursine robot pointed a round paw at the front screen. Kaito whirled to see the snake charging, it's massive body slowly unfurling to give chase.
"Shit." Kaito said, zooming away. The good news was that he seemed to be faster than the snake. Its primary method of hunting seemed to revolve around cornering its prey, trapping it within the confines of its body. "Ok, we can do this. You guys ready?"
"Always." Rantaro said, straightening in his seat. "You tell me what you need done, and I'll do it."
"Awesome." Kaito said. "Miu?"
"This girl genius is ready to fry some snake ass." Miu said, gritting her teeth. "B-but, can we not go too fast?"
"Monodam? Gonta?" Kaito asked.
"I-Am-Ready." Monodam said.
"So is Gonta!" Gonta said. Blinky made a chirping sound in agreement.
"Alright, let's do it!" Kaito was feeling more pumped up now. It had taken a giant space monster trying to eat them, but at least the small group assembled here was starting to act like a team again. "Monodam, patch me through to Maki."
Monodam didn't respond, only clicking a few buttons. It seemed he prioritized actions over words. Kaito could admire that.
"Hey." Maki's voice said. "I lost contact. Is everything ok?"
"Yeah, I pushed this bad boy to max speeds. That must have knocked out the signal for a second." Kaito said. "But we're all good! I'm gonna need you ready to take any clear shots you get. Hopefully you and Miu can provide fire from both sides while I focus on getting us out in one piece."
"Got it." Maki said. "Have you ever been chased by a space snake before?"
"Nope, this is a first." Kaito said. "Well, when I was twelve, a snake crawled into my grandparents' backyard. I must have looked at it a certain way, because it charged at me and chased me around."
"Was it poisonous?"
"No." Kaito sighed. "It was the harmless, tame pet belonging to one of our neighbors. But to baby Kaito that was terrifying!"
He thought he heard Maki snicker. "I'm sure."
"Hey lovebirds! Can we like, save this for later?" Miu snapped. "I don't wanna die listening to the misadventures of baby Kaito!"
"Hey, I should write a book. That's a great title!" Kaito said.
"KAITO!" Miu yelled. "The second I get out of this chair, I'm gonna rip your balls off and feed them to Blinky if you don't start being a hero right now!"
Rantaro seemed amused by this. "We gotta survive first. So what's our first move boss?"
"Maki, Miu, I'm going to try and fly around it. Its eyes seem to be vulnerable, and I'm guessing the inside of the mouth is too. Hopefully we can wound it enough to really get away. I don't know if we can kill it, but I want to make it hurt." He turned back to Gonta. "Is, um, that ok with you? I know you don't like killing."
Gonta nodded solemnly. "It very angry. It not like forest family. Forest family is warm and happy, this snake only cold and dark. Not natural. Gonta don't like it."
"Now that we have the vegan seal of approval, can we please get a move on?" Miu asked, hands on the weapons controls. "Locked and loaded by the way."
"What is vegan?" Gonta asked.
"I'll tell you later." Rantaro said. "You and Blinky just hold on, ok?"
"Starting the first turn now." Kaito said, steering the ship in a wide arc around the snake. "Miu, Maki, M&M, Ooh, I like that. Team M&M, fire whenever you have a clear shot."
"Got it." Maki said, instantly firing a volley of shots, a few of which hit the creature dead in the eye.
"Damn!" Rantaro cheered. "Nice shot."
"Tch, I can do better." Miu sneered. "Kaito, get me in range so I can show you bitches who's boss!"
"That's the spirit!" Kaito yelled. "Monodam, gimme some energy!"
"Yippe. Yay. Woo-Hoo." Monodam said in his monotone, robotic voice. "Hooray-For-Killing. We-Love-Violence."
"Nice." Kaito said grinning. "Miu, now!"
Miu proved that she was indeed interested in "winning" the snake shooting competition. She managed to hit two eyes, decimating the one Maki had already hit, and wounding another. "FUCK YEAH! THAT'S HOW YOU DO IT!"
"Blinding it is a good strategy." Rantaro said, nodding. "Hey, here's something I can do. Gimme a direct line to Kokichi and Kiibo, I don't wanna distract you, but I do wanna check on something."
"You got it. Monodam, you heard the man!"
"Patching-Connection-Through-To-The-Headset-In-Front-Of-You." Monodam said, paws clicking.
"Awesome." Rantaro said. "Hey, yeah, I missed you Kokichi. Yeah, I missed you a whole lot. Mhm, my life isn't complete without you. Hey, focus for me though, ok? Can you and Kiibo mess with the alien sensors? I don't wanna attract any attention while we're dealing with tall, dark and scaly over here."
"That's a good thought!" Kaito said. "I completely forgot about the hostile alien race who's territory we're in."
"That's why I'm here. To think about these things." Rantaro laughed. "You keep focusing though. I got this."
"Maki, now!" Kaito said, looping closer to give her a better range.
"Hey, you didn't give me any extra help!" Miu whined. "I see how it is."
"What? There are no favorites on this team." Kaito said firmly.
"Suuure." Miu said, rolling her eyes and firing her next volley of shots. "See? You didn't get me closer and I didn't hit as much!"
"It was an accident!" Kaito protested.
"Guys, chill." Rantaro said.
"Yeah, I can see how you're an older sibling." Miu muttered. Kaito thought he saw a flash of sadness cross Rantaro's eyes.
"Ok, I happen to have an opening for Maki, not because I like her more than you!" Kaito said, diving in slightly closer to the snake.
"Oh it's fiiine. This side-chick doesn't even care." Miu said, huffing.
Maki landed another direct shot, leaving the group total at four ruined eyes and one injured one. They were getting closer.
"Alright, I got some good news." Rantaro said. "Kokichi managed to tap into whatever surveillance our insect friends have around this area. They can't see what's going on here for now, but they'll probably send maintenance of some kind out soon, so we gotta be ready to vanish." he paused for a moment, seeming to be listening. "Ok, yeah, fine. I'll tell them-What? No I'm not gonna say that. No, not because I'm too vanilla, because it's gonna sound weird when I say it. Ok, ok, thank you." Rantaro sighed, turning to the others. "Kokichi wanted me to say that we'd all be lost without him, he's the supreme leader of everything, we owe our lives to him, he's fantastic, amazing, and..." Rantaro sighed again. "After this is all over you're all going to have to kiss my ass so much your lips will get chapped. Not me, him. That was a direct quote. Um, yeah." Rantaro said, cheeks reddening slightly. "Moving on..."
Kaito laughed. "I think you are vanilla."
"What? No!" Rantaro protested. "I've had small children in my life for the majority of my life. Hell, even swearing is new sometimes."
"Ok, ok." Kaito laughed. "Point made. Damn." He wasn't able to get either Miu or Maki a clear shot on the next go around. The snake seemed to be catching on, and had started guarding its remaining eyes.
"Wow, it's learning sort of." Rantaro said. "Its smarter than any snake I've ever seen, and I've seen some damn big ones."
"Really? Where?"
"Amazon, anacondas. Safe to say I did not want to go for a swim there." Rantaro laughed.
"I hate snakes." Miu said. "This whole situation only shows that I was right." A volley of shots flew from Maki's end of the ship, hitting an eye, making the others jump.
"Woah!" Kaito yelled. "I didn't even say anything."
"I saw an opening so I took it." Maki said. "Is there something wrong with that?"
"Nope!" Kaito said brightly. "The sooner we blind this thing, the better!"
"Get me in close. I wanna get the last one!" Miu said. "Do it or I'll seriously rip your balls off."
"Ok, ok." Kaito said, fearing for his under parts. "You're gonna get one shot though, so make it count."
"Trust me, I will." Miu said.
"Would-Anyone-Like-Me-To-Upload-A-Copy-Of-Their-Will?" Monodam asked.
"WHAT?" Miu yelled. "I'm not gonna miss you pile of scrap metal!"
"Ok." Gonta said. "Gonta will give his leaf collection to raccoon friends. And Gonta give snail shell to squirrels. Gonta give cool stick to wolf mother-"
"GONTA SHUT UP!" Miu yelled, face flushed with anger. "KAITO, DRIVE!"
Kaito did, swooping in closer than he had dared before. "Ok, now or neve-"
Miu hit it dead on. "You were saying?" She asked triumphantly, as Kaito pulled back up.
"Ew, look at that gore." Rantaro said. Green, vicious liquid was streaming from the now empty eye socket. "That was a real good shot."
"I should get bonus points." Miu said, crossing her arms. "That was a bonus shot, right? Monodam, it totally was, right?!"
"I-Don't-Believe-Piles-Of-Scrap-Metal-Can-Award-Bonus-Points." Monodam said.
"Oh great, it has a handle on sarcasm." Miu huffed. "Why can't we have a nice robotic mascot."
"Kiibo says he's not a mascot." Rantaro reported.
"Well, tell him I don't care." Miu snapped.
"She says she knows, and she greatly admires you. She is happy for your existence, and thinks you're wonderful." Rantaro said, before turning the comm line off.
"Hey!" Miu yelled. "I sure as hell didn't mean that!"
Kaito's focus was still on the snake. The angered blind creature writhed in pain, hissing and screaming. And then something flared out from the sides of its head. "What the hell?" Kaito asked, leaning forward, trying to see. "What is that?"
"Fins?" Rantaro asked. "I dunno."
"Sonar-Sensors." Monodam said. "Think-Of-A-Bat."
"Well, that's not good." Rantaro said, as the snake shrieked louder than it had before. The ship rattled with unseen soundwaves. The snake's finlike appendages swiveled, and the snake turned in the direction of the ship.
"Yeah, really not good." Kaito said, pushing buttons and yanking the thrusters as the snake lunged.
"Are you freaking kidding me?!" Miu yelled. "What do we have to do to get rid of this thing?!"
"Kill it probably." Rantaro said, nails dug back into his seat.
"Easy for you to say!" Miu yelled. "We might as well be flinging glowsticks at it! I don't think we have the firepower to bring it down, even if we did hit it in the mouth. We need to stand still to use our larger weapons, and they take time to load. We'd never be able to get a shot off before it got to us."
"Is there anything we have that can get close to tearing a hole in it?" Kaito asked, swerving as the snake narrowly missed the ship.
"I've been working on a photon cannon, it would shoot a beam ten times stronger then what we're firing now. At close range, we might be able to bring it down."
"How close is close range?" Kaito asked.
"Outside of the ship." Miu said, gritting her teeth. "Plus that bastard is heavy. You'd have to be crazy strong to lift it and carry it out. The firing mechanism takes a lot of muscle too." She muttered curses under her breath. "I haven't had time to finish it."
"I guess we're gonna have to outrun it then." Kaito said. His hands were cramping from gripping the controls. "Here goes nothing-" a high pitched beeping sounded throughout the cockpit, a light blinking on the dashboard. "Oh come on! What the hell is that?!" Kaito protested.
"A hatch opened." Rantaro said in surprise. "From the inside. Someone's going out."
"What?!" Kaito asked. "Maki, I swear to god-"
"No, I'm here." Maki said. "Oh shit."
"What?" Kaito asked.
"I saw Blinky scuttle by, carrying a spacewalk suit in his pincers."
Kaito whirled around. Gonta was gone. "GET ME THROUGH TO THE SPACELOCK!" Monodam quickly complied. "GONTA WHAT ARE YOU DOING?" Kaito yelled, the second he was connected.
"Saving friends." Gonta said. "Gonta has cannon."
"He dragged that thing out of my lab?!" Miu yelled.
"Gonta don't do it. It's not worth it." Kaito begged.
"Too late." Rantaro said, pointing out the window. A large, spacesuit-clad figure was floating outside of the ship, tethered by a thick white cord. In its hands was a massive, cannon-like weapon.
"Gonta, get back inside." Kaito said. "Now! That's an order!"
"No, sorry." Gonta said, sounding sad. "Gonta going to save friends."
"Gonta this is crazy! You're gonna die!" Kaito yelled. The space snake had recovered from its last failed lunge. It had determined the location of the space ship, and was moving towards it. The only thing between it and the ship was Gonta.
"Gonta come on, come back inside." Rantaro said, unable to hide the panic in his voice.
"Gonta! Don't be dumber than you already are!" Miu yelled, looking terrified.
Gonta answered calmly. "Believe in Gonta."
Kaito took a deep breath. "Ok."
"What?!" Rantaro and Miu yelled together.
"I believe in him." Kaito said, starting to move farther from the snake. He couldn't outrun it any more, getting to those speeds would tear Gonta to shreds. His only hope now was to give Gonta enough time to prepare the cannon."
"Kaito, sorry but are you insane?!" Rantaro said. "This is stupid!"
"Get ready Gonta." Kaito said, ignoring the protests. "I can give you about twenty extra seconds."
"If Gonta misses." Gonta said, voice crackling over the comms. "Gonta want friends to know Gonta loves them. Thank you for being friends with Gonta."
"REEL HIM IN!" Miu screamed, tears in her eyes. It was too late for anything like that. The snake was bearing down now, getting closer and closer with every passing second. Its maw opened wide, revealing long, sharp yellow fangs. They were longer than Kaito's arm. Hell, they were probably taller than he was.
"I can't look." Miu gasped, closing her eyes as the snake reached Gonta, tongue lashing forward, mouth opened wide. It shrieked once more, bringing its jaws down-
A blast of brilliant light shot through its body, entering from its mouth, and bursting out the other end. The snake screamed, noise trailing off into a whimper as it died. What could only be described as snake guts leaked from its body. It looked like a noodle now. A massive, dead, gory noodle. Kaito didn't think he'd be eating noodles any time soon.
"Holy shit. He got it." Rantaro said.
"HE GOT IT!" Miu yelled. "PULL HIM IN DAMMIT!" The trio and Monodam rushed down to the spacelock, ready to greet him-
"Oh my god." Kaito said in a terrified whisper. All of the space cables were left perfectly intact, not connected to anything.
"W-wait, no, w-we saw him connected." Miu said, voice shaking. The spacelock doors slid open, making them all jump. Gonta walked in proudly, placing the cannon at his feet and pulling off his helmet. Blinky trotted in after him, a thick cord of the string like substance hanging from his mouth. A cord that ended tied around Gonta's waist. Kaito sighed in relief.
"Gonta did it!" Gonta said. Kaito rushed forward, hugging him.
"Hell yeah you did. You gave us all heart attacks, but you did it."
Gonta smiled brightly, pulling the others, including Monodam into the hug. "Friends are safe!"
"Not so tight!" Miu protested, although Kaito was sure she didn't mean it. Miu's life didn't seem complete without something to complain about.
As their ship drifted past an alien snake corpse, (something Kaito thought he'd never think about) he felt the brightest glimmer of hope he'd felt in a long time. Right now in this moment, they were a team again. He only hoped it would last.