trans_9 | The thing you should know is that everyone is in really big trouble. Yeah. Even you.

"I was busy," he explains simply. He hasn't spent much time around the others since arriving; he's been exploring deeper and deeper into Stacy. He wishes he had a pulse pistol, but if necessary, Scorpius knows how to fight.

"Perhaps you can explain what happened?"

"Long story short," Sam--who had apparently been listening--appeared from around a corner and joined the threesome. "We had to fight off a bunch of big bugs down here and nearly got killed in the process."

He then scanned the trio, from Scorpius to Nathan to Terry and back to Nathan. "Hey," he said to Petrelli. "You got a minute. I think I might have an idea about what that thing was that possessed the captain. But I was wondering if I you'd be willing to answer some questions and tell me what you think about it before we tell anyone else."

Scorpius says nothing, but his eyes narrow as he watches the others.

Nathan glanced over at Sam with interest, "Sure, what do you need?" He stepped closer to him.

"I wouldn't," Scorpy interrupts, holding up a warning hand.

Placing a hand on Nathan's shoulder, Sam guided the older man down the path and around the corner of one of the buildings, well out of sight of Scorpius and Terry.

"Well, back where I come from, my Earth, I guess," he said while he walked. "We're in the middle of a war. Basically, this gate to Hell got opened and an army of demons escaped. They've been doing all kinds of crazy shit, but one of the things they do is possess people. They take over their bodies and use them. And they're really good at hiding the fact that they're in there."

Just then, he paused a few feet away from a massive cement column. "So, I was thinking, what if--when Stacy took me--one of those demons got on the ship somehow and took over the Captain. And you guys said that when Lyta pushed it out that it 'disappeared,' right? Well, what if it went into someone else? That would mean that someone isn't what they seem."

Just then, as if to accentuate his point, Sam grabbed hold of Nathan, gripping the man's uniform with one hand while the other clutched his hair, and threw him face first into the column.

Nathan raised an eyebrow at Scorpius, but ignored it. He listened to Sam, but it was only toward the end that he felt that maybe the warning was justified.

Of course this was about 30 seconds before he was heading into the column. His instincts kicked in, and he tried to fly around it. Only to still take a glancing blow to his head. He crashed to the floor, and tried to get up, his vision swimming before him. He was using his arms to support him halfway up from the floor before his eyes rolled back, and he lost consciousness.

Scorpius steps forward before Sam could do anything further. He sighs. "I warned him..." He looks up at Sam, his arms clasped behind his back. "Well?"

With a triumphant smirk on his face, Sam sauntered over to Nathan's collapsed body and gave it two quick jabs with his foot, testing to see if the flying freak was actually out. Satisfied that he was, Sam pulled out his flask, unscrewed the top and knelt down, casting a momentary glance in Scorpius' direction before becoming convinced that the leather-bound creep wasn't going to attempt to stop him.

"Well, what?" Sam retorted.

Moving Nathan's head slightly to expose the man's ear, he poured some of the flask's contents into it. The goopy liquid spilled into the orifice, dripping down Nathan's face until it was followed by a Yeerk slug.

Scorpius moves faster than one might think, as he moves to grasp the slug before it can be lost in the human's ear... and in a single smooth motion, he also swings an elbow up towards Sam's jaw.

Terry had been watching Sam and Nathan talk, probably because it was better then attempting to talk to the leather-wearing freak. That guy creeped him out. He didn't know Sam or Nathan, of course, but as soon as one bashed the other's head into the wall... he made some quick assumptions. Mainly: Sam was not a good guy.

While the leather guy was bent over Nathan, Terry lunged towards Sam, fist-first.

Fists? Screw fists. Sam was a rather skilled fighter when it came to hand-to-hand combat. But who needed fists when you had a gun? After being elbowed in the face by the grotesque leather-daddy, Sam had his Beretta out in a snap and quickly fired a well-aimed--to wound--shot at Terry.

The suit-less Batman training Bruce had always insisted on had done Terry some good. His reflexes were quick, but not as quick as they would be with the suit - he didn't catch the bullet with his entire shoulder, but it did graze him.

"Frag!" Nothing like flesh being ripped off by a high-velocity projectile to make one appreciate body armor.

Scorpius follows up with a twist to grab the gun and attempts to twist it so that Sam must either drop his gun or allow his arm to break.

For some reason, it's right then that the lights on the ship--everywhere in the ship--suddenly flicker. They just flicker, then come back on. Odd.

But it's a good distraction for whoever takes advantage of it.

Sam cries out in pain and begins to crumple to the ground under the pain and pressure that Scorpius is putting against his arm. The only good thing about being down on the ground with your opponent standing over you...their legs are unprotected...and the flicker of the lights gives him just the right opportunity.

Acting only instinct, Sam grabs hold of Scorpius' ankle and jerks it upward to throw the alien off balance and force him to release his arm.

With his gun hand free, he has only two options:

One, is to trying to neutralize Scropius and Terry in time to finish infesting Nathan before he wakes up. But considering there are two of them, it'll likely take too long to manage that--especially given both of their combat skills--in time. And once Nathan finally comes to, he's be stuck in a three-against-one battle. A battle he was likely to lose.

And if Sam got captured, the Yeerk inside his head was sure to die. The Andalite would see to that.

So that only left option two.

"Well, ladies and gents," Sam sneered as he looked at his opponents with deep-seeded loathing. "As fun as this little dance has been, I'm afraid it's time Little Sammy-Boy and I bid you adieu!"

Then, suddenly and unexpectedly, Yeerk-controlled Sam lifted his gun and placed the muzzle against his own temple.

And fired.

Scorpius pants a moment, catching his breath, snarling at the figure that's dead on the floor before him, ignoring the splatter of blood around them.

He reaches down and takes the gun from Sam's hand, investigating it carefully, while his breathing slowly begins to return to normal.

He's not dead yet, though he likely will be very soon. His breathing is shallow, and fading.

Not all head wounds kill instantly. Some people linger. Painfully.

They do have a MedBay though.

As if it wasn't bad enough, a gray slug-thing wriggles out of the hole in his head, onto the ground.

"Shit." Terry muttered, staring at Sam. Here was a guy that had just tried to stuff a slug into another man's ear, shot at Terry, and tried to blow is own brains away.

But he had also come up with the idea that eventually all got them away from the cockroaches.

Terry bent over the near-lifeless figure. He was still breathing, barely. He grabbed him by the shoulders, being very careful with his head and neck. "Help me." He said to Scorpius. His voice was lower, more mature. It was the voice of Batman.

Nathan was slowly coming to, still bleary eyed. There was a blob or a faint shape on the floor. Somebody? He blinked, his eyes starting to focus, and then as they sharpened he could see the prone body nearby. The gun, the blood.

The gray slug coming in his direction...

"What the hell?" He started and scrambled to get up again. Hard to do with a concussion and a raging headache however. Got his head just out of range for the

Before Scorpius responds to Terry's request, he aims the gun at the slug and fires, putting a bullet through the thing. The firearm is primitive, but it will do for now.

He glances over his shoulder. "Leave him. We have other problems to worry about at the moment."

"No." Terry grunted. He hefted Sam up onto his back, and carefully stood up. "That's not an option. I owe him." And with that sentiment, he started walking, heading in the direction of the Med Bay.

Actually considering the fact the guy smashed his face into a column, and there was some kind of slug that almost went for him, Nathan was leaning more toward Scorpius's opinion.

He wasn't up to flying right now like this as he slowly stood up, wavering slightly.

He sighs and speaks very carefully. "These invertebrates possess their target. Will you watch him constantly to prevent further possessions, or do your best to root out his killers?"

Scorpius explains it like one does to a very slow child.

The thing you should know is that everyone is in really big trouble. Yeah. Even you.

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