trans_9 | Lost Boy ((not an alien. Really.))

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Lost Boy ((not an alien. Really.))

Ax had hid. And watched.

Just because this didn't look like a Yeerk ship didn't mean that it wasn't. Or that there weren't Yeerks aboard among the crew.

So he'd watched. He'd noticed the uniforms and 'Stacy' had shown him where to get one of his own. He'd requested that she call him 'Phillip' instead of his real name. If there were controllers here, they would certainly recognize an Andalite.

He'd overheard enough to know that they were far from Earth. Probably not close to the Andalite Homeworld either. And that even if they were, it might not even be his Andalite Homeworld.

There had been theories about such things as alternate universes being possible, but...

But that wasn't the point. The point was that he was trapped on this space ship, and he had no idea how much he could trust the other people on board. Especially since they seemed a bit, what was the phrase -- trigger-happy.

So he'd morphed human -- his 'own' human form, the mixture of Jake and Rachel and Marco and Cassie -- and slowly let himself be seen, out of the corners of people's eyes, disappearing and hiding but slowly letting the other people get closer.

He was fairly certain that he was going to get 'caught' this time.

Or rather, he was going to be found.

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"--Could have sworn I saw someone over here..." Cybil said. She and Bri were in the city, looking around for that bug that'd supposedly been crawling on Will earlier, as well as making sure they'd found everyone.

Bri had his pistol drawn, but his finger wasn't on the trigger, and he kept it low at his side so he didn't seem too threatening. He wasn't exactly trigger happy like some of the other people around here. He also aimed a flashlight in the general direction Cybil mentioned.

"Anyone there?" he asked, ready to draw at a moment's notice.

Peeeeeeeeek.

Ax had to brace himself on the wall of the building he was peering around. He had enough trouble standing on two legs, much less leaning in funny directions.

The beam of one of the flash lights passed over his face and he squinted in the light.

Cybil had her gun drawn and pointed down, similarly. Again, with the lack of trigger-happy.

Cops could not be trigger-happy.

And good thing, because it looked like another teenage kid.

"Hey, kid, you can come on out," she said, moving slowly towards the building, and holding out one hand in a 'it's cool, it's cool' gesture. "We're not going to hurt you, I promise."

Bri silently decided to holster his weapon for the moment as he followed behind Cybil, for a show of good faith to the kid. Probably a risky move, considering what some of the kids here are capable of, but he'd still rather not be the one to open fire first.

Ax retreated around the corner. He still had no idea what the big armored thing was. If he were not an aristh in the Andalite military, it might have frightened him. It would certainly frighten a normal human boy.

He scooted along the wall, bracing one hand against it so that he wouldn't fall when he looked back over his shoulder.

"Hey!" Dammit. She ran after him. "Look, I know the big guy's a little scary, but there's nothing to be afraid of."

She got a better view of him--didn't look like any weapons or crazy alien suits, so as a show of good faith of her own, she holstered her own gun, and held up both hands, and moved towards Ax, slowly and as unthreateningly as possible.

"We're both cops. Policeman. You have those in your world? We're not gonna hurt you, kiddo. And we're just as freaked out and confused by this place as you are. We're here to help, okay?"

"Yeah, you got nothing to be afraid of, kid," Bri says in his best non-threatening tone of voice.

"Hell, I like show tunes. You can't be afraid of a guy who likes show tunes."

It was a guilty pleasure.

Ax was familiar with the police. His first trip to the mall had ended in himself, Marco, and Jake being chased out by mall-cops, chased into another store, morphing lobster, and then nearly getting boiled alive.

He stumbled a bit, and tripped of his own feet. He'd meant to do that. Not quite this soon, but he had meant to trip at some point.

"Please do not hurt me," he said, covering his head with his arms. "Zzzuh. Plea-zuh."

Oooohkay. He talked funny, but you know, maybe he was deaf or had a mental or speech disorder or something. More than likely, considering he'd been scared and run off and hid.

"We're not going to hurt you. I promise," Cybil said, signaling for Bri to stay back just a bit and crouching down near him, so she was at a less threatening height.

"I'm Officer Bennet. Cybil. You can call me Cybil. What's your name, kid?"

He peeked at her through his hair.

"Phillip. Puh."

He didn't lower his arms though. It probably looked funny, since his lower body was still sprawled out in the position he'd fallen in. Not that he realized he'd done it wrong, of course.

It looked a little ridiculous, but she wasn't going to laugh at a scared teenager, who...didn't actually seem quite right in the head.

"Phillip, are you hurt?"

"No."

His stomach chose that point to make a rumbling noise. He'd managed to sneak into the food area a couple of times, but only briefly so as not to be found and trapped.

And there hadn't even been any cinnamon buns.

"Are you hungry? And keep in mind when answering that your stomach's already spoken up for you," she said, giving him a small smile.

Ax lowered his arms a bit. "Yes."

Maybe it was time to ask a couple questions.

"Who brought me here? Heeeere. Rr. Here?"

"How about you come with me and Bri here, to get something to eat, and we answer your questions as best as we can? That sound good to you?"

"...Yes," Ax agreed, slowly lowering his arms the rest of the way. He peeked at the armored person that this Cybil woman had identified as Bri. He looked back at Cybil.

"I don't know what's going on. Ing. Go, go-ing. Oing."

He didn't even have to pretend to be distressed about that.

"Who's in charge, please?"

She had questioned it before. And part of her wanted to ask Stacy again, just to make sure she was right, to ask why...

But these people needed a leader. And as she'd said, she'd be it until someone better came along.

She held out her hand to help him up.

"Right now, I am."

Ax opened his mouth to swear fealty to Cybil, but then closed it and looked down at the strange floor. He suddenly missed his friends three times over and it choked off the words he had been intending to say. When he had sworn to serve Prince Jake, he at least hadn't been lying about who and what he was.

He did take her hand however, and scrambled ungainly to his feet.

"Up you go." A hand was placed gently on his shoulder after she got him on his feet. Partly so he couldn't run away again, partly because he seemed unsteady on his feet, partly to reassure him since he'd seemed scared.

"Hey," she said, as they started to walk along. She didn't frogmarch him or anything, just kept that reassuring hand there and let him go his own pace. "It's okay, kid."

Explanations. "I don't know how many comic books you've read or how much TV you've watched, but the long and short of the explanation thing is aliens. Doesn't really get much more complicated than that, and we don't know much more than that. Aliens grabbed us all--from different worlds apparently--that's why there's folks like Bri here that look a little different from the rest of us--he's pretty normal-looking for where he comes from. We're still trying to figure out why and how to get back home."

"Yeah, don't worry too much about the freaky looking people around here. The guy with the red, goopy thing hanging out his back is cool, and the guy in the bondage suit..."

Beat.

"...Well, actually, be cautious around the guy in the bondage suit. He seemed a little...odd."

"Most people do not believe in aliens," Ax observed. At least, they didn't verbally profess that belief. A steadily (depressingly) growing portion of humanity knew about aliens -- they just couldn't say anything about them. Or about anything else, except for once every three days or so. "Bondage? Bond, bondage. Dage."

What, just because television channel scramblers were laughably easy to bypass didn't mean that he watched those channels. There were far more interesting shows on other channels.

"Well," Cybil said, and she gestured around. "It's a little hard not to believe in them right now."

As for the second part: "I'm not touching that one."

"...Crap. I just corrupted the kid's mind, didn't I?"

Smooth, Bri. Smooth.

"Merely an observation," Ax said. "Muh-meeerely. Lee." He paused and turned to face Cybil, a serious expression on his face. "I will follow you until I can returned to my co-- friends, Prince Cybil."

That got a Look. And an eyebrow raise.

"Prince?"

WTF, kid. Dubbyoo Tee Eff.

Bad Bri. No snickering. No snickering.

...Aw, who the hell are we kidding?

"...Well, better'n Grand Poobah, I think."

Ax gave her an utterly innocent look. As if everyone called their leader 'prince'. He was from a different universe than she was, after all. She didn't know that humans did either way.

"Is something wrong?"

"Is that some kinda--I dunno, like what you'd call a 'captain' where you're from?" she asked, resisting the urge to pinch the bridge of her nose.

"It is the title for the leader for a situation like this, yes," Ax answered. "Tchu. Tuation. I hope you do not mind it too much."

Because unless she gave up her role as leader to someone else, she was stuck with it.

"No, if that's what you call people, that's fine--but you can just call me Cybil."

"Yes Prince Cybil."

Wince. She turned to give Bri a look now. "Not a word."

You think he can really help himself?

"I find it rather fitting, myself, Prince Cybil."

Yes, he's an ass.

Ax tilted his head to the side. "Prince Cybil. Princcible?" He grinned suddenly. "Principle! The 'p' and 'b' sounds are very similar. It is a good name."

Oh Lord.

"Thank you," she said to the compliment about her name. Then to Bri, she mouthed again: 'Not. A. Word.'

Bri lets out a light chuckle.

"You just seem to be attracting titles left and right, aren't you?"

"Has she?" Ax asked politely. "Is there one that is more culturally appropriate? Priate. Pruh."

His stomach rumbled again.

"Officer. Officer Bennett. But like I said, you can just call me Cybil." Hold on there, Ax's stomach, a quick trip up the transport tubes and they'd be there.

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Lost Boy ((not an alien. Really.))

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