(AN: As previously mentioned, I currently have no time during weekends. Here's the chappie for today.)
The chamber erupted into chaos.
On one side stood Kristen, Elias' Left Hand, her body carrying the deadly Terminatrix template, flanked by four towering Yautja hunters.
Opposing them
The Xenomorph Queen and sixteen of her children.
The clash that followed was something humanity was never meant to witness.
Ancient alien hunters.
A futuristic machine assassin.
Against one of the most lethal species in the galaxy.
The two sides charged.
The Xenomorphs shrieked violently as they rushed forward, claws scraping across the stone floor.
The hunters ran silently.
Predators through and through.
Shoulder-mounted plasma casters lit up simultaneously.
FWOOOM—FWOOOM—FWOOOM
Five plasma cannons fired in a devastating barrage.
The first wave of bolts struck the charging aliens directly.
Three Xenomorphs exploded apart instantly.
Two others were blasted off their feet, their bodies slamming violently into the temple walls.
That brief opening was enough.
The hunters closed the distance.
Lances snapped forward.
Wrist blades extended.
Kristen's arms liquefied and reshaped, both forming razor-edged blades.
Steel met chitin.
One hunter skewered a Xenomorph straight through its skull.
Another cleaved an alien nearly in half with a heavy spear strike.
Kristen moved like a living weapon.
Her blade-arms sliced through two Xenomorphs in a spinning motion, their bodies collapsing before they even realized they were dead.
But the swarm adapted quickly.
Three aliens lunged simultaneously at one of the hunters.
Claws scraped against armor.
A tail stabbed forward
The hunter blocked one attack but another Xenomorph wrapped its tail around his leg.
Then another jumped onto his back.
Acidic blood splashed as he killed one.
But there were too many.
They dragged him down under a storm of claws.
A moment later
His roar was cut short.
Across the chamber
The Queen moved.
Massive.
Terrifying.
Her tail lashed out like lightning.
One hunter barely turned before
THUNK
The bladed tail punched straight through his back.
The hunter stiffened.
The Queen yanked him forward toward her massive jaws.
CRUNCH
Her inner mouth snapped forward.
The hunter's head vanished between her teeth.
The body dropped lifelessly to the floor.
Another hunter immediately reacted.
He twisted away just as the Queen's tail attempted another impalement.
The tail smashed into the stone pillar instead.
The hunter roared and hurled his spear directly at her skull.
The Queen shifted sideways.
The spear embedded deep into the wall behind her.
The fight intensified.
Kristen leapt toward the Queen, slashing across her armored torso.
The Queen's claws raked across Kristen's side.
Metal tore open.
Synthetic fluid sprayed.
But the wound sealed almost instantly as liquid metal reformed.
Another tail strike slammed into Kristen's shoulder, tearing off part of her outer plating.
The exposed metal shimmered
And covered itself seconds later.
Still
Kristen avoided one specific danger.
Being impaled like the fallen hunter.
Her composition was not pure liquid metal.
A strike like that could destroy her core.
So she fought cautiously.
Relentlessly.
Around her
The hunters continued their brutal battle.
Another Yautja was overwhelmed when four Xenomorphs rushed him at once.
His plasma caster killed one.
His spear killed another.
But two more tackled him from opposite sides.
Their claws tore through armor.
Acid blood splashed everywhere.
By the time the aliens finally fell
The hunter collapsed beside them.
Dead.
Minutes later
Only three figures still stood.
Kristen.
One surviving Yautja hunter.
And the Queen.
The chamber was littered with alien corpses.
And the bodies of fallen hunters.
The Queen screeched, enraged and wounded.
She charged again.
Far above the ice
Back on the expedition ship—
The surviving humans had barely returned when a certain man finally woke up.
Elias slowly opened his eyes.
"…Huh?"
He blinked at the unfamiliar ceiling.
Then remembered.
Right.
Punishment mission.
He stretched lazily.
"Too early…"
Instead of getting up, he simply lifted the entire bed with his powers.
Pillow. Quilt. Mattress and frame.
The whole thing floated with him.
He drifted through the ship corridor like a sleepy ghost.
The terrified humans stared at him as he passed.
Elias ignored them completely.
His senses stretched outward.
The movie plot should've been finished already.
Most of the presences on the ship are surviving humans that weren't suppose to even make it back.
Which meant, butterfly effects.
The real action must still be happening underground.
"Guess I'll take a look."
The floating bed drifted outside the ship.
Across the Antarctic ice.
Toward the massive hole carved into the frozen ground.
High above the site
Elias paused.
He felt it immediately.
A massive cloaked spacecraft hovering silently in the sky.
He glanced upward briefly.
"…Ah. Them."
But he didn't care enough to investigate.
His bed settled gently on the snow while Elias himself floated down into the ice shaft.
He had no intention of stepping barefoot on frozen ground.
Inside the temple
The scene greeted him instantly.
Two dead Yautja hunters.
Kristen fighting alongside the last surviving hunter.
And the wounded Xenomorph Queen.
The Queen sensed Elias the moment he arrived.
Her head snapped toward him.
That moment of distraction
Was all Kristen needed.
She rushed forward and tackled the Queen's legs, locking them in place.
The surviving Yautja hunter understood instantly.
He leapt high into the air.
Raising his spear overhead.
Gravity carried him down like a falling meteor.
THUD
The spear drove straight through the Queen's skull.
The blade punched deep through her armored crown.
The Queen let out one final, monstrous screech.
Her limbs convulsed violently.
Acid blood poured across the floor.
Then
She collapsed.
Dead.
Silence filled the chamber.
Kristen immediately released the corpse and rushed toward Elias.
She knelt.
Head bowed.
"Master… I apologize."
"Two of your hunters were lost during the battle."
Elias scratched his head.
"Eh… it happens."
The surviving Yautja watched quietly.
Then he activated a device on his wrist.
A series of alien beeps began counting down.
The hunter made a simple hand gesture.
An explosion.
Kristen translated instantly.
"Self-destruct."
Elias sighed.
"…Classic."
Without another word
He lifted both Kristen and the hunter with telekinesis.
The three of them shot upward through the temple shaft.
They cleared the ice hole just seconds before
BOOOOOOOOM
A massive explosion erupted beneath the ice.
The entire temple collapsed inward.
Ancient structures shattered.
Every trace of the ritual was erased forever.
When the smoke cleared
The cloaked spaceship above slowly revealed itself.
Dozens of Yautja hunters descended to the ice.
They approached Elias cautiously.
One of them clearly stood out.
The leader.
Behind him
Another hunter carried a strange metallic briefcase.
They stopped several meters away.
No words were spoken.
The leader gestured.
The case opened.
Inside
Alien weapons and technology gleamed.
The leader picked up a mask.
He pressed a small button.
The mask instantly turned transparent.
Invisible.
Advanced cloaking technology.
He placed it back in the case.
Then offered the entire briefcase to Elias.
Elias stared at it.
"…Uh."
He shrugged and accepted it.
"Thanks… I guess?"
The leader simply nodded once.
The hunters turned and returned to their ship.
Within seconds
The massive vessel vanished into space.
Leaving Earth behind.
Elias looked up briefly.
"…Weird guys."
Then
A familiar notification appeared.
[Punishment Cleared
Returning in
10
9
8
7
.
.
.
.
1
0]
.
2023
Elias' Room
The world twisted.
For a brief moment, Elias felt the familiar pull of space folding around him.
The frozen wasteland…
the ruined temple…
the alien hunters…
All of it vanished.
Then
Thump.
Elias landed softly.
Not on the floor.
On his bed.
Exactly where he had been minutes ago.
The pillow was still under his head. The quilt still wrapped around his body.
His room looked exactly the same.
Quiet.
Dark.
Peaceful.
Kristen was already gone, having returned to the summoning realm where she resided until called again.
Elias blinked slowly.
"…Huh."
He turned his head toward the digital clock on the bedside table.
12:00 AM
The numbers glowed faintly in the darkness.
He stared at it for a few seconds.
Then he frowned.
"…Still midnight?"
Realization slowly dawned on him.
Time in this world hadn't moved.
While he was thrown into the Alien vs. Predator world, the timeline here had been paused.
To everyone else, not even a second had passed.
"…That system is ridiculous."
He pulled the blanket over his shoulder and leaned back against the pillow.
Right on cue
The familiar blue interface appeared before his eyes.
[Congratulations for passing the punishment.]
[Rewards have been modified since the task wasn't completed.]
Elias squinted suspiciously.
"…Modified?"
The screen flickered.
Then new text appeared.
[Congratulations for receiving the curse of Gabriel Van Helsing: Lycanthropy]
Elias stared.
"…Wait."
The system continued.
[Details:
The curse does not include Gabriel's power as an archangel.
Normal Form:
Enhanced Strength
Enhanced Stamina
Enhanced Durability
Enhanced Senses
Enhanced Regeneration
Enhanced Agility
Werewolf Form:
Superhuman Strength
Superhuman Stamina
Superhuman Durability
Superhuman Senses
Superhuman Regeneration
Superhuman Agility
Special Case:
Werewolf Venom
(Can transform other humans into werewolves and kill dark creatures such as vampires.)
Slow Aging
(Can live for at least a thousand years.)
Weakness:
Silver can harm or kill werewolves.
Moon Deprivation or if the moon is covered.]
Elias slowly lowered the blanket.
His expression turned flat.
"…Hold on."
He reread the notification again.
Then once more.
Finally
He asked the most important question.
"How is a curse a reward?"
He sat up on the bed, scratching his messy hair.
"Now I'm vulnerable to silver."
That was already bad enough.
But another horrifying realization suddenly struck him.
His eyes widened.
"…Wait."
Another memory surfaced in his mind.
The show Teen Wolf.
The werewolves there…
They completely lost control during full moons.
Elias' face slowly twisted in horror.
"…Don't tell me."
If that applied to him too
If he randomly turned into a rampaging beast every month
He buried his face into the pillow.
"…This system is trying to kill me."
A long silence filled the room.
Then Elias muttered the only response he could manage.
"…Shit."
Elias was just about to lie back down when the blue interface flashed again.
He froze.
"…You've got to be kidding me. What is it this time?"
The system window expanded in front of his eyes.
[Weekly Task has been updated!
Task #1
Objective: As a villain, you must have a mistress.
Details:
Conquer Wanda Maximoff in this timeline.
Reward: ??? ]
Elias slowly rubbed his temples.
"...This is still here?"
But before he could complain further
The next task appeared.
[Task #2
Objective: As a Villain, you must act as one!
Details:
Proceed to the Battle of New York timeline and raise the dead civilians using the Necronomicon Ex-Mortis.
Warning: The punishment this time is severe. Host is advised to complete Task #2.
Reward: ???
Punishment: ???]
Elias stopped breathing for a moment.
His eyes focused entirely on the second task.
"…Raise the dead civilians."
He leaned back slowly on the bed.
Now that…
That was undeniably villain behavior.
Not questionable.
Not morally gray.
Just straight-up evil.
The system had always nudged him in that direction before.
Small things like having subordinates and all. Enemies, eliminating enemies.
Even the mistress task with Wanda.
But this?
This was different.
This was direct.
Blatant.
The system wanted him to act like a real villain.
Elias stared at the floating interface in silence.
A strange realization slowly formed in his mind.
From the moment he obtained this system…
It had always been pushing him toward something.
A role.
A path.
A transformation.
"…What exactly are you trying to turn me into?"
There was no response.
The system never answered questions like that.
Elias exhaled slowly.
Then his gaze drifted toward the warning text again.
Punishment this time is severe.
He had already experienced one punishment world. And although he brought his power with him this time, what if the next time be won't, especially if it's a severe punishment.
Being dragged into the Alien vs. Predator timeline while half-asleep was bad enough.
If the next punishment was worse…
He didn't want to imagine it.
Elias stared at the ceiling.
"…This thing isn't giving me a choice."
After a long moment, he raised his hand.
Space shimmered.
A thick, ancient book appeared in his palm.
The Necronomicon Ex-Mortis.
The leather cover twitched faintly.
Its grotesque face-like surface seemed almost alive.
Elias opened it.
The pages flipped slowly.
Strange symbols.
Ancient incantations.
Dark rituals written in languages humanity was never meant to read.
He began searching through the pages.
Looking for one specific spell.
How to raise the Dead.
The room fell silent except for the faint rustling of pages.
Minutes passed.
Elias finally stopped on one section.
His eyes scanned the incantation.
A resurrection ritual which just Requires him to day a spell while holding the book.
Simple.
Effective.
And absolutely horrifying.
If used during the Battle of New York…
The casualties would become an army of deadites. Way worse than Zombies.
Chaos would spread through the entire city.
The Avengers would be forced to fight civilians.
The world would panic.
Elias slowly closed the book.
He sat there quietly for a long time.
The system hovered silently in front of him.
Waiting.
Judging.
Elias leaned back against the headboard.
"…Am I really about to do this?"
He felt the weight of the path in front of him.
Because once he crossed that line
There might be no going back.
He looked at the Necronomicon again.
Then at the task window.
A long breath escaped his lips.
"…I wonder if I can command the deadites to fight the Chitauri instead. Guess I'll have to find out."
Is Elias finally going to become the villain this system wants him to be?
End of Chapter 56