The Living Spaceship: The Measure of A Hero
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The Zombies grabbed Alice and started to bite her arm. Kirsteen however was able to knock several of them away with the butt of the gun and pull Alice free.

Kirsteen pushed Alice behind her and started to fire at the Zombies. Her fire just like the others except for Luke, was indiscriminate and chaotic, but she still managed to catch several Zombies.

The Demon child however soon knocked the the gun out of Kirsteen's hand before she could turn it on him.

Luke meanwhile had by this point become completely infected by the Demon child. When he stood up, Kirsteen, Jenna and Alice almost didn't recognise him, his face had become so twisted and distorted. He walked slowly towards the three women who tried not to show any fear of the beast. Jenna meanwhile noticed several more Zombies coming up behind Luke. Seizing her chance, she pushed Luke into the Zombies, with the Demon being caught completely off guard.

This time the Zombies would manage to overpower the Demon. Luke had not yet fully changed and was still vulnerable in some ways. Added to that there were at least twenty Zombies in the hall. Even then Luke still managed to bring down three Zombies, but still the horde were able to pin the Demon to the ground after which, they tore his guts open and started to eat him alive. Jenna looked away in disgust, ashamed of what she had been forced to do.

Whilst the Zombies were preoccupied with their meal, Kirsteen meanwhile grabbed the gun off the floor and started firing at the Demon child. She didn't hit it, due the Demons speed and her own lack of skill, but she was able to send it running at least, whilst she, Alice and Jenna ran past the Zombies, and into Gyster.

The Professor and Lindsey had almost reached the end of Gyster.

"You could let me know what you intend to do to stop that thing" Gyster said, somewhat worried.

"Relax I have a plan. It might not work, but its the best we have."

Gyster suddenly started to groan in pain.

"What's wrong?" The Professor asked.

"Its Jiazan. He is tearing through me to get to you. Normally I'd heal the damage but I'm too weak. You have to run both of you. NOW!"

The Professor and Lindsey ran down the corridor, but Jiazan came smashing down from the ceiling a lot faster than Gyster had expected, right in front of them.

"Please we have bigger problems than a jealous Zombie throwing a bratty tantrum." The Professor said rolling his eyes again.

Jiazan instantly went for Lindsey, but the Professor in turn went for Jiazan's legs and knocked him to the ground. Whilst Jiazan was on the ground, the Professor tried to pin him down. Lindsey meanwhile picked up some of the rubble from the ceiling that Jiazan had brought down, and tried to hit the Zombie, but the monster easily threw the Professor off and grabbed Lindsey by the throat and smashed her into the wall.

The Professor tried to conjure up a magical blast against the Zombie, but it didn't work. He then grabbed his staff. Gyster had told him that the magics from the staff wouldn't work a second time, so the Professor instead stabbed it through Jiazan's chest. It did little to deter the monster at first, but the Professor pulled him back from Lindsey with the staff, before pulling it out.

Jiazan tried to strike the Vampire several more times, but the Professor was too quick and hit Jiazan several times in the face with the staff, before stabbing Jiazan in the neck. The Professor tried to pull the staff upwards and take the Zombies head off, but Jiazan simply grabbed the staff with both hands and broke it in two.

"Do you have any idea how rare that was?" The Professor fumed. Jiazan in response punched his hand through the Professor's chest and lifted him up, slowly into the air.

Lindsey tried to attack Jiazan but it was no use. She hit him as hard as she could repeatedly but the monster didn't even respond as it grabbed the Professor by the throat and dug its claws in deep.

Lindsey jumped on Jiazan's back and started to dig her fingers into the monsters eyes. It tried to shake her off, but she held on tight. Whilst it was struggling the Professor rammed into Jiazan and shoved him into a nearby room. The room was a small living quarters, with a bed, a tv, and a table with some chairs at one end.

Jiazan however managed to pull himself back up, and throw both the Professor and Lindsey back towards the other end of the room. Lindsey however grabbed the tv and smashed it over the Zombie's head, before grabbing another chair leg and stabbing it through the monsters chest.

Whilst she was wrestling with the Zombie, the Professor searched the room for anything he could use against the monster. He found an old lighter on the table and as soon as the Zombie lifted the television off of its head, the Professor jumped up and kicked the Zombie in the face sending him backwards onto the bed. The Professor then grabbed the blanket and wrapped it around Jiazan before setting it on fire with the lighter.

The Professor hurried Lindsey out of the room as Jiazan's entire body went up. The Zombie didn't feel the pain of the fire, but it still greatly weakened him as it burnt his muscles away. Nevertheless even in his death throes, Jiazan still tried to tear the two time travelers apart. Lindsey and the Professor tried to hold the door shut behind them, hoping that Jiazan would burn to death before he could break through, but Jiazan still managed to push them back against the corridor.

By this stage Jiazan's entire body was on fire however, and he flailed around aimlessly before stumbling to the floor, his legs were so weak. With his last ounce of strength he tried to reach for Lindsey before finally dying a second time.

"So much for Gyster's star pupil" The Professor said as he searched around.

Lindsey winced in disgust at his callousness. She had never thought much of the Professor's gallows humour.

Suddenly the Professor spotted three of Gysters prisoners that he had rescued down the other end of a nearby corridor. One of them, Alice was clearly badly hurt and being supported by another, Kirsteen whilst another, Jenna was carrying a gun. He called to them.

"You, you said we'd be safe in there. Then you switch out the lights and let that thing loose on us." Kirsteen fumed at the Professor.

"We're sorry" Lindsey interjected, knowing the Professor would probably just tell Kirsteen to piss off.

"Gyster, the living ship, drained ours of all its power. A Demon we were keeping prisoner was released. Are you the only survivors."

"Yes" Kirsteen said with regret. "The boy was turned into a, some kind of monster. Is there any way you can help him?"

"No" the Professor said bluntly.

Alice started to cry. "Please I don't want to die in here. I have to get back to my mother. She'll die without me."

"Don't worry, I promise we'll get you back to her" Lindsey said.

Suddenly they were interrupted by the sound of Gyster screaming.

"Gyster what's wrong?" The Professor shouted. "Gyster!"

"Help me, he's here. "The Demon, he tore his way through me, and made his way to my core. He is corrupting my heart. Please, don't let him turn me into a monster."

"We have to help him" the Professor said.

"I'm sorry, you want to help the crazy spaceship that abducted us?" Kirsteen said in disbelief? "How about we get the fuck out of here and let both monsters finish each other off."

"Believe me I don't much care for this vessel either" the Professor said firmly. "But if that fiend Slekovora gets control of this vessel, he'll use it to help slaughter billions of worlds throughout all of history. We have to stop it."

Kirsteen still protested. "I didn't ask to be part of any of this, neither did these two women. We both just want to get home."

"Fine go back through the Zombies and Demons I won't stop you, I'm going to try and save billions of planets instead."

Lindsey again tried a more soft approach.

"I'm sorry what happened to you, to all of the people Gyster captured, but there is nowhere for you to run if Slekovora isn't stopped. Our ship is dead. It was drained of its power by Gyster, it couldn't take you out of here. Even if there was, tell me would you want us to not save, potentially billions of worlds? If we don't act now that Demon will escape. Would your really want that."

"I'll go with you." Kirsteen said. "Just get these two women to safety. No one cares about me back home, but she has a mother, and Jenna's got her whole life ahead of her." Kirsteen pleaded.

"Don't say that say that. Please" Jenna said. "Your life is worth just as much as ours, we're all in this together."

The Professor was already walking back down the other way to the heart of Gyster.

"If you want to get out of this come with me. I don't have time to argue." The Professor said, and Kirsteen knew it would be pointless to argue with him anymore.

Slekovora had made his way to Gysters heart using his super speed and strength to tear through the walls of the ship. He could sense the ships magical heart, even when he was imprisoned. Even at full strength Gyster couldn't have resisted Slekovora's power. Still he fought which just made the process all the more agonising.

"Quite crying will you." Slekovora snapped. "It makes me laugh that you actually think you're a hero. Look at what you did to your so called friends. When you join me, you'll at least give up any pretense that you're one of the good guys. Plus unlike you're other eh companions, I'll be with you forever. I don't age and neither do you. You'll be able to take me across the universe, recruit the most twisted people I can from all of time to be my new army. I almost feel like thanking that wretched Vampire for bringing me here."

As Slekovora's power ran through the ship, the Zombies started to turn into more Demon creatures. For the first time Gyster began to see the horror of what he had done to his former crew, as now there truly was nothing left of the brave and noble people who had once been his friends.

Many of the Zombies even tried to fight Slekovora's influence. As degenerate and monstrous as they were, even the Zombies could sense how dark the power that was taking them over was.

The Professor, Lindsey, Alice, Jenna and Kirsteen were able to make their way through Gyster relatively quickly, thanks to the gun Jenna had brought which made short work of the Zombies. The Zombies were also too busy being reformed and twisted into Demons to fight back. Kirsteen carried Alice all the way there. When they managed to make their way back to the Zoo the doors were still closed.

"Gyster, if you can here me, you need to open the door." The Professor said. Gyster with his last ounce of strength obliged. He didn't have any left to even attempt to resist the Demon anymore, but he hoped that the Professor and the others would be able to rescue him in time, or kill him if need be.

The foursome ran through the zoo, more confidently thanks to Kirsteen's weapon. Kirsteen was distracted for a few seconds when she saw the Allosaurus fighting with a gigantic octopoid like creature. She stared in amazement at the two monsters, completely unaware that a Raptor was slowly creeping up on her. Fortunately Alice noticed the smaller Dinosaur in time and warned Kirsteen, with Jenna then firing in the Raptors direction, sending it scurrying away.

"Don't just stand there, if you want to see Dinosaurs, I'll take you to their time after, but we have to move" the Professor shouted.

The five reluctant companions managed to make their way into the vents and crawled down below, with the Professor carrying Alice down. Slekovora didn't even notice them he was too busy trying to overrun Gysters mind. The Professor intended to sneak up on the Demon and push him into Gysters heart. The pure concentrated magic would vaporise almost any other creature, but it would still not be powerful enough to kill Slekovora. However it might knock him out long enough for them to get him back in his prison.

Jenna however shot at Slekovora in panic. It was a foolish action, as the lasers literally bounced off of the monster. The Professor shouted at her to stop, but he was too late.

Slekovora turned around and saw the Professor. "Well come to save this pathetic, needy creature have you? You locked me in that box for years, I'm going to repay you tenfold for every second I spent in that hell. You and this bitch"

Slekovora lifted both Lindsey and the Professor in the air and started to crush their insides with his mind.

Jenna shot the Demon again, but it did no good and he lifted the gun out of her hand with his mind, and pointed it towards her. He did not aim for her head however. He aimed for her kneecaps instead which he shot at.

Alice and Kirsteen stared at the monster who hadn't even noticed them, in sheer terror. Both were too scared to move a muscle at first, but they soon realised they had to act now or the Demon would kill them all.

Alice and Kirsteen both ran into the Slekovora, knocking him off his feet a bit. It obviously didn't hurt him, but it distracted the monster long enough for the others to break free from his control.

The monster then turned its attention to the two women and it crushed Alice's head in a matter of seconds, simply because she was closer to the monster. Kirsteen screamed out in anguish as the monster prepared to do the same to her, but the Professor now free fired a magical blast from his hands at Slekovora that temporarily pushed the Demon back. It still didn't reach Gysters hear, but for the few seconds it kept the beast distracted, Gyster was able to summon up a tiny amount of energy to latch onto Slekovora and dragged him into its heart which soon consumed the Demon.

Just as the Professor had thought however it did not vaporise the Demon. He struggled and struggled to rip his way out of the heart, but the pain was too much even for him. When the Demon did finally manage to pull his way out after a few minutes, he was so weak that the Professor was able to knock Slekovora out with one punch.

"Incredible. The power of that heart would be enough to vaporise almost any life form in the known universe, but he was just knocked out. He won't be out for long either. We have to get him back to my prison as fast as we can. " The Professor said.

"We also need to get Jenna some help." Kirsteen said as she tended to her wounds.

"There's a medi bay in my ship. It should be able to patch up those wounds, but it runs on magic. Gyster, you need to return the power to my ship. Pronto." The Professor said.

"I'll do more than that" Gyster said.

"The Demon has infected me. Whether you lock him up or not, his evil will spread through me across all of space and time."

"What are you saying."

I'm saying that I will deposit the power I drained back into your vessel, and then while my mind is still my own I shall destroy myself. The explosion may also kill Slekovora too. Go back to your ship now. You'll only have 10 or so minutes."

"He's right" the Professor said. "There's nothing we can do to cure him, and this our best bet of stopping that Demon once and for all. Come one."

The Professor prepared to flee, but Lindsey thanked Gyster for his sacrifice first.

"You're welcome. For what its worth, Kirsteen, Jenna. I'm sorry I brought you into this. I saw potential in you both, and we would have done great things together. If only it had gone differently."

Kirsteen was somewhat moved by Gysters words, but she still couldn't bring herself to say anything back to the ship.

The foursome ran down the corridor leading to the disco, with the Professor carrying Jenna, who had fainted from the blood loss.. The bright light that had prevented them before had long since vanished. They ran through the ship as it started to crumble, past the bodies, and the Zombies who were beginning to mutate into something else, beyond even Slekovora's Demonic pawns, as the magic that powered them was beginning to fluctuate.

Gyster was able to guide them down the correct route through the ship. Though they didn't know the way from the Disco, he assured them it was the quickest way down. Unfortunately however before they reached the end, Gyster became so weak he couldn't even talk to them time travelers.

"Gyster? Gyster? Say something" the Professor shouted. Suddenly however the four were distracted by a strange sound, almost like an animal coming from down the other end of the corridor. The Professor turned around to see a Raptor, that had escaped from the Zoo.

The Professor grabbed the gun from Kirsteen and shot at the beast sending it running, though it didn't go too far.

"Come on, we can't be too far from the exit" he said.

They headed down two more corridors until they came near the hatch. Unfortunately it was now guarded by over 30 mutated Zombies. The creatures had all congregated to this area to wait for the time travelers.

The Professor shot at them, but it was no use. The lasers only made minor dents in them. With no other choice the Professor handed Jenna to Lindsey and then ran into the monsters. He was still stronger than the Zombies and was able to toss several of them around like ragdolls, and blast others away with his magic, but there was still too many of the brutes, but with the help of Lindsey and Kirsteen who managed to distract some of the monsters, the Professor was able to clear a way through them.

Just as the Professor, Lindsey carrying Jenna, and Kirsteen reached the hatch to the Professors ship however, one of the Zombies managed to grab Kirsteen and pulled her back, though the horde who were still somewhat scattered after the Professors attacks. The Professor went back to help her, but as he did the flaming Demon that had once been the old man (who had also near the entrance to Fang's ship for the time travelers) attempted to jump him from behind. Lindsey warned the Professor in time, with the Vampire only narrowly managing to miss being incinerated. The Professor was forced to use his magics to try and restrain the Demon.

"Help Kirsteen" The Professor said as he struggled to hold the Demon.

Lindsey ran back to help Kirsteen, just as the horde were beginning to surround her, but as she reached out to pulled Kirsteen free from the Zombies grip, three more of the creatures grabbed onto Lindsey and pulled her away. Two of them then pulled Jenna who started to awake out of Lindsey's grasp.

The Professor tried to help, but as soon as he let go of the Demon for a second it broke free and tried to attack him, forcing the Vampire to try and hold it in place again.

Kirsteen managed to push past two of the Zombies to try and help Jenna, but it was too late. The monsters had already torn her stomach open and had ripped her throat out. Like Sharks at a feeding frenzy, most of the Zombies then started to turn their attention towards Jenna.

"I'm not leaving her, not when we're this close." Kirsteen cried, but Lindsey who had managed to push her Zombie away pulled Kirsteen back to the hatch.

Whilst the Professor struggled with the flaming Demon he noticed that Demon child creeping up behind Lindsey and Kirsteen, with Lindsey having managed to drag Kirsteen back near the door. The Professor using all his strength, pushed the flaming Demon into the child with his magic.

The flames had no effect on the Demon child, but whilst they were both knocked over, the Professor used his magics to ensnare both of them and hurled them into the horde of Zombies (who were too preoccupied devouring Jenna.)

After Lindsey had pulled Kirsteen inside the Professors ship, the Vampire then pulled the hatch down before any of the Zombies or Demons could re-enter, much to Kirsteen's protests.

"I'm sorry there is nothing we can do for her, if you open that door now you'll kill all of us" Lindsey said as she restrained Kirsteen.

The Professor though still weak from the strain of the magics ran to his control room to prepare for take off. The power had been restored to his ship now, though it was still in a terrible state.

Back on Gyster meanwhile, Slekovora awoke.

"Where is the Vampire and the girl?" Answer me you freak or I'll". Suddenly the Demon realised why the ship wasn't answering and tried to run to safety, but it was no use. In a matter of minutes the ship, the Zombies, the Dinosaurs, Slekovora, the flaming Demon and the Demon child were all consumed in a blaze of blue magic as Gyster exploded. Fortunately the Professor had managed to pilot his ship to safety, just in time.

"We're finally rid of that Demon. I hope" The Professor thought to himself.

The immediate danger may have been over, but there was still a big loose end to tie up. The Professor had recognised Kirsteen. It had taken a while, but he remembered her from one of his many visits to the 21st century. He knew that she had been abducted by aliens, and was never found.

He couldn't bring Kirsteen back to her own time or else time would be changed. He was stuck with her until he could find a new era for Kirsteen to settle in. How could he tell someone that they could never go back to their own time, and see their own family ever again?

Kirsteen meanwhile had broken down in tears in Lindsey's arms by the hatch.

"It's not fair they had their whole lives ahead of them. This can't be real."

"I'm sorry, I wish we could have helped them more. The Professor thought there might have been a reason we were all brought together. That ship as twisted as it was, might have had a role to play, but it seems it was all just a horrible accident."

"I can't believe I'm saying this." Kirsteen said through tears.

"I want to go home. I just want to forget this ever happened."

Lindsey didn't answer. Much like the Professor she knew that wasn't going to be an easy question to answer.

To Be Continued

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