Chapter Text
"Stay ter FUCK BACK." Lime screamed, flailing their fist at the aliens ghost. The alien just smugly smiled, their mouth more apparent for they don't need to hide it anymore.
"Lime it's alright." Blue reasoned "They're dead. I'm sure they can't do anything."
'Blue' raised their brow before exploding with laughter. The rest of the ghosts exchanged panicked looks fearing the worst.
"Hahaha! You're very confident for someone soo insecure." 'Blue' called out with a cocky look, wiping a fake tear off their visor. Blue's already translucent face became more opaque at their accusation. Ah right. Impostors can see their memories. Lime, enraged by 'Blue's accusation, attempted to jump at them only for them to dodge causing Lime to go straight through a wall.
"Can't believe you're into them." 'Blue' sneered before switching their tone watching their 'Lime' quickly vent away to someplace private, "Though I strangely get it."
Blue breathed a sigh of relief. They half expected 'Blue' to be attracted to Lime but thankfully, they seemed to have completely replaced them for 'Lime'. They quickly shook the thought out of their head. They needed to focus in the problem at hand.
"So you can hurt crewmates?" Blue inquired gently. They attempted to use the psychological trick they usually used on unstable patients. "Even in death?"
"Hm? Yeah duh." 'Blue' answered like it was obvious. Their mouth then grinned omniously. "I'll demonstrate."
Blue's visor widened in panic. They accidentally ticked off a bomb. They braced themselves to prepare to protect any crews that might potentially be injured by 'Blue'. But instead of advancing towards anybody in cafeteria, 'Blue' eerily smiled at them with a blank visor. Suddenly the ship's lights went out. Red's shrill scream ripped in the background. Even if they were already dead, they were scared on what might happen. Meanwhile, Green quickly scanned where everyone was at. They could only spot Yellow and White in Cafeteria. They remembered watching Black and Orange head to electrical. And Purple and Cyan were together in security.
"Where's Lime?" Brown alarmingly looked around trying to catch the doppleganger.
"Cryin' in the storage vent space I have." Lime replied phasing through the walls with a perplexed expression "Can aliens be religious? Cuz they're muttering prayers with my rosary."
Blue looked at back their double for an answer.
"They might've copied that." 'Blue' shrugged. "Poor Lime. Having to deal with religion. Luckily I wasn't effected by yours. All my actions were from my thoughts and mine only."
"Well yes I don't go around making my relationship my whole identity." Blue sighed.
"Wait.. you guys saw that!!?"
"Err someone have ta keep an eye on ya two." Lime scratched their head while Blue averted their double's flustered glare. "Ya know cuz you never know when ya two might kill.."
"If we were all alive again, I would've graced all of you with a more painful death."
"Thank you but back on topic, may I ask how a blackout might cause harm to the crew?" Blue switched the topic smoothly pointing to the elephant in the room. 'Blue' rolled their eyes.
"For someone who's supposed to be smart, you're asking a lot of dumb questions. Its so 'Lime' doesn't get caught when they kill duh. If they are even going to anyways."
"'Lime' is still sobbing underground." Brown phased through the Skeld floor confirming "They don't seem like they'll be killing anytime soon to be honest."
"Are aliens this emotional?" Red asked looking up with their teary visor. Green shrugged in response. "They can get pretty intense from what we've seen so far captain."
Red recalled their last moments catching 'Lime' and 'Blue''s intense quarrel. Figures.
"Well me and Blue are going now so bye." Lime abruptly announced snatching Blue's ghostly hand and quickly floating somewhere else, far from the vermin as possible. Last thing they needed was them to interfere with protecting the crew. Blue quickly caught onto Lime's intention and floated suit, before separating ways from storage to security, Lime believing it would be best to protect Orange and Black while they fixed lights and Blue wanting to attempt at communicating Purple again. Meanwhile, the deceased three were left alone watching the remaining two in Cafeteria while subconsicously keeping an eye on 'Blue' incase they stir more trouble up.
SECURITY
They got 'Blue' out. Now they need the second one out too. Purple swiftly prepared their equipment while Cyan paced around security behind them. They knew they were more spiritually inclined than they were and they might have a better chance with clearly communicating with the dead. They cannot make the same mistake again. If Red hadn't died, Purple would've gotten them ejected for nothing. They weren't looking to repeat it with another crew.
"OoooOoo" Cyan picked up some headphones and a blindfold. "Purple do you want to try the Estes method?"
"Huh what's that?"
"You blindfold yourself and wear noise cancelling headphones connected to the spiritbox. This way, all external distractions are removed bringing forth the greater chance of an accurate response! I'll be asking the questions while you just speak what you hear right away got it?"
"So I just tell you what I hear immediately while you do all the talking?"
"Yes! Like a vessel!"
Purple mulled over the pros and cons of the method. It made them very vulnerable in the situation.
"You can trust me Purple! Plus I owe you one after listening to me rant about Black almost every day last week after uhm Green died. I'll make sure you don't die okay?"
"Cyan that's my job as security." Purple smiled before frowning "But I guess I suck at it. I've gotten 3 dead under my watch."
"Hey!" Cyan frowned "Good vibes only! You still got the amethyst I gave you?"
Purple nodded with a smile fishing the stone out of their pocket.
"Yep. Always carrying it around with me."
"Good!" Cyan beamed "I wouldn't want anything happening to my best friend!"
Purple smiled softly at Cyan.
"Alright then let's do this method. And you also have salt just in case I get possessed right?"
"Mhm!"
"Then let's do this."
CAFETERIA
Yellow didn't feel like cooking. Not because there weren't any ingredients missing or anything. There was dough prepared in the fridge ready to go, topping were always in the freezer and they already boiled 5 pots of pizza sauce. Everything was here. Except for Brown.
"Uhm sorry to interrupt." White leaned over the kitchen window from cafeteria with a concerned expression. Yellow sighed turning to look at them.
"What. You're going to tell me you're the other alien killer and here to kill me too?"
White did a double take shaking their head.
"I promise you I'm not an alien killer-"
"That's exactly what an alien killer will say."
White went quiet unsure on how to rebut that. To be fair, they did have a point.
"Well I promise with my life I am not."
Yellow stared at White with a tired expression. They sighed turning their back away from the window. White's furrowed their brow but suddenly a great idea struck them. They then did the impossible. Step into the kitchen themselves.
Now it was Yellow's turn to double take. The lazy capitalist douche bag in the kitchen. If only Brown was here to witness this.
Brown was very here to witness this. Their jaw dropped before they grabbed the nearest ghost to them, which happened to be Green, and shook them with frenzy, pointing at the spectacle like they sighted a unicorn. Green could only helplessly offer a gurgle in affirmation while Red and 'Blue' were glad they stood a little far away from Brown than Green did.
"I'm here to help!" White declared with a dramatic pose. Yellow looked at them unimpressed before stifling a laughter.
"You look so dumb right now."
"Hey!"
"Well if you're helping in the kitchen you better wash your hands. After that start chopping the toppings while I prepare the dough. I can forgive uneven chunks over a messed up base."
White immediately scrambled to the kitchen sink to get to work. It was their first time doing this and to be honest, they were already wheezing and confused.
"You haven't even picked up the knife yet." Yellow snidely remarked though they helped White with chopping a few toppings first before returning to their set task. Thankfully, White had a secret knack with knives and they got the hang of it in no time. Yellow gave them a nod in approval while they kneaded the dough into shape, perfecting each one after the next. After around 20 minutes, the two efficiently managed to finish 5 pizzas. All they had to do now was watch it bake.
"So" White started drying their hands off. "Do you want to talk about you know? If its hard alcohol can help. Helped me cope with Green's death a lot."
"We-" Yellow stopped themselves "I know. Me and Brown saw you talking to the ceiling. But I can really use some alcohol if that'll make me see them again."
White poured a drink for Yellow and one for themselves. They took a sip from their cup first to show Yellow the wine wasn't tampered with but Yellow didn't seem to care one bit and downed the glass again like last time.
"You might genuinely get yourself killed by the alien-"
"I know. Don't care." Yellow responded flatly before pouring another for themselves.
"You know Brown will want you to live right?"
Yellow paused mid pour. They slowly let the bottle down on the counter. Instead of chugging it like last time, they instead took small slow sips. Deep in thought. Suddenly the kitchen vent flew open. White immediately flinched only to notice it was just Lime crawling out the vent. Yellow moved their visor a little to acknowledge their presence.
"Mind if I join the sob party." 'Lime' asked. White was the one to judge and to be frank, Lime had somehow become more disheveled over the span of 30 minutes.
"Aren't you supposed to help with the lights? Black and Orange are having trouble with it considering its still not fixed."
"Or one of them might be dead." Yellow shrugged passing a beer to 'Lime'.
"No one's dead yet. I'll go check on them after this." 'Lime' groaned. "We all lost someone important 'ere."
"Were you that close with Red?" Yellow perked up. They didn't expect the two to be close and even in grief, they're still a sucker for gossip. 'Lime' shook their head. "No. Blue."
White's visor widened in terror while Yellow felt their hand reach out for their knife beside them.
"Before they turn'ed ya dumbasses." 'Lime' scowled. 'Lime' was clearly lying but they didn't have to know. They just needed to get the sadness out of their system and have a solid alibi. Lord their host is emotional, they couldn't even preform normally under negative emotions. Or maybe that's just them. "Shoulda known from how they looked at me after that cargo incident."
"You and Blue? Wow I didn't expect that." Yellow mused "Is that why we don't see the two of you around a lot?"
"Explains why you were irritated with me in the start of the trip. Medbay was my primary lounging area, I wasn't aware I was cockblocking someone." White teased. 'Lime' returned a glare earning a chuckle from White. "Well I apologise for the inconvenience I made."
"Yeah, yeah, whatever, " 'Lime' dismissed taking a swig from the beer bottle.
"Must've been hard for you to realise they were an alien.. or something." White paused "Wait, what do you mean by 'turned'?"
'Lime' stifled forgetting the crew didn't know about how the aliens were parasitic. "Jus' a theory. Y'know how they fell out of sight durin' the hull breach? Some alien must've snuck in and took their skin. I know the real Blue ain't a bloody alien murderer."
"That's.. a reasonable explanation." The two other crewmates nodded. White then felt a wave of guilt pass by. "I-I want to apologise for causing the hull breach. If it weren't for me, Green and Brown would've been alive and Blue wouldn't have been replaced. I guess Red too."
"No need." Yellow sighed "It's all in the past and Red did give you the green light to do it. No offense but you're a nepo baby so you probably didn't know better."
"Yer basically a newborn when it comes to streetsmarts White." 'Lime' chuckled "And you were probably drunk too."
White laughed sheepishly but were thankful the two weren't mad at them. "Well thank goodness Purple got Blue out. Well the alien of course."
"If Purple haven't," Yellow's gaze hardened "I would've done it myself. Even if it meant I would've died. Anything to avenge Brown." Yellow's grip tightened on their cup until their knuckles turned white. "You must have really cared for them huh." White asked them softly.
"No shit. They are- they were my other half." Yellow sighed. "Its only natural to want to kill the bean that killed yours. If I could, I would've even tortured that alien, drowning them with marinara sauce saying something cheesy like 'taste my revenge'." Yellow huffed a laugh before starting with a more vulnerable voice. "I-I know it won't bring Brown back or anything but...sigh god... I miss them." Yellow whimpered weeping into their hand. "And that asshole didn't even get to try the flaky salts yet."
White patted their back while 'Lime' sat in their corner contemplating Yellow's words. Revenge for their loved one.
"Maybe we can add the flaky salt as toppings today to commemorate them?" White suggested. Yellow nodded sniffling "Yeah.. knock everyone's asses. Except Brown's.." They trembled clutching their knees tightly with their hands. White's expression changed to sympathy watching Yellow greive.
"The dark ain't helping with the mood." 'Lime' grumbled. "I'm gonna check on Black and Orange."
"Pizza's not gonna get itself out." Yellow slowly stood up to grabbing the wooden pizza peel that was leaning a few inches away on the wall. "Even if I'm a wreck, I won't forgive myself for burning pizza. White get the plates. I got the flaky salt. Lime, bring the others. Just cause there's another alien on the loose doesn't mean we starve ourselves."
White immediately went to work while 'Lime' gave Yellow a mock salute.
"Aye aye big dawg. Love and peace."
ELECTRICAL
Lime wanted to pull their hair out watching the two attempt to 'fix' the lights for the past 40 minutes.
"FER THE LOVE OF- FLIP THE SWITCHES NOT THE STUPID BUTTONS!" Lime screamed at the two furiously floating around them.
"Is it just me or is it kinda chilly?" Orange chuckled shivering a little as Lime continued to float into the two.
"Can you shut the fuck up I'm trying to get this to work." Black scowled. "I rather you kill me than to hear you try to make small talk with me."
"Black! I would never!" Orange defended "It's against MIRA protocol to kill a crewmate!"
"Oh so if it wasn't for MIRA protocol you would kill me?"
"Heavens no! You know what I meant!"
"Yeah.. that's what all murdurous aliens say."
"Black, once again I am not an alien- Oh Lime!" Orange beamed as 'Lime' entered electrical. Lime bristled seeing their doppleganger waltz in like nothings wrong about them.
"Finally you're here. Can you help fix the lights?" Black asked. 'Lime' nodded taking a look at the electrical box.
"Have yer tried flipping the switches back on??" 'Lime' frowned "Ya know like light switches?"
The two looked at 'Lime' then each other, their mouth forming an 'O'.
"Figures." 'Lime' sighed much like their real counterpart. "Gremlins aren't that smart to completely cut the lights. They just mess 'round with the switches."
"Yeah blame it on the gremlins." Lime huffed "How 'bout blame it on your freakish alien partner."
"Me?" 'Blue' floated by with Red trailing behind them.
"You." Lime growled while 'Blue' returned a smug expression. Red scratched their head behind them. "Just keeping an eye. Actually on second thought, I'm going to go see what Purps is up to."
"What are yer planning?" Lime interrogated ignoring Red.
"Oh nothing much, keeping an eye on my 'freakish alien partner'!"
Lime wanted to keep their eye on 'Blue' but noticed something in the corner of their eye. 'Lime' had one of their tentacles out and was about to strike Black while their head was turned around. Unfortunately, Orange wandered to the top of electrical seeing if there was any other tasks needed to be completed there. That bastard was trying to frame Orange.
"Oh no yer don't"
Lime quickly dashed towards Black and protected them. A light blue barrier formed around Black, completely blocking 'Lime's' tentacle from penetrating the back of their head. 'Lime' groaned anticipating this from happening. Meanwhile, 'Blue' observed the whole scene next to Lime, deducing exactly how long it takes to form the shield and how drained Lime was after doing so. "Hm.."
"Something wrong?" Black turned around hearing 'Lime' groan behind them. "Uh nothin' my bone hurted a lil suddenly. Typical squish bone syndrome."
"Oh ok." Black shrugged. "Guess we head back to cafeteria? Lights are fixed."
"Yellow told me to check on Purple and Cyan first." 'Lime' gruffed "Some'ing about not starving even though there's an alien imposter 'round."
"Well Yellow is correct! MIRA would not want their employees to fast for it leads to lack of productivity!" Orange hummed with strained happiness walking back near the entrance of electrical.
"You know we probably will all die here right?"
"Positive mindsets only! We're going to the cafeteria. Now." Orange urgently stressed through their teeth earning a weird look from Black and 'Lime'.
"Yeah whatever.... See you later Lime."
SECURITY
For the past 45 minutes or so, Cyan succesfully managed to contact Blue. And by Blue, they meant the real Blue.
ESTES METHOD RESULTS:
Questions Answers
Who are you? Blue.
Aren't you an alien? No.
Who was the alien we ejected then? Incorrect. Not.
Can you elaborate? Not. I.
You're not an alien? Yes.
The alien wasn't you? Yes.
Did you die from the alien? Yes. Angel. I. Angel.
What do you mean angel? Protect. I. Angel. Protect. Must. Shield.
You're a guardian angel? Yes.
How many times have you protected someone? Five. Other. Twenty two.
Other? Who's the other? Angel. Too.
Another one? Another. Angel.
Did they die from an alien too? Yes.
Did they die from Blue, the alien? Maybe.
Did they die from an alien? Yes.
Are they Brown or Red or Green? NO.
Is there someone else who died from them that we don't know of? Precisely.
Are they in the crew? Yes. Other. Alien.
They got replaced by an alien too? Yes.
The process was tedious. Sometimes Cyan had to wait a few minutes for Purple to answer since Blue seemed to have trouble using the spiritbox hence the broken off answers. So far, Cyan knew there was another alien posing as a crewmate who also was a guardian angel like Blue protecting the crew from death.
"Uhm so do you protect crews off your own alien? That's why your protection is lower than theirs?"
Cyan looked intently at Purple, who was blinded, deafened and sitting on the chair having no clue on what Cyan was talking about. All Purple could hear was static and the occasional voice saying broken words.
"Uhhh hell. Hell yes?" Purple chuckled while repeating what they heard.
"Alright then, Blue I'm going to ask another question-"
"They're here." Purple repeated. "That came out clear by the way if that helps?"
Cyan's face turned pale. "Blue? What do you mean?"
Cyan then heard the door open. No one was behind that door.
"Blue?" Cyan weakly asked "Is that you?"
"No. Fake. Other." Purple spoke out. Cyan then felt someone else in the room other than Purple and them.
"Alright.." They said with a small smile trying to appear calm as possible. They grabbed some salt from their pouch and started to throw it around the room. Bad spirits get repelled by salt. Purple felt the salt grains hit their face making them flinch. "Ow Cyan what's wrong-"
"Lime." A sharp clear voice wrang out from the static. "It's Lime!" For a moment, Purple swore they heard Blue's voice. They sounded terrified.
"Uhh L-Lime! It's Lime!" Purple yelled. Cyan's visor widened quickly getting their notebook. Before noticing something was grabbing onto their pen, forcing it from writing. "W-what?"
"It's rude to throw salt at someone you know." A familiar voice said next to them. Cyan's face went pale. "L-lime?"
"Yer were so close to figuring me out. Too bad." Their voice chuckled. Cyan looked around panicked "Where? Where are you??"
"Invisible..?" Purple repeated confused "Huh??"
"I'm assuming the guardian angel can see me. Problem is, Lime already used their protection earlier. I don't think they can use it anytime soon." Cyan could hear 'Lime' smile. "So Blue would have to pick..."
Cyan drew out a shaky breath and looked over at Purple still geared up, unable to hear everything going on. They tried to walk to them before an unknown slimy force pulled them back.
"No you don't." 'Lime' growled "Purple can have a nice surprise. Either they wake up in heaven, or a bloody mess. Blue's choice."
"Cyan what the hell is going on-"
"Purps." Red's voice projected from the spirit box making Purple jump. "R-red? Is- Is that really you?"
"Purps. Take off the gear. NOW. "
"But I want to talk-"
"You're in danger."
Purple's visor widened immediately and took off their headphones and blindfold to see Cyan looking at them teary eyed.
"Purple! It's-"
"Seems like the doctor made a choice." A pillow of smoke drawled from the room and whirled in one spot forming 'Lime's figure. Purple realised Lime had some weird appendages coming from their back, having one wrapped around Cyan's neck while another sharp tendril pointed right in front of Purple's visor. They froze looking at 'Lime' who was smirking. "Konbanwa. Or should I say... Cyanara."
With one swift motion, the appendage that was pointing at Purple striked through Cyan's head. Purple could see their tears start to flow while their screams were muffled from one of Lime's tentacles. Purple froze watching Lime drive the appendage deeper into their brain, making them cry louder from each thrust into their cranium before harshly drawing it back releasing all the pink residue and blood chunks to paint the security walls. Purple trembled frantically thinking of an escape plan, looking at the wide open security doors. They knew Cyan was done for as much as it hurted them to admit. With no doctor on board, they'll die from blood loss either way even if they made it out of here. But if Purple booked it, they might be able to protect the remaining crew.
Unfortunately for them, 'Lime' was two steps ahead. They immediately restrained Purple's limbs with their spare tentacles.
"You can't just leave yet.." 'Lime' snickered. Then, like some cruel joke, they brought up Cyan's face closer to Purple's. Their visor was drenched in blood and blood was still gushing out from the penetrated hole from earlier. "Gotta watch the show first. Will be rude to skip it when your best friend is starring it." They puppeteered their limp body with a smirk while Purple's legs shook watching Cyan slowly stop fighting back.
'Lime' forced Purple back on their security seat, and dropped Cyan's limp body in front of them, bleeding out from their skull painting the floor crimson red. Cyan could feel their head panging against the cool floor and their sight beginning to cloud. They were going to die like this. Mustering the remainder of their strength, they looked up at Purple. Tears were streaming down from their visor watching their newfound friend slowly drip away to unconsciousness.
"It's ok.." Cyan weakly consoled them making Purple's heart ache more. "It doesn't hurt much..."
"Cyan." Purple sobbed "No Cyan you can't.."
"I kept my promise?" Cyan smiled weakly. Purple nodded through their tears "You did but god-"
'Lime' groaned annoyed by the emotional scene. They placed a foot above Cyan's head.
"I'll put yer out of yer misery. Rest in peace."
Purple's visor widened in horror as 'Lime' gave them one final stomp, completely crushing Cyan's head into a bloody mess. 'Lime' retracted their tentacles back into their backpack, leaving security, chucking away the extra chunks of Cyan left on them onto the floor. Purple fell to their knees once their restraints were undone, cradling their friend's body. Another death, right in front of their eyes. Another loved one lost. 'Lime' halted by the door way as they were just about to leave.
"Yellow expects everyone in cafeteria by the way." They smirked "Have fun explaining yourself."
Before Purple could object, the doors slammed shut in front of them, completely locked. 'Lime' hummed in satisfaction, officially marking the start of their revenge plan.
"You're helping me even from death." 'Lime' mused looking at the locked security door. "Shame you got caught so early cuz of that bitch. But don't worry. I'll avenge you."