Chapter Text
The Skeld was joyful as it could be. After all, they all survived a near-death! The chattering of multiple beans filled the cafeteria as every amongi took their helping of pizza and cordial.
Lime sat on the vents watching the scene unfold while helping themselves to their 3rd? 4th? slice of pizza. Brown and Yellow were basically stuck together as one, cooking up one pizza after another like an automatic pizza-maker. Purple stood off to the corner near the punch, ignoring the ever so attention-seeking Captain, Red. Cyan was chattering something about auras, starsigns and whatever gemologist theory she had in mind while Black continued to sigh at each of their remarks. They saw Orange sitting with the new intern, Green, and White, talking about some MIRA bull. Lime grumbled as Orange pulled up waivers for the two to sign. As oblivious as they both are, they signed the contract off without looking at the contents properly. Zero hesitation.
"Prime target for gremlins" they mumbled shaking their head.
Lime wasn't really that big on parties honestly. It was too loud and who knows what the gremlins will do while they're gone? They usually grabbed a plate of 5 pizza slices from yellow and brown, sit in the vents and leave once they were done. Maybe if Blue was here they'll stick around a bit but not for long. Speaking of which, where is Blue?
- MEDBAY -
Blue felt this sharp throbbing ache on the back of their head. They hit the ore+ container while the whole storage accident happened, but from the chaos of the situation they pushed the pain in the back of their mind. Blue winced as another pang hits them, steadying themselves on their desk. They remember feeling something sharp cut their head yet there were no signs of bleeding. Nor any cuts or blemishes.
"What's wrong with me" they muttered. They felt around the back of their head with their hands only to be hit with a stronger shot of pain. It pierced right through their bone to their legs. They staggered from the sudden intensity, stumbling on the papers Orange left for them to sign, knocking them over creating a mess. Blue reached to pick them up only to be paralysed by another stronger stabbing sensation that wrung out through their entire body. Blue felt hot flashes on their body as they gripped the side of their table harder until their knuckles turned white. Their head felt so heavy. Too heavy. Like there is too much fluid inside. They swore they heard a giggle, but the pain prevented them to think rationally.
Blue didn't noticed that their grip was slowly loosening on their desk. The way their body jerked abnormally. All they remember was their insides pulsing, clawing underneath their skin before feeling painfully bloated, too full for their skin to hold them. Panicked, Blue looked around trying to figure what's happening. But it was too late for the Skeld's Doctor.
"Yeah I'm getting bored now, I'll make the process quick for you doctor!"
Before Blue can react to the voice that was clearly not them, they saw pink tendrils in the corner of their visor before their world was consumed by darkness.
-The Vents -
Lime heard a crash from Medbay. They whipped their body around re-routing towards the sound. The reactor can wait a little while, the gremlins are probably in medbay anyways doing who knows what to Blue.
"Damn gremlins" Lime mumbled.
They scurryed through the vents before bursting the hatch open only to see Blue standing facing away from them.
"Uh Blue?" Lime called out. They started to feel a little confused on why Blue wasn't responding. "Yo big dawg ya good?"
Lime cautiously makes their way towards the Doctor, keeping an eye out for anything dangerous in Medbay, like a secret unauthorised body scanning camera, stealing their data for the government. They shook their head. They need to focus on what the hell is wrong with Blue. They grab the doctor's shoulder, turning them around. Lime swore the doctor felt too soft, like their insides were replaced with marshmallows. They also swear Blue's expression look almost too blank before they snapped out of it
"Oh Lime" Blue responds in a little too happy tone. The same tone Orange uses when they're trying to coax Lime into signing some forms.
Blue dusts their lab coat, straightening it before inquiring Lime's cause of presence.
"I heard a crash." Lime states skeptical checking Blue up and down "But yer look ok doc? You didn't look at a gremlin in the eye ay?"
Blue chuckled. "No of course not Lime." they say gently. " Not when you're around. You seemed to have scared it away and thanks to you, you prevented me from getting injured, or worse"
Blue placed their hand on Lime's arm before giving them a sweet smile. Lime stared at them. Theories were already bubbling up their head. Did Blue eat or drink something weird? Maybe it was a side-effect from being exposed to all these medical equipment and some of the radioactive waves must've gotten into their brains or something messed up their sense of perception....? Or Blue was replaced by an alien. Lime felt their face sour at the thought. But first, they had to do something with the doctor getting weirdly touchy with them. It felt wrong. They could feel themselves getting queasy before shoving Blue off.
Blue feigned a hurt expression. See, Lime was intensely dense in matters towards romance which Lime is aware of. They did assume Blue's multiple attempts of courting them as attempts to steal their organs. But Lime knew the doctor knew their boundaries. And they knew what stood before them is definitely not Blue. Lime felt anger bubble up inside of them. Just when they got closer with the doctor some alien scum had to ruin it for them.
"WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO BLUE YOU ALIEN!" Lime interrogates jabbing his finger into Blue's chest.
It squished in making a disgusting squelch noise. Lime flinched pulling away their finger instantly. Quickly, they splashed holy water onto Blue.
"AH HAH I GOT YER NOW."
Lime triumphally yelled only for Blue to calmy wipe the water off their visor with a hankerchief.
"I really believed I perfected the doctor's personality" Blue muttered shaking their head "But I guess you two are too eccentric to act like normal partners. Though it doesn't exactly matter if my cover is blown by you of course. Say Lime, wouldn't you partner up with me and lead this crew into their demise?" Blue offers extending their hand towards Lime. Lime looked at them as if they just killed their partner and kids (well they kind of did but you get the point). Blue tilted their head, much like what the real Blue did. It made Lime furious.
"Yer really think." Lime says looking at Blue with pure hatred in their eyes "you can just get away AFTER KILLING MY BLUE!?" Lime felt tears form from their visor. They rubbed their tears trying to remain composed. They thought of Blue's calming presence. Their first instinct was to sought Blue whenever they felt upset. And now that crewmate is no more. Lime shook in place staring daggers into the imposter who was smiling wryly.
"Oh dear, there there Lime," They mockingly patted Lime's head which was swatted away "I could hum that song if you would like.. Hmm how does it go again" Blue pretended to be in thought "Oh right it went something like this?" Blue starts humming. Its a familiar tune making Lime involuntarily perk up. Their face flushed with a mixture of embarassment and wrath. How dare they hum Blue's song? Blue smirked watching Lime seethe, holding the bottle of holy water in a predatory stance.
"You're gonna use that again? You know that doesn't work" Blue snickered.
"Besides,"
Blue's body shifted and squelched horribly revealing the alien's true form. Lime was thinking of escaping but they heard the medbay doors lock behind them and Blue was blocking the vent they came from. Lime bit the inside of their mouth. What the hell are they supposed to do now? Screaming won't help since the doors are sound-proofed. They've since known this when they finally caught onto Blue's hints. The vents means somehow stealthily avoiding the mass of tentacles on top of it. Not to mention Lime doesn't know how fast this thing is. And the medbay cameras were broken which honestly is Lime's fault since they weren't bothered to fix it. Either way they didn't need Purple getting into theirs and Blue's buisness. They probably looked like a frantic rabbit as they heard the alien laugh.
"You can't even take me out physically Lime. Give it up. Join me. You know you can trust me." Blue's body lowered to them "Also I forgot to mention, I practically keep every single memory this crew had".
Blue reached for Lime's hands grasping them, similar to how Blue used to convince Lime to get their scans done. Yet their grip was painful, making Lime squirm trying to release themselves.
"If you want the real Blue" They say with a smile closing the distance between the two. "I could become the real Blue".
"Got em" Blue sneared at the crew staring at him with wide eyes. Probably in disbelief. Probably with hope? Who knows. Blue doesn't care. They just need to team up with Lime and ambush Red so their other imposter friend can have a host. It's a great plan really. Occupying the most influential crewmates in the skeld. Not to mention, how delicious it will be to savour the anguished cries from their victims when they realise their beloved doctor and captain were their murderers. How betrayed they would be. Blue cannot await without excitement. Blue's attention was drawn back by a cough.
"Before you rip my innards out-"
"I'm not going to"
"Well fine, why d-"
"Never in my life in any shape or form will I ever try to rip you Li-"
"WOULD YOU LET ME FINISH."
Blue was taken aback by the outburst before stablizing themselves.
"Sorry, continue" Blue didn't know why they acted this way either. Must be the rest of the host's psyche kicking through.
"Why do you want me to join you?" Lime asks inquisitively. It was almost cute. Almost.
"It's purely because of my Host's feeling's towards you. Probably because you're in the honeymoon phase or whatever cheesy stuff you crewmates have. Either way my minds inclined to preserve you in some way or form." Blue answers honestly " It's like gaslighting yourself into believing that you are the crewmate themselves but in another level."
"So you're telling me you're doing this out of Blue's influence?" Lime confirms bewildered.
"Yes" Blue answers with a smile "Would that help you with your decisions? My previous offer is still up".
A tentacle slithers suggestively and Lime pulls their body away only to be anchored by Blue's still tight grip on their wrists. Lime felt a familiar feeling of bile rising from their throat. This "Blue" was into them. Lime remembered an internet slang they came across a while ago in Japanese. Something called a yandere was it? Lime looked at the obsessive expectant gaze of the alien. Does this thing actually think Lime reciprocates? No, that's not the right question. Does this thing believe they are like Blue? The same Blue that always listened to whatever absurd things the crew did or say? The same Blue who was patient and kind, never rushing others' decisions? The same Blue who was wished to be seen by their accomplishment and personality rather than their looks? Lime narrowed their visor. This alien got Blue all wrong.
"No. You're not Blue, " Blue's impostor mouth frowned which Lime noted as "another freaky alien thingy", "You don't have an ounce of Blue. I would rather die than join you."
"Is that your wish Lime? " Blue asks, their words sharp like icicles. Lime can feel their instincts to run, do anything. They could sense that Blue was going to get real mad. Their tentacles were wriggling in a not so friendly matter near them. Lime was just relieved they weren't touching him anymore. For now.
"You really are stubborn. I'm shocked how this crewmate managed to put up with you but then yet again, this pathetic guy has a weird perception of the world." Blue chortled. They drew a sharp breath. "My alien self would love to maim you excruciatingly just how I did for the Doctor" Lime's visor widened. They couldn't bear to visualise the painful death Blue experienced. As a last attempt to at least hurt the alien a little, Lime kicked Blue's stomach making them stumble back a little. The adrenaline pumped through their veins as they grabbed a scapel from one of the drawers, resuming an attacking stance.
The alien gurgled in pain before resuscitating. They hissed before grabbing Lime with their tentacles, suffocating the crewmate. Lime flailed with the scapel in one hand only for it to be smacked away by another tentacle.
"You're lucky my host is so fond of you Lime. It'll be quick" Blue spat before a sharp tendril pierced the back of Lime's head.
Lime felt their hearing go out first, watching the alien say something only for them to hear as muffled mumbles. Their body went limp and their sight shrunk slowly. In the corner of their diminishing vision, they saw the medbay vent open and some pink tarnation of a creature wriggle towards them before their whole world was consumed in black.
- The Skeld -
"Lime?? Lime!"
Lime slowly opened their eyes only to realise they're not in heaven.
"Aww shit." They mumbled looking around. Still medbay. "Am I alive?" Lime says out loud bewildered. They had this habit of talking to themselves. Blue said something about how they can hear everything Lime says in the vents since the vents echo.
"Well no, you're a ghost Lime" A familiar voice responds. Lime felt the hairs on their back raise only to realise the voice carried no underlying poison. It was Blue. The real Blue. With wings?
"Blue?!" Lime perplexed " Since when were you an Angel???"
"Now Lime, I'm no angel but I believe I may have been mysteriously given the power to protect the crew from my duplicate" Blue responds rationally "It seems as if you have the same ability too Lime. I hypothesised so since you also possess wings like mine. Moreover the other alien may have taken you as a host."
"THERE'S ANOTHER?" Lime cried insert ouuhh shittings pose
"Yes, there is another. A few moments before your passing, our captain was nearly assassinated by the said parasite while they were distracted. I managed to protect them by a celestial shield of some sort." Blue gently touched Lime's shoulder "However I failed to protect you Lime. If I protected you, then you wouldn't had to die so early." Blue's visior started to well up with tears. "Oh I apologize, you should be the one upset."
"No no its alright big dawg" Lime says taking their hand "I died pretty quick and it wasn't that painful thanks to your brain getting to that scum. Plus it would've have been bad if the parasite took the captain as a host instead yea? Plus your parasite is pretty dumb no offense and mine wouldn't be able to copy me easily heh." Lime squeezes Blue's hand with a smile "So I'm sure the crew will figure it out no time. For now let's focus on protecting these buggers ay?"
Blue smiled at Lime's gesture.
"I appreciate your words Lime"
"Well I'm grateful for you dawg"
Blue blushed slightly. Lime looked away flustered. Blue gently shifted Lime's face to meet theirs before briefly clinking their visors. They quickly floated away bashfully from a now very crimson Lime who was frozen for about a few seconds. Blue cleared their throat, maintaining their composure before beckoning Lime.
"Let's not get distracted, we have 9 crewmates to protect."
Lime pulls themselves together and follows suit.
"Right back at ya big dawg."
Even though they have failed to survive, at least Lime's back with Blue now.