Adult-FanFiction.org : Movies

AvP: Desiderata	By : Subtext Category: M through R > Predator Views: 2375 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own the Predator movie series, nor any of the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

Chapter List
- 4
- 5
And here we go with Chapter 5! This story is being written only for NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month), so it�ll end roughly past 50,000 words. That translates to about 12 chapters total, give or take. Just thought I�d give a heads up. Also, I want to thank everyone for the reviews they have been giving. Reviews keep me writing, so keep them coming!

Desiderata

by

Quietharm

Chapter Five:

When we two are parted:

When we two parted

In silence and tears,

Half broken-hearted,

To sever for years,

Pale grew thy cheek and cold,

Colder thy kiss;

Truly that hour foretold

Sorrow to this.

The dew of the morning

Sank chill on my brow

It felt like the warning

Of what I feel now.

Thy vows are all broken,

And light is thy fame:

I hear thy name spoken,

And share in its shame.

They name thee before me,

A knell to mine ear;

A shudder comes o'er me

Why wert thou so dear?

They know not I knew thee,

Who knew thee too well:

Long, long shall I rue thee

Too deeply to tell.

In secret we met

In silence I grieve

That thy heart could forget,

Thy spirit deceive.

If I should meet thee

After long years,

How should I greet thee?

With silence and tears.

-Lord Byron

xXx
Her heart beat a fast tempo within her chest, fluttering like a caged bird.
The gun fired.
She wasn�t sure when she actually realized her error. It might have been in the second it took her to recover from the modified Sun Firestar�s unexpected kickback. It might have been when she began to dive into a roll before firing again. She couldn�t tell.
He had seen her behind him, calm death in her eyes and movements. Machiko�s grave stance had been reflected in the large manor mirror above the fireplace where the predator had been studying the dead family�s artifacts.
Broken Tusk had moved then with a vicious snarl, faster than she could keep up with her human sight. He cloaked immediately, and she fired furiously a second time into the direction he had vanished.
Five shots left.
The momentum of the roll she had thrown herself into landed her crouched on her feet. She gritted her teeth, bared them even, and kept the gun before her. Her breathing came hard and her eyes watered at the edges. She would not be deterred.
She had begun the dance. If she died, if he died - it was of no consequence. One of them would die, and that�s all that mattered. She would either avenge the Uchidas and her parents or join them. Her options were black and white, and in this she put a grim resignation.
Straining her auditory sense, she listened. Nothing.
�Come out, big guy,� she said, deadpan.
In some small corner of her mind she briefly wondered if he had ever considered what it would be like to hunt her.
The silence stretched on, and her initial drive began to wane. Her eyes flickered about the room and she slowly reversed on the balls of her feet.
A snort to her left. Her head turned.
Mistake.
Something glanced brutally off her right shoulder, knocking her off balance. She fell gracefully into the flurry of the fall, using it to her advantage before rolling to her feet. Her body flipped up and backward, landing two meters away from her original location. Machiko�s sight fell on the area there, and she raised the gun to the tell-tale watery distortion of air.
The hidden warrior lunged---
Her finger found the trigger again. The bullet ricocheted off something solid while her shoulder throbbed like hell. There was a baritone grunt followed by a drawling hiss. Flecks of neon green sprinkled the carpet, interposing with the darker spots of human blood. The carpet took on the appearance of a grisly two-tone Splatter Art piece. An eccentric art connoisseur would no doubt pay top dollar for it at an auction if they knew what created it.
A small sense of morbid jubilation filled her. She had wounded him.
Machiko ignored the ache in her shoulder. Hell, her entire body ached - it couldn�t be helped. She wasn�t sure what her chances were against Broken Tusk, or even if she had a chance at besting him. He was taller and stronger by leaps and bounds. He had many different types of lethal weaponry on his person while she only had her gun and hand-to-hand skills. If she had any hope of outdoing him, it would rely solely on her speed and agility. Capture meant death.
Feigning to the left before retracing her steps and jumping right as he missed her by inches, the woman brought her gun up once more. Broken Tusk finally uncloaked himself for a reason that was beyond her fathoming and lifted an arm. His wrist blades sprang forth with a metallic ring, startling her. He hadn�t had them extended before, which was unusual when he was fighting. Had he been trying to avoid hurting her?
The idea brought on a maddening rush of anger.

He thinks I�m weak!

There was no mistaking his intent now, however. His phosphorescent blood glowed from a wound in his side, just below the ribcage. She had only grazed him, by all appearances. Cursing her luck, she frowned and fired again. He emitted a guttural roar, which ended in a clicking noise reminiscent of clashing knives.
The handgun was knocked from her grasp in a movement faster than she had ever deemed him possible of generating. The bullet went wide, nearly missing his head while he followed through with a downward stroke. Machiko swallowed thickly and burned with embarrassment. The alien blades in his wrist gauntlets had been out to make his reach longer. He must have predicted from her earlier footwork that she liked to dance just out of the reach of her opponents before taking to the offense. Broken Tusk�s swing had the potential to slice off her hand and take the gun with it, but apparently he had only aimed for the barrel of the revolver. The force and speed of the movement had done the rest in dislodging it from her grasp. Damn.

Now I remember why he�s a leader�

One step back, then another. All at once there weren�t any more steps left to take. Her back pressed to the wall behind her, and the predator before her advanced menacingly. There was a slight shortness to his gait, speaking of the damage she had dealt him.

Alien guy wins, Machiko loses. Game over.

Her brain really didn�t offer the best in condolences sometimes.
She didn�t expect it to end this way; fighting Broken Tusk over the corpses of those she once held dear hadn�t been the way she imagined beforehand. Her mind blazed with anger and hatred for what he had done - for what his race had done. It wasn�t necessarily his fault, but he had been there in the Kamikaze when those things that resembled overgrown arachnids had started latching on to the faces of innocent people. Machiko could only assume he had a hand in it.

But he saved me. The mark�

She released a short, self-deprecating bark of laughter just as he stopped within an inch of her and leered down. It was more than clear to her the reason she had been spared the fate of the others. That symbol he had carved into her temple on Ryushi had been some kind of initiation into his world. Not necessarily a welcome, but a rite of tolerance from his people. It would be comical - laughable even - had it been anyone else.
Unfortunately, it wasn�t.
How she hated him just then�!
She let her loathing reach her face. It welled up through every pore of her being; if he was to end her life now, she wanted him to know. The Japanese woman stared directly into his mask and mustered all the enmity she could into her lowered voice. �Are you going to remain behind your mask as you kill me? Coward.� There was no practical purpose to her message, but she wanted one last jab at him before she died. It made her feel better, in an immature way. It was that last fleeting rush of endorphins, the brace before the break.
The predator�s twin pair of irregular blades met with the plaster to the left of her head. She gave a surprised cry as a cloud of white dust exploded into her vision from the force of the impact. Her body flattened further against the wall at her back.
Machiko blinked several times past the remainder of the dust swirling between them, trying to refocus. Why hadn�t he killed her yet? Was he toying with her like a cat with a mouse?
What happened next made her want to find a small, quiet place to die. She closed her eyes.

A sudden, indrawn breath from her---
�Machiko, look at me.�

---said her mother with the worried eyes, which was the one on the ground---

---and her eyes flew open again. She wanted to cry, hide, become nothing. She was so tired.
He had been with her all along. On the ship, in her home, and then to the nightmare in the nightclub. He didn�t want her dead. He was trying to keep her alive.
Machiko looked at him and seemingly through him.

Why!?, her mind sobbed. She wanted to be with her parents, with the Uchidas, with the rest of humanity. To be singled out and special was too painful. Special hurt. Special meant she was on his side, on their side. Not me. Anyone but me�

The muscled forearm that had pinned itself to the wall beside her face extricated itself slowly. He meant her no harm.
She wanted to scream and scream and scream.
His knives slid back into the sockets of the gauntlet. He reached up to remove the hoses connected to his mask. There was a pressurized hiss.

No, she thought vehemently, go back to the hell you belong to.
Now the other hand raised to help the first remove the mask.

Stop.
Machiko twisted her head away, forced herself to look at a portrait of a young Kouhei grinning at her on the mantle above the fireplace. She could swear he understood the cosmic joke that she endured just by the pleased grin plastered on his face.
�Machiko, look at me.� Her mother�s faint voice addressed her again. The woman winced. Why couldn�t he expand on his vocabulary elsewhere? Why did he have to use the haunting voices of those she had loved and lost all too abruptly?
A quick but small pain lanced up her nervous system.
He had pinched her nearest earlobe between a thumb and forefinger.
Reacting to the unexpected sensation with annoyance, her head rotated to face his and her hand came up to slap his away. Tears stung her eyes again, just when she thought it was impossible to cry anymore than she already had. Her breakdowns seemed to come in short episodes that were slowly building towards something earthshaking. She felt it.
Funny, how he was exactly as she remembered him to be. As he let his hand fall away she was left to stare at him, her eyes roving over his inhuman features while he clicked quietly.
He was still ugly, she mused somberly. Did he think the same of her? Probably.
Broken Tusk was regarding her fiercely from beneath his mottled brow ridges, and for an insane moment she noted that his eyes were yellow with flecks of darker amber. She couldn�t recall seeing that before on Ryushi. Why did she really care, anyways?
The warrior�s bright eyes flickered over her face and she began to grown uncomfortable by the close scrutiny. His mandibles flared slightly once or twice, and then he began to�
�purr?
She blinked rapidly.
Was he purring at her? It sounded far from the noise a housecat would make, but it was unmistakable.
�What�� the human began, slipping sideways and skirting around him. Her eyes remained on his and he thankfully didn�t follow her. She crossed the distance to the fireplace and picked up the picture of Kouhei from the mantle. With shaky hands she held the portrait up and tapped it feverishly with one nail. If anything, she couldn�t do the dead a disservice by losing her ire.
�See him? See this? He was with me in the club. He died because of those bugs you let loose.� Machiko then gestured to the prone forms of her parents and the Uchidas. She made sharp slashing motions at her throat and then pointed accusingly to the claw of the alien still slung on the predator�s armor. Lastly, she lifted her index finger and pointed to him. It was his fault.
That caused him to growl and step forward. She held her ground as he snatched the photo frame from her hands and held it up with one hand while the other cradled his mask. While he was busy with this, she picked up the family portrait of the Uchidas he had been studying before she shot him. Putting it next to the one he held, she made quick gestures between both glassed snapshots and then made motions to the dead on the floor.
�That�s them.�
The warrior seemed to get it - that or he had already drawn the connection for himself when he was studying the pictures earlier. In a manner that was almost reverent he carefully put the photo of Kouhei back on the mantle. She followed his example.
�See?�
To her surprise, he nodded and dipped his head. He purred again.

That�s really unsettling.

Machiko just stared at him awkwardly. Now what? How did one deal with an eight-foot extraterrestrial who seemed to accept the blame graciously? That wasn�t in any one manual that she had seen while taking her executive courses before Ryushi.
Did he even comprehend that she was accusing him of his role in the matter?
As if he had read her thoughts, he gave a loud snort. He began probing the bullet wound at his side cautiously before looking to her again.
Now she was the one being leveled with the implicating stare.
Machiko threw up her hands in frustration. �What did you expect!?� she shot back. For the first time she felt a twang of guilt and found she disliked it immensely. She had no blame in this; she was guiltless. There was also a lack of sense in arguing with an interstellar life form that didn�t speak any human language save for what it recorded. Although he appeared to understand what he played back at her, did he really? It was hard to be sure.
There was no time to consider it, anyway. She needed to notify the authorities before her parents began to stink.

Oh, god�

No, she wouldn�t dwell on that again. She didn�t need to be reminded - there was enough physical evidence strewn all about her as it was.
It would be no easy task. The tension between Broken Tusk and herself had dissipated for the time being and she felt safe enough in knowing that.
�I need to call the cops,� Machiko announced, �so you had better fade away.�
He fixed her with what could be a humorous expression. His mandibles opened and shut silently, and then he trilled.

She just scoffed at him. Turning away, she took a few steps forward and glanced back over her shoulder.
He was gone.
A sigh emanated from deep in her lungs and then she stated, �Visuals, please.�

Unlike the Noguchi home, the Uchida manor was outfitted with channeling monitors in all rooms. They were not attached in certain areas to a blank section of wall but mounted in the ceiling instead. The screen for the parlor unfolded from a discreet sliding panel above her and unrolled itself to a full length a short distance away. The screen blipped, floundered, and then burst to life. The manor�s main computer spoke to her then, the same voice she had encountered from the entryway.
�Specify program, channel, or directive.�
Fancy-schmancy.
�I need to be put on a direct channel with TPD.�
�Affirmative. Processing request��
The flat view shook with black and white snow before clearing and lighting in on an operator of the TPD, or Tokyo Police Department. The operator was a chubby woman with a matronly air. She appeared a bit frazzled. Folding her hands before her, the woman squinted past Machiko and seemed to notice the disarray in the background immediately. �This is TPD. May I ask the reason for your call?�
�I�� Machiko trailed, suddenly at a loss for words. She was exasperated by now and had already reacted horribly to the sight of the bodies. It would do her good to replay that reaction for the operator, but she couldn�t muster the energy.
In the end, she just sounded fed up.
�My parents are dead. So are the people that live here. I was invited over and arrived late� there�s been a struggle. I think one of those things��
�The creatures? We�ve been getting calls on them all night, dear. No one has been able to capture one to confirm their existence� certainly no one here. We�ve had spottings aplenty, though� and many hurt or killed.�
Relief sank in her heart and held her emboldened to the idea that she wouldn�t be accused of murdering four people. �I see. It would be great if�� Machiko lost her train of thought again and sat on the verge of tears. She wouldn�t cry again. No.
The kindly two-dimensional woman before her tipped her head sympathetically. �I�m sorry about your loss. As of now, all our people are out there on duty. We do not have enough to cover everything that is happening at once. It�s complete chaos. There�s rioting, looting�� the operator began ticking off all the problems on one of her hands, ��injuries substained from looting, unexplained deaths, aliens running amuck in the city��
Machiko bit back a low moan. �That means��
�It means that we�ll get to your parents when we can. Until then we have our hands full. Can I have the address?�
She proceeded to fill the operator in on all of the details, sometimes backtracking to repeat a numeral or two. When all was said and done, the operator wished her a good day and ended the conversation.

Yeah, it�s been a real fucking good day alright.

The urge to hit something or someone shot beneath her skin, leaving her with a few tremors of undirected adrenaline. Forcing it back down, she stepped carefully across the room and scanned the ruined carpet for her handgun. She found it near the collapsed form of her father. It was most difficult to bend over beside his body and ignore the fact that this person had once helped her with her math homework.
Picking up the gun and moving away hastily, she glanced around for Broken Tusk. There was nothing out of the ordinary that she could pick up, nothing that pointed to a certain corner where his cloaked form rippled to indicate his position. �Broken Tusk?� she called carefully, wondering if he would answer to that. Her mind strained to remember the odd pronunciation he had tried to have her get her tongue around back on Ryushi. She was sure it was his real name, but she had mangled it so badly that calling him Broken Tusk had simply been the easier route to take.

What was it, what was it�

�Daah-shaann-dae?�
Nothing. She tried again, feeling ridiculous for it. It had been a failure the first time she had tried, what made her think she would get it right now?
�Dah-shann-dae?� This was impossible.
�Dah-shann-day.� Broken Tusk was behind her. The name was said in the same primal manner that he used with �Dahtoudi�. It was a noise that started at the back of the throat - a guttural sound that was akin to a growl. Hell, it was a growl. The only difference stood in listening closely for fluctuations made with the tongue.

�And I thought German was bad.

Spinning around on her heel, she could not stop the small smile that pulled tight at her face. It was short-lived, however, when she noticed that there was some strange blue substance smeared across the small wound she dealt him. His blood was no longer pasted to his person - he had cleaned that up and applied the blue gel in the time she had been speaking to the operator. Where had he gone? Odd.
�Dah-shann-day,� she repeated.
Broken Tusk clacked his mandibles at that, appearing pleased with the progress. He tapped at the missing part of his lower mandible and said his name a second time.

Ah, so Dahshannday must hold the same meaning as Broken Tusk.

Machiko felt a small burst of pride. She had failed to pronounce it right back on Ryushi, but that was expected in a situation where death lurked right beyond the doorway. It was hard to concentrate on anything at all in that environment.
Death had already happened here. They were exempt until they stepped outside.
The prospect was not appealing.
Nodding up to Brok--- no, Dahshannday, she conveyed that she understood. He reached out, patted her roughly on the head like an obedient dog and began to reconnect his mask to his face.
What really bugged her was that she had not thought to knock his arm away until after the fact.
No matter, she would make a note of it for next time. The important thing was to call in to work next. There was no way she was going anywhere until the proper authorities showed up for the bodies.
Apparently Dahshannday had other ideas.
He grabbed her by her nearest upper arm once his mask was once more in place, hauling her forward a few steps towards the foyer. He gave an impatient growl when she dug her heels in and shook her head stubbornly.
�No, I have to stay here!�
The growling became insistent now, and for the first time she noticed it carried stops and pauses, highs and lows to it. Just like when he spoke his name�

Wait.

He was attempting to talk to her. He wasn�t growling just because he was angry, as a human or animal would. This was his language, the way he communicated to others of his kind.
The predator was trying to tell her something. By the looks of it, he was frustrated too.
�What is it?� she asked, feeling stupid for not realizing it before.
He promptly let go of her arm and hit a few buttons on his wrist. A familiar hologram blueprint rose into the air, shimmering with electric red lines. It was the Chigusa Corp. skyscraper in the commerical sector of Tokyo. It was the place she was supposed to head to work that morning.

What the hell�

�You want to go there?�
He paused as if considering her inquiry. After a second or two he dipped his head.
�But��
She couldn�t just leave her parents and the Uchidas on the floor, could she? Something about abandoning them a second time struck a bad chord within her that she could not shake. On the other hand, TPD did have her coordinates. They would be by eventually.
Dahshannday issued a deep bark. There was no debating this.
�Fine.� It was a curt response, one meant to represent her intolerance of his impatience. �I doubt Smudge Stewart would want me dawdling any longer� dead parents or not.� It wasn�t like she was bitter or anything.
He turned triumphantly, striding out of the manor with a confidence she wished she had. Machiko followed in his wake like a petulant child, sullen and stiff. This had easily been the worst day of her life.
What she didn�t account for just yet was that it was far from over�
- 4
- 5
You need to be logged in to leave a review for this story.You need to be logged in to leave a review for this story.
Report Story

AvP: Desiderata