Into the Black: Epilogue

[bring_a_sponge]

A silence falls over sublevel C, broken only by the occasional clatter of falling debris, and the quiet chatter coming over the MiB comm, as the surviving Men in Black escape from the DeNeuralyzation Room upstairs and fan out to see just how bad things are

Comments

[sime_channel]

Suzi would like to protest that she didn't do jack. She really would. Alas that the PSD has totally caught up with her, so the Sime is busy feeling her body splay out across several thousand miles and is rather understandably throwing up.

She'll be at that for a while.

[captainryan]

Ryan's still busy hacking and coughing at the awful stench permeating the air. Breathing through his mouth isn't helping much, but he absolutely refuses to join in with Suzi.

But he will kneel next to her, one hand holding her hair back as she retches. They were just eaten. He doesn't mind staying still for a moment or three.

[sime_channel]

She's grateful for the hair assistance. She can barely keep her body together while she vomits* and would really like someone to reunite reality with itself. Getting rid of the pygmy weresheep clowns would be nice, too.

*Her body is not really going to fall apart. It just zlins that way.

[captainryan]

Perhaps if Ryan could see them, he'd be able to help. It's not hard to imagine who would win a fight when it's werewolf vs. weresheep, even if the sheep have the added terror* of being clowns. Alas, all he can do is rub her back and wait for her to stop.

After a time, long enough that his nose is finally desensitized to the smell, it seems she's stabilized somewhat. He ducks his head down so she can see him without moving too much. "Can you walk?" he asks gently, still moving his hand in slow circles. "Or do you want me to carry you?"

She asked him along to protect her, and he let her get PSD and be eaten by a huge alien worm. He's feeling guilty.

*Mun's phobia, not Ryan's.

[gone_byebye]

Ray beams, and drips, and beams some more. "We do our best, sir," he says. "Now if you'll excuse me, I've got one more thing to look for before I go in search of some serious beer. Dibs on any remaining unbroken teeth!"

[doc_venkman]

Peter slipped from the gunk, and got knocked around from the falling worm. And his stomach felt very empty, having already puked from the OMG WTF IS THAT SMELL of unipod blood and guts.

So there was just a shakey thumbs up from where he was lying on the ground.

"Hurray for our side. Can we go home now?"

SLUMP! And he's out for the count for the moment.

[wheelsy_sheriff]

Bill finally picks himself up off the ground, now covered in dead Oil and worm muck. He stares at the tiny gun in his hand and walks over to Zed and hands it to him.

"Less recoil on the alien guns my ass..." He mutters walking past Zed and limping slightly, "Think I broke my ass..."

[gammagammahey]

Meanwhile, Jen's stuck on top of Marvin's head for a few minutes, looking around for a square foot of floor that isn't covered with slime, guts, Oil, body parts, and other viscous unidentifiable substances. She turns, and can make out two beslimed figures crawling out from the remains of Marv, and breathes an audible sigh of relief. The thought of good people dying in this place had that tight feeling at the back of her throat, the feeling that takes years to go away.

"This place? A slip and fall class action lawsuit waiting to happen," she calls out to no one in particular.

She finally sights a cleanish patch of floor thirty or so feet away, and leaps, landing on both feet.

Jen does what comes naturally, after fighting non-stop on teams for so long: status check. She turns slowly, looking around, taking silent inventory.

"Zed? Is everyone here? Is everyone okay? Where's Steph? Where's Goldy?"

[3rdtimelucky]

At about this time, Goldy comes sliding down into the carnage from the Landing Bay, on one of Steph's de-cel cables. She's still covered in bug juice.

"Jeez. It looks and smells like the shit actually hit the fan down here."

"What did I miss?"

[bring_a_sponge]

Zed has just finished doing a status check himself. "Everyone here and accounted for, Jen. Goldy there, Steph there, and....well, hard to miss Maxwell in that."

"Team Alpha on their feet," Zed casts a concerned look toward Suzi. And then, seeing Venkman, he adds "OK, on their feet, figuratively. And Team Omega still holding the line."

"And the surviving Agents are out of the DeNeuralyzation Room. They're upstairs now, securing the area."

"What's left of it, anyway."

Yeah. Fowler Schocken Insurance of Regulus IX is just going to love this claim....

[3rdtimelucky]

It's actually quite obvious what Goldy missed. There's a huge worm laid across the room with a blast hole in its head and a gaping crater in its side. She looks a little peeved to have missed the smackdown, but she mentally concedes that her arsenal would have been no match for that size of beast.

"Hey Zed," she calls, making her way through the rubble and gunky debris over to Steph. "I picked up a few more worms up there."

She leaves that hanging for a suspenseful second, then grins.

"A bit smaller though. They said they're friends of yours, so I didn't cremate them."