6 The Living Spaceship: The Measure of A Hero

The zombies started to bite Alice's arm. Kirsteen intervened and knocked several of the ravenous undead away with her gun, before pulling Alice free.

Kirsteen pushed Alice behind her and then fired on the zombies. Her fire just like the others except for Luke, was indiscriminate and chaotic, but she still managed to catch several of the undead monsters in her line of fire and actually drive the others back, albeit momentarily.

When Kirsteen prepared to turn her weapon on the demon child it effortlessly whipped it out of her hand.

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. Catching him off guard, she pushed Luke into the zombies, with a quick kick to the chest.

This time the zombies overpowered 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 the horde were ultimately 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 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, after which she turned the gun on the zombies who were coming through the hatch and finished them off.

The Professor and Lindsey meanwhile 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.

"I honestly don't know myself. We just have to get back to the ship first and try and help those poor people you dragged into this. Then I don't know maybe we can." The Professor said in a somewhat grim tone, before Gyster suddenly started to groan in pain.

"What's wrong?" The Professor asked.

"Its Ziakan. 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 nearest corridor, but Ziakan 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.

Ziakan instantly went for Lindsey, but the Professor in turn went for Ziakan's legs and knocked him off balance. Whilst the zombie was on the ground, the Professor tried to pin him down. Lindsey meanwhile picked up some of the rubble from the ceiling that Ziakan had brought down, and tried to hit the zombie, but the undead brute easily threw the Professor off and then held Lindsey by the throat before smashing 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. He tried to use it to heal the zombie, but knowing what was coming the creature spun round and threw Lindsey into the Professor. As it reached down for both of them, the Professor not having time to charge the staff up, instead stabbed it through Ziakan's chest. It did little to deter the monster at first, but the Professor used it to push him back into the wall before tearing it out.

Ziakan tried to strike the vampire several more times, but the Professor was too quick and hit Ziakan several times in the face with the staff, before stabbing Ziakan in the neck. The Professor tried to pull the staff upwards and take the zombies head off, but Ziakan simply grabbed the staff with both hands, pulled it out of his neck and then broke it in two.

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

Lindsey tried to attack Ziakan 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 then jumped on Ziakan'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 pulled himself free from Ziakan's grip and and shoved him into a nearby room, reall a small living quarters, with a bed, a tv, and a table with some chairs at one end.

Ziakan however pulled himself back up, and threw both the Professor and Lindsey back towards the other end of the room. Lindsey however then picked up 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. He found an old lighter on the table and as soon as the zombie lifted the television off of its head, the Professor, again despite his frail appearance jumped up and delivered an air kick to the zombie's face sending him backwards onto the bed. The Professor then wrapped the blanket around Ziakan before setting it on fire with the lighter.

The Professor hurried Lindsey out of the room as Ziakan'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, Ziakan still tried to tear the two time travellers apart. Lindsey and the Professor held the door shut behind them, hoping that Ziakan would burn to death before he could break through, but the zombie still managed to push them back against the corridor.

By this stage Ziakan'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 Kirsteen, Alice and Jenna down the other end of a nearby corridor. Alice was clearly badly hurt and being supported by Kirsteen whilst Jenna was now carrying the 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 said angrily at the Professor.

"We're sorry" Lindsey interjected, knowing the Professor would probably just tell Kirsteen to shut up and listen to him.

"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 Skovora 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." The Professor said.

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 Skovora 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.

Skovora 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 Skovora's power. Still he fought which just made the process all the more agonising.

"Quite crying will you." Skovora 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 Skovora's power ran through the ship, the zombies started to turn into more demonic 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 Skovora'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 made their way back to the Zoo the doors were still closed.

"Gyster, if you can hear 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 the 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. Skovora 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 Skovora. However it might knock him out long enough for them to get him back in his prison.

Jenna however shot at Skovora 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.

Skovora turned around and saw the Professor. "Come to save this pathetic, needy creature have you? Hypocrite! He's caused untold suffering too, yet you locked me in that box for years? Do you have any idea what it was like in there."

"Well yes since I helped build it." The Professor joked.

"I'm going to repay you tenfold for every second I spent in that hell. You and that miserable failure you travel with."

Skovora 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 in sheer terror at the monster who hadn't even noticed them. 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 Skovora, 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. Kirsteen screamed out in anguish as the monster prepared to do the same to her, but the Professor now free picked up the gun and shot at a section of Gysters heart. It wasn't enough to kill Gyster, though it did weaken him. Still the blast struck Skovora and knocked him out cold, though Gyster was able to harness the energy and use it to drag Skovora into its heart which soon consumed the demon.

Just as the Professor had thought however it did not vaporise his enemy. Skovora soon awoke and 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." The Professor asked.

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."

"I don't think it will. That demon is virtually indestructible. I've searched for years for a way to kill him." The Professor protested.

"Not to sound conceited" Gyster said proudly.

"You've never encountered the type of magics that created me. My heart was able to knock him out. If I self destruct, the force will be over ten thousand times greater. There is no way even he could possibly survive. This has to be done to stop him. You know he will eventually get out again, and besides he might not be out long enough for you to drag him back to your vessel."

The Professor and Lindsey thought about it for a few more moments, before realising there really wasn't any other option.

"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 on."

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 Skovora's demonic pawns, as the magic that powered them was beginning to fluctuate.

Gyster was able to guide the Professor and the others 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 the time travellers.

"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 thirty mutated zombies. The creatures had all congregated to this area to wait for the time travellers.

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. Despite their now greater strength, many of the Zombies were still disoriented by the changes the magics had brought to them, and they were also not used to their new, bulkier bodies. Ironically if anything they were now easier for Fang and the others to push over.

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 remained near the entrance to Fang's ship for the time travellers) attempted to jump him from behind. Lindsey warned the Professor in time, with the vampire only narrowly managing to miss being incinerated.

"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 pull Kirsteen free from the zombies grip, three more of the creatures grabbed onto Lindsey and pulled her away. Two of undead beasts then pulled Jenna who the Professor had tried to stay beside and protect, only for the demon to knock the vampire to the other side of the room.

Kirsteen managed to push past two of the zombies, using their own bulky frames against them to try and help Jenna, but it was too late. Six of the creatures had already dog pilled on Jenna who offered less resistance due to her injuries. The monsters tore her stomach open and ripped her throat out before a helpless Kirsteen. Like Sharks at a feeding frenzy, most of the other zombies were drawn by the smell of blood and turned 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 three zombies away pulled Kirsteen back towards the hatch.

Whilst the Professor struggled with evading the flaming demon's attacks 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 jumped passed the flaming demon, picked up the child and using all his strength, pushed the child into the flaming Demon sending them both tumbling out of the hatch and into Gyster.

The flames had no effect on the demon child as the Professor knew they wouldn't having seen this kind of transformation before. The Professor knocked them both back into the horde of zombies who were devouring Jenna, with the flaming demons body causing the zombies it touched to erupt in flames. The fire soon spread throughout all of the zombies there.

After Lindsey had finally dragged Kirsteen inside the Professors ship, the vampire then pulled the hatch down before any of the flaming 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.

Whilst they argued, the Professor 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, Skovora 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 and other animals, Skovora, the flaming demon and the demon child were all consumed in a blaze of blue magic as Gyster exploded in space. Fortunately the Professor had managed to pilot his ship to the safety of the vortex 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 history 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 never 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." Kirsteen sobbed.

"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 said nothing. Much like the Professor she knew that wasn't going to be an easy question to answer.

To Be Continued