2

…

NO, SERIOUSLY, WHAT IN THE ACTUAL FUCK?!

I… no, no, not the time. Escape first, complete existential break down later.

I shook my head and blinked as I took in the control room with my new eyes for the first time. The color scheme was a garish combination of black, yellow and green, with a hexagonal tile pattern marking the walls. The various consoles lining the room were lit up with holographic symbols and interfaces that all meant nothing to me. I let out a grunt before I turned my head back around towards my own console and-

I went completely still save for my eyes widening at what I saw. My blindsight had given me the shape of the room and its contents, but I hadn't been able to tell that some of the walls had actually been windows. And out of the nearest one I could see a blue star burning bright though the wisps of a nebula, with the bits of black beyond that full of stars.

It was… so beautiful.

I stared at the sight before me for a few moments before I forced myself to tear my eyes away. I looked down at the console I had my hand imbedded in, idly noticing how my arm's color and texture was now the same gray as the little object that had started this whole mess to begin with.

Ok, let's take stock, I thought to myself even as I felt the back of my mind continue to pick apart and analyze the alien computer. And it was alien. If that really was Starfire, and I am in space, that probably means that my captors are the… Psions, if I remember correctly. And that means… this is when Starfire got her powers.

Which was all well and good, but it didn't help me with my current goal of finding a way out of here. Hell, where would I even go, I was in god damn space! First things first though, I had solve this damn computer. Piecing things together at my current pace wasn't working, so I had to step it up. With a small bit of effort my spikes spread further.

I felt the systems became more unstable at the damage, but at the same time it became clearer in my head. I started to make out functions, relations, concepts. Ok, I thought, Security/Alarm/Resistance Off/Shutdown/Release. A moment later, the sound of the alarms shut off, and I grinned. All right, now what? A way out would be nice, but to where?

Well, barring any better ideas, I guess I should try to get to Earth.

Structure/Layout/Schematic. A rough wireframe of the space station formed in my head, giving me the image of a spire with a bulging disk partway up the length. An impression of a spot towards the top made me think that was where I was located. But it wasn't enough. Hangar/Transport. This time it took a few seconds, and I felt things start to fray a bit more before my attention was directed to a larger room on the outer part of the disk, not far from my current position. I took a moment to memorize the route.

But, even if I could get there, what would I do? I don't know how to fly a space ship. Maybe Koriand'r could help in that regard, but even then which way was Earth? Ok, think, what do you know about Psions? They operate out of a specific system, which was… was… Vega, I think. Argh, still doesn't help, they probably call it something different. As I wracked my brain for details, a small bit of trivia popped into my head. Wait, wasn't Vega supposed to be twenty six light years from Earth?

Universe/Stars/Navigation. I felt a massive amount of data start pouring though my head before I frantically dug my spikes in deeper and added parameters. Speed of Photon/ Seconds 86,400/Multiply 365/ Multiply 26. Everything blurred a little more, but the data resolved itself into 4 distinct points. Most likely my mental conception of the distance wasn't as precise as it could have been. Great, but I'd rather not leave this to a one in four chance. Is there anything else that these lizards would know about that I could relate to Earth, something universal? But what the hell is universal here-

I stood up a little straighter as it came to me. The Guardians of the Universe. Any self-respecting space civilization would have to know about the Green Lantern Corps. Especially one as shady as the Psions, if only to keep tabs on them. The image of the Green Lantern insignia flashed through my mind as I added it to the search.

Three of the points blinked out, leaving just the one left. I gave a victorious grin before I set my face. The next part would be tricky, assuming the system was built to do this. Plot Course/Download/Prepare Vessel. It took several seconds and me digging dangerously into the console, but I managed to get the impression of a ship, a cylinder that tapered into flat hammerhead structures at both ends, with a trio of rings around the fuselage. Hope that means its FTL capable, I thought as I felt the system start to finally collapse from the damage I inflicted.

One last thing. Locate Tamaranian. In the moments before the console in front of me broke down completely in a series of sparks, my mental map of the station revealed a pair of dots relatively close to each other, and conveniently on located on the way to the hangar.

I ripped my hand out of the computer, or at least tried to before I remember to retract all of my branching spikes back into my hand. Alright, not out of the woods yet, but now I have a goal: Get to Earth, and before that, get to the ship hangar. And on the way I can collect Koriand'r and we can-

Wait a second, didn't she say something about rescuing her sister?

I stood where was for a second longer before I started running. "Shit shit shit shit!"

I trusted the map I had committed to memory as I ran down the corridors, my body shifting back into my xenomorph form as I put on speed (though I kept my eyes this time). While most people would be happy to be rescued from sadistic aliens by their sister, Komand'r (a.k.a. Blackfire) was not one of them. It was probably something to do with how she betrayed the Tamaranian people to a conquering star empire to begin with, though at the moment I couldn't remember why she had done that. Was Koriand'r next in line for the throne for some reason…? It didn't matter. The important thing was that as the story went, when Starfire staged her escape from the Psions and went back to save her sister against her better judgment, Blackfire shot her in the back for her efforts and restrained her for execution. Starfire escaped, but I couldn't remember if it happened immediately or sometime after though.

As I wondered if my presence had already mucked things up, a thought occurred to me. Then again, who says this universe has to perfectly match my memories? I thought. Seeing as how the multiverse is apparently real, what are the odds that I happened to land in one that my own universe is familiar with? Crucial details could be completely different. My momentum carried me into the wall as I rounded a corner, forcing me to wall run for a few seconds as I came with sight of what I assumed was a lab at the end of the hall. Maybe in this universe, Blackfire isn't a complete bi-

My thought was cut off when I saw a massive flash of magenta light followed by Koriand'r flying out of the lab and smashing into the other side of the hallway before she collapsed onto the ground in a heap. And staking out of the door, her fists glowing with power and her face twisted in rage, was Komand'r.

…Never mind.

Koriand'r lifted her head weakly. "Dela… kelsa?"

"Borak kar…" Blackfire seethed as the purplish energy writhed on her hands before she aimed one at her sister. "Kenresh sur markal!"

Before she could do anything else, I slammed into her at top speed, knocking us both to the ground as I slashed at her with electrified claws. I only managed to slice open the black skinsuit she was wearing and put a few scratches on her before she threw me off with a scream, sending me crashing into a wall. I just barely managed to get my feet back under me in time to dodge a volley of starbolts hurled my way, and I was forced to keep moving as she didn't let up. I couldn't retreat with Koriand'r incapacitated nearby, and my claws had just proven ineffective against Tamaranian toughness. I knew I needed to go heavier, so I started to change to my human- no, humanoid form, not bothering with the details and letting my body do what it wanted.

It was faster than before in my cell, both due to practice and instinct, but it was still too slow. My expanding torso threw my balance off as I awkwardly juked to the side of another blast, and I almost fell when my arm beneath me slipped as it shifted in structure. I frantically moved as I tried to make it to cover, and my legs chose the worst time to snap back to plantigrade as AARRG!

A starbolt struck me right in the abdomen, and pain exploded through me as I felt a good chunk of my flesh disintegrate. I collapsed to the ground, and Blackfire smiled viciously as she lined up get glowing fist with my head. Before she could fire though, a green starbolt exploded against the side of her head, and she snarled as she turned to see Koriand'r feebly holding her arm out towards her while still on the ground. Blackfire simply strode over and kicked her sister hard enough to send her crashing into the wall again.

I bared my teeth in both anger and pain, trying to channel it into my transformation. Armor, not just chitin, but real armor, I thought to myself as I tried to pull every scrap of what I was made of out. I had no idea how much 'stuff' I had to work with, if maybe I had more that it seemed due to density or pocket dimension weirdness, but I felt my body harden as my plates grew denser and expanded. My tail was absorbed into my body to patch my wound even as it armored over, and as I stood I felt new strength flood my limbs. Blackfire turned back to me as I charged her with a roar, and this time I was able to ignore the lessened pain from her starbolts and slugged her across the face.

Unfortunately, she simply whipped her head back around and started hammering into me with a series of punches of her own. I endured and stuck back as best I could, but it would have been a lie to say I gave as good as I got. Even with my new form the Tamaranian was still stronger than me, and had far more combat training than a programmer. It quickly became clear that I wasn't going to be able to beat her, and it wouldn't be long before she realized that I had no internals to break and moved on to something more effective. I needed to get her out of the way, but how?

I started to intentionally slow down, give her the impression that I was tiring. I let her push me back to the wall and pin me there, one hand gripping my throat as the other pulled back. I weakly grasped her arm as I let my other fall to my side, and I faked choking noises as I squirmed in her grasped. Blackfire paused for a moment before she smiled wickedly, and her fist started to glow with magenta energy. However, that hesitation was all the time I needed as I suddenly whipped my other arm back up, and she looked down at the shortened laser rifle my forearm had turned into just in time for it to shoot her in the face.

She screamed as the red beam hit her in the eyes, and she stumbled back from me blind. I quickly stepped forward and grabbed her, spinning her around once before I hurled her back into lab she had come out of and watched her smash into the operating slab. I then moved to the door and stabbed my hand into the door controls, interfacing and ordering the door to slam shut and lock. I had no illusions that it would hold her for long, but hopefully it would be long enough for Koriand'r and I to escape.

That hit a small snag when I looked at Koriand'r though and saw that she wasn't moving. I rushed over and knelt down, and much to my relief found her just unconscious. No time to wait, I thought as I quickly scooped her up into a fireman's carry with my unchanged arm before I started my mad dash to the hangar.

The next few minutes were a blur of corridors, elevators, doors, and the occasional Psion that happened to spot me. I didn't bother giving them much mind as I was usually out of sight a few seconds later, and there was no way in hell I was going to slow down when an enraged Blackfire was probably on my tail. Sooner than I would have thought though I reached a cavernous room the size of a football field, a number of different ships littering the space. A large section at one end looked to be open to space, but I was willing to bet there was a force field in place to keep the air in. Lucky for me, I also managed to spot the ship I had seen while interfacing with the computer nearby, about the size of two city buses in length and a loading ramp already lowered.

Unluckily, it was also at that moment another Psion security team had caught up and entered the hangar from 20 meters away, screaming at me and opening fire. I returned fire as best I could as I headed for the ship, zig zagging to throw of their aim. A few blasts got closer than I liked, but I made it to the ramp and slammed my gun-arm into a button near the hatch. It did what I thought it did and closed the hatch behind me, and I could hear lasers striking the hull seconds later. I quickly found my way to the cockpit and looked at the console as my gun-arm turned back to normal. I found a spot I guessed was far from crucial systems and touched my hand to it, deploying my spikes as lightly as I could even as I mentally screamed.

Take Off/Exit System/Follow Programmed Course/GO!

I was nearly thrown off my feet as the ship lurched into the air, and from the viewports and screens littering the cockpit I could see that we were moving. In ten seconds we cleared the hangar and were into space, in another ninety the space station was shrinking in the distance behind us, and in another five seconds space warped around the ship and we were gone.

--------------------​

I managed to find something I thought was a small medbay on the ship and laid Koriand'r down on the bed, checking over her as best I could. A good portion of the back of her suit was burned away, and the skin of her back looked burned. I had no idea how badly she was actually hurt though. I knew a little bit about human injuries, but how well did that translate to super charged Tamaranians?

I scoured the ship for anything I could find, which as it turned out was a good deal more than I thought. I found any number of strange devices ranging from handheld to about as big as I was in size, plus a rack of weapons similar to the ones the security team had carried. I also think I found something akin to a first aid kit with a few different kinds of fabric and tubes that contained various liquids. Thing was that aside from the guns I had no idea what any of it did. Still, I did have a bit of a way around that, though I was hesitant to destroy anything that might be useful later (even if I didn't know what those things were). Such as it was, I decided to start with the handheld devices, as I had several of them on hand.

I picked one up from the pile I had made on the bench, a little pad with a screen on it. A moment later my hand unfurled and consumed it, and I paid as much attention as I could to what was happening. The device seemed to dissolve as spikes pierced into it, each one branching off into smaller spikes that seemed to follow patterns in the hardware, physically mapping it out even as it took everything apart. The process took barely a second to finish, and I once again felt that strange sensation in the back of my mind, like there was something I couldn't quite remember. Focusing on that for a few seconds resulted in something shifting and forming in my head and-

I stumbled as I was suddenly bombarded by new sensations and impulses, with textures and sounds rippling through me as whatever was left of my brain tried to make sense of it all. I desperately tried to shut it down and focusing on one thing at a time, staring at the grating beneath my feet as I did so. As I started to get it under control I felt my eyes undergo an abrupt change before everything in my vision changed shades and brightness. My body was glowing slightly compared to the metal around me, and as I looked up I saw the same could be said of the lights above. Huh. Infrared. I thought to myself.

A few more mental adjustments and I realized that I could switch my vison across a good deal of the electromagnetic spectrum, from what I guessed were microwaves to x-rays. Radio and gamma were too difficult for me to visualize though, and that was to say nothing of the half dozen other senses I couldn't understand at the moment. Hmm, I guess it was some kind of tricorder thing. I can copy hardware of the sensors… but not the software that would let me parse the data? That's annoying. Regardless, I would have to mess around with that later, as I still hand an injured Tamaranian on my hands. I pick up another tricorder and this time only partially consumed it, trying to interface with it as I did the computer. I was mostly successful, and headed back over to Koriand'r.

A few minutes of poking and led me to conclude that she would probably be fine. I had used every mental command I could think off along the lines of 'assess health of subject' with the tricorder, and everything I got back felt positive. I could also see interesting patterns of energy flowing beneath her skin if I switched my eyes to infrared, and to my untrained gaze everything looked stable as I tried to make her comfortable on her side.

Still, though I tried to stay focused as possible, I couldn't help but acknowledge as I looked her over that she was spectacularly built. As in, I had never seen a woman both that attractive and that physically fit in my entire life. She looked as good as models did after they went through all that photoshop magic, except she somehow still managed it while lying on a bed after getting the crap kicked out of her. I couldn't exactly tell was her age was, somewhere in her late teens, maybe easily twenties at a glance, but part of me knew that could couldn't rely on appearance as she was an alien.

Of course, another part of me knew that I shouldn't be staring so much at the maybe-teenager.

I grunted at that and stood back up, noticing a mirror to my side as I did so. I spent a few moments finally getting a good look at my body in its humanoid form… and I started to wonder if my subconscious was playing a role in shaping me after all. Because my original form bearing a striking resemblance to a xenomorph could be coincidence, but the fact that my humanoid form was reminding me an awful lot of Guyver was pushing it. It wasn't exactly the same of course, I had a few more ridges lining my shoulders and sides, and my head was nothing like a helmet, but I had the same segmented carapace like armor with a darker grey material filling in the flexible parts between the lighter grey plates. It was all organic curves save for my claws on my hands and feet. Still, in spite of all that most of my attention was on my face.

It wasn't horrifying looking, but that was the best I could say about it. My face was almost completely flat with no nose, and if I pressed my thin lips together you could be forgiven for thinking that I didn't have a mouth at all. My eyes were too small and round, and I hadn't even formed ears at all. I hadn't hit the uncanny valley yet by simple virtue of not really looking human at all, but that didn't really ease my personal disquiet of looking at something that was not me in the mirror.

I let out a sigh before I got to work, carefully focusing on the individual features and shapes I wanted. Having a reflective surface (and eyes) to check my work made things a lot easier than they had been in my cell, but it was still difficult. I could change any number of things about myself at once so long as I favored function over form, but since I was doing the opposite of that I had to take it one feature at a time. It took the better part of an hour to sculpt everything to something I was satisfied with. I still didn't look quite human, but I could have passed for a well done Star Trek alien, and that was good enough for now.

Unfortunately, it was then I realized that I had run out of things to keep me busy. Koriand'r and I were safe, the ship was on its way to Earth, and there was nothing else to could do to help. Which meant… that it was finally time to start dealing with everything.

I pulled up a chair to the side of her bed and sat down, resting my head in my hands as I forced myself to recognize the obvious. I… was in the DC universe. Well, a DC universe, but that hardly made a difference. I would have loved to know that such a thing was possible, was real, so long as it hadn't involvement me finding out quite so first hand. How was I going to get home? I mean, if nothing else my presence here proved that it should be possible to go back, but how long would take to find it? What must my family be going through right now, me having disappeared without a trace? I felt my nonexistent heart clench in my chest at that thought, and part of me wanted to sob. But I couldn't. I physically couldn't anymore.

And that was a problem all on its own. Just what the hell was my new body? How did it do the things it did, and more importantly, what was it doing to me? It had already taken or altered most of my physical sensations, and who knew what the long term effects of being stuck like this would do to me. Hell, who's to say that it wasn't affecting me mentally too? I had killed two sapients and… even now I didn't feel anything about it. Sure I was about as justified as you could get, but I would have thought that I would have felt something from ending a life. Is that how I always would have responded, or was something else at work?

An insidious thought wormed its way to the forefront of my mind as I remember how my body was melted and consumed. How do I know that I'm the real me?

I'm not sure how long I sat there, but eventually a slight moan snapped me out of my thoughts. I looked up to see Koriand'r shifting slightly before her eyes fluttered open. Her gaze locked onto me before she bolted upright, her head whipping around to take in her surroundings. I put my own thoughts aside once more before I held up my hands in a placating manner. "Easy, easy, we're safe now. I managed to get us to a ship and get away from the station. I don't think anyone's pursuing us."

There was a long pause before she returned her gaze back to me. "I see… and my sister?"

I shifted uncomfortably. "I… locked her back up. She wasn't being cooperative."

A look of sadness crossed her face and she closed her eyes. She remained like that before she took a deep breath and opened them again, sitting up straighter before looking at me. "My name is Koriand'r. We have fought side by side and you have saved my life when you could have left me behind. Thank you for all that you have done."

Ah, I was never good at receiving praise. Especially from a woman who- "I-It's fine." I managed to get out. "You got me out in the first place. I couldn't leave you like that." A pause. "Oh, my name's Jacob."

She beamed at me in response. "It is wonderful to meet you Jacob." She paused for a moment before she asked. "If I may ask, how did you end up in that facility? I was not aware that the Psions had anyone other than myself and my sister there for experimentation."

I let out a breath as I leaned back in my chair. "I wish I could tell you. I was on my way to work a few days ago, I blacked out, and I work up on a slab with one of those lizards looking down at me. It's possible they abducted me, but I honestly don't know."

She tilted her head to the side. "Did you not find out when you interfaced with their systems?"

"I'm… not very good at that yet. I just barely managed to get the navigational data sent to this ship before I ended up destroying the whole thing."

"Ah, I am sorry to hear that." Koriand'r blinked. "Where are we going?"

"A planet called Earth. It's my home-" I cut myself of when I realized that wasn't true. "Ah, it's where my people are from. We should be able to get help there." She looked away for a moment, and before I knew it I blurted out "I'm sorry, I didn't know where your planet was."

A pained look crossed her face, and I felt like kicking myself. I knew what her response was before she said it. "It is… fine. I cannot return to my own world."

"I'm… sorry. I didn't mean to-"

"It is not your fault, you could not have known." I felt a bit of guilt at that, but when she continued her expression brightened. "In any case, I will be happy to see your world. If your people are anything like yourself, it must be a wonderful place indeed."

I felt glad for my inability to blush as I responded "Thanks, though you should know my species doesn't look like this." I gestured to myself. "I… something was done to me to give me my current body and abilities. Normally we look quite similar to your own people, I imagine."

Koriand'r gave me a curiously look for a few seconds before she nodded and stood. "I see. Well, then you shall be a most exceptional person among them indeed." She said cheerfully.

"I'm not so sure about that…" I muttered under my breath.

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The journey took just over a day to reach the Sol System. Which was good, considering that there didn't seem to be any rations on the ship, something that would have become a problem for Koriand'r if it took much longer. I hadn't eaten since my transformation and I felt fine, which implied that I got my nutrition via… other means that didn't bear thinking on at the time.

We talked a bit on the way there, though there was nothing substantial to it. I was a terrible conversationalist in general, and it was made worse by the fact that I knew what she had been through. I tried to keep things to lighter topics, asking her about her life before her capture and her family (turns out her sister was denied the throne because a childhood illness took away her ability to fly, weird). I responded in kind when she asked, though I was forced to be evasive a few times when it would have revealed my true origin. I didn't like lying to her, but I wasn't sure what I should do about that.

Either way, I was glad when an alert sounded throughout the ship and I felt a slight lurch. Moving to the cockpit revealed the black of space once again, with one of the stars before us much closer than the others.

I looked over at my companion. "Can you pilot this ship? I'm afraid my method would cause too much damage."

She gave a small nod as she floated over to the controls. "I am not well versed in this type of ship, but I have had a bit of experience. I shall do the best I can." She tapped a few buttons on the console before her before she took hold of the control yokes. "If I am to understand this, we are headed for the third planet from the sun, yes?"

"Yep. That's Earth."

She let out a soft noise as she angled the controls. I didn't feel anything, but I assumed that we were moving. A few minutes passed before she said "I am afraid I am not proficient with these communications. Will we be fired upon for not answering hails immediately?"

"…we shouldn't be." I said, not liking how I couldn't give a more certain answer. With my newly enhanced vision I could just barely start to make out a blue orb out of the cockpit viewport as I said "If my knowledge is correct, we will probably get someone coming out to meet us-"

Suddenly there was a flash of green in front of us which resolved itself into a man. He was dark skinned, wearing a form fitting black and green uniform that bore an insignia that was known throughout space, and a glowing green ring was on his finger. He pointed the ring at the ship, and there was a brief squeal from the ships audio system before it resolved itself into a voice.

"Unidentified vessel," John Stewart said calmly. "You have entered the boundaries of Earth space. Power down engines and state your intentions."

"…right now." I finished lamely.