The chase

She pushed him aside looking up.

"No, don't, I'm gonna try to start up the ship" He said running to the controls, the others had already gotten out at the uproar.

Astro patted the board and light circles appeared and the power he exuded jump started the ship and everything powered on.

"What is that?"

They stumbled at the tremor, Nova's eyes rounded.

"Astro, no!"

The thrusters boomed with force leaving the alien to recover climbing on.

They screamed as the rocket zoomed through the underpasses and the walls rattled.

Nova tried to steer through and he watched the red dot blinking and he lurched at the large bump on top of the ship and metal scraping.

"It's coming after us"

"Then we'll have to face it head on"

"Darcy,!"

She phased out and saw it, it had a white skull face with long shapep canines, greenish skin, muscular fore limbs and hind limbs that leaned back, it's claws were unbelievably sharp and it had tentacles from its sides.

She kicked up shooting energy at it from her feet.

It dodged and hung on, the metal strained from his claws, still persistent.

The ship went downward scraping on the metal floor and she held on shooting at it, it was fast, it howled and jumped off the rocket running over the walls to drop in front of her with chips of metal falling on her.

She recoiled at the spray and phased, it leaped through her to the back barely hanging on and falling over.

Nova saw the dead-end and forced the ship's nose to go upwards and it tilted but it didn't have much altitude, they screamed when the ship rumbled and spiralled down.

Darcy waved her arms as she struggled to fly and groaned at the alien grabbing hold of her, she phased and blasted it down some more,

It dropped in the woods and rolled over then zig zagged around the trees on the terrains running, she stopped to trace its direction and started to shoot at it.

"Hold still, you menace!"

Meanwhile...

Emma kicked out and lowered a hand to drag Zeke up. The ship had crashesd vertically thus turning the ship into a hole they had to climb through, buried underneath a bush and some felled trees, damaged.

"I feel like I just tasted my stomach" He said climbing up.

Astro dusted his hair and jacket.

They all frowned at him.

He shrugged "What?"

Nova poised at the earth rumbling and dust and trees cracking as they fell over. It roared and Darcy spun over to cause a barrier.

It leaped over it and landed behind them, Emma slid back throwing a baton at it, it screeched at the shocks and she raised a gun blasting it.

Astro lit up shooting beams at it as it ran around.

"Ugh, it's too fast!" He groaned getting frustrated.

"No!" Nova raised a hand.

He flared up and the pulse spread hitting it, Emma and Zeke flew out of the way, so did Nova. Darcy held on closing her eyes.

Darcy slammed her fist into her hand as it charged at them and giant dark hands engulfed it spiralling into a marble of darkness with it inside.

It turned back and charged through it to her and she teleported before it got her, she appeared in several places and that led to its confusion.

"How do we stop it?" Emma backflipped at the tentacles swiping at her and cut them off.

It turned and its muscles grew bigger and it got taller, growling, it charged at Astro and he concentrated his power on stopping it from getting closer and it turned around the fire to ram him down.

He tumbled several times on the ground to a rock, his dusty face twitched at the pain.

Nova clenched his teeth and slammed it in a collision and its skull broke off. He flew over to help him.

"Astro_"

Astro raised a hand "I'm fine, look out!"

He raised a hand and the bright light bedazzled it, it rolled over and heated at the powerful beam.

Its collar fell off and Nova recognized the object and reached down to grab it. His hands, his eyes rounded at the name tag.

He glanced at the alien struggle as it shrunk laying still.

They gasped "You!"

Darcy's eyes turned hollow as she saw the sadness and regret in his expression through its eyes.

Nova knelt and hedged it sobbing.

"Oh my god, it's waking up"

....

Pooch regained consciousness, startled but aware and whimpered sniveling, his tentacle rounded Nova and drew him closer closing its eyes.

"No way" Zeke scoffed.

"This proves that you really are crazy! That is an Infernal!" He repeated and pointed as they huddled him.

"My hatred for the Infernals still persists but this is my ally regardless." He said.

Darcy's vision returned walking over to him. He turned to nudged her.

"Seems like he's found his real master" Emma asserted.

Zeke screeched when Pooch's tongue traced up his face, shivering.

"This is dog spit alright" He said looking at the substance.

Shadow appeared sad "I couldn't protect him, well, mostly because he was trying to protect me"

"Zandax is a monster for doing this to him" Darcy clenched her fists.

"Get back in there!" She barked at Shadow.

They blinked at her talking and Darcy frowned.

"They represent two distinct sensitivities, destructive and the constructive one perhaps"

"Huh?" Emma said.

"Happy and...angsty" Zeke said.

"Now that everything's spruced up, that is an infernal!" Astro pointed and Pooch snapped at him.

"Let's not pretend that they all didn't hit you too," He said.

"How did he know where to find us in the first place? He's gonna sell us out."

"Trust me, Pooch is sweet as candy" Emma said

"I don't trust her either" He pointed at Darcy and she grimaced then stopped at the flash of tree barks and dirt like she was running.

"I sure wish I didn't flinch like a coward, I'm ready for some action" Emma braced her hand on her hips.

"We have to go!" She said and Pooch howled turning.

"Be careful what you wish for" Astro said pointing at the screeching mob coming and blasted a trench in between them and they ran.

Emma grabbed on to Pooch's fur while Zeke ran on foot and she outstretched her hand.

"Hop on"

"I prefer anything mechanical_oh!" She dragged him up to the front and he held on frozen as Pooch rushed through the woods.

Emma pushed up on her hands and turned her legs over and straddled back facing them.

"Watch where you're throwing those boots."

Zeke hunched.

She rolled out a blaster and shot the ones In the air, over the canopies, the others stayed back to reduce the pressure.

"Look, everybody split!" Darcy said flying fowards.

"What?"

"We have to, they can't get any further"

"We'll go west" Emma said

"Tell that to dog breath over here" He said and saw his ears and pulled them to that direction and he turned.

Astro lurched forward and Darcy went east.

The group scattered and so did the aliens.

Astro glided over the water and stopped in the middle gazing at the crocodiles crawling outside to suffer their wrath, he grimaced and he looked up at them waiting at the other shore.

"Get over here!" He waved.

They went in one by one and screeched in the water, he stopped at the reaction as they steamed contorting. "Jeez"

He covered his lip at them being tortured while they crawled to him and the others found a way to jump on him from trees, falling in.

"You knuckleheads are in for it now" He laughed.

"Nova, I found their weakness, it's_"

One gripped him and suffered the shocks from his body plunging into the water.

The others coming jerked at the currents driving through the water at them.

...

Nova turned back at them drifting toward him over the trees and he flew toward the gorges, several hovered in front of him and he phased through gorge while they clashed and crashed into the gorge.

He watched from on top and snickered,

Zeke screamed while he slid down Pooch's back while Emma shot at the lot coming, and swerved it shooting a few in one shot.

"Here" She passed him the blaster and he caught it, screeching as it went off hitting one.

She grabbed her batons spinning them, running to kick one down and stopped when they flinched pulling back.

"That's right! Huh?"

Pooch roared at them and they froze when he jumped at them, his tentacles caught as many as they could and ran biting off others, Stumped on some and tossed the others away.

"I hate to rain on your parade but I'm stuck here, it's suffocating!" Zeke groaned as he shot others from the trees and a bear.

"Oops!" He dropped it and dodged a mutant plunging and shot it dead.

They were turned Infernals but in this situation, they had to do whatever they could to survive.

He looked down at the tentacle around his waist and screamed while he was dragged to his back.

"Yeah!" Emma screamed as she zapped an Infernal.

...

Darcy moved about the labyrinth and found herself at the centre, she kept seeing flashes of bushes and trees turning around and waiting, her eyes narrowed and she blinked at the prolonged visions again.

"Come on!"

Her heart raced at looking around, expecting danger and she winced at the rustle of leaves.