(The gore gets heavier again this chapter, so might as well tell ya)

(3rd PoV)

[About ten minutes before the MTF's arrival]

"Human. Come here."

He silently stood up, and walked over to me, his bloody face staring at the ground.

"Look at me."

He looked up. The human's eyes were dull, void of all hope and will.

"What do you want?"

A thin tentacle whipped him in the neck. He flinched, but uttered no sound as blood trickled from the wound.

The sight made it hungry.

But it would resist. It needed this human.

"I have told you that I needed you alive to prevent the humans from killing me."

He made no reaction.

"But of course.. . that was a lie."

If it was possible for his eyes to darken more than they already were, they did.

It chuckled its hoarse laughter. "Oh, no..."

It looked at its claws. Bone was clearly showing through the eaten skin and tissue - an annoying side affect of it's blood. It curled the claw into a fist as it grinned horrifically, and said,

"I've got plans for you."

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[Present time]

They saw it. Or, at least, it's host. He was lying on the ground, much of him eaten away as a wall would be to termites. What was left of his chest and stomach was nearly shredded, its contents spilling out on the floor in a pool of blood. His pupils were either so small you couldn't see them, or they were missing altogether.

Was it dead?

Oof took a step from behind a soldier, and peered at the body. No traces of 541 could be seen - no black liquid covering his body as was seen in the recorded camera.

But something was off about this.

The way his corpse was quite almost perfectly centered in the middle of the room, the way his intestinal tracks seemed to be on display around his body.

It couldn't be a coincidence.

But where would it be...?

"Oh, welcome, friends. Or should I say... soon to be dead humans?"

Oof backed back behind the soldier, and they raised their guns to the doors of the MedBay hall.

It's voice was... slightly different.

Two red dots appeared, glaring maliciously.

And from the shadows of the hall, the anomaly emerged.

In Blaza's body.

[Redrawn Illustration]

"Greetings to you, Dr Oof and others," it said in Blaza's voice, "Welcome to your demise!"

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(Oof PoV)

It was obvious that Blaza had been through some form of abuse before 541 had taken his body. Multiple wounds, some still bleeding, interlaced on the hand that was visible. Most of his body was covered in the black liquid, which we've come to discover was really 541's blood. His pupils were red, and were merely dots in his eyes. Blood, some still fresh, seeped out of a large wound in his neck.

He looked quite similar to when he had taken over Sock's body, only with different wounds.

A few seconds passed, and one soldier, getting over the initial shock that this thing was still alive, opened fire on the creature. It simply grunted as the bullet sank into it's arm.

It looked down at the small puncture as if it were merely a cut, and looked back at us.

"You humans never learn, do you?" It chuckled.

A tentacle swiftly shot past us, sealing the airlock doors shut. Unfortunately, my foot was in the path of the door. I held in a cry of pain as pain seared through my leg. I tried to go forwards, but fell, and yelped.

541 simply laughed. "Having some trouble, I see? Maybe you should have thought twice about accompanying these guys on the way here."

It walked forward, looked down at Sock's body, and tore his heart from his open chest. It crushed it swiftly, and blood flowed between its fingers to the ground.

541 looked back up at us. I was helped to my feet by the guy next to me. A tag on his vest read "Eagan."

"Alright, enough dallying," it said. It poised its two tentacles threateningly.

"Time to die."

One of its tentacles shot forwards, stabbing someone in the chest. Multiple others opened fire on 541, with the same effect as before - nothing. It walked forward, looking oblivious to any physical trauma it should have been experiencing.

While the others attempted in vain to kill the anomaly, Eagan brought me out of the way to set me against the wall. I obliged, flinching as my ankle moved.

Not the best way to start this mission, I thought to myself.

"I'm gonna try to wrap the injury," Eagan told me, "Try not to scream, okay?"

I nodded. The pain was already making me dizzy.

I was basically drifting in and out of consciousness as Eagan did his best to wrap my ankle with a torn piece of cloth. I could still hear gunshots and screams through my ringing ears, as 541 was most likely killing off everyone else.

We needed to get out of here.

We can't neutralize this thing.

Humanity is doomed.

I looked at 541. It was still resisting the bullets from the few surviving soldiers, to my dismay.

It very suddenly stopped for a moment. It was only for a split second, but I could have sworn that it's tentacles shrunk at least a millimeter before returning to their normal size.

Anyone else would have thought nothing of it.

But I could see what had happened.

Blaza was still in there.

"Help me up," I told Eagan. He looked at me, questioning what I was trying to get from this, but helped me to my feet with my arm slung over his shoulders.

541 was just about to kill another soldier when I stopped it.

"Blaza!"

It remained still for a moment. The room was eerily silent besides the occasional buzz of the flickering lights on the ceiling.

It slowly turned, it's bright red eyes glaring through my soul.

"Blaza, I know you're still in there!" I said. "You can fight it!"

541 stared at me for a moment. It's scowl turned slowly to a twisted grin, it's teeth sharper than any knife.

"Oh, you want to see Blaza?" It chuckled, "Oh, alright. But he may not be in the mood for talking!"

It gave one last malicious chuckle before it's tentacles retracted, it's stomach-mouth disappeared, and it's eyes turned back to normal. Somehow he was still able to breathe with the bloody hole in his neck.

Blaza stared at Eagan and I for a moment, confused. His eyes were dull. Sad.

Hopeless.

"Blaza! You're okay!" I said, sighing in relief, "You can fight that thing! Don't let it control you!"

Blaza still stared blankly at me. He seemed to understand what I was saying, but wasn't responding well.

"Blaza?"

He looked down at the floor and sighed.

"I can't."

"Yes you can, Blaza!" I said.

"No. I can't. And I won't," he said.

"...what?"

Blaza looked at me. I could tell he was looking at me, but it was as if he was looking right through me. Like he was staring at the wall behind me, unable to meet my gaze.

"This is what I deserve," he said, "Don't try to save me."

"What do you mean, you deserve this?!" I questioned, shocked and confused.

"I'm a murderer, Oof!" He snapped. Tears brimmed his eyes. "I killed Dino! I technically killed Woolf! I helped that thing get what it wanted!"

He was sobbing at this point, wiping the tears that streamed down his bloody face.

"I watched all my friends die. I could have stopped it, and I didn't. And for what?! To save my own life, and live as this creature?!

"Saving me will do no good for you. Just leave me to suffer."

I stood there in disbelief, staring at Blaza. 541 had destroyed him. The Blaza I knew is long gone. That Blaza had died along with the other crewmates.

It only took a few seconds for 541 to regain control. It laughed.

"Can't say I didn't warn you."

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*cries*
BLAZA NOOO :((((

1358 words