The interior of the Leviathan was massive, constructed specifically for easy access to those who were… rger than normal infected. Despite the fleshy walls looking soft, they were anything but. Bulging bck veins spread across the surface, stronger than most metals and able to take a gargantuan amount of punishment. Up on the ceilings were biological lights connected to the Leviathan's body. Parasites who siphoned nutrients off the host in order to function. Yet it wasn't detrimental, instead working like a symbiotic retionship where both parties prospered.

  These same massive hallways were chock-full of countless flesh hungry infected, all moving to their next destination with unstoppable purpose. Though seeming chaotic at first gnce, a strange degree of structure and order could be found. The common infected, while most numerous, were clearly of lower css. Pushed to the side by bigger and stronger infected, sometimes losing their lives to the rougher ones.

  But those same domineering beasts who acted like the best, the strongest, whimpered like a dog in the face of the powerful. An infected hierarchy which was ever changing, never stagnant. Old ones fell, while the new rose to take their pce. A brutal completion for the top, causing the deaths of hundreds of infected every day. Yet, they never truly got weaker. Always growing, evolving. Become a better and more perfect version of themselves.

  Suddenly, a certain crowded hallway had a drastic change. Near the front, countless infected made way and stood off to the side. Didn’t matter if they were the sadistic Night Hunters, or the murderous Marauders. Bowing their heads, as if in the presence of something great. Those in the back thought a powerful monster was coming and prepared themselves. Instead, it was a ‘little and harmless’ girl at eight feet tall. Seeing her though, everyone made way and became submissive.

  Elizabeth hummed lightly to herself as she skipped along the hallway. Watching the infected treat her with such reverence cause a grin to creep up her lips. She loved this feeling. Being treated like a God by those lower than her. And just like her mother, always hid it behind a kind smile. But there was something better than this. Far better.

  Her purple eyes locked onto a Juggernaut and an Adult Ripper. They glowed lightly, suddenly giving her a menacing appearance in the slightly dim hallway. Out of nowhere, both infected screamed harshly and rushed for each other like stark raving lunatics. They fought brutally, taking pieces and chunks of flesh out. Until the Juggernaut managed to grab hold of the Ripper and hold it above him. Roaring with rage, he tore the infected in half, drowning himself in it’s blood and guts. A euphoric expression appeared on his face as he began consuming the corpse.

  Meanwhile, Elizabeth giggled adorably and kept skipping to her destination. Thinking of where she was going, a hint of excitement revealed itself in her heart. She couldn’t wait! Her skipping turned into a full blown sprint, causing the infected to hurriedly get out of the way. Except those who were too slow and were about to be run over. But since Elizabeth didn’t want to ruin her jeans and shirt with blood, jumped clean over them. Those infected who were nearly killed breathed a sigh of relief. Until their eyes turned purple and they grabbed their heads, wailing with agony.

  The screams pleased Elizabeth deeply, eliciting a dark chuckle from her. She continued on her way, noticing how the overwhelming number of infected started decreasing greatly. Soon, she could only see a few. But each were the best of the best. Alphas or close to it. Except for one which puzzled her greatly. Who was this ‘small’ 22ft midget infected? Weaker than an Alpha by a fair bit, yet was allowed in this part? Even ordering them around?

  “Understand?” She heard the midget say in a deadly tone, who was currently gazing up at a forty meter tall goril Alpha, whose muscles looked harder than steel. Elizabeth had to admit, she almost respected the ck of fear in this strange person.

  “If they fight back, you’re allowed to kill them. Just make sure the leftovers get thrown in the hole or you’ll be responsible. Meaning-“ Her finger tapped the big monster’s leg and her tone turned dark, a cold light in her eyes.

  “You get thrown in.” The Alpha goril growled deeply and nodded, then walked away with thunderous steps.

  Elizabeth witnessed the midget gre into his back and snort dismissively. Yet when she turned her way, her eyes went wide. Thinking of something, she squealed cutely and lost her domineering aura instantly. Elizabeth was shocked as she ran towards her.

  “You must be Elizabeth! I’m Trixie!” Watching the newly named Trixie try and hug her, Elizabeth instinctively grabbed the ‘midget’ with her telekinesis.

  Despite the precariously situation of being immobilized in mid-air, Trixie had stars in her eyes. No concern in her whatsoever.

  “Awesome! I wish I could do that! You’re so cool!” Feeling the sudden praise made Elizabeth blush a bit. But there was another reason her face turned red. Unable to hold it anymore, she dropped Trixie on the ground and breathed out heavily.

  "You okay?” The midget asked with a startling amount of concern and approached her gently. Elizabeth gathered herself and took a few deep breaths. She didn’t expect Trixie to be so heavy.

  Ignoring her for a moment, she swept her gaze around and became a little confused. Wasn’t daddy suppose to be here?

  “W-Where's daddy?” She asked adorably. Though by the tone of her voice, she wasn’t asking.

  “Jason?” Trixie cocked her head to the side and put a finger on her chin. Her eyes widened and she gasped dramatically!

  “Ooh I know! He’s down this way, come with me!” She waved her hand and started walking, beckoning Elizabeth to follow her. Weighing her options, she decided to go with the hyper ball of joy. Obviously at a distance of course.

  Not minding her unfriendly attitude in the slightest, Trixie started a conversation.

  “Your father’s really awesome huh? I’ve always looked up to him.” Elizabeth peeked at her, noticing a happy smile on her face as she continued talking about her daddy.

  “I was just some normal common infected, until he lifted me up from my inferior self. Picked me out of a crowd and said I was special. Me! Special! Oh! Did you know-“ Trixie’s mouth never stopped moving, constantly praising Jason as the best thing around.

  Elizabeth was a bit overwhelmed at her enthusiasm, but soon frowned and gnced at her once more. Did this woman want her daddy? She remembered how her mother and aunts talk about him when he was off somewhere else. Always had the same face Trixie has now. Her eyes hardened, fists clenched with determination! She wouldn’t let this woman take her daddy!

  Thinking of this righteous cause, Elizabeth decided to ignore this midget as they walked. Yet… Trixie never stopped talking. As if she just didn’t have an off switch.

  “You’re so cute too. But it makes sense considering Alice is your mother. She’s just so beautiful! She even said I did a good job one time! So cool!” As she squealed, Elizabeth loosened her fists and even approached her a bit. Maybe she isn’t so bad.

  Over time, Trixie’s unstoppable joy eventually rubbed off on her. Elizabeth even started enjoying her company and tried to join in on the conversations. Both to practice better her speaking abilities and bond with this sudden new friend. The topics they spoke on weren’t anything groundbreaking, but passed the time well enough. Soon, they were about to reach Jason’s location when-

  A massive explosion erupted from a room up ahead, startling them both as the Leviathan moaned in pain. Trixie unconsciously stood in front of Elizabeth in a protective manner, causing the little girl’s heart to feel fluffy. However, that didn’t matter too much at the moment.

  “Daddy!” She yelled loudly and rushed forwards without hesitation. Trixie wanted to hold her back, but decided against the idea and simply joined her.

  They saw a mountainous amount of grey smoke exit out of a room, slightly hindering their vision. Yet they were no normal creatures, able to easily see past it. Entering the room filled with a bunch of tools and other gadgets, they saw a rge hole in the center, flowing with the Leviathan's blood. Off to the side and pulling himself out of the flesh wall was Jason, missing both of his forearms.

  “Well that didn’t work.” He chuckled brightly, ignoring as he bled on the floor, melting it a fair bit.

  “D-Daddy!” Elizabeth had tears in her eyes as she ran right for him. A happy smile adorned his lips when seeing her.

  “My little munchkin.” He opened his arms for a hug and remembered, they were gone. His daughter crashed into his body, hugging him tightly like he was about to vanish. Seeing how hard she wailed cracked his cold heart.

  “Alright, calm down Elizabeth. I’m fine. See?” She sniffled and gazed up at him, watching as he waved his stumps around before grinning. Suddenly, the bones and muscle started healing rapidly, reforming themselves at an insanely swift pace. In just a few seconds, he returned to normal.

  “Your daddy’s real awesome huh?” He had a smug smile on his face, making her sigh in relief and hug him even tighter. Thinking he seriously hurt himself made Elizabeth feel… bad. Really bad.

  “Oh?” Only now did Jason notice Trixie was here too. She waved brightly at him with a rge smile, causing him to chuckle.

  “I’m guessing you showed her the way here?” Trixie nodded like a woodpecker.

  “Yup! How’d I do?” Jason gave a thumbs up as he pat his daughter on the back.

  “Nice work.” Being praised by the person she admired most gave Trixie the sweetest feeling in the world. She jumped a couple times in pce, happiness radiating outwards from her. After a couple moments of this, she calmed herself down. Though, her smile never faded.

  “I should return to my duties.” Bowing towards Jason with respect, she waved at Elizabeth.

  “Bye bye!” Jason witnessed as his daughter returned the wave, making one of his eyebrows raise.

  “Did you make a new friend?” Thinking about it, Elizabeth smiled and nodded.

  “I l-like her.” He gnced at the door she left from and agreed.

  "Same, she’s pretty fun to be around. But, onto way more important matters.” His gaze turned downwards at her, a hand stroking her hair.

  “To what do I owe the pleasure of your visit, my princess?” Being put on the spot made Elizabeth a bit embarrassed. Her face blushed a bit as she hugged him tighter.

  “I wa-wanted to see daddy.” Her answer caught Jason off guard and caused his mind to bnk for a moment. Before a crippling amount of sweetness smashed into his heart like an airpne crashing into a certain twin building. His arms wrapped around and pulled her further into his embrace.

  “That is way too fucking adorable. What about your mommy though?”

  “Pying w-with Dante and Auntie Lily.” Suddenly, she grinned cutely.

  “I snuck away!” Jason couldn’t help but snort and chuckle. But then he began thinking. Should he try and curb such behavior as a parent, instead of liking it?

  ‘Nah, it’ll be fine. Not that big of a deal.' Elizabeth got his attention by pulling on his pants.

  "Daddy? Why did you go boom?” Holding her hand, he brought her over to the crime scene, still a smoldering wreck with broken materials spread all over. However, both could see the Leviathan trying to repair itself. The flesh started stitching itself back together at a slow pace and the blood stopped flowing. Shouldn’t be long before it’s fully healed.

  "Experimenting. I tried to create something I named the Zero Bio Generator. It would allow us to do a whole lot of cool things. One of which is travel to other Gaxies.” Jason sighed and shook his head.

  “Unfortunately, it’s not an easy thing to make. Damn near impossible. At the very least though it’s power is immense considering the damage it caused, even in this supremely unfinished state. Shame I don’t have many attempts at the moment.” Elizabeth tilted her head.

  "Why?”

  “Because the materials I used to even craft it in the first pce were taken by the losers outside.” She immediately knew who these ‘losers’ were. The fleet they fought against previously, who was now gone to pces unknown.

  Suddenly, her daddy kneeled down to her level and smiled.

  “Wanna see what else I made? Really proud about a few things.” Feeling giddy inside, Elizabeth swiftly nodded her head. Spending more time with daddy? What could be better?

  Hands still locked together, Jason brought her away from the crater and arrived next to a few tables. Various tools and equipment Elizabeth didn't really understand were present, confusing her a bit. Luckily, her daddy came to save the day with some expnation.

  "See this weird metal rod? It's called a Surgical Particle Laser and is super fucking cool. And over here-" Elizabeth wasn't a moron by any means, far smarter than any human. Despite being extremely young, she easily comprehended everything Jason said once expined.

  "And here-" He led her to a few six foot jars full of water, creatures floating inside them.

  "-is my... terrarium. All my experimental monsters not ready for use. Whether simply a prototype, or has some... mental problems." She eyed them curiously, especially a strange worm which seemed harmless at first gnce.

  It just floated along the water slowly, allowing Elizabeth to get a good look. The odd worm wasn't very long by even human standards and had a narrow, thin body. Couldn't have been rger than eight or so inches. She noticed it cked eyes, nose, a mouth, and any weapons. But she found one of those to be false.

  Once she approached the jar closer, the worm suddenly sprang for her with an extreme amount of speed. It's head opened and showed a row of teeth, along with a rigid 'tongue' in the middle. Elizabeth yelped in fright and backed up, causing Jason to ugh. Though scared at first, she swiftly became angry as her eyes fshed in a deadly purple light. She wanted nothing more than to kill this thing by tearing it's mind apart. Yet she stopped for her daddy's sake.

  "This little guy is a parasite who controls it's victim by shoving that rigid tongue into their brain. From there, they act like a proper zombie and spread by vomiting more parasites into another person's mouth. They reproduce by themselves and do so in a short amount of time. Drop one into a city, and watch the chaos unfold."

  Though still curious about it, Elizabeth turned her head and pouted.

  "It's stupid." Jason chuckled and bent down, kissing her on the cheek.

  "Aw. Come on Elizabeth, let me show you something else." While walking away, she couldn't help but touch her cheek with a smile. Though she would never admit it, she preferred being with her daddy over mommy.

  .

  .

  .

  .

  “Are you sure?” I asked Queenie who stood in front of me. She nodded her spider head with a fair amount of determination.

  Currently, we were near one of the tentacles for off loading infected. Below us was a random continental world. Ready to welcome any newcomers.

  “I want to assist you in a more meaningful way. And to do that, I need to build a new Nest. This one needs to be different. More powerful and expansive.” No degree of wavering could be found in her voice. Seems she was serious to the highest level.

  “What about your current one? Just going to abandon it?” Her head shook side to side.

  “The Queen I birthed before will take over. Might be a bit young, but she’ll do fine.” Those beady bck eyes of hers turned to my left, where our emotionless daughter could be seen. Queenie approached her, voice tinged with a hint of sadness.

  “Forgive me for leaving little one.” One of her many legs stroked Raven’s bck hair fondly.

  “Our separation will not be forever. I promise, I will return soon.” My little spiderling gazed up at her mother, frostiness present all over her face. But both myself and Queenie knew this is her natural expression.

  “Goodbye mother.” Fluent and clear to understand, not even a small stutter. My daughters really are way too smart.

  However, I did sense a small problem. How Raven said goodbye was… off. Almost as if she were telling it to a stranger rather than her own mother. Is this due to her insectoid nature?

  Queenie didn’t care, or at least, never showed it. She cast her gaze on me and stared without saying a thing. After a few moments of this, which somehow never turned awkward, she turned around and entered the tunnel. Both me and Raven stayed until she disembarked onto the world we nded at. One not too far from where we fought Yaka. Uninhabited by sapient life like humans, but full of animals and pnts. She’ll be safe and sound here, able to grow without hinderence. Wonder what she'll become.

  I didn’t need to say such sentimental words to my daughter. Not only was she smart enough to understand such a simple concept of her mother's safety, but I know damn well she would hardly care.

  “Come on Raven.” I held out my hand for her, which she obviously grabbed. Together we walked away in silence and made a beeline for the Nerve Center, basically the Bridge of a Leviathan.

  As we arrived, I noticed a few others were here. Alice, Elizabeth, and Lily all pying with one another. Unlike with Alliance ships, the Leviathan didn’t need officers controlling it. So the Nerve Center was usually barren except for us. All I needed to do was give basic orders and the Leviathan followed it to the letter. Real convenient.

  “She gone then?” Lily asked casually. Wasn't surprised at her ck of care since those two never exactly got along swimmingly. I nodded my head and approached them. Though I couldn’t help but sweep my eyes around. Someone was cking.

  “Where’s Dante?” Lily chuckled.

  "Off with Athena and getting fighting lessons from her. Said something, in his own words, about getting revenge.” She gnced at the unconcerned Raven and happy Elizabeth, grinning with anticipation. Strange, almost seems like she’s rooting for her nieces instead of Dante.

  Gotta be honest, I don't see him winning. Think I'm not gonna train my daughters and let them get their asses whooped? No way in hell. Even if he does somehow win, I'll make sure he works for it. Perhaps I'm giving them too much favoritism. I should py with Dante ter to even it out.

  Suddenly, the entire Leviathan shook as it lifted off the ground, causing an unprepared Elizabeth to fall over. Hearing our ughter, she pouted like the cutest thing in the world. Even Raven chuckled coldly at that.

  “So where to now Jason?” Alice asked lightly, a smile to her face.

  “To a pnet called Lhetui. A lightly defended rural world, ripe for the taking. We’ll get there in a few days and split up, each taking a portion of the pnet. Should fall in a couple weeks or so. I want to use it for Crazy Seven’s broadcasting.” Soon as I said that, we entered space.

  A loud rhythmic humming could be heard echoing throughout the entire ship. The veins on the fleshy walls began fshing in a white light, increasing in intensity each passing second. This was the Leviathan getting ready for a Warp Jump. About a minute ter, we suddenly accelerated forwards and entered a spinning white tunnel. So cool. This star wars type shit never gets old.