Author Note

Judging by the lack of encouragement for the sample chapters for this story I don't think anyone really wanted me to write it, but screw it. I want to write this story and if you don't like well tough, you have no right to complain since its not like I'm charging you for anything.

Predator Gothic

Part 1

Mother Ship. Aliens Verses Predator Verse.

For a guy who'd been abducted, possibly by aliens, I was doing rather well. A little too well really, I should be totally freaking out after walking up in what looked to me like an infirmary/torture chamber inside a flying saucer. To make matters worse it was a badly lit and unclean chamber.

I didn't know for sure if I was a space, but I suspected it, I had a gut feeling. Sure this could be a room in an underground lab of some sort, however I'd been underground before, in caves and such, and this felt different. I just somehow knew I was no longer on Earth. Maybe something to do with the gravity?

Perhaps it was the lack of little grey men with anal probes, that prevented me from panicking, or more likely it had something to do with the faintly greenish-yellow chemical that was being pumped into my body. They, whoever they were, could be sedating me, yet I didn't feel that groggy.

Since I no desire to be drugged I removed the large needle from my arm, and then I inspected the hole left behind, I wasn't leaking much, just a little blood, not a big deal, not that much worse than getting an injection. No the real concern here was had been put into my body, not what was getting out.

I knew it was drugs of some sort because I wasn't at all scared, in fact I felt good, I had loads of energy, I wanted to run or something. Which was more worrying than it seemed as it might mean I'd been pumped full of steroids, or something even worse.

After a few moments of simply thinking I decided to be smart about this. I'd been captured, I would never volunteer for this kind of weird shit, and since I was a prisoner being held illegally it was my duty to escape. Then to report all of this to authorities, unless it was the government doing this, but I doubted it. If the government was going to grab people for experiments they wouldn't take people like me they'd take the homeless of the streets or they'd use people who had nothing left to lose, like prisoners under a life sentence.

Besides I still felt as if I was in space, and that aliens were behind all this, which meant reporting it to the authorities, should I somehow get back to Earth, might not be the brightest of ideas. Best case they'd think I was crazy and totally ignore me, worse case they'd think me crazy and lock me up in a padded cell.

Soon I began thinking again, focusing on what was going on, rather than what could happen in a future yet decided. I was trying to remember any book or movie that might help me out in this situation. Real life having failed to prepare me for this odd event.

Alas nothing came to mind, and again this should have worried me, however while I was certainly concerned I was not feeling anything more intense than that. This was an odd experience for me. I was hardly the most emotional of people, but this was a fucked up situation. A lot of folks would be screaming for help by now and pounding on the walls.

Looking around I discovered that I was in a room with solid metal walls, and that aside from the bed thing I'd been lying on when I woke up along with medical equipment there wasn't anything else in the room.

Nothing to store anything in, no tools to aid in my escape, nothing I could use as a weapon against whomever it was who'd locked me up. No food or water, nor anything for my waste. This couldn't be a proper cell, maybe it wasn't meant to be. Perhaps this was just some place I'd been left in while the chemicals did their work.

One wall while made of metal was not like the others, it was more like part of a cage, however there was no door, or any means of exiting this room. Which supported the whole prisoner idea.

Lacking anything else to do I patted myself down, hoping to find something in my pockets that would help, although I doubted my phone would get a signal if I was in outer space. Sadly my pockets were empty.

While I was dressed in my own clothing, and it felt as if I'd been wearing the stuff for days, I didn't feel the need to go take a piss, nor was I hungry. Which was odd. How long had I been here?

What was even stranger was that I'd lost weight. I also wasn't sweating despite the fact that someone had turned the heating up here. Yet as I felt around I couldn't locate the source of the heat, there were no vents as far as I was able to tell.

My explorations, as limited as they were, came to a sudden end when I heard a clicking noise, it was oddly familiar and it sent a shiver up spine. I felt a twinge of fear, but it passed by very quickly, so quickly that I wasn't sure if it had happened at all.

I then heard more clicking, and this time when I turned around there was something standing on the other side of the cage wall. A large something too, I might add.

The thing was human in shape, and it had extremely broad shoulders. If I had to guess the max height of the being, it was maybe seven and a half to eight feet tall. Maybe even a bit taller than that.

It was wearing some sort of armour, but the armour didn't cover everything, and under that there was some material that reminded me of fish nets, only it didn't look quite like that, but it was the best comparison I could make. It also had on what I could only see as a loincloth, which was made of some kind of fur.

The expressionless mask on its face was what worried me the most. That and the skin colour as well as its texture, which judging by from what I could see looked more like that of reptile than of a man's.

Now I was no racist, but people shouldn't have that kind of skin, not unless they had some funky disease, or were in fact some form of reptile aliens. I suspected the later was the case here as this figure did not seem to be in bad health. In fact it seemed very robust.

What passed for hair on this creature, wasn't actually hair, even in this low light I could tell that this alien life form had tendrils sticking out of the back of its head, but they some what looked liked hair kept in dreadlocks.

Once I had taken the whole sight in, this was when I came to understand what exactly it was that I was looking at. The alien before me was a Yautja, a Predator. A member of a fictional alien race!

From what I knew, having see the movies and having read some books as well as the comic books, that featured these creature, the Yautja were a sentient, humanoid race of hunters that possessed a level of technological advancement far in excess of anything available on my world.

For reasons of their own, the Predators went about stalking and killing their prey using a combination of highly advanced technology, such as active camouflage and energy weapons, combined with traditional ancient weapons, such as blades, spears and nets. Also I knew that The Predators often ritualistically mutilated their victims and sometimes even claimed a trophy from their kills.

Despite what many would call barbaric behaviour these strange aliens were far from primitive. They were capable of interstellar travel in star ships, and had been for some time, as the Predators were known to have hunted on Earth for centuries. Even having influenced early human societies.

On a scary note they have been known to deliberately breed Xenomorphs in order to hunt them, often as part of initiation rituals for young Predators. Which was nuts in my view.

The sound of a door opening brought my attention back to the present, and I saw another Predator emerge from the darkness beyond the cage like wall of my cell.

This one was shorter than the other, and slightly different in colouring, he also wore more armour. After a few moments the two predators greeted each other with a hand gesture, and then started talking in clicks and growls that made no sense to me.

Not knowing what they were talking about or what they wanted started to get my nerves. I knew I should be scared, and I certainly didn't want to piss them off, but I had to know what was going on.

"Can someone please tell me why I am here?" I requested.

The conversation stopped and I immediately clamped my mouth shut. My current thinking was that they didn't want me talking right now, and that doing so had pissed them off. Which had not been my intention.

I actually backed up when the cage wall began to slide away, and I kept moving when the shorter of the two Yautja reached out. Only he, or it, or she, wasn't attacking, they were passing me something.

It was a mask, like those worn by the Yautja, only different. I figured that it had been modified for human use. The device was a dull silver or maybe grey in colour, it was hard to tell in this darkness, and it was surprisingly light weight given what it could do.

When the smaller alien mimicked putting on the mask, I did so. Unexpectedly it didn't not show me the world in terms of heat, it was like a form of night vision, but I could make out all the details. The colours were somewhat muted compared to what I was used to, but I could make them out.

"Ooman, you are Un-Blooded Apprentice" I heard one of the Predators say "I will teach you, make you Blooded warrior, if you survive".

The Yautja hadn't actually said those words, but that was what I heard. Some sort of translation device built into the mask I assumed. Given their advanced level of technology a universal translator of sorts seemed well with their capabilities. They didn't use them on hunts while on Earth, but perhaps they didn't see the need.

"Survive?" I asked, as if I didn't already know.

No one answered me, no one spoke at all for a while, and this gave me time to realise that I could now see the details of the world around me more clearly, I was adapting to this new way of seeing.

I was able to tell that the taller Predator had grey dreadlocks, a sign of being older perhaps? So the smaller one, which had darker dreadlocks could be younger. However I was only guessing.

"Well, Un-Blooded, what is your name?" the larger Predator wished to know.

I didn't answer this question, the smaller alien did.

"We were told it was Gothic" replied the smaller one.

That wasn't my name, but there was no sense in arguing over it with the big scary Xenos.

"Goat-sick"

Those words had come from the older of the two alien

"Goth-ik" corrected the smaller alien.

"Gothick" tried the bigger alien.

This went on for a while, but they got it right in the end. Not that this helped me to understand why these aliens had named me after a style of architecture prevalent in western Europe between the 12th–16th centuries.

"You are Gothic, Unblooded" said the taller alien "I am your teacher. You will obey me, and train hard, if you do then you will stay alive".

Well that easy to follow at least. Plus now at least I knew what was going to happen to me, I just didn't know why this was happening or how it had started. I'd have to enquire about that, but maybe it would be best to wait until I knew if they liked me or not.

"Fair enough," I said "Then what happens later?".

Assuming I lived.

"Then, ooman," the bigger alien said. "You shall hunt for honour".

So I was going to be trained as a Predator and then unleashed to hunt down prey. I had mixed feelings about this.

(Line Break)

Mother Ship. Aliens Vs Predator Verse.

I'd been guided to what could be called a bedroom, but really it was more of a cell just like the last room I'd been in. It was too plain to be considered a living space, but it was private and I had my own en-suite bathroom that was hidden behind a heavy looking metal door.

This room was also behind a big metal door I wasn't sure if all of this was for my safety, or because the aliens simply didn't want to look at me too much. If it was the later then the feeling was mutual, these hunters were impressive, but not the most attractive of humanoid races in or out of what I considered to be science fiction.

At least the solitude gave me time to think, and I had plenty to think about. I was going to be trained as a space hunter for lack of a better term. Assuming I passed the training, which seemed doubtful since I was a squishy human, then I'd have to hunt people.

This didn't sit well with me, but still I'd rather hunt crooks on Earth like in the second Predator movie, than tackle Xenomorphs, the stuff of my childhood nightmares ever since a certain parent had let me watch Alien at far too tender an age.

As for the hunting, I didn't think there was a way out of that, not while alive anyway, as Yautja culture centred on the ritualistic hunting of other lifeforms, and this practice appeared to be the foundation of their very society. In fact if the Spartan nature of my room was anything to go buy they didn't care for much of anything else.

Thinking about it made me remember that Predators will travel huge distances, hundred of light years of space at least, in order to hunt whatever species they consider a worthy challenge, and may also kidnap and transport prey across similar distances so as to bring such victims to a hunting ground of their choosing just like in one of the movies.

Which meant their space travel technology must involve faster than light engines of some sort as well staggering amounts of energy production. That was something cool at least, maybe I could learn about it. I doubted I'd understand more than the basics, but I was curious about it.

Just like before my trail of thought ended and I was snapped back to reality by a noise coming from an alien mouth.

"What do you want" I asked.

It was the taller warrior, he'd entered my room without me even noticing, he, she, or it, had some some impressive skills of stealth.

"Do not address me in such a way" the Yautja said "You will address me as master, or teacher, maybe in time as mentor, is this understood?".

I nodded.

"Yes, teacher" I replied.

I kept my tone polite so as not to offend the eight foot tall armoured killing machine, which was always wise. He seemed even taller now, he loomed over despite there being a couple of meters between us.

"Follow me, Un-Blooded, so we can begin your training" instructed my teacher "You must learn to fight for honour".

That was when a thought struck me

"Whose honour. Mine or yours?" I asked.

Surely the student's performance would reflect upon the teacher.

"Both," my new master said "Now get up lazy ooman, and follow me."

I stood up, after getting up on the human style bed, which seemed to be the one thing in the room that had been added for my comfort, and followed my teacher. We walked through the swirling mist in the hallways which reminded me of dry ice, only it smelled a bit different, and finally into a room that looked like a training area.

Aside from having clearer air, this place had weapons lined up along the walls and in the middle of the room was a matt that was a circle in shape and about forty feet in diameter I guessed,

"What is this place, sir?" I asked.

While the alien wore its mask, I could tell it was confused.

"What is 'sir'?" it asked.

The way the Predator pronounced the word 'sir' made me think it wasn't a translation, that it had actually spoke in English. Which was something they could do, but given the shape of their mouths I didn't think it would be easy.

"It is used as term of respect from where I come from, a student will often refer to their teacher as a sir" I answered.

My mentor nodded. A surprisingly human gesture.

"I will accept you calling me sir" the predator said.

It then paused.

"When you fight it will be in armour" the alien told me.

Well I should hope so.

"Will it look like yours?" I asked.

The Predator nodded.

"For now you will train without armour and weapons" the teacher said "Defend yourself".

That was when a fist met my face and everything went black.

(Line Break)

Alien Planet. AVP Universe.

Space. To Mankind it was known as the final frontier, out here was a galaxy filled with many new worlds, some lifeless, others with their own thriving ecosystems. Ripe for colonisation, ready for exploration, a realm of adventure just waiting for brave men and woman.

Well that was the idea. As it turned out the galaxy is full of nightmares creatures such as the Xenomorphs, a race that bring destruction and death wherever they go.

The Queens of the species laid large eggs, each of which contained what are called 'Facehuggers', after hatching the Facehuggers forcibly implant an embryo into another living creature that will house the embryo until it violently bursts from the chest cavity, killing the host and also releasing a near perfect killer. Reproduction via rape and murder, lovely.

Then there are the Predators. An advanced race of seven or eight foot tall bipedal humanoids, who seem somewhat akin to reptiles. Not only are they physically imposing, but their mastery of Faster Than Light technology (FTL) allowed them to travel the greatest of distances with ease.

Their physical might along with their advanced weapons made the Predators one of the few things equally as terrifying as the Xenomorphs. They were much stronger than humans. They are also skilled climbers, and could readily move through trees or across rooftops in pursuit of prey.

Though capable of surviving exposure in Antarctic temperatures for an extended period of time, Predators have a preference for hot equatorial climates. This along with conflict was known to draw in these hunters.

What really made the Predators (the Yautja) different from the Xenomorphs wasn't their technology, or their biology, it was the code of honour that prevented them from being more than killing machines.

As long as the Yautja followed their code, they'd be considered honourable members of society. Some however either strayed from the code or intentionally broke it, they are deemed 'Bad Bloods' and were usually dealt with swiftly.

The Yautja lived in clans, as I'd come to understand. These groups seem to be somewhat familial with clear hierarchical structure and leaders, each of these clans seemed to have some distinct technology and customs, but as of yet I didn't know enough to certain about that.

The reason any of this mattered to me was that right now I was on an alien planet and I was in the care of a Predator. How I'd ended up with a fictional alien race was a total mystery. I had no idea how I'd gotten to this scary universe and the Yautja I was with wasn't talking about it.

At least I knew that I wasn't going to be hunted for sport. I was being treated as an Apprentice. Apparently it wasn't unheard of for humans to be taken in by Predators in order to learn their ways.

They'd even equipped me. Most of what I wore was either human made, or of human design, having been copied by the Predators and made of superior materials if I was any judge, at least on the lower half on my body.

I wore good solid boots, and trousers that seemed that were made from a flexible and sturdy fabric that I couldn't identify. Further up things changed, I wore what I could only describe as a mesh top, partly transparent, but it was strong stuff and I didn't feel at all exposed in it.

Yautja wore armour for protection during hunts, when battling against prey. Most Predators wore armour plates covering their knees, shoulders, hips, chest, thighs and other certain parts of the body. It was unknown to me why the Yautja didn't wear a full set of body armour, but I guessed that a reason could be in fact that wearing a full set of armour would be less honourable. It didn't seem to limit movement, and unless female Yuatja were watching their seemed no other reason for the males show off parts of the body. I couldn't even be sure that my teacher was a male.

I was wearing some armour, stuff that covered my shoulders, hips, chest, and thighs, I was willing to bet that I looked a little foolish in the stuff, but I was too smart not to wear all the protection I could while on an alien planet.

The armour didn't weigh much, and it didn't limit my agility once I'd gotten use to it, so I couldn't blame it for the current problem I was having, which was climbing a tree. Part of my problem was my fear of heights, which was more of a concern of heights these days, but mostly it was the lack of any low hanging branches. You'd think that someone who had apes for ancestors could manage this simple task.

"I've seen better tree climbers that don't even have limbs" said a voice.

Those words had come from the Predator who had upon meeting informed me that he was in charge of my training. When we'd first met I'd been on board his clan's ship, which was massive space going vessel.

My new mentor had so far been patient and wise, only having knocked me out the one time during training. Since then he'd spent, what could have been weeks or even months, it was impossible to tell when you lived in space, how to fight.

Well actually it was more that he'd been teaching me how to avoid getting hit. He'd also taught how to use some weapons, but most of what he'd done simply involved physical training. Very recently, as in days ago, he'd brought me to this world, which was a lot like Earth, and only now had he started teaching me how to hunt.

My mentor, he hadn't given me his name, hadn't actually spoken those words, he'd growled and clicked at me, however the helmet I wore, which was a different shape and size than the ones worn by the Predators, translated for me, allowing me to hear Yautja words in English. I assumed that my teacher had something similar going on his helmet as he nearly always understood me. Sometimes it was as if he didn't but I was sure that he simply chose not to reply at times.

"Well thanks" I sarcastically commented.

It made sense that the Yautja didn't sugar coat things given how they lived their lives, but humans had a habit of doing so. I'd have to adjust to that like I had so many things.

"A true Hunter takes advantage of all his surroundings, the trees above you can serve as platforms, that will allow you to get a lay of the land. Right now you can't use them, you can barely climb them. To become a great Hunter, you need to climb these trees" I was now being told.

The alien then removed two items from the pouch he had on his belt.

"I thought that something like this might happen" the Predator was now saying "so before we left I had made something that might help you".

The items were then passed to me.

"Try these on" I was instructed.

I studied the items, they somewhat had the appearance of gloves, but upon closer inspection I realised they were more like gauntlets. They lacked any kind of armour plating, but still looked rather deadly.

"They're like your claws" I realised.

I had put them on before anything else was said.

"They will help you climb" my mentor was now saying "You can't get any worse".

Then the Yautja looked around, scanning the world around us for something.

"There" the alien said while pointing to a wide and very tall tree.

The bark of the massive planet was very dark shade of brown and the trunk looked pretty thick. Also it had no low hanging branches. A human like me wouldn't climb up the truck of a tree, we would move from branch to branch, however here that just wasn't possible.

"You want me to climb that?" I wondered.

A stupid question really.

"Of course I want you to climb it" said the Predator as it crossed its arms over its massive chest "Now climb".

Which I did, because disobeying a heavily armed warrior seemed like a really bad idea. He had an energy weapon on his shoulder, and I got the sense he'd happily shoot me if I annoyed him enough. With that in mind I did my best to climb the damn tree.