5 Ripples of influences

He have to hurry, Vegapunk thinks to himself as he runs his finger across the strange symbols of one of the smooth black pillar, buried underground centuries, perhaps millennia ago, they hold secrets, knowledge to quell this new threat that has befallen them. They have to. Above ground, he can hear the battle still rages on, getting closer and closer with every moment he wastes, his guards are being pushed back. He's brought no more than a few dozens elite soldiers, the best that the Marine can supply him with for this crucial mission. And still they're being pushed back, by hordes of crazed mutants and their masters, raptorial red haired berserkers in dark crimson armors that seemed impervious to any of their weapons.

Before long, the sounds of battle have all been silenced, and Vegapunk can hear the footsteps of…one? That can't be, he thought, they always charge down in hordes, hundreds of mutated human swarming over his guards, while at least half a dozen of those reptilian beasts would break through any resemblance of a battle line in a crazed frenzy. But here, there's but one making its way down the tunnel leading down to the cavern housing the temple complex that he's in. He keeps his mind relaxed, continuing his research as the footsteps gets closer and closer, this is the last of the sites that he's granted access to that hasn't been overrun, if he can decipher this, it could change everything.

It's right at the entrance now, Vegapunk realizes as the footsteps stop, in their place is a series of tongue clicking that sounds oddly…metallic. He slowly turns his head to look at his would be assailant, as expected, the beast bears the upper body of a man but the lower is that of a prehistoric raptorial beast. Yet this one's different, like his kind, the thing is muscular, though with a slimmer built, his skin is sickly pale, making his fluorescence green eyes almost seem glowing under the shaggy silvery grey hair, so unlike the copper shaded skin, along with the fiery red eyes and hair of the others. Even his armor is different, a cold shade of grey, with green symbols and gems matching those of the ruins, more intricately fashioned into an ornate skeleton rather than the simplicity seen in those of the brutish red haired one.

- I mean you no harm. - The creature speaks with his somewhat robotic voice, raising his freed hand to make a peaceful gesture.

- But you are an abomination. - Vegapunk turns around, pulling a pistol at the beast's exposed head, eyes glancing from his face to the simplistically designed halberd, its green blade with cog piece teeth glows menacingly.

- I prefer…honored guest. - The creature made a jesting gesture, his voice rings with a hint of amusement and somewhat mocking as he makes his way to the pillar where Vegapunk is standing. - But abomination or not, you and I share a common cause.

- Logic dictates otherwise. - The human scientist cocks his pistol, still aiming it at his new companion's face.

- Then you don't seek to understand the nature of this matrix? - The creature asks with his cold, emotionless voice, hand brushing the surface of the stone pillar, making some of the symbol glow a baleful green hue.

- You…comprehend its secrets? - Vegapunk slightly lowers his gun, bedazzled by the feat.

- I was there when they first awakened. - The newcomer smirks, looking at his faint reflection on the pillar's smooth surface. - Or perhaps I wasn't, memory's such a fickle thing. - He suddenly snaps his head to face the human, the smirk has disappeared, replaced by a grim frown. - Neither of us desires to see this planet torn asunder by the traitorous ones. Destroy me if you wish. Nothing will change. For me. For you. For this world.

A slight pause, as Vegapunk contemplates the beast's offer, before lowering his pistol to usher his decision:

- Show me.

***

Half of his town is dead, the other half is either taken captives or on the run, like him. The lowly merchant pants heavily inside his hiding place, a hollowed out part of a mangrove's root, burned and rotten by the small war that's engulfing the entire Sabaody Archipelago. No, he thinks, this is no war, this is no battlefield, nearly half of the archipelago, from Grove 1 to 29 has either been turned to hunting grounds or into the hunters' strongholds, with the unclaimed groves now served as game reserves of source. He's been on the run for the last few days, avoiding even the smallest of gatherings, lest they draw the attentions of the hunters. He shivers as he tries to light his cigarette as quietly as he can, recalling the horrific beginning, keeping a watchful eye outside through the cracks of the root.

It happened so fast, first there were just rumors, words of an entire town being wiped out, then another, and another, and another, all in the matter of days, if not hours from each others. They didn't understand it, they couldn't, nor did they believe the tales of the rare, driven half insane survivors, no army could move so fast or strike so quickly, they reasoned. That was, until the neighboring town fell, hours later, the invaders were upon his town. The majority of them looked like children, barely over sixteen and there were only a handful of dozens of them, flanked by robots fashioned into the mocking shapes of skeletons and commanded by three reptilian humanoids classed in black armors. Yet before they could even react, arrows have began to fall like rain, razor sharp and fired with force that the bolts cracked concrete, followed by the warriors children, the machines and the beasts came running into the middle of the town, slaughtering as they did.

Before the end of the day, half the town was dead, the other half ran, but most didn't get far. He was one of the lucky few, or perhaps they let them escape, to hunt them down one by one. Taking a long drag off his cigarette, the merchant contemplates on what his next move would be. He can't escape by the sea, the reptilian beasts patrol the water ways, the fact that they can swim rules out the possibility of them being Kaido of the Animal Kingdom Pirates' minions. The groves on both sides of the hunting grounds are no good either, being the hot spots of the skirmishes between them and the rest of the archipelago. His only escape seems to be the Marine held Grove 60, as the soldiers there have done next to nothing against this new threat, nor have the invaders taken any action against the garrisons there. Almost as if they're in cahoots with each others. He shakes his head to clear his doubt, even if it's so, a slight chance of escape is enough for him to take the risk, rather than spending his entire life here hunted like animals and enslaved, he's seen far too much what slavers can and will do to their…"belongings".

- Remind me again, WHY did I agree to let you two be in charge of the place when Lucious' away?

An irritated voice in the distant catches the merchant's ears, he quickly put out his cigarette and presses himself against the charred wall of his hideout, watching through the cracks to see three shadows walking into view, with two of them being the terrifyingly familiar shapes of the reptilian beasts. Yet these seem…different, their armors are more ornate, decorated and scarred, veteran, high ranking officers at least, the man concludes, basing on those details alone. Yet their faces say otherwise, with the smallest of the trio looking barely over sixteen, with the same sharp and handsome features of the warrior children that make up half the bulk of their forces. The broken bones and patches of furred hides are strapped sporadically on his armor alone are terrible enough to behold. But worse is his helmet, a giant, antlered skull seems to have been fashioned crudely yet intricately from a block of dark ivory colored metal rippling with a thousand folds. A veil of shimmering black silk draping down from the back of the grim headgear, pass his shoulder like a protective shroud, the overhanging jaw of the skull in the front shades his face, making his golden eyes almost look like they're glowing, the whole of the warrior's form suggests the merchant of the mythical Windigo that haunts the dreams of children on frozen islands.

His larger companion wears a long nosed mask to hide his face, his armor less decorated with grim trophies than his friend's, for he needs not cover himself in carcasses to show his killing prowess. The smooth metallic plates shimmer darkly as rays of sunlight hit them, radiating a darkening aura that makes him looks like a ghostly shadow. The merchant would have thought so, has it not for rattling noises coming from the skulls picked clean of flesh hanging on the hunter's waists and the gigantic sniper rifle he's carrying, the sounds of which the merchant is far too familiar with.

Only one of the trio seems to be fully humanoid, the tall, blond man with hair draping down his face, hiding half of it under the thick bang. The man seems nonchalant, almost annoyed by his beastly companions, casually taking a drag from his cigarette, before stomping on it. "Traitor!" The merchant almost cries out, rage fuming inside him as he watches the man being so close to these murderers. Does he not know of their deeds? He's wearing the same set of armor like they are, albeit an altered version to suit his humanoid form, unarmed, unlike the other two who are armed with strange mechanical looking firearms and a sword. Something about that man makes the merchant's rage subside, a strange sense of authority and familiarity as if he's seen him somewhere before. And the other two seem to revere him, is he their task master?

- Oh c'mon Severus, - The larger reptilian beast chuckles under his mask. - where's your sense of fun?

- Fun? Fun?! FUN?! - Severus explodes. - This is an important mission! We have no time for fun! The Lord Inquisitor gave us direct order to pacify the locals! Not wiping them off the map!

- Oh you've been with Lucy so long that you've become his lapdog. - The smallest warrior teases, waving his free hand in a jesting manner, before raising his gun holding hand. - Beside, they DID refuse our offers of peace, earth and water, no harm in cully a few hundreds or so "unruly would be citizens", right?

- Yeah we need to work on your definition of "unruly". - Severus snarls. - You can't just go running willy nilly all over the place, screaming for people to surrender while blasting your rifles like there's no tomorrow Chopper!

- Well Ulrichh wasn't much better! - Chopper tries to justify himself. - He's supposed to keep an eye on me!

- Ay ay! Leave me outta this one, mate. - The sniper says with his Cockney accent.

- Well Grumpy Lucy will have to learn to have fun then! - Chopper says jokingly, waving his weapon at a couple of refugees who have been spotted by dozens of flying drones and are on the run. - If you want to make omelet, you've gotta crack some eggs!

- NOT! By tossing half your eggs at the wall and catching the ones that are still whole! - Severus hisses, totally uncaring for the death rattles of the human caught in the initial barrage of explosive bullets. - Honestly guys, when Lucious' back, I'll have to write a proper report about…

Severus suddenly stops, standing up right with his head lifted toward the sky as he sniffs the air. Curious, the merchant thinks, leaning against the wall of his hideout to have a better look. Suddenly, the man's head snaps, twisted clockwise in a fashion and to an angle that would have killed any regular human attempting to do the same. His dark brown eyes flicker, even under his bang of hair, the merchant could feel the inquisitive look burning like baleful fire. He gets onto all four, yet his body doesn't bend awkwardly as a normal human should, nor do the differences in the lengths of his limbs hamper him. They are distorted, elongated and altered, the transformation is so subtle and quick that the merchant couldn't see it all, just a blur of motions and shifting shapes, before the man is entirely replaced by a beast.

Standing there on all four, still covered in the dark plated armor with the same bang of shiny golden hair, is an abomination in all of its savage beauty. The beast has the head of a wolf and a muscular build to match, yet its anatomy is distinctively human, save for the awkwardly long arms, seemingly almost longer than the double jointed hind legs. The golden hair is still there, though now covering the entirety of the beast's head and possibly its body too, the draping bang that covered half of its face connected with a stiff, jagged Mohawk of a mane with darkened tips much like its now swaying tail sprouted from between its legs.

It sticks its tongue out as it walks back and fort on all four, its balefully glowing eyes fixate on something in the merchant's general direction. He grips his heart, feeling it beats louder and louder as the beast continues its patrol. Gods, now he knows, it's no man at all, they're all the same, inhuman beasts came to punish their archipelago, to punish mankind for their sins. Silently, he prays, praying to any god or deity that would hear him, he begs and pleads with all his heart and mind, hearing the beast���s panting, its footsteps getting closer and closer by the seconds. He can almost feels it, the beast's fangs on his throat, crushing down at his wind pipe, the imageries of its claws ripping into his form causes pea sized sweats to pour down from his shivering self. Yet still the merchant keeps silent, biting onto his intertwined fingers to keep himself from crying loudly as he hears Severus stops, just outside of his wooden hideout.

The beast rears up, putting one of its front paw onto the roof of the charred wooden hollow, pulling half of his body over to look on the other side. With a sickening growl, Severus bite down at a poor sod, the merchant could hear his whimper of utter horror as the realization of him being discovered dawns upon him before it all descends into madness.

Inhuman.

That's the only word the merchant could use to describe it, he can here the other man tried desperately to escape, limbs flailing frantically trying to push off the massive growling wolf-man, all the while being ripped to shreds, tossed around like a rag doll. It takes everything for him to not let out a scream and make a dash for it, even when the sickening sounds of bones being crunched and the painful, horrific screaming is reduced to but gurgling as blood floods the wind pipe of the poor man. Even that quickly fades away, with only the sounds of a great, toothy maw tears into the mangled corpse, dragging it over the root, causing drops of blood to seep down from cracks in the barb, still the merchant remains silent.

- What? What did you find? - The sniper, Ulrich, sounds concerned, but not for the horrific scene that has just transpired, that much the merchant can tell.

- This. - Severus replies with his gurgling, beastly voice, more like a low growl than a word.

- By the gods… - Chopper's voice is that of awe, as if whatever Severus has retrieved from the corpse is hypnotizing him. - But…but that means…

- We have to go back. - Severus barks lowly. - Lucious must know of this.

- Yes. - Ulrich agrees, but his next words send chill and horror down the man's spine. - But what about the human hiding in the root?

- Dispose of him.

Before the merchant could react, there's of brilliant light, followed by the loudest sound of a gun being fired he's ever heard, his body is engulfed in an intense warmth, then it's all over, nothing remains but a smoldering hole in the root, blown wide open by Ulrich's rifle, with but a smear of blood to mark his intended target.

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