Cauda 15 - The Data Centre's Last Stand

Movements: https://x.com/odaocer/status/1793949832081498619

It was quiet in the data centre. Tess had stopped speaking with Hex and was commanding Radi and Botan. All 'patients' in the makeshift hospital (other side of the spacious room) were alive and well. Annie, Carol and Whitty had returned much earlier, 'captured' (escorted) off the premises for 'questioning' (safe passage) by IRIS soldiers. They still rested on hospital cots, Whitty and Carol hooked up to various machinery.

Both Whitty and Carol were originally brought in unconscious. Since then they had both woken up. While the blast remained destructive for Whitty, Carol had counter-acted it by casting as much healing magic as she could before the impact. Focusing more on Whitty she let herself take the brunt of the hit, hence her slow time to wake.

Fortunately, with Rosie and the fae nearby they healed Carol faster.

At first Whitty was pissed she would do that then relented upon Carol kissing him. To her the team won. Even if the gold wasn't obtained at that point she felt it worth the humiliation they inflicted on the Family.

"Did you see the look on her face when we threw her into the portal?!" Carol hollered.

Annie agreed too, the three of them recounting the battle, laughing especially hard when they heard Updike shot the resurrected Mommy.

Not all was happy however. Once Whitty woke up he and Annie got an earful from Tess and Displo, annoyed they didn't catch Pomona earlier. And when they saw JJ and Pompom they looked away, feeling the death stare Tess shot at them.

The smallest monitor had been changed to a local weather station. Rosie's request, noting that if she had to perform an escape in the rain she'd run the risk of hydroplaning. "Just wanna know how reckless I can go."

With the plan in full swing the only teams remaining in the data centre were Team Fortran and Haskell. The three COs, Solazar, Tess and Displo were anxious. The gold had been obtained, the hell gate bombed and surveillance destroyed. All that remained was to get out and cast the spell. Though on paper it looked easy, the three COs knew of 2 variables that could disrupt it.

Psychic was still out there and it was unknown if the spell would even work on him. He blindsided the crew and even after engagement nobody knew exactly how to defeat him. How he'd gone undetected all until now greatly embarrassed Solazar, Displo and Updike. He was a literal trump card the Family had.

The second was the Laughing Plan. So far nobody had a clue what it could be. With S granting the team full access to the Family's servers they searched directory through directory to find any reference to this Laughing Plan. So far nothing. Displo searched IRIS' database, Tess searched TGG's and Solazar on the Family' servers. No hits so far.

Updike believed it something to do with the stolen energy from the arch demons. He stated he wasn't sure what they were storing it for but 'improperly stored demonic energy could result in a catastrophic explosion'. With Psychic, Mommy and Retro's previous presences in the hangar, Displo deduced that was where the energy was stored.

When Kapi plainly asked if meant they had a nuke, Updike could only reply, 'possibly'. Speculation aside, Updike ordered Displo prep IRIS and TGG forces for a possible deployment. He also ordered Blackjack to go to hell and seek their council.

Solazar questioned the possibility of the Family, namely Daddy using the demonic energy to power himself up. "That is possible." He replied. "But even super powered he could still be defeated. I don't think it's that simple."

The fact that Daddy was defeated lifted most spirits. Carol woke up some time earlier, much to Whitty's happiness. Annie felt relieved, though still wished to give him a go herself. Tess too, felt a strange feeling, that her revenge had been sated.

Solazar and Displo were the only ones not particularly excited. Displo saw beyond Daddy's defeat, knowing that one, he would come back and two, if he actually was dead, then he was outside the spell range, meaning they lost.

It was unclear if Solazar came to that same conclusion, just staring at the monitor's intently. Displo couldn't read him, but saw him twitch when Tabi muttered they won.

Displo spoke first. "You showed a lot of restraint Tabi." Solazar nodded in agreement. "All of you did good. Claim your prize."

"I...will." Tabi said coldly, barely above a whisper.

Solazar could hear the pain in his voice that after all was said and done he had a hole in his heart now. This wasn't the time or place to be thinking of feelings but it really bothered Solazar, as his manager, but mostly as his guardian. Silently, he hoped that you were standing right by him, ready to move on.

Solazar watched as Updike and Huggy moved closer to your location. The sound of Carol laughing at Whitty broke his concentration and he looked to other cameras.

They had given up on the Seven Deadly Sins. They didn't even bother helping them in the fight against Psychic. They served a purpose, leading Psychic away.

Police were aware of the fight and Updike agreed to deploy TGG forces to help arrest if Psychic won. Indeed, based on their trackers Psychic did win, forcing them to surrender. There was a great benefit in them joining last. They knew little of the plan, themselves not even realizing they turned into a distraction.

Psychic came onto the comlink through a controlled Sakuroma and threatened the Carnival to stay out. Solazar replied that he would, Psychic none the wiser. He apologized and stated that they were there to extract Retro and that was it, that Kapi and his team's thoughts about a heist were merely some goal they dreamt up. He wasn't sure if Psychic believed him but he accepted the apology.

Aside from the annihilation of the street gang, the Donnas were still enroute, taking backroads to avoid Psychic's last known location. Rosie reported that she saw some kind of creature with a white head and elongated body lurking but whatever she witnessed wasn't Psychic. The plan stated Radi be present with her but preferred to stay with Botan, awaiting an attacker.

Solazar looked over at Hex's monitor next. With him on board he allowed his eyes to act as a new screen. Hex approved of it, also using it to speak with Whitty (through an annoyed Kapi's comlink).

Under order from Tess, the people on the boat departed. With Displo and Solazar completely outshining her on commanding she started to talk to Hex, trading stories with him and Kapi. With Updike and Huggy elsewhere she felt it necessary for them to leave.

Solazar sighed. It had been a long night already though it looked at least past the halfway mark. He, like the others felt a sense of tire, that things were finally now starting to wind down. No more surprises or major attacks...hopefully. Your helmet was totalled, taking down the one POV shot Solazar had. You took it, though it's display was now gone.

"Rosie. Are you almost there?" Solazar asked. He could see her relative location on the map but wanted further confirmation.

"We took some side streets but yeah." Rosie and her crew drove conspicuously. Nothing but a night on the town for them. The fae hovered in and around the car as it pursued the side streets.

She made no attempt to disguise, the roof of her pink car down, long blonde hair fluttering in the wind. The rest of the Donnas were at least disguised, driving behind her in black cars, ready to pick up the remaining teams.

Rosie didn't drive fast enough to draw police and kept the speed limit, going a cool 40-50km/h. She listened to the comlink here and there, not thinking much of the results. All she knew was the team had the gold and she needed to pick it up.

Earlier they heard gunfire atop the buildings, knowing full well Psychic was engaging with the Seven Deadly Sins. They also saw some kind of monster flying in the sky though it vanished quick.

Due to Pompom's reckless abandonment the plan had to be modified. When picked up, S would take her to a nearby high building and have her cast the spell, the antennae around the compound picking it up.

As they drove they noticed not a car on the street. Night progressed enough that most were already sleeping, unknowing of all the events currently transpiring.

Still driving casually she readied to make a turn, putting signal lights on and coming to a stop. As she pulled up to make it, a car horn ordered her not too, said driver nearly smashing into Rosie's as the car jolted into the intersection.

Rosie slammed the brakes fast. There was little chance of an accident though it did jostle the Donnas up and cause as few fairies to shriek.

"Learn to drive moron!" Rosie shouted at the car. No roof on the opposing driver's car, under the street lights Rosie recognized the driver instantly.

That girl from the cafe. No. Her older sister.

"Oh crap." Rosie muttered.

Sister waved sheepishly at Rosie as she pulled up beside them, also motioning for her passenger to keep quiet.

"I should've known you were part of this." She said.

The Donnas watched closely, waiting for Rosie to make a move. A few also recognized the girl and knew not to get involved with orders.

"So what? You surprised? I know you ain't part of whatever they're doing in here."

The other passenger shone his demonic skin more fairly. A light purple tone on his skin he dressed casually, dark baggy clothes and sunglasses, double cow lick on his black hair. While he dressed to be cool he looked rather confused at the whole situation.

Sister shook her head. "You're right. You really shouldn't go there. Whatever mom and dad got planned isn't good. It's gonna be bad. Trust me." She sounded mortified, genuinely worried for Rosie's safety.

Rosie scoffed. "We'll be fine. Just going to pick up some friends."

"I won't keep you then. Do you what gotta do. But get far. I'm serious."

"Don't worry we will." Rosie smiled. "Where you off to?"

"Got a friend in the outskirts. Gonna wait there till this blows over."

"You sure we can't stay Sis?" The passenger asked.

"No. We'll end up like Cassandra. Trust me. Mom and Dad won't try to save us."

"What are they planning anyways? Everyone keeps saying it's oh-so-bad." Rosie asked.

Sister shook her head. "Beats me but they've been planning it for a long time now. Whatever it is I don't wanna know. Just know we had no part in this."

"Heh. I think we can manage."

"Good luck Rosie. You'll need it. I'll see ya after this."

With a fist bump the two were off, big Sis and Bro heading off in the opposite direction.

In the vault, you, Tabi and the Andromeda's worked in silence. Aside from impenetrable walls the interior of the vault contained metal tables, filled with wrapped bundles of cash, gold bars or bullion. Upon some of the walls were gold records, recordings of the Family's music. You and the crew didn't pay them any mind.

One of the walls contained a number of deposit boxes. Agoti took charge of that, ripping them off the wall and inspecting contents.

Having packed several extra bags the challenge now became how you and the rest would carry them all. Aside from a full backpack and duffel bags on each hand everything was getting full.

Tabi proposed the idea of leaving some behind, himself not particularly caring about the robbery. After all, he also had to now carry his flamethrower. Aldryx refused it, stating they didn't come all this way to not take it all.

"I believe we can help with that." A commanding voice said aloud. You turned, seeing Updike and Huggy at the entrance. You don't know if Huggy had some kind of sixth sense or something but he detected the harsh mood. As creepily as he usually did Huggy scampered up to Tabi. Much as Tabi despised Huggy he did nothing but stare back at the creature, eyes hollow.

With a smile Huggy gave him a pat on the head. Good job! Tabi sighed, leading Huggy to think he wanted a hug. Huggy squealed and grabbed Tabi, lifting him up off the ground and encasing him in his furry arms. As Tabi protested, Updike walked up to you.

"Status of the gold?"

"We're getting what we can but it's too much."

"Huggy and I shall assist carrying. Where is the body?"

"Hm?"

"Daddy."

"Should be out there."

You drop the bags and push Updike out of the way. In the area where Daddy was defeated was a large bloodstain and torn fabric. Not a single sign of Daddy.

"Shit..."

"Thought so. Let us grab our things and depart. I don't like this." Updike added curtly.

Finally letting Tabi go, Huggy and the Andromeda's came beside you.

"Hmph. Should've known that snake would slither away." Tabi said.

"Should we go after him?" Aldryx asked.

"No." Displo came on the comlink. "Grab the gold and make for an escape. With the Donnas on their way we will begin extraction and prepare Pomona for the spell. Are we clear?"

"Understood." You reply.

"Best of luck you all."

With Updike and Huggy now in tow you fill as many bags as you can, making off with a sizeable fortune.

"Hey, uh just reporting that...uh GF left again?" S said puzzled, through the comlink.

"Elaborate." Updike said.

"Well maybe not her but it looks a lot like her, just bigger."

Even you knew that was her older sister, S must have already forgotten about her.

"And some boy."

"It's her older sister. The boy is probably that brother." You said.

"Should we do something?"

"Nah, leave 'em. Sister's a respectable customer. She can go free." Rosie cut in, signal crackling as she drove.

As the least burdened Updike led the way, Huggy at the back carrying several bags.

"Huh. Maybe GF told her?" Agoti said.

Tabi stopped abruptly, Aldryx bumping into him.

He turned back slowly, just as Agoti realized what he said. "Told her what? How would she know?"

"..Rr nothing? Hehe?" Agoti said with a smile.

Tabi dropped his bags, eyes flaring up. He looked as if he were about to strangle the digidevil. No accusations had even been laid but Tabi already figured it out.

So fast he did, that Solazar spoke into the comlink next, giving Tabi his answer.

"Agoti and Aldryx spoke with Boyfriend and Girlfriend earlier. We decided not to tell you or (Y/N)."

"WHY? That curva told her the whole operation didn't he!? That's why they left! ISN'T IT?"

"Of course." Solazar said. "But we couldn't have you go off on a killing spree could we."

"W-well, Girlfriend said she was sorr-ah!" Aldryx, knowing Tabi a little too well as well, swung one of the bags right into Agoti, knocking him over before Tabi could do something more severe.

"Yes, yes. There has been betrayal all around but we can settle this later." Updike butt in. "If I am correct we have little time."

"The hell was that for bro?"

Tabi said nothing, instead turning back and picking up his bags. "We will settle this later." He said coldly and resumed his pace.

"Yo Team Lisp!" S said into the comlink.

"Aren't you guys Team Lisp? They're Team Haskell." Pompom spoke up.

"Uh-uh. Only Updog and Huggy are. The rest are Team P-"

"What is it?" You ask.

"This is our final update." Nikku started, voice still on Mommy. It made Agoti flinch. "Er. Sorry." Nikku said, changing her voice back to Tess'. "We're going to leave now. I don't know what's going on but all the demons are going to the hangar and garage. Place is deserted."

"Understood. Team Lisp and Pompom get out of there. Take Sarv and Retro. Get ready to cast the spell." Solazar ordered.

"Get to the western parking lot. Where Annie's team started. Rosie will pick you all up there." Tess added.

Updike took his stealth a less seriously this time, no longer checking each corner for demons.

"What about Psychic?"

"Don't worry about him. The weapon I called should be making contact with him any minute. He will be dealt with swiftly." Updike added.

With nobody patrolling everyone moved quickly taking no time to peak between hallways. "We shall be meeting up with S' team in the western parking lot where Rosie and Radi shall pick us up."

"So what's this 'funny' plan then?" You asked.

"I cannot say for sure." Updike started as he carried the 5 bags in one arm and more on the other. "If I am correct then the Family has kidnapped 3 archdemons and extracted their powers. I believe they intend to use that energy to summon something."

"Ooo, real scary." Agoti said. "What are they, gonna summon Satan?"

"No. Though I believe Blackjack should be getting in contact with her shortly. It's not just that. They also had Trollge's here. You may not have run into any but Team Lisp has. I believe their appearance her ties into the plan. It was reported that Smiler had a collar. They had to be using him for something else. I believe they were collecting energy from those TCF remnants as well. Storing that energy to build a weapon or some sort."

"Like the tsar bomb?" Tabi said, not seriously.

"Sort of. Something of that magnitude."

You stopped, finding it rather odd. "Seriously? What, they're gonna nuke the city? And today?"

"You may not have heard but during my confrontation with Psychic he believed we were there to stop whatever they were planning."

"It's quite serious as Updike says." Displo said through the link.

"Retro vanished 2 months ago. We can assume the Family captured him then and begun extracting energy. Sarvente was 2 weeks ago and Blackjack in the past few week. And it was Family's demons that attacked that Hololive girl. I believe that TCF was their doing as well and BF and GF had some part of it. The Family have been planning this for a long time but appear to have sped up recently."

"I knew they were no good." Tabi added.

Manoeuvring throughout the empty manor grew haunting. With not a soul in sight and nothing but dead silence as you and the others walked you couldn't help but feel worried.

"Sorry to dampen your assessment Tabi but I don't think BF and GF knew what they were doing if they even brought down TCF. I think Daddy just took advantage of the fallout."

"Okay, so what? We get out of here, and flee the city?"

"Not necessarily." Tess said. "We've been discussing it. If Pompom's spell works out we'll get IRIS and TGG to send people to investigate and disable the weapon."

"Yes. Just for now proceed to your----BZZTssssssssssssshhhhhhhhhh." The signal cut out, Displo's voice crackling.

"Displo? Tess? Sol?" You paused as you checked. Tabi shook his head. "It's probably just Psychic. Let's go."

"No. I can't imagine it's him. He should have his hands full right now."

Now Playing...

Artist: Store

Song: Blip (Sankt-Otten Mix)

Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Iozx5MwRi8

Psychic watched from above as the remaining Deadly Sins were carted off in police cruisers. Mind controlling them he forcibly got each to surrender, relinquishing his control once it too late for them to resist. He surveyed the surrounding buildings, bullet holes and smashed concrete everywhere. They didn't go down as easily as he was hoping.

He already spoke with the commanders of the Carnival. They got Retro and were ready to leave. They weren't going to interfere in tonight's plan any further. He still didn't trust they weren't planning on robbing the joint but knew it wouldn't matter soon anyway. For now it was on him to get to the hangar.

Standing atop a building he looked towards the compound, a purple and grey sky above, light pollution and clouds blocking out the horizon.

He listened around, hearing different thoughts. Need to make sure no more 'Carnival' is around. He didn't detect anyone with knowledge of the Carnival but did detect someone watching him. Is that him? Someone thought. I think it's him.

Psychic turned back seeing two figures, one building behind him. One he saw many thoughts coming out, the other blank. They were looking at him with intent. Mindful silence from the first and constant thoughts about how to approach Psychic from the other. He could see it in the loud figure's mind. Updike sent us. Said to do as much damage to the purple guy as possible. Use as much force as you want. Kill anyone. He kidnapped Sarv!

Psychic shook his head. "He sent more." He readied himself.

The loud figure hovered beside the first one, small black wings keeping him afloat. The other just stood solemnly, Psychic still not hearing a single thought from him. Perhaps he wasn't sentient.

Seeing Psychic raise his fists the two took it upon themselves to hop to the next building, closing the gap between them.

"So you're the one who took mom." The kid said. A stick-figure, wearing a maroon coloured student uniform.

While he didn't introduce himself, Psychic scanned his mind and got a name. Selever. Next to him the man who apparently did not think. Selever called him Ruv and Dad.

"We used inmates to capture her. I just controlled her. If I didn't she would have been much worse off."

Ruv clenched his fists.

"You realize Updike sent you here to die?" Psychic said. "You cannot beat me."

"We'll see." Ruv said as he charged him.

Rosie felt the car shake, as if a gust of wind blew by her. Figuring it was the weather she drove on. She paid it no mind, figuring it just a gust from the previous storm. She glanced up instinctively only to see someone fly...rather thrown by. A brief moment passes as Rosie realized who the passer-by was.

Glowing neon green he stuck out across the dark sky. Radi. "Fae! Get him!" She commanded. Fluttering madly they flew off.

She pulled to a stop, the Donnas stopping behind her. With Radi already in his descent he was caught by the fae, a force field covering him as he slammed into a building. Bouncing off, the fae lowered him to the ground, several fluttering around to heal him. He saw himself glowing, the fairies wasting no time in teleporting him to Rosie.

As Rosie continued driving she tried paging the data centre, finding the link not working. Unsure what to think she sped up, just as Radi materialized in the passenger seat.

"What the hell happened?" Rosie asked, not so much as even glancing at Radi. Crossing his arms, Radi huffed. "Some stupid creature is at the data centre. Threw me after I knocked the snot outta him. I think it's almost dead anyways. Don't worry 'bout them. Let's just get the gold."

Rosie shrugged. With all of Team Fortran and Team Haskell at the data centre she figured they would be fine. As she got closer to the compound she noticed something off.

She wasn't sure if it were her imagination or the air itself but it felt thicker here. The fog had dissipated and left nothing but a black landscape, nothing but streetlamps breaking the darkness. Though her brights were on it felt as if she couldn't see more than a few metres in front of her. Something just felt...off.

Stepping out of the mansion you felt it too. Nothing but a muted silence outside as if you stepped onto a wasteland. You couldn't even hear the sound of the waves nearby.

Even the hellhounds had gone quiet. "Eerie." Agoti mumbled.

With how everyone moved you assumed it just a side effect of the tiredness. It had been a rough night.

"We should depart immediately. This isn't good." Updike said.

Hoping over the fence you spot S and co waiting in the parking lot looking confused as well. Oddly enough, Nikusa was hugging Pompom tightly. Before you could ask what happened, S flew up to you.

"Woo! So that's the cash?" S shouted as he flew over to grab a bag from you.

He ripped it open, studying its contents closely. "They shoulda used rings but this is coo."

"What's going on?" Nikku asked Updike. "Everything feels off."

"I do not know. It could be a side effect of the Laughing Plan. Regardless everyone be on alert."

Now Playing...

Artist: The Night Monitor

Song: Action and Adventure

Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v6VnknCKkxc

"There's a dark energy in the air. We should get as far away from here as possible." Nikusa said as she let go of Pompom.

You put your comlink on. "Rosie how far are you?"

"Like 1 minute. I can literally see you guy-"

Rosie was cut off by something far in the distance. Ruv, Selever and Psychic saw it too, atop their battlefield. Though it happened behind Rosie she certainly felt the shockwave.

You couldn't see it exactly but many blocks down an explosion rocked a building. It completely dispelled the surrounding darkness as the sky lit up from afar. A bright blue explosion. There was no doubt in your mind.

That was the data centre.

-- Earlier --

Atop the data centre Radi and Botan exchanged stories. She talked his ear off about her own crew as Radi talked about his homeworld. It helped pass time. They too noticed the heavy feeling in the air, though none commented on it.

Tess, still feeling overshadowed reviewed past conversations, finally determining that the flying creature that kept getting mentioned was making its way south, towards the data centre. Upon giving the warning, Botan and Radi readied themselves. And it wasn't flying, rather jumping from building to building or lurking on the ground.

It looked to purposely avoid cameras, Tess could see them getting distorted briefly. "5 seconds you two! Good luck!" Tess declared from the comlink.

Radi and Botan scanned the surrounding area, expecting something to appear at any second. Both were focused, not the least bit affected by paranoia.

And sure enough did someone make their presence as Radi and Botan saw someone climb up the roof. Both Carnival members aimed, ready. As someone pulled themselves up Radi lowered his fists.

A young girl, same species as Radi. Her clothing, appearance and statue contained no colour, shades of black and grey covering her. By the schoolgirl attire, knee-high socks and cute bow atop her head, Radi identified her immediately.

"Radi! It's so good to see you." She said with an abnormally large smile.

"L-Lofie?" Radi asked cautiously. "What did they do to you?" He wasn't convinced this was Lofie. It just all seemed way too off. Where was the 'large flying creature'? And if anything happened to Lofie, Sumire would've told him.

"Oh I've just been doing so well! Laughing at how your operation has been going."

Before Radi could respond, a bullet fired beside him, sniper shot hitting Lofie's forehead. She froze.

"Not buying it." Botan said. "That ain't whoever you think."

"Hmph." Lofie said. "Fooling you all works better when you two actually know each other." A scratchy voice emerged from Lofie.

"Go warn the others. This one is mine." Radi said coldly.

Botan nodded, re-entering the data centre.

Radi's fists lit up green, glowing. "I don't know what you are but nobody impersonates my sis."

"Alright then." The fake Lofie said. "Let's see what you got edgelord."

The doors departed again, someone entering. While the COs ignored the sound Whitty took notice.

"...the hell?" He muttered as he sat up, Carol glancing up from her phone as well.

It was that lion girl...from the arcade? She dressed almost the same as that night too. He didn't mistake it.

Long vanilla-coloured hair with lion's ears poking out, black winter jacket with fur around the neck, black tank top with vanilla strips and stylish black boots. The only difference were the black track pants she currently wore, the three strips along the leg indicating Adidas. She carried with her a sniper rifle slung upon her back.

He couldn't remember her name. Boston? Botulism? Botanic? But he knew she was the leader of that team whose name he also forgot.

"Yo." Whitty said as he got off the hospital bed. Carol too was similarly confused at her appearance.

"Oh hey. Sorry, kinda busy." Botan stopped, seeing her former competitors. "TGG treat you alright?" She asked as she walked by, guessing his alignment with them.

"We aren't part of The Greater Good." Whitty said flatly.

Botan shrugged. "Whatever."

"What are you doing here?"

"Updike asked me to help security 'case anything happened. Me and some friends have been watching the place."

"But, why?" Whitty had more questions now, not even sure where to begin.

"Sorry, don't have time to explain."

"Yes, yes." Solazar spoke up, finally noting Botan's presence. "Why are you in here? Is there something the matter?"

"Yeah. We got a problem upstairs! Some creature thing is attacking the base. Radi's fighting it upstair-"

"Radi's gone! Something just threw him!" Tess exclaimed looking at the monitors before they all went static.

"There's something seriously wrong outside too. It's like the world is different."

"We've lost signal!" Tess said aloud.

"What is-" The ground shook. Not enough to destabilize anything but everyone felt it.

"Not detecting any seismic activity." Displo said as he started typing on the console. "Checking surrounding-..."

"M-my god." Displo muttered, stepping back from the console.

"Displo, you okay?" Tess asked, noticing him shaking slightly now. She rolled over to Displo's console. She saw the same screen as he but didn't know the significance of the dark figure standing there.

It towered upwards and started directly at the camera, vibrating ever so. Long limbs and larger hands with gangly fingers that appeared sharp. All black except the creature's head, a ghastly white. It had a large toothy smile that pushed it's chin and cheeks to extreme proportions stretching them inhumanely. With its eyes devoid of life it stared directly at the camera, directly to the viewer. Hard to see under the camera's light Displo saw it perfectly.

"Case 333. Legion." Displo said, deadpan.

The next chapter will be called We Are Many.