Chapter 55: Show Time (Part 7)
[Clock - 08:56 | 08:56 AM]
[Calendar - 03/05/2003]
[Location - Meeting Room of the Council of Beasts - Beastialis Kingdom - Old Gotham, Gotham City, New Jersey]
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Time Skip - 15 Days
POV Change
3rd Person POV
With a groaning sigh, Atlas felt his muscles relax with a soft pop. He turned to look at the group of people that sat by the same round table, each one different from the other- With a groan and another even heavier sigh than the previous one, Atlas pinched the bridge between his forehead and nose with his fingers as he said: "Welcome to another meeting of the Council of Beasts. We are gathered here to discuss about our territory." He felt Waylon's hands on his shoulders as he was sitting on his lap, the big dragon man was rubbing his shoulders, trying to help him relax when he hasn't slept for the past 2 days, always working on something or doing something in the name of the kingdom, which just made Waylon worried about his health and a little bit proud that Atlas was putting so much effort even though he has been doing the same for a long time now. By his left sat the Lady of the Immaculate Garden, and by his right sat the Genius Blood Sage, and beside him sat the duo of Pale Blue Sage and Bright Light Healer (Victor Fries and Nora Fries), and lets not forget the two Awakened animals that also have titles: The Contessa of Cheese and the Protector of Children while Techno Defender Cyber-Neet sat directly in front of him.
With a snap of his fingers, he summoned forth the papers he spent a few minutes writing before using magic to copy on other papers, each going to the nobles of Beastialis.
"As you can see, we have received a great increase in population." Atlas did not need to look at the papers, he knew that Beastialis had a sudden increase in population by more than 90%! In the past two days, Atlas has found more and more people who wanted to join Beastialis Kingdom, since it was the only place that had a semblance of a goverment and safety, as well as free healthcare, which was what sold the Beastialis Kingdom to most of the citizens, to be fair. "Blood Sage, Blue Sage, Light Healer, how have the Awakening serum tests going?" The two scientists of the Beastialis Kingdom have started to test the serum they have been tasked with completing, and Atlas was very curious abot the results of the testing. Nora has been tasked with healing whoever had any sort of side effect to the serum, and if anything truly bad happened, they had a [Sending Stone] to contact him directly for help. "I hope no volunteers have shown adverse reactions to the serum?"
"Oh, the testing has been a success!" With a cheerful upbeat to his voice and hope in his eyes, Robert grinned widely as he explained: "I was adverse at human testing at first, but after seeing people eagerly volunteering-" Ah, right. Eight days ago, Atlas announced to the Kingdom that there would be scientific testings to develop a serum to that would be available for the entire population of Beastialis to use if they desired, but it was in the phase of testing. The serum was aimed at Awakening the hidden genes within their bodies, granting them animalistic appearance alongside superhuman abilities. Atlas told everyone that whoever wanted to volunteer would be the first to experience the metamorphosis into the race that was to be the dominant within Beastialis Kingdom, because they would make them much more than humans. "-it was kinda hard not to go with it... Animal testing had been going well and no animal had shown negative side effects, so after testing on a few chimpanzees, we started testing on humans... and, well, the results have been positive?"
Atlas lifted one eyebrow: "...Explain, please."
"Well, the test subjects have shown different levels of Homo Beastialis genus awakening, the majority have grow simple animal characteristics-" This time, the one to speak was the Pale Blue Sage, Victor Fries, who also had a rather big smile on his face: "-and, well, we believe this is a good sign. Robert has described his own transformation as something incredibly painful, and these small changes at a slower pace seem more ideal. Just yesterday, our oldest test subject, Buck, has started to develop more crocodilian characteristics." It wasn't much of a shock for Atlas to learn that Buck had some Homo Beastialis Crocodilian genes in his body. It was almost interesting how there were psychological signs for the hidden genes too... Atlas theorized that the animals you interact with or love are the ones you're most likely to have the hidden genes of. "And other subjects have started to develop their own animalistic characteristics... But, my Queen, how are we going to deal with the animalistic instincts that they will slowly develop?"
"Ah, I can deal with that." This time, Waylon answered. His arms dropped around Atlas, tightly holding his waist closer to him, his rough skin was leathery to the touch: "I have experince dealing with some of that, so I might as welll teach them what I know of self control." There were a lot of skeptical looks from the people at the table- Everyone knew that their King was the one with the least amount of self control in this entire world! He literally couldn't go five minutes without wondering where the Queen was, where he would be, how he was, and if within his reaching distance, constantly touch him to make sure he was still there and wouldn't suddenly disappear: "...what? Did I say something funny?"
"...Anyway-" Skipping the entire ordeal without saying anything else and ignoring Waylon's "Hey!", Atlas turned to look seriously at eveyone. There was a soft change of atmosphere in the room, an invisible weight seemed to settle down on their shoulders as Atlas turned to look at the Lady of the Immaculate Garden and asked: "Pamela, dear, how are the roots coming up? Need any extra help?"
"My Queen-" A shar grim, Pamela flicked her bright red hair back as she smiled brightly and proudly at her own accomplishments and deeds: "-I have covered 100% of the grounds, I have started reinforcement of the roots. I do not need help for now, but when I start to connect the Slaughter Swamp to the root network of the Beastialis Kingdom, I will need a bit more of energy and your magical touch." This was Pamela's main task for now. She was to use her ability to control plans to wrap the Beastialis Kingdom completely in roots, reinforcing the subterranean part of the Beastialis Kingdom's territory, to make sure than when Atlas puts the city in the sky, nothing bad will happen! And they'll take Slaughter Swamp with them, because Atlas wants the entire place for himself. He is being quite greedy, but the Slaughter Swamp is an actual magical swamp, cut him some slack, okay? "I have, however, met some... obstacles? They're rocks, weird rocks. Weird as in, they feel like the rocks of Slaughter Swamp, but... better."
Ah, magical rocks? That's unexpected. Maybe some magic from Beastialis itself leaked? Or is this something Cipactli is trying to do? "I will take a look later... Lonnie, how many obstacles have you reached in your endeavors, and do you require my assistance to overcome them?" He had given Lonnie a very complex job that aligned with his soft anarchist tendencies- His job was to fuck up with the American goverment, stirr public opinion, and to gather support for the rise of the Beastialis Kingdom by painting a good public opinion of them. Which was easier thanks to the incompetent goverment that seemed to not understand what the public wanted, even more so after Atlas gave Lonnie the idea to start the "Gothamite Survivalist Guide" blog, where he was writing and posting about the experiences of every Gothamite right now. The despair, the fear, the dread, the uncertainty, and many other serious experiences. "I take it that it has gone well?"
"Oh, its going fucking great!" With a wide grin, Lonnie flipped the laptop he had received from Atlas around, showing the screen to the entirety of the Council of Beasts, who all looked at the several news that he had pulled through several different sites that were speaking about the horrors going in Gotham: "We have, successfully, planted the seed of chaos and discord in the hearts of the people- oh, how I've missed this, to sow chaos and anarchy." Sighing, Lonnie looked into a non-existent horizon as flowe petals fell in the background and- No. He was just staring at nothing for a few moments: "...Anyway, I reckon that it won't take long until we got the president out with that impeachment idea. I already started spreading rumours about his marriage- by the way, how did you even know that he had three mistresses, and two of them had his children? That wasn't enough evidence online to prove it, but with the one you provided, my Queen, it was ridiculously easy."
"That is good to hear... And don't worry about where I got the information from, that's something only I can do in this universe." A truth. Only he had access to [World Encyclopedia - Book of Living Beings], others who had this ability wouldn't be in this universe anyway! "Contessa, have your men returned?" He turned to look at the small rat that sat atop the table, holding this miniature tea cup and wearing a bright blue princess dress. On her feet, glass slippers! "I heard you received their report, have you not?"
She took a sip and nodded: "I have, my Queen." She pulled out this parchment that was small to his hands, but big to hers. She reached out to give it to him, and she looked adorable doing so! "Ever since you've instructed me with the receiver box, I have monitored the reports we have been receiving, and I am proud to say that all my men have returned alive. The one assigned to Batman has, sadly, lost complete sight of him after the Cataclysm happened, but the two other rats assigned to Commissioner Gordon and the Arkham Asylum have reported some happenings at the two locations.¹" She looked a bit grim about the news she had to share, and as Atlas read the report, he understood why.
"So Gordon has made a deal with the devil, huh?" Atlas sighed, sharing the information he had just received with everyone around: "He has made a deal with Two Face to expand the GCPD territory... This will backfire heavily on him, it seems." For reasons Atlas couldn't really understand, Gordon had sent every survivor that was found towards them (which was one of the many reasons that the population of Beastialis was increasing) and refused to even interact with the Beastialis Kingdom. Maybe something about the fact that the king of this kingdom was the once known Killer Croc? "...I feel like there's a plot happening, but we need to focus on something else." He looked at Lonnie, who nodded. There was the sound of the keyboard being clicked at a furious speed before Lonnie turned the screen around once more to show the news.
[Justice League Seeks Audience with the Unite Nations!]
[Who is the Justice League?]
[Justice League has declared its intention to help Gotham]
[The United States President says "A group of heroes? That sounds fishy to me." about the Justice League]
"Ah... it's finally time to strike." Atlas felt a grin grow on his face- The stage was set, all they had to do was take it: "Beastialis will soon rise." And that was a fact! Ever since the Cataclysm happened (and even before it, really) he has been preparing a few things to get the UN to recognize Beastialis Kingdom as an official nation. He wanted them to have a goos reputation, but if necessary he will take the land to the skies without even the slightest approval of any government. "Gather around, gather around~" With a smile, Atlas reached out to everyone around him as the table before them turned into a reflective mirror-
And being reflected on it was the interior of the General Assembly Hall, in New York.
Right in the middle of a meeting between the UN and the Justice League.
"...show time."