***

Hearing shots from the surroundings of the area, the battle was finished for now, whatever happens later is only just but the beginning, as they were told. The German Millitary held point at the outside of the Science Lab as the rest of their branches from different countries worked about together to ensure the safety of the public and least, spread the infection even worse. Efforts of keeping a healthy situation is only at thread’s length. It was now or never. That was what their Captains told before the confused soldiers followed orders to do strange things.

Securing strange payloads, escorting survivors out of strange blackened rooms, roaming with aggressive beings, the soldiers had no choice but to go through all the pain but without any way to report to their family who are also trying to survive in their own lands. The Happening was spreading further than its impact point. It already enveloped it first cause of destruction, the loss of many things. But now, it is getting worse. Causing strange protruding and fast reacting symptoms to occur which would make any doctor or nurse dumbfounded and mad in insanity.

Even the guardians can’t do anything about it even with their strangely advanced technology that follows an old set of rules. Working out at-least a workable cure from this zombie like creatures, the wording itself is false, it is worse, like a corona of diseases spreading throughout in strange speeds and outcomes.

Continuum is but a military boot-camp nor a base. It is a school to teach would be adults the ways to ensure survival in these god forsaken times. To them, it may seem like a game or some sort of edgy recreation of post apocalyptic media, but with only minimal time left, they have no choice but to concentrate on this final choices. Kill, or be killed, is no longer an option. There is just too much danger to be understood. The population was dying too fast.

Reasonably alien to humans. This virus, this bio-weapon of sorts is not only man-made but also enhanced by its own self-adapting nature. Like the many other man-made viruses before. But this, this is outlandish, absurd, too fast for a cur to be made. It may have been only five years. Five years for a possibility for a cure, but no. There wasn’t enough time. It is ticking inside, ready to implode.

Violence ensured, aggressiveness increased, emotions unruled. It was something out of a Lovecraftian story. Maybe it is. Who knows. No one have the time to make theories.

It was only fight. A fight to ensure ones insanity is kept hold. Relationships are now temporary, an act of camaraderie is minimal. A doctor is the least thing to see in the foot of battle. Hope is lost, mankind said over and over again during the act of crisis. Somehow in the end, they survived.

But there were too many chances, would this just be another chance made, or is it the end already. Everything is in chaos while at it. The woman behind the button in the bunker is sweating profusely, waiting for hours for a report or order from the outside. Should they press it or should they not. The key was already switched. But the trigger, that was the only thing left untouched.

It blinked continuously like a sign of “Press Me!” in red. Hallucinations occur of old happy memories. Whether it be with your parents, friends, loved ones or even your partner which may or may not be gone during the last time of crisis.

The ache is persistent. The time is now. Like a game, you don’t give a damn any-more. Civilians are now just numbers, and you are included, in the VIP section.

Click.

You are an idiot. A smart one, that is.

***

Upholstered and ready, with stern faces, the mercenaries and soldiers banded together as they readied their weapons and the gadgets they were left with. Wondering if this was the right choice, they watched as the abysmally ugly figure in-front of them laughed in a disgusting manner as liquid like substances spouted out from its surroundings. The marks, etched in a strange archaic language glowed a slight purple and green, emitted from natural means. The two doctors were hidden, behind a set of doors as they kept quiet and prepared themselves a small hide-out for the others to come in anytime if they wish a breather.

The pylons glowing as the grids were fully projected was guarding the remaining people who managed to get this far deep underground. Unusually large yet collapsed, its a wonder how this beast didn’t die from its own mistakes.

A sea of corpses glided around the floor like it was nothing unnatural. Protruding from it sputtered strange sounds as it acted like funguses, still living even in the harshest of conditions. As the fighters stood, thinking up of a plan. The only one out was the alien. Elder Shimaya, the chief of the remaining species. Holding her sword which she crafted and trained since her learning stage to protect herself, she stood by the gigant.

Speaking in a language unknown to the humans, the beast actually replied back, even in its gruesome form. It had some sort of intelligence remaining. Maybe it always had, but wasn’t known. Until today. The beast laughed as it vomited out strange liquid continuously from its every holes. Like a hive, strange enveloping things were roaming inside it. Tentacles, remains of what used to be humans or even guardians.

As the musky smell started filling up the room. Everyone put on gas masks which was enhanced by the craftsmanship of both a Continuum Soldier and a tinkering guardian. Not only it gave a lovely fresh batch of oxygen and other elements to breath in, but it also protected them from the disease itself, whatever it was. A small little chance of survival, of hope.

“You shall pay for what you did. When you deserved help, this is what you did instead?!” Shimaya shouted angrily as her flaming fox ears and tails glowed amber red as her teeth grew sharper and her eyes, darker in crimson.

“We could have worked together with the humans, we could have created a more special relationship among each other. Just when they were so close to developing their entire world to the current advancements, you had to go and demolish the things they loved. Not only they, what we loved. You destroyed their loved ones, their family, their heritage, their reason of living!”

“All because of an old curse that was put among your own bloodline and variant?!” Curdling in anger, the Elder of The Beasts was curdling in anger as she felt pressed out from the stress she had already occurred. A familiar sight, something that sparked from the eyes and mind of William reminding him of himself.

The beast continued laughing continuously, like playing with its food. It didn’t summon anything, not even a horde, it only stayed idle, daring the group to attack her head-on. It only laugh, laugh and laughed. It didn’t speak a sentence, not in the Lingua Franca of humans, no.

“Humans were the disease that ruined our planet, our country, our existence. Have you forgotten, dear?” The beast finally spoke as it grew intrigued towards the humans Elder Shimaya was protecting and looking up onto.

“The ones who deserted us, made us who we are, treated us like a curse, have you forgotten that?”

“The ones who treated us as witches, warlocks, hunted species, have you forgotten?”

“The ones who didn’t give a damn if we breath or not, how old we were. They attacked, ravaged, ruined us, have you forgotten?”

“The ones who have enslaved us, lied to us and abandoned us, have you forgotten?”

“No.” Shimaya replies as she shook her head with her eyes closed. Opening it again, she looks back at her own species that became a walking embarrassment of today’s behaviour. “I haven’t forgotten.”

“Then why, why have you decided to side with them?” The beast replied angrily as loud synchronised high-pitched screams were let out by the corpses as its blackened filled mouth unleashed and gurgled out.

Holding their ears, the human mercenaries and soldiers endured the ear piercing pain as they continued watching the interactions between the two.

“Why do you care about them? All they cause is war and pain!” The beast laughs once more as the corpses stops screaming and started picking themselves up, with the help of the infection as it controlled their limped limbs and dissolved organs like a sack of a balloon filled with black oil.

“We should relish this opportunity, with this profound strength. This corruption can be controlled and used in our own will. This is the strength our ancestors procured from the pain we suffered. You have it, your children have it, use it! We can have this planet for ourselves and do whatever we want with the remains of this worthless beings and their sub-beings. If they can treated us like cattle, why can’t we?” The being glared as its multiple eyes stared back at the beings that were behind Shimaya, under her guard.

“Why don’t you move aside and think it through!? While at it, I can use your “children” over there to show you my example.” The beast snarled as its eyes went bloodsport and stared towards Shimaya all at once in an instance.

“Fuck you. You’re worthless.” Shimaya swears under her breath as her blade started glowing in a dark red aura. “You are stuck in the past and you shall-...”

“STAY THERE!” As she shouted, she started growling in anger and started growing more tails from her back. It was rather strange to be in honesty, even with all of this lingering madness, she still stood in hope, as if she knew this was all to happen, maybe she was there, maybe she had already had a similar encounter like this. As her blade went degrees hotter than the sun, not even a human was able to hold it without melting off their organs, but for her however, she was like a prism, spreading the flames everywhere yet only out of her.

She was able to control it in her will, is this what the full potential of a guardian can do?

Cocking his gun, William rips his sleeves in synchronised strength as he did away the cloth that blocked his true potential too. His hands glowing, his crystals forms into the weapon as he sees side by side of him, his guardians in an invisible form only visible to him, perhaps an astral projection of sorts, from his own mind. A synchronised wavelength shared among each other. Smiling at him, they then look forward before heading to the side of Shimaya.

Still grinning in madness, Shimaya felt a brush of warmth to her left as she looks towards William who was there for her, with or without the view of her family. Nodding at her, glowing tears fell from her eyes as she then nods back, Looking forward, they stood ready in position as Frontrunners.

Shrugging herself, Sherrinford cracks her neck loose before pulling down her sleeves. Tapping her watch and clicking her tongue, the crystal inside the watch that acted as a sort of time wicker glowed lightly as the feeling of warmth enveloped above her. Griffina floating elegantly at the air, looks at her loving partner and nods to her as they stood ready to support.

Snapping her fingers, Shanina goes silent and dissipates into the darkness, invisible to both infra-red and the naked eye. She keeps Recon of the situation alongside Katherine who had a special permission to use the same powers as Shanina. Their rifles ready, they cocked it in with special ammunition as they shot down the rising corpses one by one.

Bridgette and the Majors made use of Aguas guardian as they shielded themselves in a shield of auric water. True to the name, water can be a medicine that could not only heal but also shield one from improper impact, such as a blank shell. As they distracted the incoming hordes that was rising, they left space for the remaining Reconnaissance and the two hiding Medics to their own things.

Unleashing the wrist-blade emitted off the bracelet given by Sae-Yong, he sliced off the left side of tentacles and strange protruding that emerged from its side while Shimaya danced along and protected his right. Like a duet among a couple, they fought in a strange theatrical behaviour that always ended up synchronised and accurately perfect in predictions.

Left and right was chaos, the sound was random, the shots were random. Everything was destructive. It was muffled with the help of the Ear Comms they wore and protected their eyes and naval cavities from the remains of guts that splattered about as they shot and sliced down anything that came in the way.

Chau-Min and Doctor Augustina never understood violence, but sometimes it was worth it. Though, they were hiding, they weren’t cowards. They were vital points to keep a team healthy and ongoing in a battle that could last days or even weeks. If they go down first, the other s will too, one by one.

Even with the weapons Chau-Min held and a guardian which was actually trained with military combat experts from the Guardian’s Training Base, she didn’t wish to participate. It could just be a laziness of a feline projected variation of this behaviour of a species. As they heard the sound outside with all the random noises which struck the two with emotional pain, they wished for the best for the team as they prepared as much resources using the machines that could produce any number of working resources in the time of need.

“Shimaya, to your left!” William shouts as he notices a strange being covered in bulges crawling out of one of the holes. As it made gurgling noises, it tried to grab onto Shimaya’s back as it was interrupted with a loud gunshot from behind William.

Shin-ae upside down from a pipe, snipes the leg of the abomination with her custom Anti-Material Rifle which causes it to stumble and fall. Shimaya stepping on it with one leg, strikes it with her left hand with nails long and sharp with glows similar to a freshly moulded weapon. Cut into into slits of four, Shimaya grunts and then defends herself with her blade in an arch position before going into Ox-Stance and striking forward with a burst of speed towards the frontal being attacking her.

Decapitating one of the infected that tried to lunge towards him, the others stumbled slowly as he watches Shin-ae thumbing up towards him before disparaging into a mist of clouds. His left crystal glows before forming back into the double-sided gun he was familiar with. “I didn’t see that coming.” William speaks to Shin-ae before shooting up the remaining ones in-front of him. Holes leaving off their front and back, they then collapsed on the ground with a splash and left off a pain of moans before staying motionless. Feeling pity for the controlled people, death was the only reasonable thing to do to end their despair and rest in peace.

General Shriway was using her device like a wand. Spotting whatever she things fitted as a target, she points it towards them and causes the device to spout out a dangerous concentrated beam of energy that crystal produced. Somehow, her guardian didn’t mind being treated this way. She or it, or he was enjoying it somehow. It was said some of the male guardians had inherited abilities to transform themselves to female versions. Maybe it was true for Shriway’s case, considering the pain needing to endure to summon such devastating power considers a lot of resources and commitment.

Not to mention, Shriway’s missing eye that messes with her field of view.

Shanina uses her whip to latch onto one of the main tentacles that was rooted onto the beast. Alerted , the tentacle swerved left and right, trying to pry off the entanglement. However, the strength was abnormal and the slipperiness wasn't able to be whisked off like jelly. “Why!” The beast shouts. “Why are you helping her?! After what they did to your little village back in Sherwut?!”

Speaking directly to the guardian of Shanina, she supposedly knows each and everyone of the guardians like they met before one way or another.

Astrally summoning, Snare comes out from the back of Shanina as she latches her own weapon enhanced and also decorated differently onto the main tentacles tip, causing it to be disabled completely. “Simple, because she wasn’t there in the first place. Nor her family was or brought up there.”

“Ughh!” Angrily attacking, the beast lets off a mist of brownish smoke before spitting out a sharp tendril towards Shanina and Snare.

With little time to dodge, they were suddenly grabbed by the shoulder and pulled back immediately. Sherrinford’s eyes glowed in yellow as she shoots a grenade out of her rifle's underhand launcher onto the face of the beast as they dodged the tendril just in time. Summoned feathers struck onto the tendrils as it was slit off like soya jelly. Oozing off strange brownish liquid, the remains of the first rooted tentacle wiggled like a dead lizard’s tail before melting off into liquid.

“You guys alright?” Sherrinford asked as she pats Shanina’s back and then high fives Griffina’s soft palm with her ]free hand.

“Never better.” Snare chuckles before whipping a tentacle that sprouted from the ground’s liquid. “Alright, move it, we need space.” They said before dissapearing once more.

Sherrinford reloads her underhand launcher with another unscrewed grenade as Griffina protects her by shooting off the infected near her with her sharp feathers that could be plucked off her own wing like it was nothing and thrown like a Frisbee.

Nudging Sherrinford, Bridgette pulls off the pin for her, and then gestures her to aim for one of the holes that was opening up to summon another strange thing.

“Got it.”

As she presses hard on trigger, the grenades arches into the hole and then gets eaten by the innards of the blackened corruption. Thinking it didn’t work, the grenade suddenly exploded after a few seconds and destroyed the hole and whatever that was living in there.

“You fucking bird! How dare you?!” The beast shouts in anger as she grabs her by the neck with an adapted tentacle that got used to lacerations. “Do you know how many of your species got hunted down from so called ‘hunters’?”

Sherrinford feeling synchronised pain, the two resisted the strangle by holding their breath as they waited to be helped out by any keen eyes. Bridgette quickly pulls off the rifle off Sherrinford’s arm and quickly puts in a grenade that she had on her belt. Pinning it off, she shoots another hole which was nearby the adapted tentacle.

Summoned out in a leap, Sae-Yong stabs the tentacle and whistles towards the beast in a joking manner before slicing off the tentacle with her psionic blade. Winking while she landed in a glamorous pose, she was struck with another tentacle but de-summoned in time onto the hands of William who sliced off another rooted tentacle before pressing onto the Bio-Mother’s abdomen and mag dumping it with Shin-ae’s unlimited ammo capacity magazine.

Out of spite, Griffina scratches onto the face of the Bio-Mother as many times as she could before landing and assisting Bridgette by shielding her with her large spanned wing from incoming tendrils. “This beast, shall be slain! You are useless, you are no-one to us. You shall not be cures, you shall be shut!” Griffina shouts angrily, unusual from her soft spoken self. “You have no name any-more.”

Closing her wings, acting it as a coat of clothing, for her thin white-beige blouse, Her eyes glow as her sharp long tongue emerged from her mouth, making a spitting motion, she spits a glowing speck of saliva onto the Bio-Mother, as it then melted off one of her vital points which caused the Bio-Mother immense pain.

Sherrinford’s eyes glowed golden yellow, similar to honey as she reversed the pain William and Major Demonia was feeling from a slight bruise that was made from the saliva that lingered off from the exposed blackened flash.

“Fresh as cold cuts!” Sherrinford excitedly says towards the two who suddenly continued back into their fight after losing the acidic pain from their non-existent bruise.

Major Demonia using as much resources from her family’s line of weapons. She kneels down, protected from the nearby others as she aims her Infra-red Targeting Launcher onto the certain vital points she wished to lock on. Speaking in German to herself, she then presses onto a button which then causes her to shout loudly.

“Cluster Shot Incoming!”

Ducking down, the cluster of explosions splattered left and right off the group as it left wide gaping holes around the strange ligaments. Realising that these black things weren’t connected to the main body of the figure, they realised they could separate the Bio-Mother away from this hive thing.

“General! I think we have to change plans! We can separate the main body from this protruding, which would stop her functions to produce more monsters!” Elder Shimaya calls out to her, as she was continuing a barrage of attacks from the incoming crawling worm-like infected that spouted out in burst from of the gaping holes that was formed.

Aware of the situation, General Shriway thinks quickly before nodding. “Alright troops, do what she says! Separate the main body from the nest! Then we can get her head on.”

“You think I am stupid?!” The Bio-Mother laughs at them. Using her own corrupted form of her ‘magic’ she shields herself and starts screaming at the top of her lungs, which causes the roof of the vents to start crumbling and breaking open. Hordes of infected that were laying dormant in the vents were unleashed onto them as they developed strange mutations over their times in the warm atmosphere in the vents. “Bath in this agony, the outside you know will never be the one you have seen. You will see!”

“Shit, those four. I hope they are alright.” William realises about his mother and sister and his two childhood friends as he was attacking the incoming horde all by himself to help the others concentrate on the Bio-Mother.

Enhanced with shielding from Major Agua, Shimaya fights a huge gruelling sight that was standing a few feet above her. It tried to strike her down, but she was nimble enough to dodge it. However, strange wriggling protruding splattered onto her and caused her body to itch. “Agh! What the heck, is this stuff.” As she burns of the corruption burning her face and clothes off piece by piece, she was left stranded to herself as the others had to take over for her.

Distracted by the explosions hitting its abdomen from Major Demonia, Sherrinford and Bridgette, The gigantic thing started aggressively attacking them by smashing the ground and causing shock-waves every-time it smacks the ground with its huge boulder-like fists.

Shin-ae summons herself once more and plants herself by the side of a wall. Jumping here and there like a squirrel, she takes potshots with her AM Rifle as she quickly reloads bullet by bullet in a very tacticool way. Even-though, there was no reason for it, one suppose the meaning of fun for her applies everywhere even during the time of crisis. With her over-accurate aim, she takes care of those little parasitic worms that spouted off from the giant being as she gave time for the three to make use of their remaining grenades and missiles to finish off the tanky corrupted.

As the giant being fell, a pale and weakened figure floated on it. A girl, a young girl with strange armaments around its body. A guardian, who was once healthy and friendly to others. Treated like this, to the owns Bio-Mother’s selfishness.

“Are you fucking kidding me?!” Bridgette shocked from the sight drops her empty launcher as she upholsters her M4A1 again and reloads its mag. “A fucking kid, this is absurd.” Annoyed, she shoots a couple of rounds onto the strange shielding of the nest which causes it to slowly drop off and break into pieces.

The bio-mother snarls as her exposed body which was slowly being unlatched from the nest comes out, markings on her body everywhere and cuts and cracks around her naked body, a dumb grin was slashed onto her face as she summons more tentacles to envelope onto her to ensure the lower possibility of detachment. “Hahahaa- You like that don’t you. The feeling of being used.”

“Fuck you bitch! You are the one using others.” Bridgette shouts as the others continued fighting off the hordes that were slowly reducing. As the hordes slowly died off, the energy to summon more was already disparaging, has the nest lost energy or are the body-count too low to be able to convert more stable and healthy people into infected.

“My, my, Miss Bridgette is getting mad considering your ancestors enslaved children and women alike.” The Bio-Mother in her apathetic beast-like behaviour calls out to her and explains her ancestors evildoings.

“What, Vikings?! They were like that because they were like that, that has nothing to do about this girl, me or my parents.” She replied back as the others stopped and watched Bridgette shouting at the Bio-Mother as the hordes were done, finished.

“Well, well. Still it is your ancestors Miss, anyway…” The Bio-Mother releases herself from her nest and jumps down from her rotting shell. The markings on her glowing brightly, she walks towards them naked as the liquid on the ground slowly seeped into her skin and formed a strange black leathery clothing onto her.

Cutting a small slit on her palm with her razor-sharp nails, she summons a physical black sword and point towards Shimaya who suddenly dashes towards Bridgette to protect her. Walking slowly towards her, she looks down on them, ignoring the others around her as if they were nothing, just bystanders. Exhausted, the others regain their poise and they watched what is going to happen next.

“Aren’t you persistent, my, my.” The Bio-Mother laughs as her body slowly becomes more developed to her actual corrupted form. Enhanced by her corruption and the strange ancient magic, she stares down at the two face to face as they calculate.

Who strikes first.