It was weird, the moment Zhao Wei exited the cocoon, the moment he could feel air touch his skin, he expected to feel healed and energetic as usual. This was different, it was like a surge of power swirling inside him, flaring up from the center of his abdomen and flowing through every inch of his body. The world had changed in his eyes, the flow of air becoming so thick as he ran his fingers through it cutting in almost as if he was pushing it through water, the flow of the world itself in his very palms.
The feeling however, ended almost as instantly as it had come. All that power, drained and flushed from his body as if it was never there to begin with. Maybe it was for the best, being the ephemeral cruelty that it was, a game for God to play. Like showing a man who is dying of starvation a fat piece of meat. A succulent, glistening, unbearable existence to him, giving him just a taste of it's temptation, not so much, just a single drop of it's juices, enough to drive him mad. And as soon as he understood it's beauty, a twist of mischief pulls it away.
By this point he hadn't even figured out what had happened while he was inside, only awaking to such frantic changes. As he wanted to make his first step, his legs failed him and he began to tumble forward, realizing he had nothing in his body, his eyes becoming blurry and darkening once more. Before he hit the ground however, he landed on something fluffy, covering a huge muscular build. The scent was one he was familiar with, question was, why was she here? and who was with her? But it was not a question his consciousness could support him long enough to find however as he blacked out.
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It's funny how in any world, humans could rise up to the top at all. As a species, they are the least equipped for any form of survival. Be it beasts, plants or even nature itself, the world was a hazard to such a being. Even in birth where other creatures had already begun to strengthen themselves, this kind finds itself incapable of doing anything, leaving their lives in the protection of their previous generation, who even by then were not much less vulnerable to the changes of the world.
Though he had exhibited a frightening atmosphere for a moment, enough to send the fear of God into every single living creature here, the man was still like babe. Even as he exited the womb where he was reborn and given power that would potentially suppress every single thing around him, he was still floundering in his own existence.
As they watched him fall, every ape wondered what they were supposed to do. They had been waiting for a fearsome match, and for a moment their fighting spirit's had been washed away by fear from just feeling his strength. And in the next, he had fallen. This happened way too differently from that of their leader, was this ape too weak and died in the process?
But before they could think anything, the man was caught by the oddest combination of beasts, a wolf, a naga and a rabbit. None of which had asked themselves what exactly were they planning on doing until they had already jumped into the center of an army of very conveniently confused primates.
At this point both sides looked at each other, utterly unable to formulate a single thought. Until one young ape did what he would do when he was unable to think of anything the past few months, go for a fight. With a screech he decided to lunge forward, inciting the roars of so many others as they surged forward like a tide of black furs, claws and teeth.
"Myra get us out of here, now!" Thirteen shouted in panic. The wolf in question had already begun to absorb the whole group into her shadow. And yet, against the speed of these primates, it was less than quick enough as one had barreled straight into Myra, cancelling the absorption and knocking Zhao Wei to the ground.
The rest of them found themselves falling to the ground with a wall of feral fury blocking their vision, ready to rip them to shreds.
Hou! a single shout echoed through them. And it was quite literally through them as they felt the sound pass through their bodies like a medium and continue on to every ape there.
An just like that every single primate fell back, docile and subservient to whoever had given the command. Before the eyes of Thirteen and Panda the sea of monkeys began to split apart, ushering in a giant of a gorilla who shuffled his way in.
Each step brought down a pressure they had never felt before as it's weight created crate like footsteps into the ground beneath it. Of all of them, Thirteen felt her blood turn cold as she faced the on who had kidnapped Zhao Wei in the first place.
She remembered how the person she was trying desperately just to catch up was taken out in a single exchange, and then she put herself in those shoes and calculated her chances at facing this beast. The result was none.
With the distance it covered with every step, it took less than 10 to reach from where it was to where they were. There was no chance for them if they fought here, every one of them knew that, but even then their muscles tensed in preparation for one.
The big beast gingerly brought it's hand up to it's back and brought it back down, landing the gigantic palm in front of them, a small tremor coming from the collision made them jump a little in their place.
The first to change was Panda, even before the palm landed her nose had quirked and she had begun to dash forward. As it opened, she had already jumped high above the muscled fingers and right into the center.
A small monkey with jade green eyes smiled as he saw an old acquaintance rushing to meet him. The smile might've stayed as well, if not for his face meeting the full force of Panda's kick. For the first time in a while, Gowan actually felt a kick which reverberated through his body, sending him flying to the ground in a straight line. Every ape watched as their great leader met his first defeat at the hands of a rabbit.
Gowan dug himself out of the rubble with great difficulty as he sent a few curses Panda's way. "Hou hou hou!?"
"Chi chi." Panda replied as she pretentiously brushed non-existent dust of her shoulders.
Looking around, there was a trace of expectancy in Panda's eyes as she scanned the apes. "Chi chi chi?" She asked.
"Hou..." Gowan couldn't bring himself to reply, the weight of the answer ever so heavy to him. Not just him, the giant ape as well gave off a childish look despite it's size. In the whole crowd, there were a few who hung their heads in remorse, many of which came from the original colony.
Gowan held the giant apes arm and commanded something to him before turning around and asking them all to follow. From start to end Thirteen was in the dark on what was going on as the giant thing shifted forward towards them, for a moment, her hand had tightened around her dagger, ready to lunge forward at a moments notice.
It reached it's hand out towards Zhao Wei and Myra and picked them up, bringing them to it's back before turning around. Gowan simply did the same and gestured for Panda and Thirteen to follow.