Heavy is the hand of action, for once it sets in motion, it tends to crawl to the nearest hill.
Whether it finds itself uphill or downhill…
Has already been decided by fate, hasn't it?
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It was a surreal scene filling in a once empty canvas. The once clean warehouse floors are now dripping with red.
It wasn't simply gore, it was as if they were undone. As if red paint was spilled into unclean laundry.
And in the middle of all this, a seemingly lifeless statue.
No amount of age, erosion, or rot could shake its kneeling position, nothing dared to challenge its eternal prayer.
It was unappreciated art. The response? Being surrounded by mere fools.
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The city of Heckram, well it's more of a city state amongst the others in this godforsaken country.
Being located in the continent that is a festering corpse of what once was an empire, it's surprising that most of the infrastructure was instead improved by the change of hands.
Emphasis on most, anything beyond the mundane be damned.
As the ley lines that make up reality buckle like an earthquake, it was one of the many phenomena that was neglected during the reform.
And why would they care? It was cheaper to simply clean up the aftermath, than fuel that pit of burnt money regulating where the debris went. Buildings can be repaired, people replaced. The few incidents that made it past the world's layer almost never make it intact anyway.
Almost.
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Liquidators. That's what they called the infamous gang that rented the once peaceful warehouse.
What did they do exactly?
They simply acted as a silent porter between the various syndicates that formed amongst the various provinces. However they were not owned by any of the new reigning governments, this being barely achievable by the craftiness of their leader.
Rather they appeared and disappeared as they pleased, hustling their established reputation to clean up the silent ends of high end jobs.
Surplus military supplies, black market goods, or in this particular case… The leftover spoils of a foreign heist. They were akin to the janitors, sweeping dirt from one rug to another.
They already completed their most recent job, done to perfection as always. It was just the liberty of watching over the goods, before vanishing after the officials arrived.
It was simply a done deal, it was time to head to base and plan the next venture. But then chance rained hell onto them…
A crippling headache.
That was what their boss felt, as cameras revealed the absurd scene in the warehouse by North Point street. A monster made of stone stood silently, amongst piles of clothes soaked in a deep red.
If the officials came over on time, this wouldn't have been their issue in the first place.
If the building was destroyed, they could just claim incompetence of the protection array to fend against the now unpredictable tremors of spatial-quake.
If they had re-enabled the camera system earlier, they could've confirmed that it appeared due to the failure of the array anyway…
No. Mariano shifted his gaze, as he stood resolute. This was now simply part of the contract.
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He radiated a dauntless aura, as he sauntered down to the warehouse. His fur-lined coat contrasted with his lackey's surrounding the area. Yet in the end, he wore the same hazard suit as everyone else, merely custom-built to suit his apparel.
Why were they called liquidators? It was simple, as ominous canisters were being dropped off by the truckload.
There was solemn silence as he clicked on his wide visor gasmask alongside his crew. As if it was a well rehearsed ceremony, they started releasing death into the very air.
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Death clinged to the walls of the warehouse, as it permeated into the air, before naturally settling onto the floor.
As the garage door slowly rumbled open, the horrid vapors quickly spilled outside. The various weeds surviving in the old cracks in the pavement immediately wilted by its dissipating presence.
As Mariano entered, the poisonous fog thickened tenfold, as its chalky green color became muddled with a smokey tint.
His goons were quick to follow his lead, outpacing him as they spread out to inspect the cargo.
He fixed his eyes, as a fleet footed lackey approached the stained mounds of their casualties.
In a single moment, there was a rush of movement, as the gas violently swirled. There was only a bitter thunk, as a hand shot through the poor man's chest, cleanly rupturing his hazard suit.
Then the fellow unraveled into a mist of red, as the gray hand retracted.
The foreign creature simply stood there, momentarily lifeless, as screaming and gunshots blew through the mist. Yet it paid no mind, merely roaming back to its original spot.
Just as if nothing occurred, once again it resumed an eternal prayer.
-
"Neutralize the gas" Mariano ordered, his voice reverberating into the intercoms.
Worker's quickly rebounded from panic, as their own prayers quelled. Quickly the mist was dispelled, vanishing as if it was never present.
In what seemed to be a bout of recklessness, Mariano trudged up to the lifeless outsider. Yet his thoughts were confirmed as he stopped short of the circle of death.
He felt helplessness, as he stood there, lazily holding a ominous bastard sword whilst recocking his sawn off shotgun. Though he was prepared to fight for his life, he didn't dare move further and truly catch the creature's ire.
It was just too fast.
He just couldn't get his mind around what it was, as he looked at the culprit to all this.
It seemed like a petrified corpse, as its stone-like skin was mangled and fused with what seemed to be former clothing. Perhaps it was a golem of sorts?
No that it wasn't the biggest issue, as his eyes fixated at the boundary marking its territory. The only conclusion was that there was some kind of ward, as spent bullets lay shy of the deadman's clothing piles.
The entire area was clearly compromised, yet he just couldn't relent.
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A bright white chalk marked the circle that contained the gray humanoid. A fully armed team of goons walked up shy to the plate, each person feeling dread.
The normal answer to this situation was overwhelming firepower. Usually explosives do the trick, or perhaps incendiary gas of sorts, a usual scheme of this particular gang.
But they couldn't risk destroying the cargo, their lives and lively-hood depended on it.
It felt like russian roulette, as each person slowly inched towards the line. Someone was going to be torn to bits, given its unnatural speed.
The only solution was to kill it before it killed them.
"Release the combat stims" Mariano apathetically ordered, signifying the start of the operation.
As pink gas blew in, it seemed to resonate with Mariano's imposing aura, amplifying the mist into a strong deep haze of purple.
The group of unmasked mandated volunteers felt their internal rage rise, as they barely held consciousness.
As per usual, the men by Mariano trained their iron sights, ready for the worst possible situation.
Yet as the mist blew into the creature, it immediately stirred. The terrifying being started shuddering, collapsing onto the floor from what seemed like shock.
"Hold." Mariano perked up from his leaning position, intrigued.
The thing sputtered into a coughing fit, holding its neck as if it was being suffocated. The bastard actually breathed.
Mariano could only be taken aback by this revelation. It was an absolute insult for a living thing to be immune to neurotoxins, to only start trembling to combat stims. Yet the implications of this started to dawn on him.
He could see the garish bastard eye him up, his pupils now seemingly brimming with life.
"Neutralize the…!" Mariano hastily shouted.
Yet it was too late, as the stone man jolted forth, exuding enough power to shatter the floor beneath it. Mariano's consciousness immediately shattered, as his ribcage crumpled from the violent tackle.
Instead of being shredded into a bloody mist however, his body instead became a lifeless husk.
The entire room was lit up with haphazard gunfire, yet it was to no avail. As the bullets merely shattered the stone layer covering the creature.
it simply kept rushing forward.
It punched a hole through one body guard, then it immediately backed off. In one motion, it shattered a wall, as debris flew into the air.
Yet it wasn't trying to escape, as it merely grabbed a gas canister. Then in one unexpected turn, it sunk its teeth right into the metal casing, desperately indulging its fill.
The stimulants in the air unexpectedly started amplifying even further, turning into a vibrant lavender, as those exposed to such overbearing effects started giving up to their unconscious madness.
Quickly panicked gunfire turned to the once heroic vanguard, as they started raging towards the nearest living thing. It was utter unadulterated chaos, as their own fellows tried to rip the other to shreds. A barrage of gunfire kept the beastial driven operatives at bay, as they quickly tried to regroup at the corners of the warehouse.
Yet for every moment they spent regaining control of the situation, another wall in the warehouse was smashed in. Eventually, the entire place came down crashing, as there wasn't enough left to support the roof that was held above everyone's head.
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