( Jason )
Thinking of a name for my new race was far more goddamn difficult than I thought. The Evolved is perfect but so unoriginal, so I scrapped it. I racked through my dusty brain for anything involving mythology and around that department. Instead, all I came up with was a hot steaming pile of bupkis.
For a brief instant, I came up with Metamorphs and Metas. However, after saying it over and over to myself, I realized it wasn't the one. Didn't really have that extra oomph. No pop or jazzy snazzy to it. As I laid against my comfortable and therapeutic Tumor, it suddenly struck me like the famous Truck-Kun.
The Chosen! Yes, I am shamelessly stealing from someone else, but I can't be bothered anymore. It just rolls off the tongue so nicely. Though, it's not like I'm some sort of disgusting monster! When I take them over so graciously, I'll bless them with a new name. Or, I could keep it and transform them into true Chosen. That could definitely work for my later designs.
Moving on from this annoying topic, I wanted to continue going over the things I found out about after my rebirth. First up is creation. Building and developing my own weapons has become far easier than previously. And the reason I'm talking about that is because the one I want to get done as fast as possible, are wings.
Gliding through the air would be a massive advantage on all fronts, with no downsides I can see as of now. Besides, how cool would that be? But I'll leave it until later, as I still have to design the look.
The second one is a major problem. Through the use of transferring memories, the previous virus has let me know of an extremely dangerous enemy. One which had defeated them before. The Alliance. Actual, bona-fide, fucking aliens. I can't believe those conspiracy theorists were right. Zombies I can believe in. Mutated spiders and giant Cthulhu-like octopuses I can believe in. But aliens?
Well, perhaps I should be more open minded about certain topics. Maybe Gods and divine beings are real too. Now that I'm thinking about it though, what if some drunk aliens visited Theia one time to build the pyramids? Just to fuck with the future us for shits and giggles.
Regardless, I can't underestimate them. An advanced civilization like them, which has been around for thousands of years or even longer, is more than likely unbelievably powerful. And based on the memories of previous battles, they'd roll over us like we were nothing. Especially those Extermination Fleets. Some real Star Wars shit.
The final thing I want to go over is about my virus. In an area surrounding me, about a good fifty or so meters, I constantly radiate the virus from my body. The difference however is that this version is supercharged, able to turn anyone healthy instantly. Luckily, I can turn it off whenever I please.
However, this gave a good idea for a new weapon. A bomb, filled with my supercharged virus and given to a double agent, a Mimic. He/she/them/furry/apache helicopter brings my bomb inside the human camp and detonates it, infecting anyone in the immediate area. From there, the wind would pick it up and spread the virus even further. Unfortunately, this supercharged version would eventually evaporate unless I am nearby. A shame, but oh well.
"Are you ready to go?" Lily said as she walked up to me, surprising me with her presence. She had cleaned up completely, not a spot on her except for some stained clothes.
In fact, as I took a closer look, she seemed different somehow. Putting it into words is a tad hard, but her entire form seems less human almost. Looking over to the little sister and Trixie, they seemed to be the same. Strange. Luckily, it didn't diminish their beauty in my eyes, so it all worked out in the end. As for Athena and Asura? Well, they always looked like monsters.
Anyway, the others were behind her and waiting for my call. I got up off my incredibly amazing Tumor and patted it on the 'head' for staying with me for so long.
"Yeah, let's get out of here. We'll head for the Docks first and-" I paused. What did I want to do with them? Go back to normal and join up like good friends? Or do I want something else?
"And? What's the matter?" Alice asked, hugging my thigh and looking up at me concerned. Smiling, I bent down and gave her a kiss on the forehead.
"Nothing. Everything's perfect. When we get there, stay behind me and pay attention. Let's go." Saying that and leaving them confused, we walked back the way we all came.
Because Athena was larger than the hallway, she instead had to crawl on all fours. If anything, she seemed more comfortable doing that. Like it was more natural. Made her look like a true Hunter.
As for Trixie, she seemed to be closer to me, looking up at me with eyes full of stars and worship. Though, I don't really think she'll join the parade with me and the sisters. She might be my perfect worker bee, but that's all. However, who really knows? Life is mysterious and ever-changing, so maybe I'll swap my viewpoint later on.
After a few minutes of walking, we eventually caught up to Asura who was waiting by the elevator shaft. A bored expression on all three faces, before they lit up in excitement upon seeing me.
"Master. Are we leaving?" He came up and bowed deeply, reverence in his tone. Satisfied with his boot licking, I chuckled as I replied.
"Yup. We'll be heading back to the Docks for some… reforming. As for this place, I'll leave some infected as guards and pick out a leader for them. I want to use this facility as a lab for my experiments."
Off to the side, I noticed Alice's face turn pale. Seeing this, Lily chuckled and teased her sister. Something about… ghosts? Oh, that's right, Doopyland and the haunted house. Seems I'll have to get some power in this place and turn on the lights.
Of course, I'm not a fucking electrician or whatever, so that's a problem for someone else who I'll dump the job on. Grabbing onto Trixie, I carried her happy self with me as we climbed up the shaft. Climbing up was a slow and boring process, but at least it gave me plenty of time to strategize on my new wings.
As I built them inside my back by transforming my cells and forcing them into their correct places, I started giving it a badass look. The inside, like branches of a tree, would be completely red. They would glow brightly and pulse every two seconds. If that wasn't badass enough, they also very slowly bleed. It's purely cosmetic, but damned if it doesn't look awesome!
As for the outside, it would of course be pitch black. Have to keep up the theme after all. If anything, my new demonicish wings would be sort of like a bat's. Stretched so to speak. I've also seen fit to litter designs across the surface, like something out of a fairy tale or myth. They don't mean anything, but they look extremely cool!
Now the edges are a little different. See, I want these things to be actual weapons as well. So, going along with that thought, I've sharpened the ends of the wings and transformed them to become razor fucking sharp. They can also extend from my body at will, surprising my opponent when they come out of nowhere.
When I finally finished making them and we were halfway to the top, they suddenly erupted from my back, surprising everyone. Trixie, who was on my shoulders nearly fell off. Luckily, she wrapped her hands and legs around my neck before she could so.
"Jason? What the fuck?" Lily said, clearly shocked at my new amazing and awesome wings.
Not answering her, I took a look for myself and instantly fell in love. Geez, I do good work don't I? Only after patting myself on the back several more times did I finally give them a whirl. Flapping my wings, a powerful wind was swept up, causing most of the others to almost fall off. Well, except for Athena who didn't even looked bothered.
I took off immediately, zooming faster than the Flash himself through this awful shaft. Truly, there is no better feeling that flying though the air. Something about it is just so freeing! Like life has meaning again!
However, this flyer's high was cut short when I began thinking about a serious topic.
"I wonder if I should give myself a tail too? Might as well complete the whole Demon look I got going on. Horns? Maybe..." I muttered to myself, confusing the happy Trixie who was on my shoulders.
The more I thought about it, the more the idea really connected to me. But I'd save such a project for the future me. For now, I want to get used to my new wings before haphazardly throwing new limbs on. However, based on how quickly I got used to my wings, I might be overthinking things.
When I reached the top and dropped off a now disappointed Trixie, I went down to pick up the rest. The sisters loved the feeling of flying as well and made an offhand comment about wanting one too, not actually expecting anything. It seems they don't know the true potential within themselves. I'll have to remind them later. My evolution wasn't only about me after all.
As for Asura, he of course buttered me up nicely. Saying how incredible I was for making them in such a short period of time. Gosh, he really knows how to make a man smile. And Athena? Well, when I was going back down to pick up Asura, she sped past me by climbing the walls.
By the Gods above and below, the torturer was incredibly fast. She wasn't as quick as me with my wings, but was damn near close. Now that I'm thinking about it, how strong is this woman? I know she's definitely packing, just by the dangerous aura rolling off her, but I don't have a real estimate.
Though, one thing I know for sure, is that she's stronger than me. If I fought her previously, she might have killed me damn near instantly. At least now I can live a few minutes longer. I guess Alphas have their own levels. Scarface must have been the weakest or one of the weakest. Which is not… very comforting when considering how much I struggled.
After gathering all my forces, we departed from the Orion facility and made our way to my apartments. Then, we'd head for the Docks. By now, the storm had pretty much cleared off, with only a light drizzle still around. I hope they haven't been destroyed yet. They're precious research materials!
As we walked and talked with one another, I looked towards my Alice.
"I've been meaning to ask this for a bit now, but what's with the choker?" She immediately turned bright red like a tomato, a bit embarrassed by the looks of it.
Suddenly, she shifted her whole vibe and tried to come off as seductive as possible.
"D-Do you like it~? M-Master~?" It would have worked wonders if she didn't stammer over her words, pose awkwardly, and look to her sister for help.
With a chuckle, I knelt down to bring her into my embrace.
"Of cour-" I paused mid sentence, looking in a certain direction. This... awful feeling. It's similar to when I had my vision.
"Jason? What's wrong?" Alice gazed up at me with her confused emerald eyes, Lily coming up and asking me the same.
My tone was harsher than I wanted as I replied, but I could barely contain the murderous rage bubbling inside my heart.
"A bastard has finally woken up from his nap."
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Thousands of miles away in the middle of Chiina, the ruined city of Hong King Kong could be seen. The nuke which had been dropped weeks ago had flattened a majority of the city, turning it into hell. Rubble and debris were everywhere, along with the hordes of infected that fought and consumed one another.
Because of this, many strong and powerful creatures were born here. They would constantly compete with each other, to prove who was the strongest.
Meanwhile, underneath of the city and hidden away from all, was a small 'cave' buried under three different knocked over skyscrapers. Inside, one would be able to see the large 28ft black and red cocoon.
It would constantly pulse like a heartbeat at a constant pace, never changing. Deep within at the center, a mysterious armored figure was floating in yellow liquid, fast asleep. Suddenly, his body shook and the eyes that seemed to stay shut forever, finally opened.
The pulsing sped up out of nowhere as the figure thrashed in the liquid in an almost angry manner. He punched and beat the wall of the cocoon, trying his hardest to break out. However, it was not as easy and refused to be destroyed.
But he was unyielding and never paused for a second. Out of the blue and relying on pure instinct, his hands shifted and transformed into something new. These strange weapons of his were more like hammers, perfect for smashing the wall to pieces, which is exactly what happened.
At the same time, both of his Hammer Fists smashed into and broke the cocoon. His body was washed away by the yellow liquid, eventually landing on the ground roughly. He looked around, confusion within him before growling like a monster. His head snapped from side to side, his posture defensive.
However, he never found the predator that threatened him previously. Not wanting to stay here any longer, his gaze turned upwards. The muscles in his legs tightened as he crouched down. Suddenly, he jumped up as fast as possible and reached the ceiling nearly instantly.
Both of his Hammer Fists had transformed into claws perfect for digging. While latching himself into the ceiling, he started using his new claws to tear through the rubble. Soon enough, a hole just wide enough for his body was created.
With unrelenting determination, he never stopped or quit his digging activities. After a few minutes of this, he had finally broke through the surface with one claw sticking out of the ground. Grunting, he pulled himself out of the ground and finally saw a hint of sunlight for the first time since-
Nothing. He tried to remember something, anything, but it was all a blank. As if he was freshly born. However, such a thing didn't bother him. Why should he care about memories he doesn't have?
Instead, as he looked around the apocalyptic and trashed city, an excited feeling swelling up within his heart. Raising his head towards the sky, he opened his dangerous and shark-like mouth, letting loose a roar so loud and powerful it spread to every corner of the city.
As that happened, every single infected within Hong King Kong felt suppressed, even the weaker Alphas. With the exception of the stronger ones, they all shivered in fear. All at once, they turned towards the origin of the roar, knowing that a new King had arrived.
Suddenly, the figure stopped and closed his mouth. Within his vision, he saw a strange object flying through the clouds towards the city. It didn't seem to be a biological creature and instead a mechanical one. The strange thing, was the smoke and fire trailing behind it.
With interest he followed after it on all fours as it zoomed across the sky at a speed far faster than his own. Luckily, they were 'landing' not too far away.
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"Working hard I see." The female Hatitia said to the bored male Lorkin. Hearing her, he stood up from his seat and approached her.
"Didn't I tell you last time? No unauthorized personnel are allowed here. You'll need to leave." His tone was deadly serious, no room for negotiation. The other twenty guards noticed this and focused on her.
Currently, they were in a large room with a massive window showing the nearby Theia. From here, one had the greatest view of the shield surrounding the planet. In the middle of the room, hovering in mid-air, was a 3 meter tall circle of blue energy, shaped like a donut.
The circle was spinning extremely quickly, a loud humming sound coming from it. In the center was a small white dot that shot out a thin beam from the ship itself and was connected to the shield. This was the energy source and control station for the Planetary Shield. Beneath the blue circle was a console used for controlling the shield.
The female Hatitia, dressed in her seductive clothing, acted coquettishly as she neared him. Her insect face turned sad all of a sudden as she placed a few hands on his muscular chest.
"Please, I'm just so lonely. Won't you stay with me? Provide me warmth in my time of need?" A disgusted look was on the Lorkin's face as he grabbed a hold of her, preparing to toss her out physically.
"That's enough! Now leave-" Suddenly, a loud plasma shot rang out. The Lorkin was shocked as pain erupted out of nowhere and looked down, seeing a massive hole in his stomach.
"Then die, you blind bastard. Can't recognize beauty even if it shot you in the stomach." The Hatitia's venomous voice sounded out as she fired another shot from the Plasma Bolt in her hand, blasting his head open before he could even move. At the same time, she reached into her pocket and threw out a small mechanical ball.
However, upon seeing it, the other guards were frightened and screamed out in pure fear.
"Run away!" But they were too late. While in mid-air, the strange ball suddenly detonated. A large web of red energy exploded out and spread through the entire room.
Every living being it touched glowed with the same color. Their bones and organs could be seen for a moment, before they all vanished into nothingness with an echoing wail. The only thing they left behind were a pile of ashes. As for the criminal herself, the red energy had bounced off her Personal Shield. It broke and fell out of her clothes to the ground as she heaved a sigh of relief.
This was the Vanishing Bomb, an illegal weapon which completely vaporizes every living being in a hundred meter radius. The only way to survive it is to be wearing an extremely strong shield. But the energy from the bomb will ruin it for good, with no hope of repair. The guards also had shields on them, but they were common ones and unable to handle the power.
Looking at the dead body of the Lorkin guard she shot, she spit on his corpse and smirked as it began to melt slightly from the acid in her saliva.
"Serves you right, worthless trash." Kicking the body, she quickly ran over to the console and brought up a screen.
After messing with it for a few minutes, she set the shield to automatically open up a portion for their ship to pass through. She also set a secret timer hidden deep inside the system to open a different side of the shield after 48 hours.
Done with her preparations, she immediately ran for the door. She only had twenty minutes before the shield would open, so she had to get to their ship quickly. But she didn't leave right away and instead brought out a strange grey device from her pocket. Placing it in the middle of the doorway, she pressed a button on the side and left.
Within a few seconds, a white substance exploded out from the grey device and engulfed the doorway and beyond. It was very soft looking, similar to a pillow as it spread to a portion of the hallway. Suddenly, it stopped it's expansion and began to harden, becoming as tough as metal and blocking any access to the control console for the time being.
After fifteen minutes, inside the Command Center of Jara's ship, a Xalo'ir talked into the Echo-Device on his wrist.
"Come in Kaiir, do you read me?" He waited a few seconds, but didn't receive a response. Concerned, he turned around and interrupted Jara who was watching the screens in front for him with an interested face.
Instead of showing the situation on the ground, it was one of his favorite shows starring a famous celebrity name Pocaara. She was a gorgeous female Lorkin and played her part beautifully like the talented actress she was. That was the only reason he kept watching every show and movie she starred in. He swore on the one God he believed in this was the case.
"Excuse me? Captain?" An annoyed look was on Jara's face as he paused Cyberpunk City and turned to the ball of pink fur.
"This had better be important, or I'll take it out of your ass."
"I can't reach Kaiir on the Echo-Device." Hearing that, Jara became solemn and waved his hand, causing the screen in front of him to close.
He raised his Echo-Device and spoke into it, trying to reach the Planetary Shield Ship.
"Kaiir, this is Captain Jara'Xeroia, respond." Silence was all he received. Only after trying a few more times did he issue his orders.
"Something's wrong. Get my personal squad to the boarding craft immediately! And you! Establish a line with Lord Gair'lin and redirect it to my Echo-Device as soon as you have him! Contact the other guards on the ship to head to the Control Station without delay!"
With that, he stood up and immediately left the room. It didn't take him long to reach the boarding craft and leave with his own squad of sixty soldiers. These were soldiers he had been with for many years and trusted them with his life.
As Jara and the boarding party were approaching their destination to find out what was happening, one of the Scientific Vessels was moving towards the Planetary Shield extremely quickly. In the pilots seat, with a deranged expression and madness in his eyes, was the rogue Lorkin scientist who initially proposed to go down to the surface to Jara.
"Finally! Everything is ready! I even sacrificed my Mark IV Ion Shield for this! The next time I come back up, I'll be hailed as a genius far beyond that fucking bitch!" His inferiority complex fueled his rage as he boosted the speed upon seeing the opening created.
Meanwhile, as the Scientific Vessel went past the shield and into the planet, Jara who was about to reach the Planetary Shield Ship saw the scene and widened his eyes.
"What the fuck!" He screamed out with rage as his Echo-Device pinged and voice arrived.
"Sir! The Planetary Shield has opened and the virus is rushing out!"
"I can see that you dumb fuck! Pilot! Speed us up and bring us into the hanger immediately!" Once again the voice spoke up, a little more timid after being yelled at.
"Should we fire on them? We have a lock and can bring them down."
"Yes! Open fire!" From Jara's ship, two of the main guns turned and locked onto the Scientific Vessel. Multiple blue and small lasers shot out from their cannons, swiftly reaching their target and destroying the shield, knocking out their engines as well.
However, they could not fire again or they'd risk hitting the Planetary Shield. As for the Scientific Vessel, the engines were blown to hell as it left a smoky trail in the sky. The Lorkin scientist piloting the ship was trying his best to control it.
"Imbeciles! Set a landing point for us! It's going to be rough!"
Meanwhile, down on the ground and eating out of tin can on a rooftop, an American 'man' with a goofy hairstyle and a purse laying next to him was reading his favorite book. Chariot of the Gods. It was his 72,367th reread and it never got any worse. In fact, it only got better.
Originally, he had come to Japan for his nonsense T.V show which was devoid of any logic or reasoning, two words he hated more than anything. It was a shame the apocalypse started, but it was clearly a test by their alien overlords / 'Gods' to see if they were worthy. Soon enough, they would beam the information about how to beat this virus into the head of their chosen human 'genius'.
Suddenly, he heard the sound of explosions mixed in with a humming noise. Looking up, his eyes widened seeing the burning alien ship zooming across the skies. He was dumbfounded and in a daze as he followed it to the horizon, where it soon disappeared. It was only two minutes later when he collected himself and exclaimed loudly.
"I knew they were real! Take that you asshole bullies for calling me a fucking moron for thinking aliens were real! That they built the pyramids and are the reason for humans being at their current stage of development! Hahahaha!" He laughed madly, completely unaware of his actions as several infected rushed into the building he was on.
When the door to the roof banged loudly, the strange and goofy looking man shut his mouth and stumbled back. Unfortunately, he didn't watch his step correctly and accidently fell. His screams resounded in the streets before abruptly stopping when he crashed onto the hard asphalt. His head was split open and his brain juices flowed out of his skull.
Back to the rogue scientists, they had crashed in Hong King Kong successfully, with little to no injuries. The Lorkin scientist shook his head and stepped out of the pilots seat.
"Alright, we don't have much time. Let's get suited up and get out there. We'll find a specimen, bring it back here, then fix up our ship. Let's go!" They did as he said, gearing up in their Vaar issued suits and gas masks. Not only that, they also equipped themselves with some stolen weapons.
Some of them gulped nervously as the door to the outside started to open with a bit of a struggle. Now that they were actually here, more than a few had second thoughts. But the allure of fame and riches cooled their minds.
The door finally opened halfway before stopping, but was plenty for them to leave. Stepping onto a foreign world for the first time excited them. They felt like the very first Explorers of The Alliance, who were ones who discovered new worlds to be inhabited. Though, one thing they forgot in their excitement, was the mortality rate of the Explorers due to one specific reason.
"W-What is that?" An ant-like Hatitia said, pointing ahead of them. There, a giant lightly armored creature stood before them, his head tilted to the side. He looked at them curiously, not at all like a normal infected.
His body was larger than them all, standing at an imposing 24ft tall. There were three slightly curved horns on it's head, looking sharp and vicious as the tips glowed lightly. He had two arms and legs, similar to a human.
The monster in front of them growled lightly and got on all fours, circling them as he sniffed. But unlike the others who were afraid, the Lorkin scientist was happy as he powered up his weapon.
"A perfect specimen and subject. Aim your guns at him and fire!" They immediately followed his order, as if they couldn't do so fast enough.
Multiple colors of plasma exited their guns, blasting the creature in multiple parts of their body. His armor was cracked, but otherwise fine. A pained look was on his face as he roared at them.
Every single scientist grabbed their heads, screaming in pain as their eyes and ears bled. They were so dazed, they couldn't see the creature rushing at them with his claws at. Within a few seconds, all of them were torn to pieces without effort, their alien organs thrown all about the ground.
Smelling the blood suddenly made the creature hungry. He got down closer to the corpses and took a cautious lick. Instantly, a massive blast of flavor erupted on his tongue, making him dazed for a second. But he soon woke up and got to feasting.
When he finished the first one, a set of memories appeared in his mind. Curious and interested, he gobbled up the rest within no time at all. Done with his meal, the creature closed his eyes and sifted through the memories of a dozen lifeforms. Suddenly, they opened and he peered up. It was as if he could see past the clouds and the atmosphere itself.
"The... Alliance?"