Emotions, why do I still have them really, if all they tie me to is pain? Memories: Why do I have them if all they remind me of is pain? I promised her that I would carry her smile wherever I went, but it seems I also carry the guilt and pain along with that smile. Maybe, just maybe, one day I will carry pride and joy with that smile, but only when I have avenged you, only when I have given you- or maybe myself- peace.
In this world consumed by gluttony, shadowed by envy, driven by greed, and bound by deception.
I shall carry your smile
I shall avenge you.
And I shall give justice to those who wronged you...and me.
I shall carry your name....For I am Dolly .B. Dolffie.
***
*Intruder*
Echoing the words of the man even legends cannot bury; "To survive the Devil, we first must survive each other."
***
Whoosh!
The wind ruffled his hair softly as he stood at the ship's edge.
"Doll!"
He swiftly turned and his face broke into a wide mischievous grin at the sight of Mind, one of his loyal companions.
Mind reciprocated with a wider grin of his own.
They had finally made it, arrived, and reached their final destination-
Neptune's Domain...
***
Beep! Beep!
The siren echoed loudly as men rushed to grab their uniforms and weapons. A boy looked around in confusion. Were they under attack? Why was it happening all of a sudden? What was going on? He pondered aimlessly.
He tried to find out what the hell was going on and how big the threat was.
"Uhm..excuse me! My name is Isay and I'm the new..."
"Out of the way, kid!" The man rudely and forcefully shoved Isay out of the way and ran past him without looking back. Isay fell to the ground, but no one was paying attention or even listening, they were busy preparing their weapons and uniforms, was the enemy really that dangerous?
Fear slowly tugged at the strings of his heart as he broke into a cold sweat. It was his first time as a Dome, he wasn't ready for this, he was just a trainee and only 15 years old. A few moments ago they were just showing him around and now they were all in a frenzy.
The enemy, how powerful were they?
"Hey, how long are you going to stay there?" a voice asked calmly.
He quickly turned around to see a blonde-haired boy with piercing green eyes and rosy, pale skin, about his age, standing in full Dome uniform and carrying an actual Dome weapon, wasn't he also a trainee? Why was he in full combat uniform and equipment?
"'Quit staring. The leaders said that every single one of us is needed...even the trainees, so get your uniform and get ready." He said calmly, seemingly unbothered by the chaos around them.
"W-what..." he tried to ask.
"I don't know, we're all just like you, no one knows what's going on, the leaders haven't told us anything about the threat we're supposed to be preparing for, so quit staring and get ready, we'll meet at the centre of the dome in 30 minutes." He said before walking away.
In thirty minutes they were standing in the centre, all 300 Domes, ready for battle in full Dome uniform and equipment, well most of them. The uniform was a tight fitting jet black jumpsuit with two thin white lines running down the sides, paired with a state of the art radiation mask that sat at the neck of each Dome as they stood in a solid line formation.
"We have a massive threat approaching from the north of Doppio Island." Was all they were told by the leaders. Isay couldn't keep the panic and fear of the unknown enemy from consuming him; how powerful was this person or thing that required so many fully equipped and uniformed Domes to go into action? The questions raced through his mind. Was it just a drill? If so, why did the leaders have to get involved personally? Nothing made sense and he hated it when things didn't make sense, what the hell was going on?
"Hey, can you be quiet?" The boy from earlier snapped him back to reality as the Overlap slowly opened.
"Your breathing is too heavy and noisy." He said with a blank expression. Wasn't he afraid of what was going on, after all he was also a trainee.
"S-sorry" He felt a little embarrassed.
He looked up at the calm boy's expression as the overlap fully opened and they were taken to their destination. He wasn't ready, no one was. There were 200 fully trained Domes and only 100 trainees, also mostly teenagers. If they were facing an unknown threat, wouldn't their chances of survival decrease, especially considering the number of trainees? Nothing made sense.
When he opened his eyes, they were no longer standing in the advanced base of the dome, but on the shore of the beautiful beach of Doppio Island, a few hundred metres from a small village. The beach was connected to the beautiful, vast Lord Sea, one of the largest seas in all of Neptune's domain. It was magnificent, beautiful and vast, known for supporting the trade of goods throughout the domain, and connected to the main home of the largest fishing cop in all the domains. And most importantly, it belonged to him. What enemy would be foolish enough to attack this island of all places?
"Stand on guard, strong and ready to fire weapons!" the leading general, a tall, slender man with dark hair and eyes, ordered. The domes in the front lines quickly turned towards the sea, just as a large ship appeared....Using the Overlap? The enemy was using the main overlap.....that only meant... they were coming from outside the domain.
All the domes prepared their weapons as the ship slowly approached, and when it was within range, the leading general called out to the hiding enemy.
"Show yourself intruders!!!"
No answer came and Isay gripped his weapon tighter, he had a bad feeling about this. Even though the ship looked relatively small up close and could only hold about 10 people at the most. He still had the feeling that something was wrong, or maybe something was going to go wrong, whatever it was, it was going to end badly, and for them. He knew the leadership was pretty confident because of their numbers, so he didn't tell them to shoot the enemy and let them get that close.
But just as all the domes prepared to fire, the ship suddenly burst into flames. But how? No one had fired a single bullet.
"Get down and hold your position!" the General ordered as they all braced their bodies against the flying debris. Some of the domes were hit, and they couldn't defend themselves. The large and small flaming chunks flew everywhere, taking out a large number of domes in the front lines.
The explosions went on and on until they finally stopped.
Isay slowly moved his hands over his face to see a figure slowly approaching them from the flames, completely unfazed.
"Hey!" the figure shouted out of the smoke and flames. It sounded like... a boy?
"The name is Dolly .B. Dolffie."
Shock ran through everyone who heard that name, Dolly. B. ....The Berzerker Clan.
"You heard it, Dolly. B. Dolffie," the intruder said again with a tone of pride.
He had to be lying, he had to be pretending, what was the Berzerker Clan doing in the Doppio Domain? They were separated, why were they here? How did they get here?
"Why are you here?" the general asked. From the looks of it, he did not seem to have suffered too much damage.
But his question was met with silence as the intruder came closer and closer. Isay looked around and saw the terrible damage they had suffered. They had lost at least 100 trained Domes, all of them on the front lines. He was glad to see that the boy from before was still alive and looking well, still with that cold black expression on his face.
"I ask you one last time, intruder! What are your motives? I assume you know the owner of the land on which you set your treacherous feet."
"Hehe, I know the owner very well, you could even say we have history... a very deep history."
The general wasn't impressed by the intruder's bold claims, and ordered each of the remaining domes present to take aim.
"I ask you one last time, intruder! What are your motives?"
"I have no motives." The intruder replied as he emerged from the smoke.
He was really just a child, a teenager to be precise, and he was wearing only an unbuttoned red and yellow shirt with a rose pattern, paired with knee-high denim shorts with plain sleepers. His hair was short, black and unkempt, his eyes black and bright, and his mouth widened into a wide, ear-to-ear grin.
He had no weapons, nothing. Was this a joke or a trap?
Everyone, including the General, was stunned by the boy's appearance.
The boy put his clenched hands on his waist, his face still grinning broadly, and introduced himself again.
"Hihi, the name is Dolly .B. Dolffie."
"What nonsense is this..."
Suddenly a bullet went straight through the General's head. They all watched in horror as the man's body fell to the ground, his blood slowly staining the sand crimson. There wasn't even time to react, for the bullet hadn't even come from the enemy, but from the boy from earlier. Isay hadn't even seen him move before he was already standing in front of him, just to the side, his rifle pointed where the general was standing.
What had happened?
No one had time to react before he started shooting. Isay lay down immediately, not looking as he fell, the weight of the bodies falling on him, the cold of the flowing blood on his face. The shots grew louder and so did the screams. More and more bodies fell on him, burying him completely under their weight.
He didn't know what was going on, what was happening, how could a traitor get in, how could they let him in, all these people, all these people were dying and there was nothing he could do.
The shooting continued, which meant that the traitor and the intruder were still alive, or maybe there were more. A cold sweat broke out on his face at the thought. They were weak from the first blast and their whole formation was uncoordinated, rushed and poorly planned, why? All these deaths could have been avoided if the leaders had told them about the enemy, but from the General's reaction, even he knew nothing about them, nothing, yet he chose to send them here, to their deaths.
He was sure that if they had just waited for the enemy to reach the shore, many more Domes would still be alive and they could have devised a better strategy that would have taken out the intruder and drawn out the traitor.
His mind raced with all the possibilities of all the options the leaders had, all the lives they could have saved if only they had thought for a single second.
The battle finally fell silent and Isay knew they had lost, the weight of the bodies above him had increased and he could hear the joyful voice of the intruder and the solemn voice of the traitor. He could hear their footsteps through the ground, 2 people, 3, 4 and 5. Three more intruders had appeared and they were all making their way to the village.
Isay knew better than to try and fight, after all, he was only a trainee. They had successfully taken out 299 domes, what could he do?
His eyes burned with tears as he dared not move; they hadn't noticed him, it seemed.
He clenched his teeth as he thought of all the different ways the General could have prevented all of this, or at least most of it. There was so much he could have done, so much he could have prevented if only he had been wiser.
But he could also forgive himself for worrying about a traitor and not being able to do anything.
Isay grabbed the sand and swore to remember that name, swore to never forget the face of that traitor. The day he decided to become a Dome was the day he swore to protect everyone in Neptune's domain. He knew what it was like to lose someone you cared about to stupidity, arrogance, and worst of all... treachery.
'I will have my revenge on that traitor!
'And make no mistake, I will never forget you....Dolly .B. Dolffie....Berserker Clan.'