S-CRY-ed Fan Fiction ❯ Alter Ego ❯ Alter Ego Chapter 4 ( Chapter 4 )
[ Y - Young Adult: Not suitable for readers under 16 ]
By: Shellbullet 
Anime/Manga: S-CRY-ed Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Sci-fi / Post-apocalyptic / Action | Type: Self Insertion | Uploaded On: 03.29.2005 | Updated On: 06.26.2005 | Pages: 1 | Words: 3.5K | Visits: 180 | Status: Completed
Anime/Manga: S-CRY-ed Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Sci-fi / Post-apocalyptic / Action | Type: Self Insertion | Uploaded On: 03.29.2005 | Updated On: 06.26.2005 | Pages: 1 | Words: 3.5K | Visits: 180 | Status: Completed
Alter Ego Chapter 4
A couple days after the end of the last chapter, At HOLY Headquarters.
I finish fastening the last button on my HOLY uniform and walk out of the bedroom to show Megumi. “So how do I look?” I say in a slightly depressed voice. She steps back and looks at me up and down while holding her chin like she is looking at a picture or something. “Well, I’m not a big fan of the HOLY uniform, but you look pretty good in it.”
“Meh, I hate it. I can’t wear my trenchcoat. I keep all my gear and knives in there. At least I can still wear my helix chain necklace.”
“Well, we can probably have it modified later on, right?”
“Yeah....I guess so.”
“Your welcome party should be fun, I hear that these guys can really throw a party.” Megumi tries to change the subject, “You’ll be able to meet some of your new colleagues tonight.”
I move over to the mirror nearby and start to nervously pick at the HOLY badge on my uniform. “I severely doubt I’ll have fun, Megumi.”
“Come on,” she says, sounding exasperated. “You could at least TRY to make the best of this and have a good time.”
“Yeah, you might be right about that. I might as well try to use this situation as best I can. It’s very likely that we’ll be here for a while.” I turn around to look at her and say, “Who knows, I might actually make some friends here.”
A few hours later at Rob’s welcome party.
‘Wow, Megumi was right. These guys really do know how to throw a party.’ I think as I walk around among all the different HOLD and HOLY staff members that are at my party. I feel kind of uncomfortable in the new suit I’m wearing. Me and Megumi had gone shopping in the city earlier in the day for something to wear to the party. She helped me pick out a forest-green suit which I actually think looks pretty good, and she got a very attractive blue dress. We are both walking around the party eating the huge spread of food they have put out (it sure beats the relief supplies in the lost ground, that’s for sure!), and meeting my new coworkers.
New people keep coming up to me, introducing themselves, and congratulating me on joining HOLY. I learned the names of several people who I had seen around the building over the last few days. Ryuho was the name of the green haired guy who I first met when I tried to sneak into the city, he is apparently one of the most powerful guys in HOLY from what everyone says. The girl with the bluish-purple hair and barrette who was with him that day is named Scherrice. And the small boy who I also met that day is named Elian and remarkably he is highly involved in the intelligence division of HOLY. There were many others besides them. There were a few people who I actually liked and got along with okay. There was a guy named Konton who seemed to be a huge fan of sword fighting and bladed weapons. We discussed our favorite types of weapons and combat styles. Another guy was a kind of fat guy who REALLY seemed to like watermelons named Urizane who was extremely good natured and jolly as long as you didn’t go near his prized watermelons. One person I found to be very interesting was a guy with spiky pink hair name Straight Cougar. This guy is definitely very intelligent and very eccentric. He is also apparently one of the more powerful guys in HOLY. When he talked he tended to ramble on about different subjects at very high speeds and he also seemed to get peoples names wrong a lot.
There were so many people there it got really hard to remember everyone’s name. Almost everyone was really nice to me and Megumi. Ryuho was acting like a gruff asshole all night, but from what I gathered from all the other people there, he is always like that. But overall we had a great time. The food and music were great and there was constant entertainment like karaoke and when the DARS squad got up on stage and started dancing to different songs. When the party began to wind down me and Megumi excused ourselves and went back to our room. When we got back in the room we began to get ready to go to sleep and talk about the party. “So what did you think, Megumi?” I ask her. She looks at me and says “I had a lot of fun. That girl Scherice is really nice, and so are those Tokonatsu sisters. But the weird thing is they don’t look at all alike, and they seemed to be really attracted to that one HOLY officer uh..... what was his name? Oh well.”
“Yeah, everyone seemed pretty cool.” I reply. “I really want to talk to that guy Konton about some of those sword fighting techniques we were talking about earlier. But you know the DARS squad?”
“Yeah, what about them?” she asks.
“Well, I couldn’t put my finger on it, but something just didn’t feel right about them. I dunno, maybe it’s just me.” I say and shrug my shoulders.
“So what happens tomorrow?” Megumi asks me.
“Um, Tomorrow I have my skill assessment test, and after that the commander will give me my rank and fully initiate me into HOLY.
“Well then you’d better get some rest.” Megumi says “You want to have all your energy for tomorrow.”
“Yeah I guess your right. I’ll see you tomorrow Megumi. Goodnight” I walk over and kiss her goodnight on the forehead. “Goodnight Rob.” she says, “And if I don’t see you before you leave tomorrow, Good luck.”
“Thanks a lot.” I say as I walk into my room and shut the door behind me.
The Next Morning
“Uhhhhhhh...... God I hate mornings.” I mutter to myself as I sit at a table in the cafeteria with my breakfast in front of me. ‘I wonder what kind of things I’m going to have to do on this “skill test.” I should definitely be careful, I have no idea what to expect.’ I am so lost in thought that I don’t notice someone come up behind me until he grabs my shoulder and says, “HEEEEYYYY!!!!” Good morning! Ready for your test?” I bolt upright with my fork in my hand ready to stab whoever it is when I notice that it’s Cougar who has a look of slight disbelief on his face. “Oh, it’s you.... sorry.” I collect myself and say, “Don’t you have any manners? What do you want?” Cougar looks like he got kind of confused, but he straightens himself out before he continues with what he was saying. “The Commander sent me to bring you to where your assessment test will be conducted. We’d better hurry or you’ll be late” I stare at him and think ‘Man this guy is WAY too energetic this early.’ I think to myself before replying. “Alright, just let me finish my breakfast.” I quickly gulp down the rest of my fried sausage and eggs and stand up to go. “Alright buddy, lead on. Let’s get this over with.”
I follow Cougar to the elevator and we get in. He hits a button for one of the deeper basement levels and the elevator starts it’s decent. “So what can you tell me about this little ‘test’ that I’m gonna be taking?”, I ask him. “I’m not allowed to tell you the details but the test is always a little different for each person that takes it. You basically have to get as far as you can through the course by using any means possible. However, ....” his tone changes to sound more serious and an odd look comes across his face as he continues. “It is not easy, you have to be very careful. There have even been some recruits that have not made it all the way through.” My eyes narrow “What do you mean?”, even though I’m already pretty sure of what he means. He turns to look directly at me and says, “They died.”
I feel the elevator slow down and stop and the door finally opens and we walk into what appears to be some sort of control room. All the control stations are manned by people rapidly performing system checks and making preparations. And in the middle of it all, waiting for me, is the commander. He turns to me and says, “Welcome Rob.” I salute and say “Thank you sir.” He smiles and says “At ease.” and continues, “The test you are about to take is a practical application of your skills with and without your alter. The test is to take place here.” He turns to the observation window and the metal shutters begin to raise to reveal an immense maze-like obstacle course. “The objective is very simple, try to get to the end of the course using any means possible.” He looks directly at me and says, “This will determine what you specialize in and how we will apply your skills in the future. But more importantly, it will determine if you are truly suited to be a member of HOLY.” I look right back at him with a smirk on my face and say, “This isn’t gonna be a problem. When do I start?” The commander points to a door on the left side of the room. “That elevator will take you to the starting point. When you hear the buzzer, begin.” I walk over and enter the elevator. Before the door closes I say, “See you at the finish line.”
**************
As soon as the door closes Zigmar turns to Cougar, “What do you think of this one Cougar? Do you think he will need to be refined?” As Cougar looks out the window at the obstacle course he says thoughtfully, “Well, he looks like he’s got a lot of potential. And from what I could tell, he’s very close to breaking through to the next level.”
“Really....” says Zigmar in an interested tone.
“Then we might as well help him along a little bit.” And with that he announces to the control room, “Set course difficulty to level 4 and prep the DARS squad for combat.”
**************
The elevator stops and the doors open. I exit the elevator and walk onto the floor of the starting area. As I stand there I begin to fidget nervously a little bit and I unsheathe my combat knife out of habit. Once my knife is in hand I begin to calm down. Unfortunately, that doesn’t last long. “BZZZZZZZZZ!!!!” The buzzer goes off and I instantly take off into the obstacle course.
The first hundred yards or so are pretty uneventful with simple barriers and obstacles that would pop up and could be jumped or climbed over in a second. Rounding the next corner I come to a curiously empty stretch of corridor. “Well this looks just a little bit suspicious.” I mutter to myself. “I’d better just sprint through as quickly as possible.” I run as fast as I can down the corridor but before I get halfway through, both ends of the corridor seal themselves off with heavy metal doors. I immediately stop and prepare for the worst. I hear the humming of machinery coming to life behind the walls. Then panels on the walls open all down the hallway and dozens of robotic arms tipped with various types of nasty looking weapons extend out and begin looking for a target to shred. I smile to myself and mutter, “Heh, so things are finally gonna get interesting.”
The closest arm takes a swipe at me. I dodge it and immediately shove my knife into one of the joints on the arm, twist it, and break the joint, rendering the arm useless. Another arm comes toward me and I manage to cut the relay cable and it slumps to the floor deactivated. A arm with a vicious set of blades swings at me and I manage to avoid it..... mostly. It leaves a series of shallow cuts along my upper chest and left arm. I grunt in pain and quickly hack off the end of the arm. My fight continues in a vicious cycle of dodge, hack, slash, and stab for what seems like forever until all of the arms in the hallway are lying on the ground wrecked and ruined.
When it is all over I lean up against the wall to try and take a quick break before continuing. I am breathing heavily, my blood is pumping, and my body feels like it’s on fire; I love it.
“Well, that was fun but I don’t think that I’ll be able to go any further without using my alter. But I should really do something about this wound first.” I take my knife and cut off a couple strips of fabric from my uniform and proceed to tie them firmly around my arm and upper chest to stop the bleeding.
“Alright, it’s time for me head out.” I stand up, sheathe my knife, and get ready to create my alter. I clench my fists, cross my arms in front of me, and begin to concentrate. I feel that familiar power as my alter begins to form, but something feels.... different somehow. I can’t quite put my finger on it but it feels like there is something more that is just out of my reach. But as soon as I feel it, it’s all over and I’m standing there with my alter, ready to go. ‘That’s never happened before, I wonder what it was.’ I think to myself. “Oh well.” I walk up to the heavy door at the end of the corridor, briefly examine it, extend my knuckle claws, and proceed to shred the metal like it was tissue paper so I could continue.
With the considerable enhancement from my alter, the traps I come across are no match for me and I slice them up or dodge them as soon as they appear. These automated weapons are no match against someone with even a small amount of talent. I can’t believe some of my predecessors had died in this place. This was almost too easy.
The walls rush past me as I run into the next area. At first it is very dark (even though that really doesn’t matter to me) but then the lights on the ceiling come on in sequence to reveal the whole area. It appears to be a big arena of some kind with a pretty high ceiling. There are several small doors spaced evenly around the perimeter of the arena and one large door at the opposite end which, I assume, I have to go through to get to the finish line. I slowly make my way across the arena, my alter enhanced senses straining to detect anything that will jump out to attack me. Suddenly I hear the grinding of gears and servos as the large door behind me slams shut and seals off the corridor I came through preventing me from escaping. At the same time two doors on the perimeter open and several people march out of them and get in battle formation around me. I’m shocked when I realize that it is a full squad from the DARS unit. “What the hell is going on you guys?!” The only answer I get is all ten of them summoning their alters at the same time. From what I understand each DARS squad has specialized alters that work together as one unit. I have never actually seen one of the DARS alters before so I don’t know what to expect. When the alter mist clears each member of the squad has this strange looking segmented arm unfold and float in front of them except for the one who, I assume, is the squad leader. He has a large orb shaped, mechanical alter with sharp teeth floating next to him. The outside of the orb is covered with what look like sockets where something can attach to.
I sigh heavily and say, “I guess this means that I have to go through you guys to get to the finish line. Right?” Once again I get no reply as their masked faces stare at me, waiting for an opportunity to attack. I extend my finger claws and get into fighting position, “Alright, if you insist.” and with that I rush at the nearest soldier. But before I get there a solid blow smashes into the side of my head and knocks me off course and I tumble off course, miss my target, and hit the floor hard. Before I can pick myself up off the floor I feel something grab me by the leg swing me forcefully into the wall nearby, and then throw me halfway across the arena where I skid to a stop in a world of hurt. I get up holding my chest and wincing in pain.
“Shit, This isn’t good. These guys aren’t playing around, they are really trying to kill me; and I definitely felt something break when I hit the wall. They’re really well coordinated I’ll give them that. Plus I’m completely outnumbered. I gotta try to get a bunch of them at once.” I notice that a bunch of them are grouped together and strike. I extend the double scythes from my fists and yell “BANSHEE BLADE!” For a second I think I have them. But to my horror, the arms from the other squad members swoop in, grab them, and lift them out of the way a split second before the shockwave would have hit them and the sound wave slams harmlessly into the wall. “Damn it!! Stay still!!”
The squad regroups across the arena and stand still for a second like they’re trying to figure out what to do. “What’s the matter did I surprise you?” Of course I get no reply from them, except the telltale glow of them powering up their alters. To my shock and disbelief their alters are moving closer together and changing. The arms transform and develop sockets at one end and all nine of them attach themselves to the large orb body. The body is supported by several of the arms while the rest are waving around in the air like snakes. The whole thing looks like some sort of nightmare octopus.
But as soon as this registers in my head it jumps high in the air and whips several of it’s arms at me which stretch as they head towards me, tipped with wicked looking, razor sharp claws. I narrowly dodge and block most of the bladed arms but not all of them. One gets through and tears a chunk of flesh out of my leg. The searing pain makes me lose my concentration for just a second but that is all it takes. Another arm manages to gets through and pierces right into my stomach. Time slows down for me for a split second and I cough up blood as I stare in shock at the bloody tentacle protruding from my gut. Then things go back to normal as the tentacle flings me off and into the wall with incredible force.
I slide to the floor and slump limply against the wall bleeding and broken, somehow still barely alive. I am in immense pain as I bleed from the gaping wound in my stomach, and countless other cuts. I can see the DARS alter through my blurring vision, readying a finishing blow at my head. “So this is how I’m going to die. Oh well, I guess I wasn’t strong enough.” The last thing I see before my eyelids close is a tentacle streaking towards me to smash my head open against the wall.
TO BE CONTINUED.......
END CHAPTER 4
That’s one hell of a cliffhanger, huh. I think I’ll put up the next chapter when I get some more reviews.
Converting /tmp/phpfZ99bz to /dev/stdout
A couple days after the end of the last chapter, At HOLY Headquarters.
I finish fastening the last button on my HOLY uniform and walk out of the bedroom to show Megumi. “So how do I look?” I say in a slightly depressed voice. She steps back and looks at me up and down while holding her chin like she is looking at a picture or something. “Well, I’m not a big fan of the HOLY uniform, but you look pretty good in it.”
“Meh, I hate it. I can’t wear my trenchcoat. I keep all my gear and knives in there. At least I can still wear my helix chain necklace.”
“Well, we can probably have it modified later on, right?”
“Yeah....I guess so.”
“Your welcome party should be fun, I hear that these guys can really throw a party.” Megumi tries to change the subject, “You’ll be able to meet some of your new colleagues tonight.”
I move over to the mirror nearby and start to nervously pick at the HOLY badge on my uniform. “I severely doubt I’ll have fun, Megumi.”
“Come on,” she says, sounding exasperated. “You could at least TRY to make the best of this and have a good time.”
“Yeah, you might be right about that. I might as well try to use this situation as best I can. It’s very likely that we’ll be here for a while.” I turn around to look at her and say, “Who knows, I might actually make some friends here.”
A few hours later at Rob’s welcome party.
‘Wow, Megumi was right. These guys really do know how to throw a party.’ I think as I walk around among all the different HOLD and HOLY staff members that are at my party. I feel kind of uncomfortable in the new suit I’m wearing. Me and Megumi had gone shopping in the city earlier in the day for something to wear to the party. She helped me pick out a forest-green suit which I actually think looks pretty good, and she got a very attractive blue dress. We are both walking around the party eating the huge spread of food they have put out (it sure beats the relief supplies in the lost ground, that’s for sure!), and meeting my new coworkers.
New people keep coming up to me, introducing themselves, and congratulating me on joining HOLY. I learned the names of several people who I had seen around the building over the last few days. Ryuho was the name of the green haired guy who I first met when I tried to sneak into the city, he is apparently one of the most powerful guys in HOLY from what everyone says. The girl with the bluish-purple hair and barrette who was with him that day is named Scherrice. And the small boy who I also met that day is named Elian and remarkably he is highly involved in the intelligence division of HOLY. There were many others besides them. There were a few people who I actually liked and got along with okay. There was a guy named Konton who seemed to be a huge fan of sword fighting and bladed weapons. We discussed our favorite types of weapons and combat styles. Another guy was a kind of fat guy who REALLY seemed to like watermelons named Urizane who was extremely good natured and jolly as long as you didn’t go near his prized watermelons. One person I found to be very interesting was a guy with spiky pink hair name Straight Cougar. This guy is definitely very intelligent and very eccentric. He is also apparently one of the more powerful guys in HOLY. When he talked he tended to ramble on about different subjects at very high speeds and he also seemed to get peoples names wrong a lot.
There were so many people there it got really hard to remember everyone’s name. Almost everyone was really nice to me and Megumi. Ryuho was acting like a gruff asshole all night, but from what I gathered from all the other people there, he is always like that. But overall we had a great time. The food and music were great and there was constant entertainment like karaoke and when the DARS squad got up on stage and started dancing to different songs. When the party began to wind down me and Megumi excused ourselves and went back to our room. When we got back in the room we began to get ready to go to sleep and talk about the party. “So what did you think, Megumi?” I ask her. She looks at me and says “I had a lot of fun. That girl Scherice is really nice, and so are those Tokonatsu sisters. But the weird thing is they don’t look at all alike, and they seemed to be really attracted to that one HOLY officer uh..... what was his name? Oh well.”
“Yeah, everyone seemed pretty cool.” I reply. “I really want to talk to that guy Konton about some of those sword fighting techniques we were talking about earlier. But you know the DARS squad?”
“Yeah, what about them?” she asks.
“Well, I couldn’t put my finger on it, but something just didn’t feel right about them. I dunno, maybe it’s just me.” I say and shrug my shoulders.
“So what happens tomorrow?” Megumi asks me.
“Um, Tomorrow I have my skill assessment test, and after that the commander will give me my rank and fully initiate me into HOLY.
“Well then you’d better get some rest.” Megumi says “You want to have all your energy for tomorrow.”
“Yeah I guess your right. I’ll see you tomorrow Megumi. Goodnight” I walk over and kiss her goodnight on the forehead. “Goodnight Rob.” she says, “And if I don’t see you before you leave tomorrow, Good luck.”
“Thanks a lot.” I say as I walk into my room and shut the door behind me.
The Next Morning
“Uhhhhhhh...... God I hate mornings.” I mutter to myself as I sit at a table in the cafeteria with my breakfast in front of me. ‘I wonder what kind of things I’m going to have to do on this “skill test.” I should definitely be careful, I have no idea what to expect.’ I am so lost in thought that I don’t notice someone come up behind me until he grabs my shoulder and says, “HEEEEYYYY!!!!” Good morning! Ready for your test?” I bolt upright with my fork in my hand ready to stab whoever it is when I notice that it’s Cougar who has a look of slight disbelief on his face. “Oh, it’s you.... sorry.” I collect myself and say, “Don’t you have any manners? What do you want?” Cougar looks like he got kind of confused, but he straightens himself out before he continues with what he was saying. “The Commander sent me to bring you to where your assessment test will be conducted. We’d better hurry or you’ll be late” I stare at him and think ‘Man this guy is WAY too energetic this early.’ I think to myself before replying. “Alright, just let me finish my breakfast.” I quickly gulp down the rest of my fried sausage and eggs and stand up to go. “Alright buddy, lead on. Let’s get this over with.”
I follow Cougar to the elevator and we get in. He hits a button for one of the deeper basement levels and the elevator starts it’s decent. “So what can you tell me about this little ‘test’ that I’m gonna be taking?”, I ask him. “I’m not allowed to tell you the details but the test is always a little different for each person that takes it. You basically have to get as far as you can through the course by using any means possible. However, ....” his tone changes to sound more serious and an odd look comes across his face as he continues. “It is not easy, you have to be very careful. There have even been some recruits that have not made it all the way through.” My eyes narrow “What do you mean?”, even though I’m already pretty sure of what he means. He turns to look directly at me and says, “They died.”
I feel the elevator slow down and stop and the door finally opens and we walk into what appears to be some sort of control room. All the control stations are manned by people rapidly performing system checks and making preparations. And in the middle of it all, waiting for me, is the commander. He turns to me and says, “Welcome Rob.” I salute and say “Thank you sir.” He smiles and says “At ease.” and continues, “The test you are about to take is a practical application of your skills with and without your alter. The test is to take place here.” He turns to the observation window and the metal shutters begin to raise to reveal an immense maze-like obstacle course. “The objective is very simple, try to get to the end of the course using any means possible.” He looks directly at me and says, “This will determine what you specialize in and how we will apply your skills in the future. But more importantly, it will determine if you are truly suited to be a member of HOLY.” I look right back at him with a smirk on my face and say, “This isn’t gonna be a problem. When do I start?” The commander points to a door on the left side of the room. “That elevator will take you to the starting point. When you hear the buzzer, begin.” I walk over and enter the elevator. Before the door closes I say, “See you at the finish line.”
**************
As soon as the door closes Zigmar turns to Cougar, “What do you think of this one Cougar? Do you think he will need to be refined?” As Cougar looks out the window at the obstacle course he says thoughtfully, “Well, he looks like he’s got a lot of potential. And from what I could tell, he’s very close to breaking through to the next level.”
“Really....” says Zigmar in an interested tone.
“Then we might as well help him along a little bit.” And with that he announces to the control room, “Set course difficulty to level 4 and prep the DARS squad for combat.”
**************
The elevator stops and the doors open. I exit the elevator and walk onto the floor of the starting area. As I stand there I begin to fidget nervously a little bit and I unsheathe my combat knife out of habit. Once my knife is in hand I begin to calm down. Unfortunately, that doesn’t last long. “BZZZZZZZZZ!!!!” The buzzer goes off and I instantly take off into the obstacle course.
The first hundred yards or so are pretty uneventful with simple barriers and obstacles that would pop up and could be jumped or climbed over in a second. Rounding the next corner I come to a curiously empty stretch of corridor. “Well this looks just a little bit suspicious.” I mutter to myself. “I’d better just sprint through as quickly as possible.” I run as fast as I can down the corridor but before I get halfway through, both ends of the corridor seal themselves off with heavy metal doors. I immediately stop and prepare for the worst. I hear the humming of machinery coming to life behind the walls. Then panels on the walls open all down the hallway and dozens of robotic arms tipped with various types of nasty looking weapons extend out and begin looking for a target to shred. I smile to myself and mutter, “Heh, so things are finally gonna get interesting.”
The closest arm takes a swipe at me. I dodge it and immediately shove my knife into one of the joints on the arm, twist it, and break the joint, rendering the arm useless. Another arm comes toward me and I manage to cut the relay cable and it slumps to the floor deactivated. A arm with a vicious set of blades swings at me and I manage to avoid it..... mostly. It leaves a series of shallow cuts along my upper chest and left arm. I grunt in pain and quickly hack off the end of the arm. My fight continues in a vicious cycle of dodge, hack, slash, and stab for what seems like forever until all of the arms in the hallway are lying on the ground wrecked and ruined.
When it is all over I lean up against the wall to try and take a quick break before continuing. I am breathing heavily, my blood is pumping, and my body feels like it’s on fire; I love it.
“Well, that was fun but I don’t think that I’ll be able to go any further without using my alter. But I should really do something about this wound first.” I take my knife and cut off a couple strips of fabric from my uniform and proceed to tie them firmly around my arm and upper chest to stop the bleeding.
“Alright, it’s time for me head out.” I stand up, sheathe my knife, and get ready to create my alter. I clench my fists, cross my arms in front of me, and begin to concentrate. I feel that familiar power as my alter begins to form, but something feels.... different somehow. I can’t quite put my finger on it but it feels like there is something more that is just out of my reach. But as soon as I feel it, it’s all over and I’m standing there with my alter, ready to go. ‘That’s never happened before, I wonder what it was.’ I think to myself. “Oh well.” I walk up to the heavy door at the end of the corridor, briefly examine it, extend my knuckle claws, and proceed to shred the metal like it was tissue paper so I could continue.
With the considerable enhancement from my alter, the traps I come across are no match for me and I slice them up or dodge them as soon as they appear. These automated weapons are no match against someone with even a small amount of talent. I can’t believe some of my predecessors had died in this place. This was almost too easy.
The walls rush past me as I run into the next area. At first it is very dark (even though that really doesn’t matter to me) but then the lights on the ceiling come on in sequence to reveal the whole area. It appears to be a big arena of some kind with a pretty high ceiling. There are several small doors spaced evenly around the perimeter of the arena and one large door at the opposite end which, I assume, I have to go through to get to the finish line. I slowly make my way across the arena, my alter enhanced senses straining to detect anything that will jump out to attack me. Suddenly I hear the grinding of gears and servos as the large door behind me slams shut and seals off the corridor I came through preventing me from escaping. At the same time two doors on the perimeter open and several people march out of them and get in battle formation around me. I’m shocked when I realize that it is a full squad from the DARS unit. “What the hell is going on you guys?!” The only answer I get is all ten of them summoning their alters at the same time. From what I understand each DARS squad has specialized alters that work together as one unit. I have never actually seen one of the DARS alters before so I don’t know what to expect. When the alter mist clears each member of the squad has this strange looking segmented arm unfold and float in front of them except for the one who, I assume, is the squad leader. He has a large orb shaped, mechanical alter with sharp teeth floating next to him. The outside of the orb is covered with what look like sockets where something can attach to.
I sigh heavily and say, “I guess this means that I have to go through you guys to get to the finish line. Right?” Once again I get no reply as their masked faces stare at me, waiting for an opportunity to attack. I extend my finger claws and get into fighting position, “Alright, if you insist.” and with that I rush at the nearest soldier. But before I get there a solid blow smashes into the side of my head and knocks me off course and I tumble off course, miss my target, and hit the floor hard. Before I can pick myself up off the floor I feel something grab me by the leg swing me forcefully into the wall nearby, and then throw me halfway across the arena where I skid to a stop in a world of hurt. I get up holding my chest and wincing in pain.
“Shit, This isn’t good. These guys aren’t playing around, they are really trying to kill me; and I definitely felt something break when I hit the wall. They’re really well coordinated I’ll give them that. Plus I’m completely outnumbered. I gotta try to get a bunch of them at once.” I notice that a bunch of them are grouped together and strike. I extend the double scythes from my fists and yell “BANSHEE BLADE!” For a second I think I have them. But to my horror, the arms from the other squad members swoop in, grab them, and lift them out of the way a split second before the shockwave would have hit them and the sound wave slams harmlessly into the wall. “Damn it!! Stay still!!”
The squad regroups across the arena and stand still for a second like they’re trying to figure out what to do. “What’s the matter did I surprise you?” Of course I get no reply from them, except the telltale glow of them powering up their alters. To my shock and disbelief their alters are moving closer together and changing. The arms transform and develop sockets at one end and all nine of them attach themselves to the large orb body. The body is supported by several of the arms while the rest are waving around in the air like snakes. The whole thing looks like some sort of nightmare octopus.
But as soon as this registers in my head it jumps high in the air and whips several of it’s arms at me which stretch as they head towards me, tipped with wicked looking, razor sharp claws. I narrowly dodge and block most of the bladed arms but not all of them. One gets through and tears a chunk of flesh out of my leg. The searing pain makes me lose my concentration for just a second but that is all it takes. Another arm manages to gets through and pierces right into my stomach. Time slows down for me for a split second and I cough up blood as I stare in shock at the bloody tentacle protruding from my gut. Then things go back to normal as the tentacle flings me off and into the wall with incredible force.
I slide to the floor and slump limply against the wall bleeding and broken, somehow still barely alive. I am in immense pain as I bleed from the gaping wound in my stomach, and countless other cuts. I can see the DARS alter through my blurring vision, readying a finishing blow at my head. “So this is how I’m going to die. Oh well, I guess I wasn’t strong enough.” The last thing I see before my eyelids close is a tentacle streaking towards me to smash my head open against the wall.
TO BE CONTINUED.......
END CHAPTER 4
That’s one hell of a cliffhanger, huh. I think I’ll put up the next chapter when I get some more reviews.
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