《Human Hunter》Chapter Twenty-Six: The Assassin Corps
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A bit of black mist drifted into the air. Kensin reappeared inside of the massive Assassin Corps HQ. Chandeliers covered the ceiling of the fancy looking, lit up room. There were multiple staircases leading to several different areas. Someone entering for the first time would be overwhelmed.
He dropped Human Hunter, Tigal, and Flowe to the floor, and made a screeching noise before entering a separate room.
"Tchh.." Flowe couldn't stop shaking. He grabbed at the ground. "I knew they were aware of your location but.. I never thought the Corps would send such a capable member this early on. I thought we had time.. an opportunity for me to inform you all of the coming danger."
A cracking noise echoed throughout the vast room. It came from Human Hunter, who was adjusting his shoulder. "Shut up.." he said. "When I originally listened to your interactions, you came off as an intelligent and skilled fighter. Someone who knew what he was doing. Someone who'd be helpful. I was clearly wrong, you're nothing more than a weakling who mentally breaks down when dealing with enemies stronger than yourself. You feared that Proel would one day surpass the Assassin Corps, which we will, and that's why you joined us. There aren't any other reasons, and now that your plan has fallen apart, you think that it's all over."
Flowe gulped. Human Hunter grabbed him by the neck, and slammed him on the wall.
"But guess what..! Just because we've been caught heavily off guard doesn't mean we're completely done! As strong as the Corps may be, there's a way to kill them other than in direct combat, and once I find out what that is... they'll all be slaughtered... each and every single member." He let go of Flowe, and scanned the area with his eyes. "They must be extremely confident in their abilities because they left us completely armed in the middle of their base. That was a big mistake.. or.. maybe it wasn't. Judging by how smart they're made out to be, I doubt they'd leave us here without some sort of plan or precaution."
"You're correct.." Flowe confirmed. "Even with such a drastic difference in strength, the Corps are excessively careful. I was aware of this already.. but even more so after seeing someone as powerful as Kensin be the one to attack your base."
"Alright then, I suggest we enter each of the rooms until we find something waiting for us. At this point, it's our best option."
"What the-..? Flowe!" Tigal raced over to Flowe's side. "Have you not been here before during your alliance with these bastards??"
"That's right. I'm yet to ever see this particular section." Flowe paced back and forth. "The Corps certainly wouldn't be dumb enough to place us somewhere I've been before, Tigal."
"Grr.. every passing second causes me to further suspect that you're lying." Tigal grumbled.
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Close by.. further back in the Assassin Corps's base..
"Hey, Sonic." Someone said. This person was closely observing a computer.
"Eh?" Multiple cans of soda dropped from the fridge as Sonic turned around. "What??"
"Well.. there's a multitude of strange threats that have been appearing as of late. Across the planet, four Proel level beings have appeared. This is getting out of hand."
"Outta hand?? Hah! Whaddya mean? Yeah, maybe a bunch of crazy teams, monsters, or whatever else have been comin around, but we've prepared for this kinda thing for decades now. If any of em wanna mess with us, they'll get killed. That's all there is to it. We've got back up plans to the back up plans, precautions in place for even the craziest of scenarios. Even if all of those fail, nobodies stronger than us in a straight up fight."
Breaking his gaze from the computer, the person, who was known as Vess, turned to look at the glass wall next to him. On the other end of it, over two hundred unique Sapient variants were being held captive. "We're strong, that much is obvious. But the reason why we've lasted this long is because of how we fully prepare for anything no matter how low of a threat it is. If your cocky mindset interferes with that, Sonic, Rez will kill you."
"Hm.. yup, I know. I'm not trying to be cocky alright, I'm trying to calm you down."
"Ah, well thank you Sonic. But if I'm not careful we could be caught off guard. The team relies on my information, and even if we'll be okay, the number of notable threats is above anything we've ever seen before."
The two's conversation was interrupted when Kensin came into the room. Sonic looked the other way, and gritted his teeth. "Damn.. it's that weirdo.." he thought.
Vess greeted him. "Hello Kensin. Have anything notable to tell us?"
"No, he doesn't. All he ever does is make weird noises and sit in his creepy little room." Still looking away, Sonic stood still.
"He's also one of the strongest members we've ever acquired. Losing him would be a significant blow. And you're only naming what he does here, outside of the base, Kensin is an even more valuable asset."
Kensin released some of his black mist. It morphed into a replay of the events that transpired in Proel's base. Following that, it showed him capturing Flowe, Human Hunter, and Tigal, including when he brought them back to the Corps's own base.
"Seriously?" Sonic, who couldn't prevent himself from watching, shook his head. "What's the point of bringing em here? What? Did you want us to get a piece of the action? News flash weirdo, we don't get pleasure out of killing people. It's just what we have to do. This planet isn't big enough to support weaklings, idiots, or mute mysterious psychopaths like you so if that's what you joined for, you might as well-.."
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"Sonic. Every single member of the Corps is heavily researched before being approved. If Kensin was here just to satisfy his murderous ambitions, he would never have been given entry. I'm confident that the Proel members were brought here for our other project." After interrupting, Vess returned to his computer.
"Tch, yeah. Whatever you say. In any case, I'm still thirsty. Never got my drink." Sonic lifted a soda from the floor. He cracked it open, and pressed it against his lips. "You know what.." he said, wiping his mouth. "I think I'm gonna make sure those Proel guys know that the Assassin Corps isn't just filled with crazy mutes and dirty traitors. Plus, after we sent Kensin, I didn't think I'd get the chance to talk with Flowe again. That'll be interesting.. heheh."
Before Sonic could leave, Vess called out. "Just a moment, Sonic."
Sonic stopped. "Eh? What now?"
Kensin seemed to be intrigued as well.
"Well you see.." gazing at the screen for a moment longer, Vess slowly turned toward his fellow Corps members. "One of our defense systems has just gone down.."
"What'd you just say..? Bullshit." Sonic tossed his drink aside, and pushed past Kensin, eventually reaching the computer. He looked at it for himself. "The hell..? Now the first five are down!"
This information caused Kensin to put his guard up.
"It's as I said." Vess began, wrinkling his forehead. "Things have been getting out of hand."
Loud slamming noises could be heard from a distance. As time went by, the number of downed defensive systems went up to ten... then twenty... fifty... one hundred... five hundred... nine hundred...
"They're nearly here." Vess calmly, and quietly said.
While charging up his gear, dozens of thoughts rushed through Sonic's mind. "Holy shit.. each and every single one of our defenses are tough as hell. Whoever's slamming through em this quickly.. could actually be dangerous."
Assassin Corps HQ Entrance
"Hmmmm?! What's this!? A group of intruders actually managed to break past our defenses!? BAHAHA! I'm impressed! Don't think you're off the hook though, those will take a whole day to repair, and that.. pisses me off.." The 12th ranked member of the corps, Belfume, waved around gigantic hammers in each of his hands. A large group of ghost like figures had appeared before him.
"Corps activities.. interfere with mother Hondal's ideals.. you must all be disposed of. Brothers.. infiltrate the base and eliminate all living beings. We must complete this task for mother, I will take care of this one. Now go." One of the floating, transparent beings pointed forward at the Assassin Corps's base. His comrades all followed his command, and floated past Belfume, into the building.
"Err-.. damn!" Looking back, Belfume realized there was nothing he could do to prevent these intruders from entering. He returned his attention forward. "So, you all have the ability to phase though objects huh? I assume that means you think you're unstoppable."
"No.. incorrect. There is a way to defeat us. However... it's doubtful that any of you are able to perform a task that would result in our demise." the ghost figure gradually grew it's limbs several times longer.
"Hah, you see, that's where you're wrong. Even more so.. you're bluffing. Otherwise you wouldn't have had a reason to wreck all our traps. You feared we'd have a way to kill you, and rightfully so. As a matter of fact, I know just the thing I could use to take out weird floaty pests like you. And I'm sure the rest of the Corps will come to the same conclusion. You see.. there's a reason why your 'mother' or whatever hates us so much. It's because we're tough as nails and smart as hell! Something her little babies clearly can't relate to!" Pulling his arms back, Belfume took a deep breath. The air filled his extremely obese, and oversized, yet still muscular body. He slammed his hammers against each other with as much power as he could. His muscles tightened. The vibrations traveled through the air as he tried to straighten them out, eventually hitting the opposing ghost enemy.
This blew the transparent figure to nothingness. Only it's newly severed limbs remained. The raw power and strength Belfume had, caused the shockwave to leave a line of destruction upon the ground for hundreds of miles.
"Tch, try not to be so cocky next time. Oh-.. wait. I obliterated you already. Kinda hard to have a next time! BAHAHA!" Flinging his hammers over each shoulder, Belfume prepared to reenter the Corps's base. "Mkay.. time to find out where the rest of those fools went off to. That is if they're not all already dead. Hah."
Without warning, before he could leave, a faint noise crept into Belfume's ear. It was a sort of wet, crackling sound. He paused, and turned once more.
To his slight surprise, the ghostly being had regenerated itself completely, only this time, it's features were different.
"Well now.. look what we have here." Belfume gazed upon every change his opponent had sustained. "You've gotten stronger.. a lot stronger. Seems to be some sort of enhancive regenerative ability. Alright then, if that's the game you want to play, I suppose it's time to test out just how strong of a shockwave I can create." Preparing to battle once more, he readied his hammers again.
The ghostly figure twitched and burst with equally transparent mucus. "M-Mother! Cannot fail you.. cannot.. will not! MOTHERRR!!" It shrieked. It's cries could be heard from miles away.
"What's this? No.. it cannot be." Another ghostly figure nervously claimed from inside the base. "Sortah... I-I believe he has done it. I think he has... awakened."
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