Sunset was sitting in her home in silence. Her eyes were glued to her cell phone. She was scrolling through social media, finding trending topics coming up. She came across news on MONARCH having been pushed back by the Revolutionaries that had taken root in a border town up north. Another topic related to a sex scandal with an Applewood actor, there had been a number of these popping up lately. Nothing interesting was on the news.
Sunset began to search up a favorite blogger of hers. It was mainly some tips and advice on practical things like for the home. Sunset has picked up into learning some skills like cooking, living healthy life styles, just the basic stuff. As she found the web address, she clicked on it and began to look for any recent posts. Her eyes widened.
The blogger had posted that he would be on hiatus for a while. Due to there being a recent attack on in his neighborhood at his home town, Fillydelphia. He went onto detail on how that the Transmutant civil rights activist, Kingston, had been killed along with some officers and a couple of bystanders. Sunset also noticed the date of the blog post. It was a week or so old.
"What the hell? Why wasn't this reported on?" asked Sunset to herself as she began to look through the comments on the blog. Some people expressed shock and horror while there were a couple of few sickos that made disgusting comments on transmutants. Though a couple may not have been real people due to their lack of profile history and profile pictures. Bots and trolls tended to pop up on this website.
In the comments, there were some that claimed to have been there and backed up the story. A couple having witnessed it first hand as well. Sunset was also seeing that there was push back against the atrocity. People condemned the attacked, commented 'prayers' for the victims, just anything to show their support and sympathy for those who had tragically died. Though some even went extreme as to beating up anyone that expressed any form of dislike or prejudice toward Transmutants. Sunset found that there was more and more growing resentment to the Purists in the country.
"Hopefully this doesn't turn into a witch hunt," said Sunset. While she herself had a great disdain for prejudice regarding anyone, she knew the dangers of mob mentality. The last thing she wanted was for some dirt bags to use this outrage to start accusing innocent people of holding Purists ideals. She wasn't even comfortable with the idea of attacking someone with anti-mutant ideas. A social stigma was enough, in her opinion. No need to beat someone up in an alley if they weren't physically hurting someone.
However, something was bothering Sunset. She wondered why wasn't the mainstream reporting on this incident. She was even recently on social media and hasn't really seen anything related to the attack. Something just didn't sit right with the teen. Why were the locals the only ones who knew something?
Sunset got up from her bed and made her way out to the living room. Sunset quickly stopped and peaked inside a bedroom door by her side. She found an older woman to be lying under the covers of a bed, snoring. Sunset closed the door and made her way over to the kitchen of the apartment.
"Time to get breakfast ready for mom," said Sunset as she made her way over to the fridge. She sighed in annoyance as she found herself to be missing some ingredients.
"Shoot. Looks like I need to make a quick run to the store," said Sunset. Later, she left the apartment fully dressed. The teen made her way down the street and further into town. She felt her phone vibrate, prompting her to draw it out. She had received a text from Junior.
'You OK?' The message read. Sunset began to text a reply.
'I'm good. Thx :)', the reply read. Moments later, another text came that read, 'cool. See ya tomorrow.' Sunset smiled to herself, finding it sweet for Junior to be checking on her.
"Hopefully he doesn't become a worrywart," chuckled Sunset. She began to pick up the pace to the grocery store, but stopped as she noticed police cars parked nearby in the street, where officers stood out. A small crowd had gathered outside the perimeter set by the police. Sunset joined the crowd and was able to see what the commotion was about. Her eyes widened as the glass to the community greenhouse was breached. Long and large scraggly vines stuck out of the building, covering the entrance to the point where it was though it never existed. The thick vines made up a wall.
"What the heck happened here?" asked Sunset in shock.
"It was like this since this morning. No idea what caused it," said a man among the crowd. Sunset looked to the officers, who spoke with what looked to be urgency. The other officer proceeded to speak on his COM. What the officer was saying was impossible to make out around the crowd.
Sunset began to retreat from the crowd. She was about to text Junior to maybe inform the Guardians about the greenhouse. However, she noticed something moving from her peripheral vision. She turned and noticed green vines to be slithering behind the buildings, making their way over to a fast food spot next door. Sunset briefly looked to see if anyone took notice, which no one had. She slowly approached the restaurant from behind, just where the police could not see her, and saw the vines to be slithering out from the back of the establishment, retreating to the back of the greenhouse and retreating into a window, carrying a wrapped up sandwich. Sunset narrowed her eyes as she began to sneak her way over to the greenhouse. She peeked over a trash can, finding the police to be still stationed in the front. Whatever was happening, Sunset had a feeling that the police may be unequipped to handle it. The Guardians may take too long to even get here.
"This is probably gonna be the most stupid thing I can do," said Sunset with a gulp. She looked around, searching for a way in. The back door itself was sealed off by more vines. The windows were out of reach. That left one option. Sunset took a breath, reluctant. She closed her eyes as her hands gave a soft glow. She sparked and suddenly vanished. Sunset suddenly appeared in a dark room, leaving behind small remnants of magic. The girl found herself in a bathroom. Sunset opened the door and found a darkened room covered in plants. Little sunlight got through the covered windows.
"Looks like I got teleportation down," said Sunset as she stepped out of the bathroom. She drew her phone out and activated the flash light, illuminating her path. Sunset looked around in shock and awe as she saw plants within the troughs to have been overgrown. Flowers bore large stems, petals, and heads. Tomatoes were the size of basket balls, plants stood up, nearly reaching the ceiling. It was like a jungle in here.
Unbeknownst to Sunset, a vine slithered passed her feet. The girl was mesmerized but also anxious. She wondered who or what could cause this kind of growth. Sunset stepped as she felt something that she stepped on. She looked down and found a wrapper to be under her boot. She knelt down and picked up the wrapper, identifying it as belonging to the fast food restaurant nearby. Something really did just grab a meal from that place.
Hello?" called Sunset. A glare of light suddenly flashed her eye, causing her to grunt. She looked down at the ground and saw a metallic object to be lying on the ground. She used her magic to levitate it towards herself and looked it over. Her eyes slightly widened as she recognized it and saw the logo of GeneCo. Behind Sunset, a figure appeared several feet away from the air. Large vines slithered around, retreating to the ground.
"Morning, Sunset," said a familiar voice. Sunset dropped the object on the ground and turned.
"E-Erika?" called Sunset, shakily. The figure stood in the shadows, slowly approaching.
"I'm glad you showed up," said Erika, as she stepped into the light. Sunset gasped in shock at the sight of her friend. Erika's pupils were constricted into slits. Her veins were green and exposed under her pale skin, but the most glaring thing Sunset saw was what confirmed her fears. Her inhibitor collar was gone.
"Erika, what did-" Sunset stuttered with a look of dread. If the police manage to get in here, there'd surely be trouble for Erika.
"You're just in time to celebrate," said Erika with a smile. Sunset looked at her in confusion.
"I don't understand," said Sunset. Erika slightly grunted, but sighed in relief. From behind her back emerged two tendrils. They bore rose colored sealed petals. Sunset bore a look of shock as they opened up, revealing flower heads with a mix of butter yellow and pink pattered petals. The tendrils bore an orange bio-luminescence running along them.
"Oh my gosh," said Sunset breathlessly. Erika was grinning. Her face ached from having just express joy after what felt like an eternity of sadness.
"Beautiful, isn't it? Last night, I learned that I was much closer to nature than ever before," said Erika as she raised her hand. A trough of plant life moved and grew, blooming new flowers.
"I can increase the growth of plants via nutrients shared from my body," said Erika as thin vines from her arm attached to soil of an empty trough, which soon led to vegetables to slowly grow from the soil.
"My blood can feed and change the plants, and they can do what I want them to," said Erika as she clenched her hand, causing nearby plants to move and sway. Sunset watched in awe, but in the back of her mind a troubling thought nagged her.
"Erika, this is bad," said Sunset. Erika looked at her in confusion and disappointment.
"How? I can do so much! Just think! I could increase vegetation, create a new Eden on Earth! No one would go hungry!" said Erika as she picked up a wilted flower.
"I can even restore the plant life lost," said Erika as vines from her hand wrapped around the roots of the flower. The flower soon regained color and stood tall.
"I thought I was cursed, but I believe that I was blessed! Blessed to be a Transmutant to help our world!" said Erika as she planted the flower.
"Erika, you're not even a natural Transmutant. If Gojira can suffer from growing up without an inhibitor chip, there's no telling what could happen to you. What if your behavior changes are more severe?" asked Sunset worriedly. Erika scoffed as vine whip-like tendrils shot out of her back and form tree trunk structures. They planted themselves onto the ground and carried Erika over to another row plants. The trunks stepped over and lowered the teen back to the ground.
"Ridiculous," said Erika. She suddenly whipped her head to the side. Her sight was locked on a rat creeping through the greenhouse. Erika's left flower tendril suddenly revealed a gaping mouth, filled thorns as teeth and dripped a yellow fluid. The tendril zipped across the room and clamped down on the rat. Sunset cupped her mouth in shock, suppressing a scream. The tendril returned with a bloody mouth. The mouth was like a Venus fly trap, but structured almost like a serpent. Erika's expression was cold, as well as her reptilian eyes.
"E-Erika, you may be getting worse," said Sunset, shakily.
"Your mutation could be affecting your mind. The human part of you is clearly being suppressed. I think you should talk to your father and fix your collar," said Sunset.
"I'm done talking to that bastard!" shouted Erika, as a tendril slammed onto a table, startling Sunset. Erika panted as she fumed. The tendril trunks carried her around the green house.
"You don't get it. That man has left me alone when I've needed him the most. Now that I'm not dying, he has no time for his daughter. For once, I don't feel like a monster. I feel like I matter," said Erika softly.
"Erika, you're not a monster. And you’ve always mattered. Please, I just don't want my best friend hurt," said Sunset. Erika's expression softened as she faced away. Then, memories of her time in school after her mutation returned. The ostracism and the bullying all plagued her mind. All of those memories, the looks of disdain, and the feeling of isolation drove the girl to tears. Her eye twitched as her skin grew leathery.
"No! You're just like the rest of them!" growled Erika.
"Erika, you know that's not true!" cried Sunset. Erika clutched her head as she felt it throb. She grunted in pain and cried out in despair. She kept hearing voices. The voices of those that she thought cared about her. Erika whimpered as she heard shouts from her classmates and the people at church. The voices called her 'freak', 'demon', and ‘monster’.
"Shut up! Shut up!" cried Erika as she dropped to her knees. Sunset lowered herself to her and held her close.
"It's OK, Erika. I'm right here. I'm not leaving you again," said Sunset. Erika wept as she felt her friend's warm embrace. However, she felt dread creeping on her.
"No, that's a lie! You're just going to abandon me like the others!" cried Erika as she attempted to pull away. Sunset held her tighter, fighting off her own tears.
"No, I won't!" said Sunset.
"Liar!" cried Erika as she pushed Sunset away. Erika's adrenaline had spiked. All of the anxiety and fear that she felt drove her heart to race. All of the things that Sunset said and promised were just too good to be true. She felt her body ache and her mind losing rational thought. She could feel herself losing her thoughts, giving into primal fear and anger. Anger for the pain she felt.
"E-Erika?" Sunset reached out for the girl, however Erika shot up as her jaw split. Sunset screamed in fright as she recoiled. Erika hissed as her eyes became reptilian. Vines from her legs buried into the ground, and whip tendrils grew from her back, as both flower tendrils opened their mouths, hissing.
Erika's tendrils flung Sunset across the room, who scream until she crashed into the ground. She groaned as she got up. Her eyes widened as Erika made her way to a barricaded door. Sunset knew she couldn't let her out. Not like this. She shot up to her feet and forced her hand forward, launching a magic bolt. Erika was nearly struck as it hit a wall. She turned in shock, as Sunset was rushing towards her. Sunset swung a sparking magic whip at Erika, catching her arm and yanking her towards her.
"If you want to leave, you'll have to go through me!" said Sunset. Erika grunted as she yanked her arm back, causing Sunset to stumble. She then rammed her shoulder against her, knocking Sunset back. A vine tendril swung at Sunset, but was blocked by a magical shield projected by the red haired teen. Sunset yelled as she fired multiple bolts at Erika, who dodged with super human agility. A flytrap tendril lunged from her back and into Sunset's path. The vine missed as Sunset quickly stepped back, but the jaws continued to snap at her. Sunset caught a pipe on the ground and swung it against the flytrap head, smashing it. Erika shrieked in pain and retracted the tendril. She sent the remaining fly trap tendril, which was sliced by a magic beam by Sunset. Erika seethed in pain and anger.
"Leave!!" screamed Erika, her voice straining as she rushed towards Sunset. Sharp thorn claws drew out of her hands as her forearm turned plant-like. Erika slashed the air, missing Sunset by but a hair.
"Erika you need help!" said Sunset as she swung her magic whip, causing Erika to cry out in pain from each strike. Erika retreated as her jaw began to split. Her mouth opened wide as did her split jaw, revealing the back of her throat. She shot forth a substance of yellowish-green. It mostly got on the ground but got on Sunset's jacket. The girl yelped as the acid projectile ate away at her jacket, prompting her to quickly ditch it. Erika lunged for Sunset, kicking her in the gut and sending her flying a few feet away. Sunset clutched her stomach and wheezed from the wind being knocked out of her. Suddenly, the plants around her wrapped themselves around her, raising her up as she struggled to regain her breath.
Erika stalked towards Sunset as she began to hiss, like a beast. Sunset's eyes ran with tears as she wheezed. This must have been how Junior lost control of himself. In fact, it may have been what his father warned the others about Transmutants giving into intense negative emotions, only to devolve into savage beasts. This sight only broke Sunset's heart, knowing that she allowed this to happen.
"E-Erika... Please," Sunset coughed. Erika snarled as she began to build in muscle mass as her flesh hardened like wood. The Transmutant turned and heard loud bangs coming from the entrance of the greenhouse. Erika snarled as she began to stalk towards the entrance.
Sunset's eyes widened in alarm. She knew that if either whoever was attempting to break through if Erika left, things would get worse. She was in no state to be around people. In fact, it would end in Erika being put down. The dread of this prompted Sunset to violently tremble. She was helpless to save her friend.
"Erika!!" Sunset screamed at the top of her lungs. Her body sparked and heated. The plants holding her burst into flames. Erika turned in shock, finding a blast of flames to be spreading through the plants. Erika heard heavy creaking, resulting in her to look up and find heavy vines to be burning and losing their grip to the ceiling. Erika screeched as the vines fell over her. Sunset's eyes widened in horror.
"No!" cried Sunset. She rushed over where her friend was and found her to be lying unconsciously under the heavy vines. While she was safe from the flames due to her power, Sunset was vulnerable to the falling debris and the smoke. She was unable to lift the vines on her own and couldn't focus her levitation spell. So, Sunset embraced Erika and focused on her teleportation spell. It failed with a few flickers, but as she held Erika tighter, the two vanished from the burning greenhouse. Sunset found herself kneeling with Erika on the ground outside of the building, just down the street. Sunset stared with wide eyes as the greenhouse went up in flames. The fire engine sirens wailed in the distance. Sunset looked down at Erika's unconscious face, which began to return to normal. Sunset bit her lip in dread and uneasiness.
The air was chilling. The frosted grass blew through the late winter wind. Stinger emerged from a pile of snow, his armor covered in frost. His HUD depicted a layout of the border town that was just a few miles away. His eyes scanned the area, as did HUD. Red markers appeared, marking a couple of Revolutionaries in red.
"What's the word, bird?" asked Adrian over the COM. Stinger's HUD displayed text that read 'Forwarding Data'. The scouting that the Purist was doing drove the silent killer with anxiousness. The targets were right there at the edge of the town, unaware of being watched. Like animals, grazing in the grass as a predator stalked. It'd be easy to take them out now. The cold wouldn't be enough to slow him down.
"Scar, we have Revolutionaries guarding our path to the town. Should we look for another way around?" asked Adrian over the COM.
"No. That'd take too long. Our insiders tell me that MONARCH is going to attempt another assault. We have to be the ones that bring this stronghold down first. Public opinion needs to be in our favor," said Scar over the COM. Stinger heard the sound of a distant explosion, prompting him to look to the West. His HUD zoomed its sight to where the explosions occurred just outside of the town. Distant gunfire could be heard.
"Looks like they've started," said Adrian.
"Stinger, you're up. Do it quietly," ordered Scar. Stinger climbed out of the snow and lowered himself close to the ground. The enhancement in the suit gave him more of a boost in movement and agility. Like an arachnid, he scurried on the ground and into cover to avoid detection. The armor was frosted to the point that it practically blended in with the environment.
Stinger scurried to a building, as two Revolutionaries stood guard.
"You ever get the feeling that no one respects us? I mean bug Transmutants?" asked one of the Revolutionaries.
"That's just you. Everybody hates you. They told me. We even laughed about it!" said the second Revolutionary with a chuckle.
"We even had your rations. It was a good time," said the 2nd Revolutionary. The first glared at him and began to walk off.
"Hey, come on! Don't be like that!" said the remaining Revolutionary. The other did not so much grace him with a response. The lone Transmutant scoffed.
"So sensitive," said the Transmutant. Suddenly, he was yanked back from behind. Stinger held him close and slashed his clawed gloves against his throat. He carefully lowered the Transmutant and got low to the ground. The mechanical tail rose as Stinger scurried over to a building wall. He crawled inside, finding the 2nd Transmutant. The tail shot forward and plunged the blade into his target's back, causing him to gasp and gurgle.
The Purists advanced on foot, following gar behind Stinger as he scouted ahead to kill the Transmutants that remained behind. Alexandra and Dreadnought marched through the snow in white. The dozen of armed Purists cautiously entered the building Stinger had entered. To engage the Transmutants like this would be suicidal. Depending on the species of transformation, a single Mutie was more dangerous than a squad of soldiers. So they couldn't be too careful with an entire group of Transmutants. Luckily, most of them were West, trying to hold off MONARCH.
Adrian soared high in the sky with her flight suit. Her drone was closer to the town as she kept her distance. It provided additional eyes for Stinger should he miss any of those mutant freaks. Her HUD displayed the drone's live feed, which scanned through the buildings. A few Transmutants were detected in the general area in the buildings.
"Stinger, I've got more targets marked for death. Sending you the data," said Adrian. Shortly after, the drone spotted Stinger to be scaling up a building wall. He climbed through the building, where a Revolutionary was. Adrian saw the heat signatures of them through the building, making up their forms as white silhouettes moving through a grey background. Adrian witnessed Stinger as he stalked towards unsuspecting Transmutants. From the HUD's perspective, the silhouettes engaged in a brief struggle that ended with the mechanical tail striking the Revolutionary from behind, causing him to drop down to the ground. Stinger swiftly moved through the building, as a couple of Revolutionaries rushed up stairs.
"Stinger, two muties are coming up the stairs. They might've heard that struggle," said Adrian. Stinger offered no response as he kept running. He then scaled the wall and stuck to the ceiling, hiding near a doorway. The Revolutionaries had made their way onto the same floor and began to search. One of them noticed the dead Revolutionary on the ground and investigated. Stinger crawled across the ceiling as the Revolutionaries It was unnerving to watch as Stinger lunged for the first distracted Transmutant, slashing him with the bladed tip of the tail. The remaining Revolutionary whipped around and fired multiple shots at him. Due to her altitude, Adrian was unable to hear the gunfire.
Stinger raised the mechanical tail as the bullets struck his armor. The end of the tail heated up and launched a bright white streak that flashed heat around the room, hiding the room from the HUD. The brightness quickly died down, and the last thing that Adrian saw was the Revolutionary's upper body fall from its lower half to the ground. Stinger scurried out of the room, leaving the carnage behind.
"Jesus," said Adrian to herself. Seeing this man in action was terrifying. It was more like watching a ruthless animal attacking rather than a human.
The Purists continued their advance to the strong hold as Stinger eliminated Revolutionaries that stood guard. Dreadnought led the squad to cover, as Stinger continued to scout ahead to a mansion in the middle of the town. Dreadnought drew out a bag and revealed explosives to be packed inside. He pointed to the hole that was located just at the base of the structure, showing signs of a basement.
"Plant the explosives in the basement. We need to bring the whole thing down," said Dreadnought, pointing to mansion that made up the strong hold. A few Purists each took an explosive and rushed down the street and towards the mansion. They passed the destroyed fence and made their way through the yard. They hid by the side of the building and peeked through the destroyed basement wall. They squeezed themselves through the hole, cutting themselves from the broken glass and dropping down into the cold and dark basement, before finding key points of the basement that would suffer the most damage from the explosives.
Meanwhile, Stinger was scaling the walls of the mansion. At certain points, he planted explosives onto the walls. If these explosives weren't enough to bring the building down, it'd at least bring chaos inside for the Revolutionaries. As Stinger planted an explosive on the roof, he noticed a glass ceiling. He peeked over, finding a large number of Revolutionaries inside, running about as they moved supplies. A Transmutant bearing wild and a reddish blonde hair stood over a table where a radio was.
"We haven't secured the object yet! MONARCH will be at our door soon!" said the Transmutant.
"I will not tolerate failure, Gabara! That object will mean the difference between survival and death! MONARCH cannot get their hands on it!" said a voice urgently over the radio. Gabara grunted in frustration.
"Alright, Destoroyah. We'll load it up onto the truck as soon as possible. We'll have to abandon everything else though," said Gabara.
"I can afford to lose a few supplies over that thing! Now get moving!" said the voice over the radio. Gabara sighed as he popped his neck.
"Alright, boys! Pick up the pace! The boys in black will be knocking on our door soon! I want that thing secured to the getaway vehicle pronto!" said Gabara. Suddenly, explosions began to erupt from the ground. Revolutionaries were blown away by the explosions. Limbs flew around as did bodies. Cries of agony echoed out from the explosion. Gabara shot his head up and found the walls and ceiling to be exploding. The debris from the building began to fall upon the scattering Transmutants. He evaded the debris with a snarl as he looked up. He spotted a metallic figure to be leaping across the destroyed roof, prompting him to give a dark chuckle.
"This should be fun," said Gabara.
From a breached wall in the mansion, the Purists rushed in and fired upon the disoriented Transmutants. Dreadnought raised his cybernetic arm, which moved its parts to reveal a gun barrel. The arm began to fire, causing a bit of kickback to the arm, but Dreadnought fired enough weapons to keep himself standing and his aim as accurate as possible. Each shot was single, rather than the automatic fire rate that Dreadnought preferred. However, each shot carried enough power to knock a Revolutionary down in one hit.
"Get the object out of here! The rest of us will hold out!" said Gabara as he shoved a Revolutionary back. He turned as the Purists engaged the Revolutionaries in a fire fight. Because of how tight the battle was and the bullets that came their way, no Revolutionary dared to transform to leave themselves vulnerable. Gabara's arms sparked with blue electricity. A wicked smile appeared on his face as his body sparked. He rushed through the hail of bullets, shielded by the electricity that deflected the coming bullets. Gabara lunged for the first Purist he saw and sent a sparking punch across his face. The human died as he dropped to the ground, his face covered in burns from the shock as his heart immediately stopped. Gabara's speed was amplified by the energy that came from the electricity, which also distorted his appearance to the eyes of those around. He appeared in front of his foes in flashes. When he was in someone's sight, it was already too late. His strikes came with an immediate deadly blow, if not an incapacitating one.
Alexandra and Dreadnought had both back edaway as did a couple of closer Purists as the rest were getting slaughtered by Gabara. Alexandra began to exclaim in panic as she held a hand against her helmet.
"Uh guys! This mutie here can make electricity and now he's killing us!" cried Alexandra. A purist rushed ahead, armed with a Quake Cannon. He aimed at the electric Transmutant and fired. Despite his speed, the blast from the weapon managed to put Gabara at a halt. The Transmutant was blown off of his feet as a couple of more blasts were sent his way. His body sparked much more intensely, casting a bright light around the room. He forced his hands forward, sending a stream of electricity towards the Purists. Alexandra yelped as she raised her arms, her gauntlets projecting a hard-light shield. Some of the Purists were caught in the stream, but Alexandra was fortunate enough that her shield deflected the bolts. She stumbled back as Dreadnought raised his hand and fired at the Transmutant, who began to strafe from side to side, leaving trails of electricity in his steps. He began to advance to the remaining Purists, as the rest of the Revolutionaries fell back. As Gabara came closer, a laser beam struck in his path, prompting him to stop. He turned his head and found Stinger to be clinging to a wall, with his tail humming. He dropped down to the ground and raised his gauntlets, which fired several bullets in a rapid burst. Gabara's body began to project a high concentration of electricity that his body was engulfed in it. The bullets were destroyed before they could breech his flesh underneath the coat.
Stinger charged towards the Transmutant as Gabara's body gave off smoke. He attempted to send another stream of electricity but all that came out was a spark. He cursed as Stinger was already inches from him. Stinger kicked him in the chest, causing the Revolutionary to stagger. The Purist proceeded to send multiple punches into his chest and a few jabs into his face to reduce his repeated strikes. Before Gabara could strike him, Stinger ducked down and spun, swinging his mechanical tail at the Revolutionary. Gabara grunted as he fell back and rolled along the ground. His irises turned to slits and his irises became reptilian.
"Hey, we have Revolutionaries taking off in a truck! Looks like they've got something big in the back!" said Adrian over the COM. Dreadnought brought a hand over his ear.
"Then stop them! If they got something good, then Crimson might be pleased! We'll be out there to offer support!" said Dreadnought as he stuck a magazine into the side of his mechanical arm.
"Pull back! We got a truck to pursue!" said Dreadnought as he began to retreat with a few remaining Purists. Alexandra looked at him incredulously.
"But what about Stinger?!" asked Alexandra. Stinger lunged for Gabara, who kicked his foot into his gut, knocking him back. The Transmutant shot up to his feet and tackled Stinger to the ground. He laughed psychotically as he punched the Purist, denting his helmet and cracking his visor. Stinger's tail raised itself and jabbed Gabara in the shoulder, causing him to cry out in agony. The Purist then punched him in the side of the head, disorienting the Transmutant and causing him to stumble off. Stinger got up to his feet, visibly panting under his armor.
"That psycho can handle himself!" said Dreadnought as he led the rest of the Purists out of the mansion. Truthfully, he hoped that guy would get fried by that Transmutant that he was squaring off on his own.
As the Purists fled, Alexandra stayed behind and looked back to Stinger and Gabara, who were still fighting each other. Both were moving quicker than she could process, dealing heavy blows to each other. If not for the armor, Stinger likely would be down in seconds. The woman sighed in exasperation as she found the rest of the Purists to be gone.
"So much for a quick mission!" said Alexandra as her gauntlet projected a hard-light blade. She rushed towards the brawling two. As Gabara was about to lunge for Stinger, Alexandra got in his path and swung her blade. Gabara stopped with an annoyed look.
"You're in the way!" roared Gabara as he slashed his newly sprouted claws towards the Purist. Alexandra raised her blade to block the strike, but Gabara grabbed the solid light of the blade. He forced Alexandra close to himself, but was met with a punch to his jaw.
"Ah damn it!" cried Alexandra as she waved her aching fist. Gabara laughed as he held the blade and swung Alexandra across the room, causing her to slam into a pile of rubble. She grunted in pain as she sat herself up and gasped as Gabara lunged for her. Before he could land on her, Stinger's tail swung through the air and slammed into the Transmutant's gut. He was sent crashing onto a table, causing it to collapse and crumble to the ground. Alexandra struggled up to her feet as Stinger staggered up to his feet with his visor bearing a large crack. His tail raised as it hummed, warming up the laser. He was about to fire the laser, but Gabara tossed a large stone at the Purist, striking the tail and causing the tip to spark. It then exploded, resulting in Stinger to drop to his knees from the small blast that was close his head. Gabara laughed as he charged towards Stinger.
Alexandra quickly raised her arms, firing hard light rounds towards the Transmutant. Gabara grunted as he was struck by some of the bolts, but strafed with his body to be slightly sparking. As Alexandra fired multiple shots at the Revolutionary, Gabara evaded by sliding under the shots and struck her in the gut. Alexandra had the wind knocked out of her from the strike, causing her to stagger back and hunch over. Gabara chuckled as he stood up straight, walking towards his foe with a dark smile.
"Well lookie here! The Purists have got some nice toys!" said Gabara as he approached. Stinger crawled on the ground and attempted to stand, but was kicked back down by Gabara.
"Relax yourself, kid. You're next," said Gabara as he walked on. Alexandra wheezed as she weakly swung her fist at him, but Gabara merely pushed her fist to the side as it came his way. He then shoved the Purist onto the ground. Gabara reached for her helmet and removed it. Alexandra panted with a look of panic. The Transmutant sighed.
"Something about the look of fear on my victims' face in their last moments brings me satisfaction," said Gabara as he grabbed Alexandra's cheeks, who trembled in fear.
"Especially on the face of a young woman. It gives me a rush," said Gabara as he squeezed Alexandra's cheeks. He then raised another hand as it began to slightly spark.
"I've built up enough charge for my favorite game. It's called, 'endurance'," said Gabara with a chuckle. He began to bring his hand close to Alexandra, who thrashed under him as Gabara rested his knee onto her gut.
"Fuck you, Mutie!" yelled Alexandra.
"Ah shut up! Open wide bitch, here I come!" laughed Gabara as squeezed Alexandra's cheeks to force her lips to open. He brought his sparking hand to her mouth as she continued to cry out. Stinger raised his head as his HUD grew static. He was about to stand but heard the sound of what seemed to be a jet or a missile. He raised his head as it grew louder. Suddenly, the roof to the mansion exploded. Gabara released Alexandra with a flinch and turned to the roof. From above, a figure dropped down. The figure landed in the middle of the room, with rubble falling around it. Gabara's eyes widened as the figure was revealed from the smoke.
What stood was a humanoid figure that stood to be seven feet. It bore a face like a mask of samurai, with a grin. It also bore a fin-like structure on the head. A blue visor shone through the dark room, glowing brightly. The figure bore a masculine figure with heavy armor plating. Beneath the armor were wires and the gears of the endoskeleton of this metal man. The armor was silver, with yellow and orange in color. The machine bore a bit of gruff build, with a glowing center on its chest that hummed. It also bore thick gauntlets that hid the hands of the machine, bearing triple gun barrels on each gauntlet. On the right shoulder plate, the mech bore the MONARCH insignia.The mech got into a fighter stance, causing the center of its chest to hum louder as it spun.
"The hell?" asked Gabara. The mech suddenly raised crouched as the back of it revealed a pair of thrusters, causing it to take off into the air. The mech flew towards the Transmutant and slammed into him. The two flew through the room and crashed into a wall. Gabara laughed as he coughed up blood.
"I guess your makers aren't too far behind, huh?" asked Gabara as the mech raised its fist. It began to send strong punches towards the Transmutants. Alexandra panted as she got up, watching the mech senselessly beat the Revolutionary. She heard a groan, turning to find Stinger to be struggling to stand. She rushed to his side and helped him up to his feet. With his arm over her shoulders, she began to walk with him.
"Let's leave those to go at it, huh?" suggested Alexandra as Stinger slightly nodded.
The mech continued to beat Gabara and then threw him across the room. The Transmutant snarled as his body began to morph and change. His skin became leathery and his muscles grew in mass. His hair grew and his face developed into a muzzle with fangs. He tore through his clothes as he developed bumpy scales and a horn upon his head. He changed into a bipedal reptilian beast with long strong arms and legs. It was like no other creature ever seen. It bore a human and somewhat ape-like stature but with scales. The creature almost resembled an Oni, a yokai of Neighponese lore. Gabara stood to be nine feet tall.
Gabara gave a cry that sounded like a mix of deep laughs and grunts. His yellow orange eyes glared at the mech, who raised its hand and gestured for the Transmutant to come at it. This only enraged Gabara, prompting him to run as his horn sparked as did his arms. He swung a fist at the mech, but missed as the robot countered with two quick jabs to the ribs. Gabara retaliated with a punch and missed again as the mech stepped back, who delivered a round house kick to Gabara's head. The Transmutant stumbled as he grabbed a piece of rubble and struck the mech with it. The mech blocked the strike with its arm, but stumbled and was met with a kick to the gut. As the mech staggered, its HUD informed it of its damaged arm from the debris.
Meanwhile just miles away from the mansion, MONARCH had advanced into the town with soldiers and vehicles. At the mobile base just miles further from the fight, the commanding officer in charge of the operation stood as he focused on a screen. The screen depicted the mech and Gabara fighting each other, where their punches and kicks collided. A man stood with a headgear on with a visor, feeding him the perspective of the mech. He was dressed in a suit that captured his own movements and translated it to the mech. He was attached to harnesses and a stage that mimicked the motion of the mech, albeit not as intensely.
"Make him fight! Do not let Jet Jaguar go down! Make him fight!" ordered the C.O.
The pilot merely grunted as he forced his head forward, causing the mech to headbutt Gabara off of it.
Meanwhile, Adrian was soaring above the air. She flew over the getaway truck and dropped explosive pellets in front, causing the tires to explode. The vehicle swerved and crashed into a building. Adrian soared around, finding multiple Revolutionaries to be hopping out of the truck. They began to fire their guns at her, which Adrian avoided by making a hard turn in the air. As her drone footage showed that they had run out of ammo from their shooting, she flew back towards them. She drew out her automatic pistols out as she flew towards them and fired. A couple of the Revolutionaries dropped dead from the shots while the last couple was wounded. Adrian placed her pistols back and quickly held onto the handles to her wings. Her jets cut off from her back as she raised her feet up, where the clawed boots were exposed. She caught both Revolutionaries in the heads, pining them down on the ground with her momentum and the weight of her wings. Adrian then reignited her boots and dragged the two across the snow. She then released them and planted her feet onto the ground, the boots anchoring her to allow herself to safely cut off ignition to her pack. Adrian raised her wings as the blades attached extended. As the Transmutants stood up, the Purists approached and slashed them with her wings, resulting in them to drop dead. Adrian bore a hard expression as the wings retracted. She drew out a gun and carefully made her way towards the back of the truck. She removed the tarp covering and bore a shocked look.
"What the hell?" asked Adrian incredulously.
"Hey, we need backup! An evac! Or something!" said Alexandra over the COM. Adrienne cursed under her breath.
"What's your status?" asked Adrian.
"Well we got the shit kicked out of us by that mutie when these other fuck heads ditched me and Stinger! He's not looking too good, by the way!" said Alexandra urgently.
"Just get to safety! MONARCH is advancing faster than we thought! Dreadnought, the truck is secure. Get our escape vehicles down here to pick it up this thing inside! I'll pick up Stinger and Alexandra myself!" said Adrienne as she took off into the air.
Meanwhile with Jet Jaguar, the fight continued. Gabara sent electric punches that caused much more damage onto the mech. It raised its gauntlets as the gun barrels glowed. Beams of plasma fired and struck the Transmutant, who screeched as he flew towards the wall. He quickly got up and cast electricity. Jet Jaguar fired another beam of plasma. Both streams collided and sparked intensely. This resulted in an explosion that blew both away. Jet Jaguar staggered up to its feet and found Gabara to jumping onto the walls and climbing out to the roof. Gabara cried out as he leaped off of the building and proceeded to flee from the mansion, leaving Jet Jaguar heavily damaged. It sparked as it struggled to stand.
Junior was sitting with Rodan and Mosura as the Main 6 honed their abilities. Junior bore a stoic look as he stared at Rodan.
"There's something fishy with Antartica," said Junior. Rodan raised a brow.
"What do you mean?" asked Rodan.
"Well, you can't go there and all of the nations on the planet agreed not to colonize or do anything with it. It's politically neutral. Something's wrong there," said Junior. Mosura merely sat by the two, looking back and forth at them
"What? Sure you can go there! Can't people go there on cruises?" asked Rodan in confusion.
"They can't go on shore. And expeditions that allow going on shore have never really gone beyond. Commercial flights can't even fly over Antarctica," said Junior. Mosura raised a brow.
"Well you can't refuel anywhere there. If they crash, they'd be screwed," said Rodan with a shrug.
"But that doesn't make sense. What are the odds of plane crashes? Besides, planes have flown miles over the damn ocean, Ro," said Junior.
"Point taken, but maybe it has to do with not disturbing the wildlife," said Rodan.
"Then why are there flights over the Amazon rainforest?" deadpanned Junior. Rodan was about to retort but hummed in thought. Mosura kept watching in silence. To her, this all seemed to be silly and pointless to think about, but she couldn't turn away. There was something fascinating about this conversation that she couldn't put her finger on. Or perhaps she enjoyed watching these guys play around with ideas.
"Dude, I haven't even thought of that. Man, what the hell is up with Antarctica? I can't look at Happy Feet the same way again," said Rodan.
"I bet the government is hiding something there. Like secret bases or even lost civilizations," said Junior.
"Man, that'd be cool," said Rodan with a grin. "What if they're hiding like some kind of satanic dragon or something?"
"It could be anything," said Junior with a shrug.
"Do you guys normally have conversations like this?" asked Mosura with a raised brow.
"Yeah, I find conspiracy theories fascinating. I mean I don't believe in all of them but they're kind of fun to think about," said Junior as he sat up.
"Hello?!" called a distant voice. Junior's ears perked as he began to look around.
"Did you guys hear that?" asked Rainbow, turning around.
"That sounded like Sunset," said Applejack as she and the rest of the teens turned. They found Sunset Shimmer to be carrying Erika over her shoulders, panting.
"Help!" cried Sunset in desperation.
"Oh no!" exclaimed Rarity in shock. The teens all rushed over to help Sunset lower Erika onto the ground.
"What happened?!" cried Pinkie. Sunset was panting, appearing distraught. She grabbed Junior's arm.
"Where's your dad?!" asked Sunset frantically.
"My dad? Why-" Junior was interrupted as the girl squeezed her arm. A panicked look was on her face.
"Gojira, please! He's the only one that I know who can keep them from taking Erika away!" cried Sunset. Junior's eyes slightly widened. He noticed that Erika's neck was bare, devoid of the collar. He shot up to his feet in a blink of an eye.
"I'll be back with him!" said Junior as he ran off, leaving the rest of teens behind.
Later, Senior stood with Kumonga, Manda, Baragon, and the teens, though Sunset sat by Erika's side, who lied in a cot. Senior sighed as he scratched his head.
"I was afraid of this," said Senior.
"Boss, come on. It's not your fault," said Baragon.
"It is. I'm the reason she's in this state," said Senior. The teens looked on in confusion.
"Wait, why are you blaming yourself for this, Mr. Takeshi?" asked Twilight.
"The child was ill. Her father wanted my blood to develop a cure, given my unique genome. I foolishly did, but only to save his daughter. No other serum was allowed to be made," said Senior. Junior bore an incredulous look as Sunset glanced back, overhearing the conversation.
"The cure came from you?" asked Junior.
"It did. But I've dreaded that she'd pick up on our traits. I hoped Genshiro just gave her the ability to produce the immune system of our level. But now I see it's gone beyond that," said Senior as he glanced at the unconscious girl.
"But why forbid Dr. Shiragami from producing more of the serum? He could've perfected it and maybe reverse what's happened to Erika," said Twilight.
"I could have. But he worked for GeneCo, a company developing anti-Transmutant assets for MONARCH. It was technology that was being stolen by the Purists. If they had my blood in particular, they'd surely weaponize it," said Senior. Junior's eyes widened as he heard this. He thought back to what Inoue had told him prior. A new super soldier program in MONARCH's military. That couldn't have been a coincidence.
"If we can't change her back, what do we do?" muttered Sunset.
"We'll keep an eye on her. Right now, she's not stable to be near the populace," said Kumonga. Sunset gritted her teeth at this.
"Not to mention the mental stress of the poor girl being bullied," said Manda with a deep frown. Baragon crossed his arms.
"Maybe she wouldn't be so bad if she had some friends to tell her to buck up. How much comfort did any of you punks bring?" asked Baragon. Sunset glared at him angrily.
"I did my-" Sunset cut herself up. She turned away as she held in her tears. If she were honest, there may have been more that she could have done to keep Erika from falling into such a dark place.
Amber came fluttering over to Junior and landed on his shoulder.
"Perhaps now would be a good time to end our weekend of training. You're all free to go home if you wish," said Amber. The teens were reluctant to leave after learning this new information laid out to them.
"I'm not leaving," said Sunset. Senior sighed to himself. Junior felt his phone vibrate in his pocket, prompting him to answer it. A text was on the screen, from his mother.
"Shit. Mom's sick," said Junior. He looked over to Erika and Sunset, reluctant to leave.
"Head home and check on her. I'll be home tomorrow," said Senior.
"But..." Junior was about to protest. Twilight's phone buzzed, prompting her to look at it.
"Geez. My parents want me home early to look after my little brother," said Twilight to herself.
"Mine want me home now too," said Rarity.
"Guys, if you have to go, then go. We'll be fine," said Sunset. The teens looked to each other, unsure of how to respond.
"Well... I guess I'll see you guys tomorrow at school," said Rainbow as she began to leave. One by one, the teens began to leave. Junior, Mosura and Fluttershy remained, as Sunset sat at Erika's side. Senior placed a hand on Junior's shoulder.
"Come. We should give her time alone," said Senior. The remaining teens began to leave, looking back to find Sunset alone with Erika, as the rest of the Guardians went about their own business.
Junior found himself at the store. With him were Fluttershy and Mosura. The teens gathered some groceries that would be used to assist in Miwa's recovery, while Senior kept her company. The events of earlier weighed heavily on the teens, especially Junior. He didn't know what state that Erika could be in when she wakes up. From what Sunset described, it did not inspire confidence in him. It unnerved Junior to know that someone as nice and seemingly a good person like Erika could flip into something that went against his view of her. Obviously, Sunset handled it harder than everyone else, given how close the two were. While the teens gathered soup and a 2 liter bottle of sprite, Mosura sighed.
"You think she'll be OK?" asked Mosura.
"Depends on Erika," said Junior, his neutral expression masked his worry. Dreading over the situation was only going to bring stress. The only thing to do was wait and stand by. As the teens moved along the aisles, they found Maud and Pinkie Pie to be by the milk section. Pinkie immediately greeted them with a smile.
"I didn't expect to see you guys so soon!" said Pinkie.
"Funny. Hey, Maud," greeted Junior.
"Hello," greeted Maud in her usual monotone voice.
"So where's your dad?" asked Pinkie curiously.
"At home with mom. We're just getting some soup and stuff for her since she's sick," answered Junior.
"Aw. Being sick can be a bummer. I can make your mom a get well cake!" said Pinkie.
"That wouldn't help in her recovery, but thanks," said Junior. Maud looked hesitant to speak up but cleared her throat.
"Mosura, have you heard from Battra?" asked Maud.
"Not yet. But I've sent a letter recently. Those bases don't seem to give people a lot of access to the outside world," said Mosura. Maud bore a small look of disappointment.
"So you two really hit it off," said Mosura with a smirk. Maud blushed as she looked away.
"Aw don't be shy about it, big sis! That's Fluttershy's thing!" said Pinkie as she wrapped an arm around Maud. Fluttershy rolled her eyes and met Maud with a smile.
"So is it true? What brought this on?" asked Fluttershy.
"He's nice..." said Maud.
"That's it?" asked Junior in confusion. Maud nodded.
"It's enough for me," said Maud.
"OK. I mean, that's important, right?" said Junior with a shrug.
"It's just... he doesn't judge me. Even if I'm blunt with my words without thinking how some may interpret them," said Maud. Junior's expression softened.
"I take it you had a hard time making friends as a kid," said Junior. Maud nodded.
"Being on the spectrum comes with its own challenges when it comes to interaction," said Maud. Junior raised a brow.
"The spectrum? You mean you're..." Junior's voice trailed off.
'Ah shit. What's the PC term? Something typical? Fuck it.' Thought Junior.
"As in, 'autistic', on the spectrum?" asked Junior. Maud slightly shrunk.
"Yeah, so what?" questioned Pinkie with her eyes narrowed. She pointed to herself.
"So am I! It runs in the family!" said Pinkie.
"Really? Actually, it makes sense in your case"," said Junior as he scratched his head. Pinkie glared at him.
"Hey!" said Pinkie.
"What? It just explains a lot. It's all I'm saying," said Junior with a shrug. Pinkie seemed to relax a bit, quickly placing on a smile.
"Anyway, please let me know if you hear back from Battra," said Maud as she began to walk off. Pinkie moaned in disappointment as her sister left.
"We're leaving already?" asked Pinkie.
"You've spent the whole weekend with them, didn't you? You'll see them at school." Maud simply replied as the two girls left. Junior scratched his head but winced as he realized that he was scratching himself with his left clawed hand.
"Dammit! I keep cutting myself!" said Junior as he rubbed his head. He then groaned in annoyance as he looked at his sleeve.
"And of course, I've torn my sleeve," said Junior. Fluttershy looked at his reptilian hand in thought.
"Maybe we can solve that at home," said Fluttershy with a smile.
Junior sat at the kitchen table. He bore a quizzical look as Fluttershy presented a nail file to him. Mosura was cooking the soup for Miwa at the stove.
"If you regularly file your claws, you may not cut yourself so often," Fluttershy as she took Junior's reptilian hand. She began to run the file against the sharp claws of the Transmutant. She then gasped as the emery board file was damaged by the claws.
"Whoops," said Junior sheepishly.
"Try metal," said Mosura, looking back at the two. Fluttershy reached into a bag and began to search. A smile appeared as she drew out a metal nail file.
"Alright, second try," said Fluttershy as she ran the file on the claws. She bore a please look as there was debris falling on the table. Then, her eyes widened as she found that it was metal from the file being scrapped off.
"No way!" said Fluttershy incredulously. Mosura looked back in shock.
"Just what are those things made of?!" asked Mosura. Her face bore a grimace.
"Gojira, I'm now scared that you might cut an artery from scratching," said Mosura. Fluttershy's face bore a look of alarm.
"I'm not gonna cut an artery. Besides, I don't scratch that hard," said Junior.
"Well it is a problem. You'll ruin your clothes because of those claws," said Fluttershy. Junior sighed in annoyance.
"If it's not growth it's something else," said Junior.
"Why not ask Rarity to fix your sleeve?" asked Mosura.
"No, it's fine. Just a couple of tears in the wrist," said Junior dismissively.
"It is not fine! You gotta make yourself look more presentable!" said Mosura with a hand on her hip. Junior rolled his eyes in response.
"Whatever you say, mom," said Junior.
It was just the late afternoon. The Purists had returned from the Northern border. Scar stood among Adrian, Alexandra, Stinger, and Dreadnought. They were in an empty room, where they had brought the package that the Revolutionaries were keen on escaping with.
"So what the hell is it?" asked Adrian. Before them was an object the size of a refrigerator. It was a dull grey in color, decorated with lights on the sides and segmented plates that exposed some wiring.
"Looks like a bomb or something," said Adrian with an analytical look.
"You think it's worth something?" asked Dreadnought.
"Not in the same way you're thinking," said Scar as he approached the object. He found a panel to be present on the side. He brought his hand over to it, which then began to hum as the panel slide open.
"Interesting," said Scar, finding a keyboard of sorts. It was decorated with octagonal keys, with unfamiliar characters on each key. A violet screen flickered to life, with an image of a spherical object to appear.
"Whatever this thing is, no one is to come near it," said Scar, pulling his hand from the panel. The panel suddenly closed and the humming died down.
"Until Crimson gives us an order regarding it, forget this thing exists. Is that understood?" asked Scar. The Purists, excluding Stinger, gave verbal responses. The Purists began to leave the room, where lights shut off and left the object to softly glow in the dark. As the Purists left, Stinger hung back behind the group and turned to a separate hall. He drew out a phone and began to text.
'Package is secured', read the text. Stinger sent the message and waited for the device to confirm the text being sent. Stinger heard footsteps approaching from behind, prompting him to quickly put the phone away and turn to find Alexandra.
"Sorry, did I startle you?" asked Alexandra with a nervous smile. Stinger merely held a neutral expression, silent.
"Guess not. Listen, thanks for the backup. I mean I know I technically backed you up first while everyone else bailed. But thanks for not ditching me," said Alexandra with an awkward laugh. Stinger just sent a nod and proceeded to walk off. Alexandra sighed.
"Nice talking to you, too," said Alexandra to herself.
It was the late afternoon. The sun was beginning to set over the mountains. Sunset remained to be seated right next to Erika's side. The girl still had not regain consciousness. Sunset's eyes grew heavy as she began to doze off, but would slightly jump up to keep herself awake. But she would continue to doze. Sunset flinched as she felt a hand on her shoulder. She turned and found Gojira Senior to be standing by her. Sunset had nearly mistaken him for Junior. Their resemblance was uncanny.
"Head home and rest, child," said Senior.
"I can't. I need to be here for her," said Sunset as she turned back to Erika.
"There's nothing you can do for her right now. She needs rest, as do you. Besides, it's a school night, is it not?" asked Senior.
"What're you? My dad now?" asked Sunset sarcastically. She winced as she processed what she had just said.
"I'm sorry, Mr. Takeshi. That was disrespectful," said Sunset as she lowered her head.
"I know of your woes, Sunset. But you'll only harm yourself by stressing over things you can't control. You must be strong," said Senior.
"But how? How can I be strong when I was too weak to save my friend?" asked Sunset.
"Sunset, we can't save people on our own. We can show them the way out, but it is up to them to make that journey," said Senior as he knelt next to Sunset.
"To be strong, you have to be willing to make hard decisions. That includes allowing people to choose their own path. Even if one path leads to darkness," said Senior as he locked eyes with Sunset. The girl wiped a tear from her eye and sniffled.
"Have faith. We'll look after her," said Senior as he stood.
"Hey, how's your wife by the way?" asked Sunset.
"She's fine. She just has nausea. I'll be home to check on her in the morning," said Senior. Sunset slightly nodded.
"That's good," said Sunset. She stood up and took one last at Erika. Her lips tightened as she sniffled. Sunset reluctantly turned and began to leave the Guardians' lair.
Late that night, most of the Guardians were sleeping. Those who were still awake just occupied themselves with either a book, personal music played through ear sets, or keeping guard of the lair. Baragon snored as he lied sprawled on his cot, while Manda sat nearby with a book in her hand, a grimace on her face. She carefully reached for Baragon's nose and pinched it. Baragon grunted and opened his mouth, breathing softly. Manda sighed in relief as Baragon silently slept. She then noticed Amber to be fluttering through the lair. She found the fairy to be landing on Erika, who remained unconscious.
Amber crawled across Erika and onto her belly.
'Ugh. That's better. Gojira's tossing and turning will be the death of me,' thought Amber as she began to make herself comfortable. She then stopped as she felt something. It was a strange yet familiar presence.
Erika found herself lying on her back, staring straight up. Above her was darkness. The girl quickly shot up and began to look around. She found herself lying a flat plain that gave off a soft light. The ground seemed to give off a glowing mist and passed on into the air. Erika stood to her feet with a nervous look, finding nothing and no one in sight. There was only a flat empty plain as the only source of light around.
As Erika looked around, she found a structure to be standing in the distance. The structure was like a temple, held up by stone pillars. Erika began to make her way over to this temple, hoping she'd find someone there. Soon, the girl entered through the entrance in between the two main pillars. Erika gasped as she found a great hall, with pillars and great sculptures stood. Light shone through the temple, creating an evening-like atmosphere.
As Erika walked on, the sculptures grew clear in what they depicted. On each side of the hall were a row of many creatures. They resembled creatures like bisons, mammoths, dinosaurs, dragons, insects, and a few unfamiliar but menacing creatures. As Erika walked, a moth-like creature with long legs and great wings stood. Behind each statue was a single painting of each beast in a different setting. The moth was depicted to be perched upon a hill, with its great wings radiating with light. Erika then flinched as she bumped her foot against a stone object. Erika turned her attention forward and began to back away with wide eyes. Before her, at the end of this very hall, was a single sculpture standing taller than the others; a bipedal reptilian beast covered in jagged dorsal plates stood, looking down at her. Erika backed away from the massive sculpture, which stood to be 20 feet tall. She found a plaque to be on the base of the stand the sculpture stood on. The text read, "Lord of the Titans". The painting behind the sculpture depicted the beast standing tall, with its back and eyes glowing a neon blue.
"Erika." A voice called. Erika snapped out of her sight on the painting and looked around, tensed.
"Who's there?!" demanded Erika. Her breathing quickened as she searched the hall for the source.
"I'm here," said the voice, carrying a deep masculine tone. Erika looked around, gulping.
"Where are you?" demanded Erika. She found herself looking at all of the sculptures in the hall, looking for the source of the voice.
"I'm right here," said the voice. Erika quickly turned, finding a sculpture of a Shisa behind her. A lion-like dog creature, hunched on all fours, staring at her with red glowing eyes. Erika backed away fearfully as the glowing eyes began to turn into an ethereal mist that flowed out of the eyes and onto the ground. The mist formed into the shisa, scaled to the height of 9 feet, looking down at the girl.
"W-Who and what are you?" asked Erika, frightened by this beast.
"I am called, Caesar. We were called many things. But we are known as Titans," said Caesar.
"We?" asked Erika. Caesar nodded as he looked around the hall.
"Behold, The Hall of Titans. Guardians of the Earth," said Caesar.
"What do you want? Why am I here? And how do you know my name" demanded Erika.
"I only seek to help you. I sensed your sorrow from your soul," said Caesar, blinking his red eyes. His ethereal form began to walk away briefly, only to turn to face the girl.
"You've done things not of your way, Erika. You've allowed yourself to fall into despair and gave in to it. You would have brought pain to yourself and others. Why did you do it?" asked Caesar. Erika felt herself shrink from the question. Her heart raced as she fidgeted.
"I-It wasn't my fault! I felt trap! Like nothing I did would change anything! Spinner was right. Transmutants need to stop taking the abuse and take control," said Erika with a glare.
"Through violence? Hatred? Terror? Is that the kind of control you wish to take?" asked Caesar.
"Well- I- What other choice is there?!" cried Erika.
"Leading by example. Showing those around you how much like humans the Transmutants truly are. You reap what you sow. Fear and hate will beget violence," said Caesar. He closed his eyes briefly with a sigh.
"This Spinner serves as a tool for chaos in the world, much like others that think like him. Tell me, do you believe if you did anything close to what he does, would it solve anything despite putting lives in danger because of your hate and your abuse of power? What would your mother think?" asked Caesar. Erika glared at the apparition.
"I don't care who or what you are, but don't you dare bring her into this!" yelled Erika.
"You dishonor her by forsaking what she taught you. To be loving to your neighbor, even if they hurt you. Have you not considered the repercussions of your actions? How it affects other Transmutants? You'd only confirm their bias, young Erika," said Caesar sternly. Erika shrunk back as she lowered her head and her eyes ran with tears.
"I know! I just... I don't know who I am anymore!" sobbed Erika. Her crying echoed out through the temple.
"I just don't feel like me! I feel like this monster that just wants to lash out at everyone! I wanna hide so I won't be hurt again!" sobbed Erika. Caesar sighed.
"Erika..." called Caesar softly. The girl raised her head slightly with a sniffle.
"You cannot allow these things to change who you are. Despair is poison to the well, and kills all who drink of it. Shall I tell you a tale?" asked Caesar. Erika sniffled.
"I guess a story would be nice," said muttered Erika. Caesar nodded.
"There was a warrior. A young woman with hair that was green as the earth. She had a near fatal brush with death, and was turned into something nonhuman. She was saved by being turned into a beast. However, she was shunned by the people she once called her comrades, and she feared that some of them may turn on her. But when she was at her lowest, a fiery haired warrior woman saw past her outer shell, and saw the humanity that was always there," said Caesar. Erika stood as she visualized the story. Certain things about the story seemed too familiar.
"The moral, child, is to not dwell on what you are, but who you are," said Caesar.
"But... who am I?" asked Erika.
"Only you can answer that. If you can't grasp that, then I fear you are lost, much like the rest of your kind, who have fallen the furthest," said Caesar as he walked away. His ethereal body glowed and he dispersed into a mist, leaving Erika.
"Wait! Come back!" cried Erika.
Erika's eyes shot wide open. She found herself staring at the rocky ceiling of the cave above. She noticed that her arms and her legs had grown scraggly green vines that stuck out of her flesh, like hairs. She then winced as she felt a sting. Her eyes fell on Manda, who was kneeling next to her as she clipped vines off of her arms. Manda flinched with a start.
"Sorry! Did I wake you?" asked Manda. Erika pulled her arm back as she rubbed it with a wince. The vines itched at the base of where they sprout, like mosquito bites.
"Where am I?" asked Erika as she looked around.
"Lair of the Guardians. You were here last time, remember?" asked Manda. Erika slightly nodded.
"Your friends brought you here. In fact, Sunset didn't want to leave until you woke up. Alpha convinced her," said Manda with a smile.
"Really?" asked Erika, surprised to know her old friend remained by her side. Despite the horrible things she said and set out to do. Erika felt herself tearing.
"It must've been awful. Facing that," said Manda softly. Erika didn't have to ask what Manda meant.
"I've never felt anything like it," said Erika.
"Yeah, nothing can prepare you for people like that. Take it from me," said Manda as she placed the clippers down.
"I lived in Equestria all my life. I've been treated the same as you by people that thought Transmutants were gonna gobble them up," said Manda, giving a bitter sweet laugh.
"Freak. Mutie. Monster Girl. I was called a lot of things. And I'd cry myself to sleep," said Manda softly. Erika's expression softened.
"It got harder when I started liking boys. Not only am I pretty darn tall, but guys looked at me like I had a disease," said Manda. Erika clenched her fists.
"But... it's not like I didn't have human friends," said Manda. Erika looked at her in surprise, while Manda bore a brighter smile.
"They were few, but they meant the world to me. They didn't care what I was. Just that I was fun to be around. And I think i was. We'd play, talk, watch TV, go to the movies. Heck, one was a boy that I was crushing on too. Unfortunately, he didn't see me the same way," said Manda as she gave an embarrassed laugh. She then turned to face Erika.
"But he always told me that there'd be a guy out there that would love to be with me. And that there were people out there that were potential friends," said Manda with a smile.
"Now, obviously, you don't have boy troubles. But, I learned that you have to keep your chin up. Not everyone in this world will or has to like you. What matters are the people that stick with you, through and through," said Manda. Erika's expression grew a small smile.
"It's funny. My mother said something like that once," said Erika, though that wasn't the only thing that was familiar. Manda's more positive look felt familiar, to how her mother would find the good in everything. Manda patted the girl on the shoulder.
"Well, if you want someone to talk to, I'm here," said Manda as she made her way over to her own cot. Erika felt her vines retracting into her skin, relieving the itch she felt. Erika drew out her cell phone and found a text. She opened it, finding it from her mother.
"Won't be home tonight. Love you," read the text. Erika sighed heavily as she frowned. She placed her phone to the side and stared up at the rocks above.