AN: Been on a roll lately and decided that with at least 2-3 chapters left, I might as well try to finish up this story. Sorry for those waiting for more from 'Five Nights at Freddy's - Security Breach, Shades Up' and 'as hard as an obsidian rock'. These ones will have to wait for now until I complete this story. Anyways, enjoy!


Chapter 18 - Dropping like Dead Flies, Holy Moly!

As a result of the polka dots hitting the bag of explosions, this causes a huge chain reaction. Not only it turns on the bombs that aren't in position yet, but it starts to set off the other bombs from the other floors below. Bloodsport, Polka-Dot Man, Harley and Javelin found themselves thrown back by the huge explosions all while the soldiers who were there got engulfed by the blast.

Up on the floor at the water tank room, the explosions even got close, sending King Shark, Blackguad and T.D.K splattering against the glass. King Shark fares better than the two men, but they are all confused on what is going on. They didn't get a chance to notice the large hole in the floor when they hear the glass shattering from behind.

Before they knew it, the tank glass gives in and all the water comes flooding over them.

At the floor below, the four gasp in horror upon seeing the large waterfall flooding the room from the broken ceiling. Bloodsport quickly places his helmet on and tries to make a run. But the water catches up to him, causing him to slip and fall down. Harley, Polka-Dot Man and Javelin didn't get the chance to stand up as the water blows against them, pinning them to the wall.

With the water rising up to the stalls, everyone quickly hangs onto anything, gasping for air.

Popping out from the water is King Shark, unfazed. Blackguard and T.D.K are slightly far away from him, gasping for air. Both are covered in scratches across their faces with T.D.K trying to put back on his helmet.

And then, the jelly-like fish pop right around King Shark in the water.

The giant shark smiles in glee. His friends are with him now! They are free as he is!

Just as he thought he can play with them, the fish suddenly reveal the underneath of their umbrellas to reveal three circular rows of sharp teeth.

One latches onto his nose, eliciting a yelp. This one stings! It is actually biting right into him! King Shark pulls the first one off, but more keep coming, biting everywhere on his body to draw blood. Red blood forms around the poor shark as he flails his arms around to get rid of the colorful fish. He lets out a cry for help, unable to believe what is going on. Not only his friends are trying to eat him, but for once, he can feel it sinking right into his skin!

Harley is the first to notice that King Shark is in pain when he fell back into the water. Without waiting to see him to reappear, she swims right over to him.

"EVERYONE!" she called. "Sharky needs our help!"

Outside, Suarez and his troops stood there in confusion when they see a set of explosions going off at every floor. They descend one by one, knocking off bricks and splitting them in half when they crash on the floor. As the soldiers mutter to themselves, Suarez wonders what is going on.

The Americans got into that tower, but it seems that they are destroying everything inside. He never gets to hear from Harley, Javelin or Mongal on what part they are supposed to do with destroying Project Starfish. He wants to think that they are here to take his weapon away from him, but it doesn't look like the case anymore. Not with these types of criminals being sent here.

Savant and Weasel peek out from their hiding spots, surprised that the explosions are going off already. Flag made clear instructions not to set them off until they get out of Jotunheim safely. Savant hasn't heard anything from Flag. In fact, it makes him wonder what the hell is exactly going on inside. Given that most of the squad can be incompetent, this sort of thing can happen.

And that is what exactly happens when the surface floor suddenly explodes, blowing away several soldiers nearby and the humvee that is close to the door. The vehicle comes crashing down onto a few fleeing soldiers, catching on fire to burn them if being crushed isn't enough.

Savant's eyes widened. Weasel whimpers, but he doesn't cower away. The two of them glance at each other. These amateurs set off the bombs too early! With a shaky head, Savant slowly looks up to see that a good piece of the tower at the top is slowly crumbling, tilting it at an ugly angle.

It's going to tumble right in front of them.

This is bad news for the rest as Bloodsport's group is in the middle of trying to pull the hungry fish off King Shark. The entire room seems to lean a little, sending all of them zooming backward. The flood has already broken a wall, leading to a long way down in front of the clamoring soldiers as they watch on. Everyone tries to crash or grab whatever they can to hold on.

This isn't the case for Bloodsport, King Shark and Blackguard.

Bloodsport ends up nearly hitting the wall and falling out, quickly grabbing a hanging bent wire to hold on. Blacksport has been rolling around and only manages to grab the top by jumping upwards. However, King Shark rolls in, unable to control stopping himself due to the immense pain the colorful fish are giving him. Eventually, he crashes right into Blackguard and the two are sent screaming the whole way down.

As the soldiers clear when the water rains down onto the ground, King Shark's body appears. Blackguard luckily survives as well when he falls on top of the giant shark, landing on his bum. The nasty fish that were attacking them fell all around, seemingly dead.

The blonde mercenary groans, rubbing his head. Never thought he would jump off a building like this before. Technically, he kind of did go through a lot of high heights such as jumping out of a helicopter or hanging by a wire when dropping down into a museum. This feels worse since he didn't have enough time to use his whip.

King Shark lies there, not willing to move. A small tear slides down his face, visible for Blackguard to see. At first, Blackguard doesn't know why he is like this. But after seeing the dead fish, it comes to him that King Shark did enjoy having fun with the fish before. That leads to a big betrayal King Shark has to face just when he genuinely starts to like them.

Seeing the giant shark this broken makes Blackguard feels sorry for it. It comes to him that despite King Shark being an animal, he is like a child.

The two are brought back to reality when a couple of soldiers surround them and start firing. Blackguard fell backwards, unintentionally using King Shark as a shield. The poor shark curls himself up, feeling the bullets hitting him. Despite being bulletproof, he is already in pain. The bullets hitting the nasty wounds on his body didn't help. It is as if the betrayal is TOO much.

Realizing that he is doing nothing, Blackguard quickly stands up, jumps right in front of King Shark and forms a golden dome shield around the two. Not only that he won't get shot, but King Shark won't have to be showered in bullets.

As the soldiers keep trying to fire, several of them fall to the ground suddenly. This causes panic to all of them, trying to look around to find where that came from.

It is from Savant who is about to step out from his hiding place. He still has his gun, so he can fire from this distance. While it doesn't concern him, he is surprised to see Blackguard, out of all people, defending King Shark. He can't help, but nod in approval. This kid must have a change of heart toward the squad.

The soldiers run out of their first batch of bullets. As they try to reload, Blackguard hears a low growling from King Shark. The soldiers even notice, pausing. Everyone slowly looks back at the shark standing up, huffing in anger. From nearly being eaten by what he thought were friends and being pelted by those humans who automatically saw him as a monster, he had ENOUGH.

King Shark turns to Blackguard, earning a high-pitched yelp from the blonde. However, Blackguard notices that the shark's glare turns soft. His black beady eyes are already tearful. King Shark blinks, but new ones form.

He is really touched that Blackguard went out of his way to protect him.

Sensing this, the blonde mercenary cracks a smile. A genuine one. Being stuck with this big marshmallow, it is kind of fitting that they are on the same team. As long as he got King Shark's back, then he won't be turned into street meat.

Blackguard glances at the frightened soldiers.

King Shark notices this. He grits his teeth, growling. "Angry!"

"So you want to go bats**t on them?" asked Blackguard.

The shark nods, unable to hold in his anger for long.

The blonde mercenary whistles, his hands still in the air. The same way he does when he tries to turn in his squad at the beach. All nearby soldiers recognize the same pose, but this time, he isn't surrendering at all. He is giving them a signal that he can drop the golden shield anytime he wants.

"OK, guys!" said Blackguard cheerily. "Who wants to play a game of 'fetch'?"

Several soldiers shake their heads, pleading with him not to do so.

But, Blackguard knows that they would eventually try to fire back at them.

He lowers his arms down and shrugs. The shield is gone.

"Fetch," he said.

Everyone around them scatters as the predatory King Shark rushes in and gnaws at a random guy's head. He tears it out really fast with his mouth, nearly lost in his blood thirst. Blackguard can feel himself grinning, but that is removed when he sees the headless body in front of them with the blood mixing in with the puddles underneath them.

"Gross," he muttered, wrinkling his nose. So bad that he can smell it.

"Blackguard! What's going on?!"

The blonde mercenary turns around to find Savant and Weasel running to them as the soldiers try to run away from King Shark. Speaking of which, the latter is already happily munching on the head as if it is an apple.

"This isn't part of the plan!" said Savant, panting as he looks back up.

"I don't know!" said Blackguard. "The bombs went off too early!"

Back at the top, Harley quickly helps Bloodsport back up. T.D.K is already panicking, looking over to see if Blackguard and King Shark are alright after plunging from 40 feet high. The five criminals try to regain their energy as Bloodsport tries calling to others.

"Flag!" he said. "We got a situation! You're there?!"

There is nothing from the other side. It is just static.

"Flag?! Do you copy?!"

Harley glances at Polka-Dot Man with a worried look. The latter looks back at her, mirroring her expression.

"Do you copy?! Anyone? Ratcatcher?!"

The entire room shifts again as the top half starts tilting back again. Noticing how it is pointing to the ground really soon, Bloodsport, Polka-Dot Man, Harley, Javelin and T.D.K quickly got back up on their feet, breaking into a run.

It is like a race against time as they ran up the steep floor. Several items came rolling in, threatening to trip them over and bring them down in the fall. Javelin would have called this a running marathon, but there is no time to joke around. They are on a high floor and the thought of falling down to their deaths at this high shakes them. It's a lethal run and they need to get out of there before the entire top part they are on falls off.

At one point, Harley founds the golden javelin rolling toward her. With a happy gasp, she grabs it.

"Nice job there!" said Javelin as he jumps over an incoming shredder.

The floor is already crumbling and the climb becomes steeper like a mountain. The five can feel the ground beneath them starting to fall apart until it nearly gives way for them to fall. Once they reach the very end of it, unsure where to go next, they jump upwards in hopes of landing on what remains of the standing tower.

Bloodsport jumps too late, landing on a broken platform hanging on the edge. T.D.K drops as well, but he quickly turns around to grab onto the wall. Polka-Dot Man grabs onto a hanging ledge, a dangerous way over the gap. Harley manages to stab right into a wall with the javelin. Javelin lands near her, but with a perfect jump, on top of the wall.

From below, everyone panics as they see the top part of Jotunheim about to fall right on top of them. Suarez got onto his personal humvee, driving away so that he can avoid being crushed.

"OK, no more standing around!" said Blackguard, running off.

It only took Savant, Weasel and King Shark a few seconds to realize how much rubble is raining on them. They all scream, following the blonde mercenary.

Blackguard quickly takes out his whip, spinning it around and holding it above his head to form a large umbrella for all of them. He could have used his projectile shield, but he would need full concentration. Thus, he would need to go slow and that may even lead to the entire tower burying them to the ground. This is the quickest way for all of them to survive.

It is as if they are trying to survive a meteorite storm. With bricks and stones crashing around them as if they are basketball-sized hail ice balls, it nearly feels as if it is really the end of the world. The four of them have to jump or dodge at some points due to bricks scattering all around them. But so far, they somehow manage to not get hit with the help of Blackguard's umbrella.

Unfortunately, Weasel finds himself suddenly hit in the back, falling down. Savant immediately stops when he hears him scream, ignoring Blackguard and King Shark breaking out into where they might be safe to stop at.

Without thinking, the red vigilante picks Weasel and with all of his strength in his body, throws Weasel forwards.

Everything suddenly goes in slow motion for Weasel as he sails through the rest of the crumbling top part. He can feel small shards, dust and bricks hitting him, but not enough to knock him down again. From the corner of his eyes, he sees the stoic Savant with gritted teeth. Standing right underneath the rest of the roof. But it doesn't seem that the red vigilante care.

As long as Weasel makes it out alive, then that is what matters for Savant.

When everything went back to normal, Weasel rolls around on the ground, crashing into Blackguard and King Shark. He looks up, trying to find where Savant has gone.

But there is no sign of him.

Just the remains of the top part of the Jotunheim, flattening anyone who didn't escape in time.

Back on the top, Bloodsport attempts to stand up, but the rubble underneath him disintegrates rapidly due to his added weight. Falling down, he quickly activates his grappling hook, managing to stab the hook at the wall. This sends him swinging towards the concrete wall, slamming hard enough to break his helmet into pieces.

Bloodsport pauses as he watches the remains of his helmet fall into the gap below. As he swings around, he finds himself stunned that his prized helmet is now gone. The one that he uses to hide his true identity when being Bloodsport. The one that allows him to get the job done. Now, it is…gone. He feels completely strange without it.

Also vulnerable without it due to dangling several feet above the nearest floor below him.

He can feel the hook becoming loose from the wall.

After making sure that he is safe, T.D.K notices Bloodsport struggling to lift himself up. Having an idea, he detaches one of his arms and sends it right towards the hook.

Bloodsport nearly thinks that he is dreaming when he sees a detached arm flying towards the grapple. He is so weirded out that he fails to acknowledge the arm grabbing the hook and takes it out from the wall. Then, it starts to try to lift him downwards slowly.

"...what is his full name again?" asked Javelin, baffled.

"Oh, right," said Harley, equally dumbfounded. She still hasn't process T.D.K's powers yet. "His name is 'The Detachable Kid'."

Javelin gives her a blank stare. "...oh! So that's what T.D.K stands for!"

Polka-Dot Man is even puzzled to see this. "OK, so he wasn't lying when he said his powers are 'lame'."

"C'mon…" groaned T.D.K, gritting his teeth. "It's…not too far! Argh…"

Unfortunately, he never tries carrying Bloodsport before, so naturally, he can't carry on for much longer. His hand starts to slip and eventually, so does the hook from the rope once his hand bumps into it.

"Oh, f**k off!" shouted Bloodsport in resignation.

The next thing he knows, he is falling at least 20 feet below.

"Sorry!" shouted T.D.K apologetically.

At first, Bloodsport thought that he is done for. To his surprise, he ends up landing on his feet on the floor.

Without even shattering his feet!

A smile of surprise and relief crosses over his face, thinking that he somehow did a badass superhero landing.

Only for the floor to fall underneath him. It halts. Then it continues. And it repeats again. Bloodsport tries to hold on for the ride as the floor rides down the destroyed floors like an elevator. Thank goodness that each drop isn't too huge or he might be flying in the air again. One thing he got concerned about is that he might break his bones if there are too many drops.

He finally reaches the ground floor, nearly losing his balance. He remains on both feet, thinking that he is now safe. However, looking up he notices that it is far from safe. But not him. He isn't in direct danger.

It's who is right in front of him.

Far from him, he can see Peacemaker holding Boomerang and Ratcatcher II down. The former struggling to breathe, close to passing out from the foot threatening to break his neck. The latter lying down with tearful eyes pleading him to run, a gun to her head.

Seeing the bloodied Peacemaker having Ratcatcher II at gunpoint makes something snap inside Bloodsport's mind.

Immediately, he quickly lifts up his gun to fire and so did Peacemaker at him. If one pauses the quick draw in slow motion, you would see their individual bullets firing out from their guns, firing through the air in a hot, fiery blaze. Both of them are trained to kill from the moment they were born, so Waller must have picked the right guys. In fact, their bullets are straight-on-the-line flying at each other.

When they clash, one must note that Peacemaker's handmade bullet is much bigger than Bloodsport's.

Bloodsport's bullet goes straight through Peacemaker's bullet, shattering it.

Once it reaches the other side, the bullet goes through the barrel of Peacemaker's gun to shatter it and right into his neck.

Peacemaker's eyes widen, dropping the remains of his gun and stepping off the gasping Boomerang. He can feel a bullet. In his neck. However, it doesn't feel as painful as he thinks. The feeling in his throat switches from hot to cold as the blood gushes out from his neck like crazy. Falling onto his knees, he looks up at the approaching Bloodsport in disbelief.

"H-How?" he choked out.

"Smaller bullets," said Bloodsport simply.

Peacemaker tries to hold onto longer. He spots Ratcatcher II picking back up the hard drive. However, his mind becoming clouded is enough to make Peacemaker pass out in his own puddle of blood.

"Whoo-wee!" said Boomerang as Bloodsport helps him up. "Never thought this takes a turn. Things just went from zero to one hundred real f**king quick!"

"What exactly happened?" asked Bloodsport.

Ratcatcher II sniffs. "H-He killed Flag."

"What?"

Boomerang looks back at the emergency door. "And I'm guessing that…Mongal didn't make it out alive."

"Peacemaker tried to stop Flag from showing this to the press," explained Ratcatcher II through tears. "It has proof that…the American government was behind Project Starfish the entire time."

This comes off as a huge shock to him. Normally, he wouldn't care much since he just wants the job down. But without the helmet, without the same manner he adopted as Bloodsport, he is surprised by why Waller sent him and Task Force X on a mission like this. This…this isn't a mission for honor.

This is more of covering up a selfish plan of a true monster.

He wouldn't go out of his way to try to hide his own intentions, good or bad.

The only thing that would serve as honorable for his mission is helping Tyla stay out of prison, but this…this more feels like being puppets playing their roles in destroying the evidence and then being thrown to the side with no regard. Unless America finds him useful.

As he takes the hard drive and places it under his gauntlet, he spares a look at Boomerang. Both men are equally worried and betrayed by what their director leads them to. They are no good guys, but being forced to maintain a country's own reputation feels like doing all the dirty work they didn't deserve to do.

Harley, Polka-Dot Man, Javelin and T.D.K just arrived as they reach the surface safely. They don't look worse for wear, but are tired and scared from climbing down from a high building. A stone-faced Blackguard, a whimpering Weasel and a chipper King Shark - chowing down on the head he tore off earlier - come in to regroup.

Harley and Javelin look around, desperately looking for Flag and Mongal. However, upon seeing the bleeding Peacemaker and the sobbing Ratcatcher II, this doesn't look like good news. Harley turns to Boomerang with hopeful eyes. However, the Australian shakes his head sombrely, looking down as if paying his respect.

Harley can feel her heart breaking. The thought of Flag not getting out alive is a fear she can't take. Mongal, one of her newest girlfriends, is also gone as well. In fact, she just lost two friends who could have led her to a better path. Especially Flag since he is one of the good men who doesn't deserve to die in a suicide mission like this.

Javelin feels his heart sink. While he and Mongal chose to be just friends, he finds himself feeling actually devastated for the loss of his friend. The very person who first complimented him on his fighting spirit and desire to find a purpose in life. One of the few who listens to him despite how reckless he can be. Thinking back to Suarez, he wonders who else is going to miss Mongal.

T.D.K quickly rushes over to Blackguard, checking over if he has any injuries. The blonde mercenary looks alright, but he appears to be depressed. The teal-cladded supervillain looks behind him, seeing Weasel silently crying to himself. Then, it comes to him that Savant is not going to be able to join them again.

The squad tries to regroup properly, but the fact that four of their teammates are gone is enough to send a ripple effect through all of them. Some would have chosen to shrug it off, but the struggle is real. It can happen to them as well since they are all played into serving the American government. And now without Flag's supervision and the soldiers from outside gathering around the remains of Jotunheim, there is nowhere for them to run.

The tower starts to shake as if an earthquake just struck. All eyes and heads turn around frantically to find the source of it. However, Ratcatcher II and Boomerang know exactly what is going on.

"I-I think it's trying to get out!" alerted Ratcatcher II.

"What?" asked Harley with a concerned look.

"Starro the-"

She didn't get to finish her sentence when a large blue and pink appendage rip right through the floor.

From outside, Suarez and his soldiers wait patiently for the squad to come out. They already dealt with Jotunheim being utterly destroyed, but it doesn't seem like it is over yet. Especially since it is housing the one big monster Corto Maltese possess. Guns raised high and eyes sharp, they all got themselves prepared for whoever is going to come out.

They find themselves unprepared when they hear a loud ladylike scream. That came from T.D.K who accidentally trips. Javelin ends up crashing into him as well, falling down. The two tumbles until Blackguard quickly picks them up with a yell. King Shark has to be pushed by Ratcatcher II and Polka-Dot Man, a bit slow to notice the danger he is also in. The rest just ran out for their lives, not caring if they would be arrested by the Corto Maltese army.

Harley accidentally trips over. Seeing a shadow looming over her, she backs away in fright as she turns around to get a good look at the monster coming out. Something rising from the destroyed Jotunheim like a giant about to gobble her up.

"Whoa…" she whispered.

'Whoa' is right. A giant pink and blue starfish burst right out from the ground, its greenish-yellow eye wide open for all to see. Finally underneath the bright blue sky and the rest of the world, Starro lets out a loud angry roar, revealing himself to Corto Maltese. Triumphed in feeling the cool breeze and the warm sunlight shining on it with a chance to be free.

"Harley!" cried Javelin. "Get out of there!"

Heeding his words, Harley quickly runs back to her group. Right on time as well since a scared Suarez yells at his soldiers to fire. Their weapons would be enough to take down an entire gigantic bird, but their bullets aren't enough to scrap against Starro's skin. In fact, it just makes him frustrated. Reminding him too much of how Grieves tortures him while being trapped underground.

Letting out another angry cry, he raises his appendages and spores of himself form out from his armpits. Or at least what everyone thinks they are. The sight of the mini Starros squawking and flying through the sky gets everyone to stop shooting and stare at them in awe and horror.

All wondering what to do.

However, this wonder can lead to death as one soldier finds himself latched on by one starfish. And then another. And another. Three fell down at the same time. One tries to make a run for it, but the starfish grabs onto his face. The soldiers are left scattering and dropping like flies, either due to being distracted by their fallen comrades or too frozen to make an escape.

Ratcatcher II finds one coming towards her. She quickly places her gas mask on. A starfish crashed into her and she fells on her back. Fortunately, she doesn't feel the tentacles digging into her head, only flopping right off her.

"Cover your faces!" she yelled out to everyone.

While the soldiers barely acknowledge her, all the squad members did their best not getting their faces hugged by a flying small starfish.

Bloodsport and Blackguard resort to just shooting the starfishes. They are fortunate that not even one comes close to them, but they are not going to be taking any chances. They watch on in disgust and confusion as they blow each starfish apart into blue and pink mush.

Harley quickly ducks down, trying to shield herself. The feeling of cold starfishes hanging onto her isn't pretty. Fortunately, Boomerang arrives right by her side and covers her face with his beanie. Boomerang himself doesn't need to worry since he quickly uses his coat to protect himself.

Polka-Dot Man and T.D.K have their masks and goggles on, but they try to slap away any incoming starfishes. While they are all going at random targets, that doesn't mean the two men are taking any chances. Who knows if the starfish can latch onto them through their mouths?

King Shark tries to shield himself with one hand, but his face is too big for the starfish to latch on properly. And his skin is too slippery as well. His other hand is covering Weasel from getting his face covered. However, Weasel doesn't seem to mind as he bends down to pick up a stray starfish and begins munching on it.

Javelin even has the thought of eating the starfishes. With a couple of mini javelins in his hands, he starts jabbing whatever he can. Good thing that he remembers to duck as well. It doesn't take that much effort for him as by the time he is done, both spears are skewered with mini Starros. All drenched in burst eye fluid.

Suarez observes the entire scene, seeing all of his soldiers dropping one by one. While they did their best by trying to run or fight back, it is hopeless. And it is hopeless for Suarez as well since all of his hard work has been for nothing.

From losing Luna, to losing Grieves and then losing control of Project Starfish.

Even if he did manage to get information out from Harley, it turns out that no one really knows how these American convicts managed to invade Jotunheim to free the beast. And now, the entire Corto Maltese island is doomed to be slaves of an alien starfish. As Suarez tears off his hat, he catches a good look at Harley.

She mouths an apologetic 'sorry' to him. It is not even mocking.

He sighs, resigning to his eventual fate before he is the next to drop dead.

Harley is left in the open when she cares enough to spare Suarez one last look. A starfish is about to latch onto her face.

"HARLEY!" shrieked Blackguard, running towards her. "WATCH OUT!"

Harley finds herself crashing into Boomerang. She didn't feel the sensation of a starfish hugging her face, but she feels the sensation of Blackguard's body falling onto her feet. He has a starfish over his face. He twitches violently on the floor, trying to fight back the starfish trying to get into his mind. A petrified Harley and an unnerved Boomerang watch as the blonde mercenary attempts to take back his life.

And then, Blackguard stops moving.

So did rest of the squirming soldiers who have a starfish on their faces.

The whole place is already a graveyard with Starro staring down at all of them.


The next few minutes are a blur to Soria. It is mostly hiding in place until she and her team can get a good shot at the remaining guards without being shot first. There are still a couple inside, but there is a fair number of soldiers around the palace. This makes it easier for the rebels to take them down easily and charge right into the room where the rest of Luna's and Suarez's coup are.

Kicking the door opened, Soria and some of her teammates lift their guns at the generals who are trying to call Suarez.

"Generals," snarled Soria in Spanish. "We, the people of Corto Maltese are taking charge of the government. Stand down."

None of the generals choose the wise decision of standing down. Instead, they all reach into their pockets to try to take out their pistols. One general yell out a vulgar word, but that is drowned out when Soria and her team take fire.

It is a gory sight for them to see as they shot the generals down, their blood splattering against the window. The survivor, a poor female assistant is already on the floor, screaming. One of the resistance fighters drop his weapon and rushes over to the assistant, trying to reassure her that they won't kill her despite her attempting to kick.

A loud roar rattles the entire palace.

Curiously, Soria looks out through the window that is the cleanest. She wonders if that is coming from Task Force X. She hopes that they are doing alright. However, all hopes for theirs AND anyone's survival is out the window when she sees Jotunheim. Or at least what remains of it. In its place is a large pink and blue starfish.

"What in the actual f**k?" she uttered.


T.D.K has been staring at Blackguard's corpse. The starfish covering up his nose and eyes, making him look much paler than before. He tries prodding the blonde mercenary, but he didn't respond.

"Blackguard?" said T.D.K hopefully. "Are you there?"

But it is already clear that Blackguard is barely there at all.

"C'mon, Hertzy," said T.D.K, forcing a smile on his face. "D-Don't play a prank like this on me. You're still alive, right? Right?"

He wants this to be just a dream. He wants Blackguard to suddenly stand up and remove the starfish from his face to tell everyone that this is just a prank. This cannot be it, can it?

"Mate," said Boomerang, staggering around at loss. "He's…not going to get up. He's gone…"

Him trailing off confirms T.D.K's worry. He doesn't want to believe it, but Blackguard's body is right here. His now-dead body. T.D.K blinks, feeling that he might tear up. He doesn't want to believe it, but something is missing now. He can't feel Blackguard around anymore. He can't comprehend that his friend is gone. Just right after the two were starting to get along with each other!

T.D.K is stoic, but his lips are already trembling in distraught. Boomerang notices this, placing a comforting hand on his shoulder in understanding.

Ratcatcher II and Bloodsport sport Javelin eying the starfishes he manage to stab. He looks hungry, licking his lips.

"Um…Javelin?" said Bloodsport. "You…might not want to eat that."

Javelin blinks, slowly leaning his mouth towards one of the appendages.

"No, stop. Stop! Don't even think of eating it."

It is getting closer to Javelin's lips…

"Don't do it. I swear if you do…"

Not too far away, Weasel nods, swallowing the starfish he was just eating.

This is what convinced Javelin to take a big bite from one of the starfishes with an enormous s**t-eating grin.

And then, he spits it out. Naturally.

"...it's not cooked!" he said.

Polka-Dot Man suddenly screams. This catches their attention when they find that the small starfishes that latched onto the soldier start to shift their eyes around. The squad find themselves in a packed circle as all the Starro-controlled people slowly stand up. The way they stumble upwards make them look like zombies rising from the dead. Even Blackguard's body as well stood up, but it is rather stiff like a baby learning how to walk for the first time.

As the possessed people got up together, Bloodsport takes out one of his guns and points it at the possessed Suarez.

"This city is mine," he said, suddenly gaining a Scottish accent that can rivals Grieves'.

Starro lets out another huge roar. This time, it is added with all of his victims screaming loudly. Like an actual army getting ready for war. The screaming is so deafening that the squad nearly thought of stabbing some of the soldiers in the head to shut them up.

T.D.K finds himself disturbed and weirded out to see Blackguard letting out a high-pitched scream. Or at least what sounds like a scream. It more resembles a goat bleating after a long day of eating grass.

And then, Starro starts to move, heading towards the city. The massive number of his puppets follow him, ignoring the squad. Bloodsport and the rest find themselves confused as the possessed soldiers bump into them. Boomerang and T.D.K watch hopelessly as their deceased blonde friend joins the screaming crowd, waddling. Javelin nearly takes another bite of the skewered starfish, intrigued by what he is seeing.

The one thing that takes up the entire view is seeing Starro rolling his way towards the city, even accidentally stepping on those below him.


Moone sits right up when the screens and monitor crackle back to life. With the signal jammers seemingly down, this means that she can get to see how the squad is doing! If Flag is alright! And if Jotunheim is destroyed. The others are starting to wake up once they hear their screens turning back on with footage on what is going on at the squad's current position.

"Uh, Miss Waller," alerted Economos as he started typing on his computer. "I think the feed is back up."

Waller groans, rubbing the bridge between her eyes. As she gets up, she wonders if the squad have finished the job. Not only she wants it to be done for the American government, but she is already sick from being pent up in this room with others. It is also starting to smell in here due to all the drinks and pizzas they brought over.

Though, everyone nearly feels that it is far from being able to go home when they hear a loud roar coming from Economos' computer.

"Miss Waller!" shouted Economos, presenting the image of Starro on screen. "We've got a freaking kaiju up in this s**t!"

Waller blinks, looking a bit dumbfounded. This is something new. That must be the Project Starfish she is informed about. The alien starfish to be specific. Seeing a monster giant like this brings back some memories of Enchantress, but compared to her, this beast more looks like some kind of grown teddy bear. It feels ridiculous to have something like this about to curb the entire city.

Moone turns her computer on to check the vitals of each of the squad members. To her shock, at least three of the criminals are dead. Their pictures are tinted in red with the words 'DECEASED' at the bottom. She checks back on the footage, finding the remaining survivors watching the raging starfish, perplexed. To her shock, Flag isn't with them.

She desperately looks through every piece of footage she can that surrounds the rubble of Jotunheim. However, not even getting to see his body is already bringing butterflies to her stomach. Why he disappeared alongside a few other members didn't sound good to her. The survivors themselves look a bit rattled compared to when she first saw how they look like.

She is brought back to when Flag reassures her that he would look out for trouble. But this trouble seemed to have brought him down to the ground. Especially with how vague Waller's intentions were to her so far, it seemed as if it was today. The bad thing was that while she was safe here with Waller, Flag wasn't out there.

A hollow feeling punctured her heart as she stares at the remaining survivors, distraught over the fact that Flag may be gone by now. She doesn't want to consider it, but all the pointing evidence of his fate seems to be crashing into her. Moone didn't get to even say the last goodbye to Flag. She didn't get to hear what he was thinking before his last breaths. She didn't get to know who tried fighting for him before he died.

With a trembling mouth and her eyes threatening to pour tears, she places a hand over her mouth. Nobody seems to notice as Waller picks up the comms to call the squad.

"Task Force X, come in," called Waller. "Are you there?"

Bloodsport's voice sounds a bit far away. "Uh-huh."

"The signal jammers were blocking our communications must have been in the building you just demolished. We don't know how, but if they are disconnected, then we can hear you loud and clear. Must be also due to whoever is now taking over the government palace with both leaders dead."

"We got a problem, Waller…" muttered Boomerang through a mouthful of starfish from Javelin's skewers.

"It's Project Starfish, Miss Waller," said Ratcatcher II, strangely having a professional tone to explaining the situation. "It is heading towards the city and I think it wants to feed on as many people as it can."

Unfortunately, Waller's mind isn't concentrated on helping anyone for this mission.

"Not our problem," she remarked coldly. "If you've destroyed Jotunheim and the records within, you've achieved the objective. Corto Maltese is no longer an ally of the States. If anything, the White House will consider fomenting disruption in a hostile nation a positive development."

"W-What?" whispered Moone, wiping away tears.

She snaps out from her small breakdown, hearing Waller's callous words bringing her back into the reality of their situation now. She looks to the side to see Crawley slowly moving her hands away from her keyboard. Far from them, Economos and Harcourt glance at each other, sharing the same disbelief of what Waller is proposing. All of them are starting to have second thoughts.

The true colors of taking down Project Starfish are revealed. The American government NEVER cared about saving the world from Project Starfish. The country just wants to not be involved with it ever again. The safety of Corto Maltese doesn't matter to them as long as the records of Project Starfish are wiped out. No evidence to pin the blame on them, then they are good. Now, they can just sit back and let other forces try to take the beast down.

Moone realizes that she is stuck with a monster. The same monster who tried using her. But this time, Waller is a much bigger monster than she ever was before. Horrifically, she became the monster by leading what the other monsters want the squad to do. Only a person this loyal and desperate to project America like this would go out of their way with slaughtering too many people, no matter the price. Even though the government did allow Moone to keep an eye on Waller, she doesn't know who to trust now.

Something is burning inside Moone. Is that how it feels like to be Enchantress before when she had power? Is this how Flag would feel if he discovered this? No. It's something else. It's anger. But not just the typical one. Far from her being mad at Waller for the previous mistakes. It's anger towards Waller's apathy towards those who are in distress. Anger towards Moone herself for being too oblivious for too long. Anger towards the American government for controlling Flag and the square like slaves.

This mission isn't to help people as Moone thought it to be.

She stands up, ready to let Waller know it.

But it turns out, she doesn't need to when she sees Bloodsport on the screen rebelling. For the first time.


The entire squad is stupefied by Waller telling them that it is best not to get involved with trying to help the people who might get infected, stomped on or just thrown away by Starro. The gigantic starfish is already tearing through the city, opening up his armpits to let mini-Starros fly around to latch onto more people. Buildings are torn apart as he crashes right through them in a blind fit of fury.

And above Starro screeching the whole way, they can hear the cries of the people. Trying to run away or screaming as they either fall to their deaths after being thrown upwards or grabbed by a mini Starro. There are wails of children as well before they themselves get infected as well. No one is exactly safe, no matter how innocent or guilty they are.

Ratcatcher II, Polka-Dot Man and T.D.K are disturbed by Waller's coldness towards the poor people getting slaughtered. After the reveal that the American government purposely send them to clean up their mess and be the ones to blame later on for attacking the island when all curtains come loose, they all want to fix their mistake so badly. But on what account? Waller isn't going to let them go to save the people that easily since they have bombs in their necks. Ratcatcher II feels like crying again, hopeless about how many people will die due to an angry creature tortured by both the American and Corto Maltese governments.

Harley, Boomerang and Javelin find themselves in the middle. Sure, letting a whole city of people die by a giant monster isn't a cup of tea you would want to drink. But compared to that, they nearly have nothing to take it down. Especially since they just saw bullets being harmless to that thing. Besides, they didn't know much about Corto Maltese, so the lack of emotional connection to the Corto Maltesians stunt their engagement in helping out. Harley just shrugs while Boomerang munches the skewered starfishes as if they are popcorn.

King Shark, not having the full idea of Starro attacking a city of innocents, just stare. Weasel, while oblivious as well, is whimpering to himself for the loss of Savant.

Bloodsport is conflicted. If he steps away, then not only that means he can go back to Belle Reve without anything to worry about. Ten years off his sentence. It would also mean that Tyla would be free from ending up in the same prison as he is in. Bloodsport would have never cared about who gets hurt just because of something he needed to do. Bloodsport wouldn't give a f**k about anyone unless they get into his path.

However, he finds himself lacking the harshness he often wears on his sleeves. Must be due to losing that helmet since he now has nothing to hide his face. He would have felt ashamed of showing his real face in the heat of battle. But for some reason, he doesn't seem to mind anymore. At least not when around his squad. He doesn't feel the need to wear a mask anymore.

If he walks away, then he would have been saving only Tyla, but not other people who don't deserve it. After what he experienced with Ratcatcher II and the others, there could be good people who might be killed and never even get to share their kindness with those who need it the most. If Tyla knew about this, then she would rather rot in Belle Reve since she may not be one willing to let people die in the name of her being free from Waller.

If Bloodsport has to decide now at this moment, he would see this as covering up Project Starfish as not out of honor. It feels dishonorable in letting a wild beast destroy so many people's lives. Saving people would be something new to him, but this might mean that he can be seen as something more than just a criminal. Even he might see himself as more than just a bad guy.

He makes the first step, walking towards the rampaging Starro.

"Bloodsport is off mission!" reported Harcourt.

"What the…" said Waller, sounding shocked as well.

Ratcatcher II realizes what Bloodsport is doing. She suddenly feels the heavy pressure on her shoulders coming off. If Bloodsport, one of the coldest and most vicious mercenaries on the team, can walk to Starro to stop him from hurting more people, then that means she can as well, right?

"She'll kill you, you know," she said.

"That's her business," growled Bloodsport.

Ratcatcher II gasps. This makes her realize that she cannot stand there to be controlled by someone. Even as a criminal, she can do the right thing. If she fails, then that is someone else's business in trying to find out how to save the day. Breaking into a smile, she runs after Bloodsport.

"I knew Sebastian sensed good in you for a reason!" she said with Sebastian squeaking in agreement.

"Keep that f**king rat away from me!" said Bloodsport, not even flinching.

"Bloodsport, Ratcatcher, turn around," said Waller, her voice raising in panic.

A giddy King Shark decides to follow the two. He doesn't really know what they intend to do, but he is actually excited to join his friends. The people who don't really treat him like an animal.

"Where go, friends?" he asked.

Harley gasps, looking down at the golden javelin she still has in her arms. She takes a look back at the skewered starfishes Javelin has, noticing that the spear pokes right through their eyes. It all starts to connect as she lifts it up for Javelin and Boomerang to see.

"I know what I'm carrying the javelin for!" said Harley happily.

Boomerang raises an eyebrow. "You think so?"

"Yeah!"

Javelin's eyes widened. "Wait, you don't mean…"

Harley nods, turning around to skip forwards.

Javelin sighs, sounding jealous. "I wish I just hold onto that javelin longer…"

Soon enough, he follows as well.

Boomerang turns around back to Polka-Dot Man, T.D.K and Weasel with a hearty smile.

"C'mon, boys," he said. "We got some starfish to cook over the barbie."

Polka-Dot Man gulps a little. "W-Wouldn't we…even beat it?"

"Rather die trying than doing nothing to make a name out of yourself. Even if Waller cuts it short. After all, it's your choice to be here. Better than rotting behind bars."

These words remind T.D.K what he came here for. It even comes to Polka-Dot Man about what he really wants to be despite how dour he is about his fate. Both men glance at each other as if asking if this is the right thing to do. Both with powers they consider 'lame' and yet they came out alive by a miracle. Dumb luck, but there is something that is worth spending your last moments on Corto Maltese helping people. To prove even themselves that they can be strong in their darkest moments.

With that, the remaining three follow the rest. Also, Weasel decides to waddle with them, trying to figure out who he should be with.


"Krill, turn around now!" barked Waller through the comms. "Turn back now, damn it! Harkness, don't you dare as well! Turn back now!"

Through Waller's demands, Moone notices how the squad refuse to listen to her as they reform into a strong group. Despite the footage not showing the best quality, she can see them…actually smiling. While they do look nervous, it looks like they are more than willing to die with a smile on their face. Chuckling to each other on how much they pissed off Waller.

And back here, in the communication hub, it is more of a nightmare since anyone can die because of her.

"Open it," growled Waller to Harcourt.

"Miss Waller…" muttered Harcourt.

"OPEN IT!"

Harcourt hesitates, but it doesn't take her a second to take out two metal cases. But they aren't. Opening them up reveals the detonation switches for each member of the squad. With the survivors now on the run, the bombs are what keeping the squad to not intervene.

Waller is dead-set on making sure that never happened. Nobody should see her team saving Corto Maltese. This isn't part of the plan! They might even expose her task force and her plans as well! This could make people question why the government let a bunch of criminals go loose and save the city suddenly. To her, everything is crumbling down like a stack of cards she tried to play with.

"What are you doing, Task Force X?!" she yelled.

None of the the squad members respond, smirking to themselves as they listen. Neither did anyone in the room as they stare at Waller with worry about leaving Project Starfish to destroy Corto Maltese.

"F**k!" swore Waller, flipping Bloodsport's switch open for her to trigger. "Turn around now, DAMN IT! YOU DUMB PIECES OF S**T! MOTHERF**KERS!"

Moone rises up. This is the time to call out Waller for this.

"DAMN IT, TASK FORCE X!" roared Waller. "THIS IS YOUR LAST MOTHERF**KING WARNING!"

Moone quickly grabs her arms and pulled her back to face her.

"WHAT?!" screamed Waller right at her face.

Moone flinches back upon seeing the lion-like looks on Waller's face. However, as she stares deeper right into the bloodshot eyes and the teeth shaped into an ugly snarl, it comes to Moone in Waller's moment of losing her cool. And that didn't give Moone the sense of being stared right into her soul. It nearly appears that this is the wild animal Waller truly is. All the frustrations of not getting things the way she wants after her success are what makes her bent on killing.

Moone can't relate to Waller, but this is a turning point to her that she overestimates her. Despite having power as a leading director, Waller is still a flawed human herself. And just like that, Waller never truly thinks of the better good. Only what she is instructed to do and fully supporting that without caring if anyone gets hurt. It made her pitiful.

"Don't you think blowing their heads would leave the rest of the world vulnerable to Project Starfish?" questioned Moone, mustering up all of her confidence.

"Task Force X are NOT the ideal heroes!" shouted Waller. "They'll fail eventually!"

"Have faith in them! They proved many times that they can get out of a war. Wouldn't that even provide good PR for all of us?! Don't you think that making them the heroes of the day even make you successful?!"

"This isn't about any of us!" snapped Waller, pushing Moone away. "This is about what the States needs to have!"

Harcourt quickly catches Moone and the two women gasps when Waller has her finger near the button on Bloodsport's bomb. Just before Moone to grab her by the neck, Crawley suddenly swings the lying gold club right at Waller's head, sending her dropping down unconscious.

The rest of the squad are safe.

"Whoa…!" said Moone. She didn't see that coming!

"That is one way to show how bad she is at golf," said Harcourt dryly.

Economos is horrified. "Oh my goodness! The hell are you thinking?!"

Crawley drops the golf club, fizzling in anxiousness of what this would mean to her. "All those people out there, John. Little kids. And they're dying already."

Everyone in the communication hub starts to understand what Crawley means. If they don't do anything, then the people of Corto Maltese will die for sure. That goes the same for Project Starfish conquering the rest of the world if it gets enough hosts to use. This would make them no better than the criminals they sent out who were initially interested in shaving off their prison sentence.

"Task Force X!" instructed Harcourt into her headphones. "The creature is headed to Calle Principal. Avoid Avenida Medrano. There is a swarm of infected."

"Where's the better path, lady?" asked Boomerang's voice.

"So, your clearest path is Calle Aguero," said Economos, going back to his computer.

Moone doesn't move a single muscle as Crawley tries moving Waller further away from the computers. Looking back at the monitors in front of her, Moone goes back to her work. She hopes that this won't leave Flag's death in vain.

"A group of infected troops are trying to use their weapons on the uninfected," she said through her comms. "You need to split into two groups to stop that creature and save the survivors."

"Got it, June!" called Bloodsport.


AN: Sorry, Savant. Sorry, Blackguard. Sorry, Peacemaker. You guys are on the butcher board next. However, Savant and Blackguard have more dignified and noble deaths as what they did save one of their teammates. While it does not present the goriness we all enjoy seeing, it does give them a nice ending to their character.

About Starro seemingly controlling the soldiers to shoot at people...well, Starro DID infect a bunch of soldiers and that would give knowledge AND urges in using guns...

I don't know how a mini Starro taste like, but I highly advise not to. Unless you're hungry. Like bats**t hungry.

Oh, this reminds me! This is your last chance. The pool on my profile page is still up. Remember, if anyone wants to object on why Captain Boomerang shouldn't be dead, say now or he will forever be dead. His fate will be decided by your votes in the makings and release in the next chapter (if it won't be too long...). Anyone who haven't voted yet, please do in the poll.

And...I don't have a deadline when the poll will close, but whenever I manage to finish the other chapters in preparation.

Thanks for reading this chapter! If you enjoy this story, be sure to follow or favorite this story, so you can get updates about this story. Make sure to review this chapter on what you think about this chapter. Constructive criticism is good as well. Please don't be nervous in revealing your thoughts about this as I would like to hear.

Until next time, keep on rocking!