Chapter 53 - Graverobber surprise

Fighting through the Dungeon was as difficult as Nico had predicted. Once they had crossed the first bridge, the Party had been bombarded with wave after wave after wave of Necromorphs. From Slashers, to Brutes and even a few variants that the girls had never seen before but Nico explained to them afterwards:

The first variant was called 'Leapers' and they ambushed the Party from atop the mountainside. They were made from single human corpses, with the host body's modifications serving to give the Necromorph vastly increased mobility. The musculature of the upper arm becomes more developed, and the fingers becoming bladed claws for climbing and slashing, and with the hands becoming dislocated along with the thumbs moved to the back to create animal-like paws. Their more noticeable trait were their long Tails which were made from both the victims legs, as well as their intestines.

If they thought that was fucked up, the 'Pregnants' quickly slapped those thoughts away. Pregnants were created by a single human corpse, albeit one that has been radically mutated. The skull's lower jaw had been detached, and what appeared to be tentacles hung from the mouth. These creatures sport two massive arms coming out from their backs, each ending in a large bone scythe, used to slash and rend an opponent in the same manner as Slashers did. The host's human arms were fused into the massive sac that had developed on the torso. Tekken had close hand experience with this, but the sac part hosted smaller Necromorphs inside it. When heavily damaged, Pregnants would claw open their own abdominal sacs to release their spawn, to ensure their victim's demise. To accommodate its great weight, their legs were short, to balance the creature by lowering its centre of mass, and the overall leg structure had been altered. As a result, although their weight hinders their speed, they can move at a brisk enough pace to out-walk their target when they are determined.

Finally, after surviving those death-traps, the party was ambushed by 'Stalkers'. Stalkers were easily the most annoying of the three variants, though they weren't as disgusting as the Pregnants or the Leapers though. Still, they were ugly and disgusting, along with possessing a pack mentality that messed with the Party's heads. Stalkers were heavily altered Necromorphs, like the Guardians in their mature stages, bearing little resemblance to their original human forms. Their long arms were equipped with long talons ending in sharpened tips. While not efficient at slashing, they can still impale, knock down, and rend their victims. The ribcage was displayed wide open, though as with most Necromorphs, there was a lack of any digestive organs, and only vestigial remains of previously vital organs.

Well-formed musculature in the back lead to a reinforced spinal column and neck capped by their most distinguishing feature: A massive, eyeless, three-pronged head with only traces of original human bone structure. Their skulls were largely exposed, sporting a thick cap covered in bony protrusions to aid in crushing and bashing. The upper jaw and nasal cavities are left largely intact, while the cranial dome is squashed down to provide a more even, durable striking surface, which is further supported by the cheek bones. Unlike many Necromorphs, this highly mutated skull is the hardest point on the creature, and is immune to dismemberment.

At this point, the girls were under the assumption that these Necromorphs were some of the most brutal, grotesque looking monsters they had ever seen, none of the other Abnormals or normal monsters held a candle to them for scares and nightmare-inducing appearances. The girls, especially the weaker minds of the group, would be having nightmares for weeks after this.

As for Nico, he just took this in stride, moving on like he had seen this type of horror before. In his case, he likely had, considering how long he had been in the Spec Ops Programme. If someone like him had been unfazed by the appearance of monsters like these, then what could it take to scare someone like him? The girls weren't sure they wanted to find out the answer to that can of worms any time soon, if at all.


In current times, the party had arrived at the second half of the Dungeon. But even after taking a few steps they knew that there was something amiss. "What the hell is going on here? What are those things trying to pull…?" Nico muttered under his breath as he surveyed the area around them.

They were on a large platform, one that led to 2 directions. There was a steep hill going downwards, while to the left was a futuristic bridge leading to another area. The hill ended at another platform that led to another Bridge on its side, connecting to another path. However, there was a stark contrast to the first area. There was… no Corruption. There were no signs of life however, like all life had been sucked out of this Dungeon's section. It was like a valley for the dead, something that didn't belong in the mortal world.

Then again, the mortal world WAS quite fucked up currently.

"This is weird. I was half expecting there to be this gigantic towering mass with tentacles to be the last boss, or something." Neptune pondered thoughtfully, humming to herself. "Well, it was either that or a whole load more Necromorphs, and I for one don't wanna see those again."

IF nodded her head with a wince. "You and me both, Neptune. Those Pregnants were pretty nasty pieces of work." She held back the urge to shudder as she remembered fighting those things. It made her desire to procreate diminish heavily just thinking about what that human host had once been. Nico had said that it was once a female who had been pregnant, and that thought alone would haunt her nightmares.

Tekken felt a shiver go up her spine, and not the pleasurable kind, either. "Those things were really scary… but the pain felt oh so good…." She muttered the last part under their breath, but only Nico heard it. The male shuddered, but for a completely different reason than one would expect.

'HEHEHEHEHE, MY, HOW MUCH FUN WE'D HAVE WITH HER, EEEEEEH?'

'You shut up!'

"Still… something about this feels weird…" Compa commented as she looked around the surroundings with worry on her face. It was concerning that they had been pelted with Necromorph attacks since coming to this Dungeon, with the Corruption not helping things much given its abilities. "The area looks like any other Dungeon, but…"

She tried to say something to finish her sentence, but she came out blank. Nonetheless, nobody called her out on it. Finally, Nico had enough thinking for one day and began to move forwards. "Well, one thing's for sure, we won't find any answers just standing about. Let's go, but stay on your guard. Who knows what we're going to find out there."

"RIGHT!"


The party decided to go see what was to the left first. Something told the two Protagonists (Nico and Neptune) that there was something there that could be a help to figuring out what was going on here. Walking over the bridge, they stopped at the other side and began looking around.

On her end, Compa gave a shudder as she looked at the plant-life, seeing how it looked like all its vitality had been drained out of it. "I don't like this… everything seems dead…" she remarked.

"That's what happens after the Corruption leaves." Nico stated bluntly as he surveyed the side of a mountain. He was looking at various holes in the mountainside, running his hand over a few and identifying hem as placements for Guardians. Or rather, they were. Whatever happened here was sudden and happened without warning, judging by how these holes looked. "Usually life is recovered after the Corruption is destroyed, all life it takes returning to the land around it. However, that only happens if all of it goes at once, which only happens if the Boss is defeated. Unfortunately, it was only partially destroyed, so the life here will not return as quickly."

IF frowned at this information, but Tekken who was beside her looking at some remains of some insects, though Tekken stayed near a twisted and demonic looking tree, spoke first. "How awful… these Necromorphs are truly dangerous if the damage is this bad."

Nico nodded his head in agreement as he stepped away from the former Guardian locations and stepped back to the others. His hands would have gone into his pockets, but his armour was on, so he couldn't. 'They couldn't put on some pockets, could they?' the male ranted to himself. "Agreed, they're almost as bad as their sibling species the Xenomorphs. Most of their traits are similar, they create various forms depending on their hosts state, only if they were able to fight each other, the Xenomorphs would win."

"Why's that, Nicky?" Neptune questioned, turning her head to look at him as she kneeled with her arms around her legs.

The male looked at her as he replied with an explanation. "I'll put it simple for you Neptune, since your brain's likely hurting from all this seriousness." He rolled his eyes when a loud exclamation of "heck yeah it is!" came from the preteen, with a small chuckle as well. Then, he returned to his serious demeanour. "For one, they breed like Banshees do, due to them being an endoparasitoid species. Implant an embryo into the host, embryo turns to this thing called a 'Chestburster', its purpose self-explanatory…" the girls shuddered, knowing what that meant. "And grows into an adult based off the hosts traits. Second, its blood. the blood of a Xenomorph is highly acidic, and can melt though the toughest of armours like a hot knife through butter. When facing them stick to ranged attacks and Skills, otherwise your dead."

While he was explaining this, IF glanced to the last part of the alternate path, before walking up the hill to see what was there. Her instincts had told her there was something there, and her BOW enhanced nose could smell fresh blood over there. Her senses had been filed with the stuff ever since she came here, almost making her throw up had she not been in Lastation throughout the aftermath of Avenir's little 'experiment'.

When she was at the top, her eyes widened in horror and shock when she saw what she did. Quickly turning her head as Nico finished his explanation, she called out to them. "You guys! Quick, come here! You're gonna want to see this!"

Everyone snapped to attention when they heard IF's cry. They quickly jogged up the hill, rushing to her to see what had the Guild Agent/Spec Ops Candidate so worked up. When they were beside her and looked at the platform, all they could see why she was so stunned.

Corpses.

Monster and Necromorph Corpses, littered the platform.

They were sprawled all over it, their forms missing vital organs and limbs. The Vital organs applied only to the normal monsters, Necromorphs had no need for them since they were made from dead tissue anyways. The Necromorphs had lost their limbs in dismemberment, the limbs either uselessly on the ground or missing. Blood pooled over the platform, like a crimson lake with some of it dripping over the side of the platform, though it had quickly dried thanks to the scorching sun.

"What… what is this…?" Compa asked, barely above a whisper as she covered her mouth with her hands. Tekken did the same, while all the girls lost most of the colour in their faces. It drained away from them, making them look like they were ghosts. Hell, even Nico looked affected, though his Helmet had hidden most of his reaction from view. Neptune and Compa were fortunate to be wearing armour so their expressions were hidden, although the previous observations of their reactions were still applicable despite them being hidden.

How long had it been since he saw something like this?

Neptune was the first one to react. "Whoa… the M Rating for this fic is really not kidding. Just imagine if all this was cannon, we'd have a VERY different opinion of us circling the internet these days." Neptune commented, shuddering. Though, whether it was from the sigh or her fourth wall breaking was anyone's guess.

IF rolled her eyes as she gave an incredulous glare to the preteen CPU. "Really, Nep? You make jokes NOW of all times?" that was what she wanted to say, but she only got to speak the first question, the rest was said in her mind, as she hadn't the will to say it. She would have normally, had she not realised something. Neptune breaking te tension with jokes was part of her nature, her personality, and she could tell that Compa and Tekken needed something to lighten the mood.

"This is terrible…" the young Nurse-In-Training whispered, somehow finding more strength in her voice as she eyed the horror-fest before her. Perhaps it came from the fact that she had seen gore like this before when fighting the Zombies in Lastation? Who knew. "Who could have done this?"

Tekken frowned, before shaking her head as she looked at the corpses. "No clue here, I've never fought that many Abnormals, just stayed out of their way mostly." She remarked, remembering her past experiences with the Abnormal monsters, how she would hide from them with her friends in the wilds. Normally she wouldn't be like this, as it was in her blood to fight and become stronger. Hell, it was her desire to get stronger as a Martial Artist! However, every cell in her body warned her that the Abnormals were too tough for her current being to beat.

Nico meanwhile, was coming to terms with things of his own as he stared with his lone eye at the devastation. It wasn't the fact that there was corpses and blood all over the place, that wasn't what troubled him. No, it was upon closer inspection of the nearest corpses that deeply unnerved him. The corpses, the ones that were of normal monsters, had certain markings on them where they had lost their organs and/or limbs. Booth marks, meaning that whatever did this was something that feasted on other beings to survive…

And he had a pretty good idea of what it was.

'Looks like you were right, mom…' Nico thought, closing his eye as he remembered what his adoptive mom had said to him before they arrived at Leanbox.


"If you and those girls go there, you'll surely run into more Abnormals and Demons… maybe even some of THEM as well…"


Opening his eye, the male pushed his conflicting emotions to the side and focused on the Corpses. "Looks like these were recent kills. Whatever did this may still be nearby, so we should probably keep our guard up." He advised. The others nodded their heads in agreement, something that can do something like this was NOT something they would wat o get ambushed by. Just as they returned to walk back down the hill…

RRRRRRRRRRRROOOOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!

"KYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!" Neptune and Compa screamed, holding each other while a loud, ferocious roar echoed through the area. It chilled them to the bone, sending dread down their spines and fear into their minds. "WHAT THE HECK WAS THAT?!" With the amount of stresss and tension in the air thanks to the sight of the corpses, their fears had been up through the roof, so when the roar came out of nowhere, the girls lost control.

Nico quickly whirled to the cavern below, looking down it to see a hulking form rapidly climbing up the surface. "Everyone, get away from the eddges!" Nico yelled, flipping away from the ledge himself. The girls didn't need to be told twice as they all got away dfrom the ledge, as well as jumped down the hill to the lower platform.

Just in time too, for if they were later by a second, they would have witnessed the mass jumping onto the ledge, land on one of the corpses and hungrily devour it before moving onto the rest. They didn't need to be there to know that though, the gory squelching sounds made it clear what it was doing. While it was distracted, Neptune, IF, Compa, and Nico summoned their weapons while Tekken raised her fists and got into a combat stance.

In a moment, the sounds of corpses being eaten stopped, the mass began to move over to the edge of the hill, letting the party see what the heck it was in the first place. Then sun shone brightly on it, covering it with shadow, but they could tell that it was as large as a car. The shadowy form jumped from the hill and landed before them, allowing them to finally see its full glory.

As well as all its horror.

The form before them was that of a creature that moved in a bear-like stance. It possessed three jawless heads and pincers. The creature's entire upper torso is composed of dead bodies, most of which have been visually absorbed partway into the creature's flesh. It also had large, Slasher-like blades, coming out the top of its back. A long, fleshy tongue comes out of the central head, while two giant mandibles or tusks comes out of the heads on the sides. The body was akin to a Brute's in that it has several armour-plated regions on its body, forming a ribcage-like pattern along the length of its torso. Its hands and feet were clawed as it snarled menacingly towards them.

"Hmmm, looks like we got ourselves a Graverobber." Nico mused as he checked his Void Storage for the weapon he would use. Graverobbers were very powerful Necromorphs, as well as highly resilient. The last time he fought one of those, his Plasma Claws could barely put a dent through its hide, forcing him to use his demonic weapons, as well as IT, to slaughter it once and for all. If this was going to be like the last time, then...

He remembered how he told IF he was a Scythe Wielder, and began to ponder drawing his Scythe out. 'It's been a while since I used it last, believe the last time I used it was 8 weeks ago when I was fighting a horde of Frenzied Ancient Dragons.' He mused mentally. Plus, this would distract him from the other problem at hand.

IF looked to him, pondering whether to ask him how he knew that or not, but decided against it since it wasn't that surprising that he knew. He was a Spec Ops with knowledge of tons of Abnormals, this was no different. "In any case, looks like ugly here's not gonna let us leave without a fight. Get ready girls, here it comes!"

The Graverobber roared as it struck, lunging at them and swinging its Slasher Blades at them wildly. The girls dodged them when they were attacked, while Neptune managed to get behind it and slashed at one of its legs. Unfortunately, the damage that she managed to do was minimal, and what damage she did do was regenerated near instantaneously. "What?! Aw, come on, Hax I call Hax!"

Tekken charged in and punched one of the heads with a RAIJN FIST. Lighting sparked through the creature's body, but the Graverobber just growled, furiously headbutting the girl and knocking her down. "Ouchies! That hurt… but it felt so good, too!" she moaned, but luckily the others didn't hear her since they were focused on the battle.

When the Graverobber made to pounce and devour her, its jaws open wide, Tekken swiftly rolled out the way, going into a rising helicopter kick while empowering her legs with Lightning. She succeeded in tripping and making the Graverobber fall on one side, before flipping back to dodge a Slasher blade.

This made way for IF to jump into the fray, moulding her Tentacles into one long Pillar-like form that she rammed into the Graverobber's underbelly, making it cry out as it slid across the ground. It dug its claws into the ground to slow its movement while using the momentum to get back on all fours. It then roared as its tongue less heads opened, an inner orange glow forming in their mouths.

"Guys, watch out! Projectiles!" Nico warned as they as the Graverobber fired a pair of large ball-like projectiles at them. They dodged them, but when they hit the ground they melted through it like butter in a frying pan, leaving a large crater behind filled with orange liquid. Steam rose from it accompanied by a sizzling sound, indicating all too well what would have happened if any of them touched it.

The male growled in anger, feeling demonic energy rising within him as he channelled it through his being to increase his power. He sped towards the Gaverobber, with Neptune coming in from the other side as she prepared to activate CROSS COMBINATION. The Graverobber however, batter her away with oe of its blade s before she could finish preparations and lunged towards him.

Sliding beneath the Graverobber Nico summoned and drew Ebony and Ivory from his Void Storage, unloading on its torso as he slid beneath it. The Graverobber shrieked and fell to the ground. it slowly rose to its feet, shaking its head to clear its dizziness, before turning to see Compa unload a barrage of rounds onto its face, 4 in each of the eyes its side heads possessed.

Seeing their chances, the group each began activating Skills of their own. IF went first, going for a DEMON FLAMES. The flames erupted and covered the Necromorph, making it howl in agony as the flames licked away at its flesh, which regenerated just as quickly.

When the flames dissipated, its eyes opened to the sight of Neptune in its face, her eyes livid as she swung her sword with a cry of "CROSS COMBINATION!" While she didn't knock it into the air, due to the creature's weight being doubled thanks to devouring those corpses, she was still able to complete her Skill. She then added in a CRITICAL EDGE for good measure, ending up behind it.

Running in from the left was Nico, and he as activating a Skill of his own. "PHANTOM EDGE!" he yelled, his weapon, which was Rebellion, becoming coated in his energy as he dashed past it, leaving behind a long gash that erupted with energy, damaging it further. He then twisted a full 180 degrees, kicking in its direction to launch a PHANTOM WAVE that sent it onto its side, rolling several times as it did so.

Next up was Tekken, who ran up to its faces and did a double spinning drill dropkick, both feet slamming into the centre face and dazing it. She then landed on her hands, flipping into the air and landing on her feet before dashing forwards. Both fists were enveloped in Lightning, the signature form of her RAIJIN FIST Skill but on both fists, as she delivered a series of punches with them. She delivered 20 punches in 8 seconds, before spinning into a helicopter kick that collided with one of its side faces, sending it to the ground.

Compa followed with a COMPA LOVE HEART, forming the attack in front of her with her Syringe before thrusting her Syringe at its centre, launching the large love heart into its face, causing a large pink explosion. However, she wasn't done yet with this monster, her eyes shining brightly with a purple aura gathering around her. "I'm not the weakest one here, anymore! BREADCRUMBS!" she called out, twisting around into a whirlwind spin while pointing her Syringe forwards. As this happened, dark purple petals gathered around her, forming a makeshift circle around her and preventing anyone from getting close. A few seconds later she fell on her backside, her Syringe's tip releasing a purple laser into the air. It reached about 20 feet, before coming back down as a shower of lasers, bombarding the Graverobber like a round of heavy artillery.

Smoke covered the area as Compa got up, panting heavily from her attack. The others were giving her stunned looks, as if doubting that she was the same person who had been training with them. "Dude!" Neptune gasped, giving Compa a look of awe with stars shining in her eyes. "That was freaking AWESOMESAUCE, Compa! I didn't know you could do that!"

In response to the sudden attention, Compa could only let out a nervous giggle, rubbing the back of her head shyly as she used her Syringe as a Cane. That attack had taken a lot out of her, Nico had noticed, no matter how powerful an attack was it always had the drawback of energy draining. Fortunately, they all had high reserves of energy, so they could pull Skills off without fear of losing too much. Compa on the other hand focused more on refining her control over her healing Skills, not increasing her overall reserves. Thus, a large-scale attack will drain her significantly.

"I'll admit it was cool, but looks like you got tired after one use. You might wat to train your reserves when you get the chance Compa." IF advised sagely, the Nurse-In-Training nodding in agreement as she barely managed to stand straight without using her Syringe as support.

"Yessy."

While the girls were commenting about Compa's ability Nico checked his Holomap, trying to see if there were any life signs for the Graverobber left. He pulled up his HUD and checked the surroundings… his eyes widening when his HUD detected life signs within the smoke. "Oh shit, everyone, be cautious! This thing's still alive!"

His warning came just in time as the Graverobber suddenly jumped out the smoke towards Compa, who eeped and tried to dive out the way. However, one of it claws nicked her on the side, clawing her armour off and exposing the flesh underneath. She managed to escape injury though, and her armour was already restoring itself as she landed on her side.

"Compa! Hold on, the Neps a comin'!" Neptune yelled as she rushed forwards, Tekken soon following suit. The two distracted the Graverobber which slashed with its blades, blocking their attacks but allowing Compa to get some distance. Unfortunately for her, she left her Syringe by the leg of the beast in her haste to get away.

"My Syringe!"

Nico noticed this and quickly realised what would happen if the Graverobber would step on it. While the girls distracted it, the male dashed forwards, activating DEMON OVERDRIVE to increase his speed. He became a blur, ducking under a stray right claw and sliding long the ground. Switching Rebellion for Ebony, Nico reached with his right arm out to the Syringe, grasping it by the middle of its tanker before pulling it to his chest and getting to his feet. He even managed to shot a few rounds into the Graverobber's right hind leg, distracting it long enough for IF to get in a good solid smash to the face with the pillar she had for an arm.

The male then flipped back multiple times, the third flip being his biggest as he slid to a halt next to the Nurse-In-Training. When he stopped, the male stood tall and turned to his comrade, holding the Syringe out in one hand and bowing slightly. "Special Delivery! One trusty Syringe for one pretty Nurse-In-Training!"

"Thank you!" Compa beamed, oblivious to the slight slip-up Nico made, the male thanking that his helmet hid his blushing features, as she took her Syringe back.

Grinning behind his Helmet, Nico gave a two-fingered salute, making a clicking sound with his tongue before bolting back into the battle with IF and the others. Compa looked at him for a moment, one could see her thinking hard as several black dots appeared over her head. Finally, something finally clicked in her mind. "Did he just call me pretty…?"

Back in the battle, Nico and IF joined forces to parry the Slasher blades that the Graverobber was using. Nico used Alastor, while IF had morphed her Tentacle pillar into her Axammer. The two could do this with no issues, even as the Graverobber put more pressure on them by the second. "Alright, so a Skill rush didn't work, got any other bright ideas?" the brunette questioned the male.

"Well, I noticed that its body seems to deflate slightly whenever it heals its body from our attacks, makes me think that it uses Biomass to heal. Those corpses were fresh, so it has an ample supply, or it did until we Skill rushed it. If we do the same again, we might just finish it off." Nico replied, pushing the Slasher blade back as he switched his weapons out once again.

When the transfer was complete, Nico held his new weapon in both hands: his Scythe, at long last. The weapon was enormous, bigger than Nico was in terms of height. The Scythe had a jagged, wing-like blade with multiple spikes coming out the main edge, its colour was black, with the wing-like blade being black where the fingers were and red where the 'webbing' would have been. "Heh I liked to call this baby, HARVESTER!"

Swinging the Scythe about to regain a good feel of the weapon, Nico cackled in anticipation, and the Graverobber soon began to shudder when hearing that cackle. Every bon in its body told it that it was facing the Grim Reaper when it saw that Scythe. It felt like gazing into said entity's eyes when it's gaze landed on that Scythe.

"Is it just me, or is that Scythe haunted?" Neptune wondered, quivering a little, although she wouldn't admit it. She had had enough jump scares for one day, thank you. Nonetheless, that Scythe bugged her in ways she couldn't quite explain. She swore she could hear faint moans and groans of agony coming from that wicked, demonic looking weapon.

Nobody answered her as Nico dashed towards the Graverobber, which swung its blades in his direction. The male deflected the first blade while flipping over the other, landing with his back to it as he made a reverse horizontal slash. The Graverobber screeched in agony, searing pain exploding from the cut across all there of its faces. The male followed up with several more slashes, 1 diagonal, 1 vertical and the last one being horizontal.

The male jumped into the air and delivered a rising spinning slash, cutting up more of the Graverobber's flesh before throwing Harvester in a vertical spinning motion. The Scythe dug into the monster's back, as Nico landed beside it and flipped off, landing behind the monster and grasoped the Scythe's shaft, tearing it out the creature to leave a deadly wound behind.

"There, I' ve weakened it! Take the shot, ladies!" Nico called out to the girls, all of them nodding as they readied their weapons. They each activated their own Skills, and made to finish the enemy off…

When something else came into the picture.


A mad laughter echoed throughout the area as a figure jumped out from his hiding place. "Hahahahaha YOLO!" the figure yelled in a masculine voice. Before anyone, even the Graverobber, could react a massive pillar of flesh suddenly slammed into the Graverobber from above to create a loud BOOM, crushing it to dust. The fate of the creature was shown as several white particles escaped the Pillar.

"Whoa, what the Nep?!" Neptune shrieked in shock. The others were of like minds as they stared at the pillar, which had crushed the enemy they were fighting like it was nothing. "What's going on here, who's the one kill-stealing! Cheater, belly eater, kill stealer!"

"Hahahahahaha! That would be me purple!"

The Party turned to the source, finding the figure that had leapt out before, landing atop a small rock formation as the figure stared down at them. The figure had a masculine frame, leading them to believe he was male. He wore all black, black spiked boots, a black one-piece suit like those secret agents would wear, black gloves on his hands, and a black cowl over his head that covered the top portion of his face. Though, it didn't cover the large grin he was sporting, and that grin was enough to give them chills. For some reason, they couldn't help but feel intimidated by this man. Perhaps…

It was because the pillar was coming out from his back.

Speaking of the Pillar, the Pillar had risen from the spot it had smashed, leaving a massive crater where the Graverobber had once been. The pillar receded back to him, all the while it began to unravel, revealing that it was made from a set of components. Those components receded into the man faster than the eye could see, faint crackling sounds emitting from them, so the group didn't see what they were.

'Nico… this man is…'

The teen nodded in response to the demonic personification's comment. Nico shuddered, feeling the man's gaze focus on him and him alone. He knew that gaze, and he knew EXACTLY what it was that the man had used to kill the Graverobber. 'Yeah, he is… you can feel it too, can't you? You're a part of me, so you should feel what I am.'

'Yes… this feeling… I couldn't ever forget it…'

What Biko and Nico were referring to, was the feeling of quivering excitement, the feeling of every cell in his body being wide awake. The power of IT, which he had been suppressing save for brief uses, now was breaking free from their combined restraints and heightening his senses. This was simply survival instinct, something that only happened when one of THEM showed up.

The atmosphere intensified upon this man's entry into the scene. Everyone cold feel chills going up their spines as the hairs on the backs of their heads stood on end. Ever got the feeling that you were a mouse being cornered by a hungry cat? That was what they were feeling right now, and only one of them knew why.

"Who are you buster, why did ya steal our kill like that?! That's all kinds of low, kill-stealing!" Neptune, being the fearless leader, put on a brave face despite the helmet having hid her fearful expression. She had raised an arm and pointed towards the grinning man, who's grin could only widen at her display.

The man took a long sniff, releasing a euphoric sigh that only disturbed the girls even more. "Ahhhh, I can smell the fear from these girlies…" the man whispered in a hoarse voice, slouching forwards with his arms hanging in front of his chest. His grin was equally disturbing as he cackled. "It smells… so goddamn good…!"

... The way he said that so sensually even creeped Tekken out. "You guys, I really don't like this guy... he's creeping me out..." she called to the others. While they didn't answer her, their various postures all indicated that they each shared the same opinion on the man before them.

Not only did he give them creepy vibes, but whatever he had done easily smashed the Graverobber to pieces, something that was done with so much ease compared to their efforts. It stung their pride a little, but that was soon replaced by the sense of impending dread filling their lungs, making their breathing a bit uneasy. Worse still, was the man's scent. The man had a... unique scent alongside his natural one, a scent that even those with bad noses could have noticed:

The scent of blood... lots of it.

IF finally found her voice as she growled, stepping forwards and forming her blades. She pointed one at the man and snarled. "Okay, that's enough. who are you, and what are you doing here?" Despite her bravado, it was clear that she was unsettled by this man, if how her forehead was drenched in sweat ad how she tried to keep her body from trembling was any indication. If this man could make someone like her, whose body was a living breathing weapon, tremble like a meek little girl then they were extremely bad news.

Judging by how amused the man seemed to be, it was apparent that he knew what she was thinking. "Awww, how cute. You girls really care cutie-pies, aren't you? You must get off on each other huh?" the man mused, a finger to his chin as he looked like he was deep in thought. For a moment, his creepy, disturbing demeanour was gone, like it had never been there in the first place.

This only made their dread heighten however, it was like this man was a pro at being creepy and disturbing. This fear they were feeling in their guts, it wasn't the fast pace, all-consuming fear that seeing grotesque Abnormals like the Necromorphs or the Banshees, or even the infected monsters back in Lastation had.

No, this fear was different, it had more of its own distinct… personality, one could call it, its own devious plans for those that feel it. It was more of a slow, gradual fear like a monster slowly and deliberately toying with them, creeping ever so closer to them till it could strike at their very beings without mercy.

In the next moment, the creepiness returned when the man smirked, suddenly sliding across the ground and stopping right before Neptune, their faces inches apart as he cupped her chin, making her look at his shadowed eyes. "Why, it almost makes me wonder about you… but enough of that, do you know what the best thing about this world is…?" he asked her.

IF and Nico struck first, swinging their respective weapons at the man while he was so close to one of their comrades. The man merely jumped back however, landing on all fours like an animal. His head turned back and forth, cracking sounds emitting from his neck as he slowly, unnaturally stood up, like he was merely a puppet on a string.

"Um guys…?" Compa timidly spoke, hands clenched around her Syringe nervously. Even in her armour, one could tell just by listening to her voice that she didn't like being anywhere near this guy. He gave her the chills, and if Compa got that reaction then one could tell this guy was bad news, especially if they missed the way IF acted around them. "I don't like this guy… he's really creepy, can we just go?"

The man tilted his head after she asked this, as if confused by it. "Go? I think not. After all, we aren't done here…" he spoke, lowering is head as he slowly got into a standing position, his arms hanging loosely before him with his head doing the same. Faint crackling sounds could be heard coming from him, bu as time went on they began to get louder and more pronounced.

'Be ready, Nico! It's coming!'

'I know, Biko!'

'HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA THIS'LL BE FUN, KING! OH, HOW FUN IT WILL BE INDEED!'

The man's form slouched over, exposing his back where they could see a black fleshy mass gathering at the back of his waist. Finally, the man lifted his head to look at them, and they saw at last his eyes. They were crimson red with a blackened sclera, red veins flowing through the sides of his face like cracks in a mask. His mouth twisted into a shark-like toothy grin, hysterical laughter escaping him as the mass exploded outwards. "AFTER ALL, I HAVEN'T TAKEN YOU ALON A DATE, RIPPED OUT YOUR INTESTINES AND GOBBLED YOU ALL UP WHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOLE!"


Chapter end

There you go, another chapter.

Now, I've been thinking about those special events that take place in the games. Bits of things that happen in between the main plot that showcase the comedy element of the Games. Do you guys want me to write some of those events, they'll likely be either canon or my own make, into my story? Let me know in the reviews or PM me.

Anyways, that's all for now folks!