As soon as the Leader Hunters started the hunt Mercer returned his attention to Garp. The old man looked furious and again rushed Mercer to deliver another punch, but this time when the attack connected there was much less effect than before.
Mercer returned the punch with his Musclemass that pushed the old Vice-Admiral back.
"That was a good hit boy" smiled Garp as he wiped away some blood from his mouth.
As I thought, these old-timers are tougher then one might think. His punch was like a damn hit from the Abrams main cannon...and my hit would have reduced a normal human to mincemeat.
Garp grabbed a stone from the ground and send it rocketing towards Mercer but was deflected when the intruder formed a shield.
Not trusting in ranged attacks to have enough speed to hit the man Alex used Soru and appeared before him, but his jab was blocked by Garp, his following uppercut also.
This will be a long fight...thought Mercer.
As the sound of the alarm pierced the tranquility of the Marine Headquarters a stunned silence could be observed among the soldiers. Everyone from Fleet Admiral to the rank and file didn't move a muscle as if time itself stood still, attempting to process what they are hearing. Pans on the stove were forgotten, push ups were stopped...
An attack? On the Headquarters itself? Now? Who would do such an insane thing? The Yonko? Have the Revolutionaries made their move? Those were some of the questions that were thought.
This lasted until the paralysis was broken by the chaos that followed the silence. People shouted to get the weapons, and move to their posts.
They had no idea what was going one, but they will do their duty as marines.
Coby clenched his teeth as he moved forward with the help of a few soldiers. He didn't wish to leave the former Vice-Admiral alone but he knew that with his injury he was more a liability than any help.
They turned a corner and ran into a squad of Marines that were running to the docks.
"Captain Coby!" said one of them "What's happening? Who's attacking us?!"
His answer was given by a loud roar coming from the way leading to the docks. The men gasped when they spotted seven monstrosities jumping down the street and on the roofs of nearby buildings.
"Shoot them!" said a soldier as he leveled his gun at the approaching horrors.
The other followed and opened fire, but their bullets had little effect on the things.
Soon the Hunters were on them. With bestial savagery they leaped on the soldiers, crushing them under their powerful arms and shredding them with sharp teeth.
Coby could only helplessly watch as the Marines were massacred by the monstrosities. A soldier started to back away in fear as he saw one of the things move in his direction.
He knew that turning his back on the thing was a bad idea, but staying here was suicide so he turned around to run and slammed into a large figure behind him.
He looked up and gulped "Captain T-Bone..."
The man glanced down and nodded, he quickly pulled his sword and pushed the soldier out of the way before he himself dodged the beast that tried to tackle them.
A quick slash made a long gash appeared on the thing, the Leader Hunter roared and leaped at the Marine Captain. T-Bone ducked under the punch that broke the wall of the building behind him and retaliated with well placed sword thrusts and cuts at his opponent.
The Leader Hunter roared again and unleashed a flurry of blows on the man who was pushed back, until his sword broke. Now defenseless T-Bone suffered hit after hit, he slammed into the house whose wall the thing already demolished.
T-Bone managed to stand a few feet from the prone figure of Coby, all other Marines were already dead leaving them alone with seven savage beasts.
So it came as no small relief when a giant katana vertically slashed two of the monsters, cutting them in half.
The remaining five beasts turned their attention to the giant figure that cast its shadow over them.
Vice-Admiral John Giant didn't even bother with demands for surrender or condemn the behavior of his foes. In the end they were nothing more than mindless beasts. So with a quick slash he cut one more of the monsters. The rests managed to dodge and run to the giant Vice-Admiral, only to be stopped by a quick kick from his leg.
But if he hoped that would kill them, he was mistaken.
The things came back with renewed tenacity, and were intercepted by a squad of Marines carrying bazookas.
They rained down projectile after projectile on the Leader Hunters until they dropped dead. The Marines roared in elation as the monsters died, their fallen comrades avenged.
"Captain T-Bone, Captain Coby could someone tell me what's going on here?" asked John Giant.
T-Bone coughed blood but managed to stand up, fully aware that he had serious internal injuries. Coby also managed to stand up by supporting himself on the wall.
"Sir!" they saluted.
"I don't know much, when the alarm sounded I went to see what's happening, that is when I encountered Captain Coby here, he was wounded and those things were in pursuit."
The Vice-Admiral looked at Coby.
The boy knew that it was his turn "I was supposed to be in the clinic, undergoing an examination related to trauma awakened Haki by doctor Kobato. Captain Shu was already there so when she left I waited...it was thanks to my Observation Haki that I sensed the danger to myself and used Soru and Geppo to avoid it."
"And Captain Shu?"
"...he was the source of the danger."
That surprised both T-Bone and the Vice-Admiral.
"Explain!" demanded the giant sternly.
"He...his hands changed, instead of fingers he had long claws, when his attack failed he followed me out in the air also by using Geppo. I-I don't know how to describe it..he butchered soldiers with some kind of tentacle without any remorse...it was only thanks to Vice-Admiral Garp that I survived..."
"And what are those beasts?" asked the giant as he pointed his katana at the remains.
"I-I don't know, some of the soldiers helped me leave the docks before I saw what happened" he said dejectedly.
The Vice-Admiral grunted in annoyance "Well I guess Garp is doing short work with Shu. You two need medical attention, get to it. I will see what happened down in the docks."
The soldiers nodded.
Mercer couldn't believe that he had to use his armor, Tekkai and Armamant Haki to reduce the damage he suffered to acceptable levels.
But still his greatest asset was that the Vice-Admiral is human.
Garp inhaled deeply as he watched his opponent use Soru again, he had a split second to dodge the Shigan of the thing he was fighting. It was only 25 minutes since the battle started and he was pushed to his maximum...not since Roger's days did he fight on this level.
He lost any illusion that he was fighting Shu, the armored figure possessed indeed the Captain's ability to rust metal, as he learned when he tried to bombard him with cannonballs. Sadly the projectiles turned to rust on contact and dealt no damage whatsoever.
He dodged a Shigan from his enemy and blocked the knee that was directed to his stomach. Only to receive a headbutt to his already injured forehead.
As he stumbled back he dodged another Shigan that went for his heart, but didn't manage to completely evade it.
A sharp pain spread from his shoulder when the armored finger pierced it. Not to be ungrateful he returned the favor by pulling the thing closer and delivering a uppercut, closely followed by a stomp to the things knee.
Under the impact Mercer's leg was forced into an unnatural angle, making him lose his footing and stumble back. Before he managed to regenerate it a jab into the head send him flying until he hit the same wall as before.
Garp could only watch with irritation as the not-Shu brushed the rubble off himself and started to walk out of the demolished wall. Though irritated Garp had to admit he had no small amount of respect for his foe's strength.
"Now!" came a shout as a band of marines dropped a large net over Mercer.
"Hahahaha, that's sea stone loser! Try to get out of that now!" laughed one of the Marines.
Alex obliged, he easily grabbed the thing and ripped it as if it was nothing. The Marines could only stand in shock at that.
But Alex was most pleased that they decided to stay around, he ran up the wall until he was facing the human who mocked him. He grabbed him by the neck and quickly consumed him, then another, then another.
"Stop it!" shouted Garp but the deed was done. Fully healed and replenished Mercer turned back to the Vice Admiral.
He used Soru again to reappear in front of Garp and attempted once more to kill him with a Shigan, but again the old man was up to speed. He caught both of Mercer's arms into his own and held them with all his strength, turning it into a deadly stalemate. The first one to get tired dies.
And Alex knew, that wasn't him. And as predicted the Vice-Admirals grip started to fail, making his fingers approach Garp millimeter by millimeter. Mercer saw that the strain on the man's shoulder made the wound he inflicted bleed profoundly, by this rate the old geezer would die from blood lose before anything else. His white uniform was already half white-half red.
A hit from the side send Mercer rocketing into one of the ships docked nearby. The impact send him through the warship until he emerged on the other side landing in the water.
Alex quickly used the power of the Mizu-Mizu no Mi to launch himself out of the sea, landing on the ship he broke through.
He wasn't happy with the sight.
"Garp, you're getting old" said Sengoku.
"Look who's talking" smiled Garp but quickly turned serious "but seriously this isn't an opponent to take lightly" he glared at the monster that boarded the ship.
Sengoku looked at his old friend before returning his focus on the armored form that was standing still on the ship, making no move to resume the fight.
"What have you learned?"
Garp placed his hand on the injured shoulder to stop at least some of the bleeding.
"Too much if you ask me. The thing has a high grasp of Rokushiki, it favors fast aggressive attacks with Soru and Shigan. It's prepared to take hits if it can deliver some of its own, that overconfidence is not without reason. It regenerates, even instantly if it has people nearby that it can absorb" explained Garp.
That made Sengoku's eyes widen "What!"
Garp's frown deepened "Having all these soldiers here now proved to be a huge advantage to it. Any time I made some progress against it, that thing found someone to absorb."
The former Fleet-Admiral gritted his teeth, the way the soldiers died was something he wouldn't wish upon his worst enemy. It was one thing to die fighting pirates with a sword in hand, another to be used as a quick snack to help your enemy spread chaos and death.
His form shifted until it towered over Garp, his golden skin reflecting the moonlight "It must be brought to justice."
Mercer didn't like the way this fight was going, he barely had enough of an advantage to fight Garp, and that was mostly thanks to his ability to heal in the middle of the battle by consuming the humans that he found with his thermal vision. But fighting Garp and Sengoku was suicide, there was no way he could fight them together and have any hope of victory...two against one, what poor sportsmanship.
Instead of attacking the duo, he ran deeper into the base, this situation was already absolutely out of hand, might as well make it a complete disaster for everyone.
As he ran through the base he searched for any heat signatures he could find, and when he did...
Vincent held his gun tightly wondering what the alarm was for. It was supposed to warn of an attack but there were no enemy ships in the vicinity, the patrols also didn't report anything...
He stopped when an armored figure appeared in front of them. Since it wasn't displaying any Marine symbols, he and his squad pointed their guns at him "Stop! You're unde-"
The sentence was cut short when tendrils erupted from the thing that pierced their bodies. Soon a burning pain spread through them before they lost consciousness.
Mercer watched as the soldiers started to mutate into more Leader Hunters. As they were fully formed he gave them only one order – go rampant.
The monsters roared and rushed to hunt to their hearts content. Mercer on the other hand sprinted further into the base to find more soldiers to mutate.
Every group he found he turned, and soon the Marine Headquarters was swarming with Leader Hunters that managed to split the Marines attention, while he searched for anything that he should consume before leaving. In fact turning the soldiers into hunters had another useful side effect. Hunters replenished more of his health when he consumed them, so it was a double win.
"Hold them off!" shouted Onigumo to his soldiers, if he didn't know why the alarmed sounded before, now he did. Monsters broke into the barracks and started to slaughter his men by the dozens. Their guns and swords proved ineffective against the things so bazookas, mortars and cannons were dragged in mass to create choke points.
The things were strong, but dumb as bricks. Mindlessly they charged through the narrow killing field and died from the barrage.
So it came as no small surprise when a piece of wall broke off and the beasts flanked the soldiers at the barricades. They descended on their prey with savage ferocity, tearing limbs and devouring entrails.
Onigumo cursed and pulled his eight sabers, the blades cutting deeply into the Leader Hunters back. A leap from another Hunter blind-sighted the Vice-Admiral who ended up falling on his back, when he looked up he saw that he was surrounded by the beasts.
"For justice!" he shouted and the Leader Hunters attacked.
Coby watched the landscape with dread. Instead of the peaceful view he enjoyed not even a full hour before the sight could only be called a nightmare. The night was illuminated by fires that spread across the base. Screams, roars and explosions made the nightmare even more real.
He glanced at the medical personnel that was bringing in wounded by the dozens. He was lucky enough to arrive before this insanity started in earnest so he received help immediately. His leg wasn't permanently damaged but the recovery will take its time.
He only hoped that Helmeppo and his crew were alright.
Garp crushed another monsters head in before he took a deep breath. The beasts were crawling all over the place, and were tough bastards as well. Not as strong as their creator but still a threat.
Sengoku on the other hand was having an easier time dealing with them since he wasn't exhausted from combat.
If this keeps on we won't have any soldiers left! To create an army is impressive, to create an army of savage super-powered beasts while in the same time hurting your enemy is terrifying.
"Garp" said Sengoku as he let the corpse of a Leader Hunter fall on the ground "this thing is too dangerous to live. It must die here, today...this INSTANT!"
Garp could understand his rage, he felt it also. Where is that fire-breathing bastard when he's needed! "We are wasting time talking here, let move"
Hina panted as she moved away from the monster corpse. She didn't know where these things came from, but they certainly picked the best time to strike. Beside the Fleet Admiral who still had to make an appearance all the Admiral were somewhere else. Admiral Borsalino was sent to deal with Zephyr, Admirals Issho and Ryokugyu were also doing their duty in the New World.
"That is the last of them here" said captain Very Good. The man has lost his forearm to the jaws of the beasts when they started to break in the ships. The ships artillery turrets were the only things that were holding the line against the packs of monsters that came through the docks or crawled on the walls of the base.
"How are the men holding up?"
"Determined" answered Jango "and angry about the attack. They wish to punish the enemy for attacking them. Our ammo supplies are also high so we are more then ready to deal with them as they come"
Hina grunted and took another cigarette out. She had no idea how this could happen, but defeat was not an option.
"Captain!" shouted a Marine "we have a contact!" he pointed to a single dark form that was running right towards them.
The black armored figure wasn't certainly on their side "Open fire!"
And the soldiers complied. Cannonballs started to rain down on the figure, but to their horror it didn't even slow down.
A single jump made it land on the deck, tendril shoot from its body and pierced the group of Marines that were standing the closest to it.
To Hina's and everyone's horror the soldiers started to mutate in front of their eyes.
"Oh hell..." cursed Jango closely followed by Fullbody. So all those things were Marines once...although they could say it was release from a tormented, vile existence it still a fact that they killed their former comrades.
The newly formed Leader Hunters roared and turned around to face the surviving soldiers, in a heartbeat they were on them.
Hina ignored the monsters, she attacked the obvious cause of the problem. If I kill him that should stop the invasion...maybe.
The figure didn't even move as she landed a kick to his neck. It grabbed her leg and pulled her closer, before he placed his knee in her stomach.
She gasped from the impact. It then lifted her up again, but this time so her face was parallel to his mask "I promised you a swim didn't I?"
Her eyes widened before she was send flying over the ship, her trajectory sending her down a considerable distance on the open sea.
Both Jango and Fullbody didn't loose any time before they jumped into the water and swam to help their Captain.
"Huf – Jango – huf – swim faster – huf" said Fullbody.
"I'm- trying. I hope we don't come to late-"
"Don t-huf-even-huf-say-huf-that!"
"Well- there's-always-CPR."
As soon the words left Jango's mouth, the two stopped for a second to think about it, then they quadrupled their speed.
Mercer watched the idiot commando disappear in the distance. He didn't care if they made it in time or not, he came here only because he sensed many humans that could be infected.
Suddenly the Leader Hunters glanced in the night sky and hissed. Alex looked up and saw fireballs fall from the sky...no, not fireballs...lava.
Akainu used his infamous Dai Funka to burn the dock district clean of invaders. He saw the beasts fall under his magma as easily as any man, their superior strength and toughness too weak to stand against his power.
The news reached him that the docks and the lower levels were already lost and that the Marines were being pushed back deeper into the base.
He thought that the Marines would be able to deal with such a nuisance but obviously he was wrong. In a very short time the enemy has somehow conjured up a formidable army of his own and brought the docks, with all its naval assets under his command. Fortunately the beasts were too dumb to use the cannons they captured it seems.
Now it's time that I deal with this wannabe-Blackbeard thought the Fleet Admiral.
Sentomaru watched the lava rain down on the beasts that were rushing to break deeper in the base. He snorted and removed his axe from the head of a monster. His Pacifista were doing a good job in fighting the beasts, although not without losses.
The most effective weapon was their laser that burned the enemy easily from a distance, but if allowed to get close, the flurry of blows the monsters unleashed made serious damage to their cybernetic body.
More than one of doctor Vegapunks creations showed shredded clothing, revealed machine parts or had their arms or chest plating ripped off.
The good thing is that the damaged and destroyed units could be repaired, but it was easier to manufacture new ones instead of fixing the damaged unit.
"Let's move" he said before he started to advance into the docks, ready to purge it from any monsters they encountered.
Mercer frowned when he saw his forces go up in smoke, literally. Perhaps some more muscle...he looked until he found what he was searching for. He ran up the ship's mast, first he disabled his armor, jumped and started to glide to his target, trusting that the darkness will keep the people from looking up and spotting him.
When he was over his prey he activated his blade power, infused it with haki and used his blade air slice before dropping on the giant's head. He positioned the angle of the blade so it cut at the vertebrae of his target.
The giant roared in pain as the blade cut deep into his neck, the damage instantly paralyzing him, but without outright killing him. Mercer switched his blade for his musclemass and pushed his hands deep in the wound. The process was harder then normal, while a regular person needed a little of his biomass to begin the mutation, the giant's large body-mass required a lot more to achieve the same speed of effect as a normal transformation.
But when the giant Leader Hunter stood up Mercer was more then satisfied with his work. He returned his armor and jumped to the ground. He still didn't find anyone worth consuming, and now that Akainu was in play his options were running out.
As soon as he landed he ran down the street, only to run into a Pacifista. The thing didn't spend too much time thinking before his laser burned off Mercer's right arm. Using Soru Alex appeared in front of it and with a single arm formed into a hammerfist caved the things head and torso in, before it was completely flattened in the ground.
He regrew his arm and dashed to the nearest heat source so he could restore his biomass reserves.
To say that the Marines were unpleasantly surprised would be an understatement. The colossal monstrosity made an ear shattering roar before it crashed a large part of the base in. Giants, humans, pacifista, Leader hunters, all fell to its berserker rage.
Cannons, fists of magma and laser started to hit it from all sides. Although the magma and lasers seemed to have the most effect, it was still too little to stop its rampage.
Vice-Admiral Bastille didn't know how this was possible. To infiltrate a large number of these beasts unnoticed was already an amazing feat, to infiltrate such a giant monstrosity in the base was nothing short of a miracle.
He swung his sword at the beast but to his dismay it barely managed to penetrate its skin. The thing roared again and lashed at the giant Vice-Admiral, the sword failed quickly as it broke under the impacts of the monster and the the last thing Bastille saw was a hideous mouth filled with sharp fangs closing down on his exposed neck.
Mercer finished his meal when he used Soru to evade the shock-wave that turned the building to rubble.
He looked up and saw an enraged Sengoku in his zoan form pulling his fist from the ruins.
Seeing how the man was too blind with rage to even consider talking Mercer simply shifted his arm into a blade and used Rankyaku to rain down death on him.
To his credit the old geezer was tough and agile, but his size still made him into an easier target than someone his own size.
On the other hand Mercer's armor failed horribly to stop a shockwave from the former Fleet-Admiral.
Luckily the giant Leader Hunter choose that moment to drop his fist where Sengoku was standing. The human managed to evade the attack but was blinded by the dust the impact created.
Something that didn't affect Blacklight.
Since Sengoku rather withstands attacks instead of dodging them, Alex changed tactics and powered a Critical Pain Devastator that hit the man in the chest. The zoan fell down on his knees but seemed to regain his footing again. Using Soru again Mercer appeared over Sengoku and his Hammerfist imbued with haki dropped down on the temporarily blinded and dazed human.
The impact could be felt on half the island as Sengoku slammed hard into the ground, blood running down his head but still very much conscious and obviously not even that hurt yet.
Alex was about to resume his attack while the good ex Fleet Admiral was getting his thoughts straight when a roar from the giant hunter shifted his attention.
Looking up Mercer could only watch in dismay as the giant's head was slowly engulfed by magma, making the stench of burned flesh cover the island.
It didn't take long for the magma to burn through the hunters skull and reached its brain. Once the head was thoroughly destroyed the giant form of the Leader Hunter fell down hard.
Alex growled That guy is really a headache.
But Mercer didn't have much time to think about the Magma brat as Whitebeard called him since the said person fell down right next to him and Sengoku, who managed to stop his head from spinning.
This...is bad...perhaps a tactical retreat would be prudent.
Not wishing to tango with Akainu yet, especially with Sengoku nearby Mercer made haste to reach the sea. Since his armor was now a hindrance he disabled it preferring the increase in speed than a defense that would do nothing against the Fleet-Admirals ability.
That would have been much easier if he wasn't bombarded with chunks of magma while he ran. It was common knowledge around the Marines that the Fleet-Admiral developed some way to resist haki, that made the man a pain to fight. So instead of brute forcing him, a trap would work better.
When he finally reached the sea Akainu and Sengoku were hot on his tail...that actually counted double for Akainu.
"This is the end for you criminal" said the magma user coldly.
"Be careful Sukazaki, water doesn't affect his abilities!" said Sengoku.
That made Akainu stop in his steps.
A grin spread across Mercer's face, the monkey didn't know how to control water on a big scale - if it did, Alex would have already sunk the island – but it still knew enough to do this.
The sea behind Mercer suddenly shot out towards the two fruit users who dealt with the attack. Sengoku returned to normal because his zoan form made him too much of a target and hindered his dodging. Akainu on the other hand used a wall of magma to simply evaporate the water as it came.
As soon as they were on top of him, their fists ready for the punch, Mercer raised his hands and slowed the duo down to a snail's pace.
"Checkmate" he grinned and again used his control over water to engulf and drag them into the sea.
As strong as Akainu's magma was, it still couldn't stop the ocean. Mercer then jumped after them.
When he approached the two men that were holding their breaths, too weak even to move a muscle he grinned in their faces. His hands elongated into claws and using haki and Shigan together pierced Akainu easily in the abdomen. A cruel smile spread on his face as he twisted his claw making the man struggle to hold his breath.
"If it hurts you only need to ask me to stop" Mercer said although he doubted the two understood the message.
Then in an instant a hit to the head slammed Mercer into the sea floor.
Garp didn't have much time before the monster returned, in the water he wasn't as quick as he was on land and that could be bad. He grabbed Sengoku's arm ready to pull him out, but when he saw Akainu hatred started to boil in him once again. The temptation to leave the Fleet Admiral to drown was so great...but a movement from the sea floor made him make his decision. He grabbed Sakazuki's arm and together with Sengoku he launched them out of the water.
He didn't forgive him for killing Ace, but his strength was still needed. And if this thing is out there perhaps one evil can be fought by another.
He spotted the now armored form of his enemy standing on the sea floor watching him...Garp sent it one last glance before he also rushed back to the surface.
This isn't over! Thought Mercer as he shifted his body into that of a half human half eel hybrid.
Leaving the Marine Headquarters Mercer made his way to Wapol, and a visit long overdue.
Sakazuki and Sengoku gasped air when they landed on the docks. Akainu placed his hand over the wound in his stomach that started to bleed after the claw was extracted.
Soon Garp also joined them on the shore, holding his injured shoulder.
Water was dripping down his gray beard as he crashed down beside Sengoku.
"Reminds me of the old days..." he said tiredly.
"I don't remember fighting something like this before so SHUT UP!" came Sengokus answer. He wasn't in the mood for Garp's antics, the damage to the base was great, the death toll will also be high. Even now they could hear explosions and beastly roars coming from the base as the cleaning squads were eliminating the last of the things that were unleashed on them.
I think Vegapunk will have something to do now. Perhaps the corpses of these thing will give us some answers...thought Akainu as he clenched his fist. It wasn't the fact that he was wounded that bothered him, he's been wounded before, and such a small thing wasn't even worth called a wound. What made him rage inside was that arrogant smirk on the thing as it twisted its claw as if to say - I'm better than you.
This isn't over!
AN- first sorry about the long wait, I was busy. Second I started to receive complaints that I have chosen the evil Mercer as the main character of the story. To that I can only point out that when I write about a character that isn't a OC I read on his personality and goals on the net so to have an authentic character not an OC with his name. That means that there is no other Mercer beside the evil (well, can't really call him evil, more amoral) Mercer. I had to Google to see what people referred to with Mesker comments. And though it is a rather huge parallel with Wesker from RE (never played the games, didn't even know who the guy was) it should be pointed out that there is a very short list of goals a character like Mercer can have. He was a sociopath who has zero empathy for anyone besides his sister, and also a genius scientist - and scientists are generally people who like to create things...and if a few humans have to die to achieve a greater good, that's perfectly okay with him.
I dislike romance stories so don't EVER hope that I will write one, Mercer will have no girlfriend, boyfriend, animal-friend or any kind of friend. He will make allies but that's the pinnacle to his involvement with humans.
As for the next chapter...when I feel like it...