| abstract
| - “Hey, you guys okay?” The voice came to D’Artagnan, cutting through the black, and the Majin shakily opened his eyes. As the water surrounding them slowly fell off due to the action, he saw a blue-haired young man staring down at him. “Who the hell are you?” Art asked groggily. “Sid Cheney,” the young man said, extending his hand to help, “you?” “D’Artagnan,” the Majin replied, shaking the last cobwebs out of his head as he grabbed the hand and allowed himself to be pulled up. “Who’s the other guy?” Sid asked, jerking his head towards Knave, who was still lying on the floor, though, thankfully, he seemed to be sleeping naturally now, a sleep bubble having formed from his nose. “My friend,” Art answered, “we got caught in a storm.” “Storm?” Sid queried, raising an eyebrow, “you mean the one that’s about to hit the island?” “IT FOLLOWED US?!” Art cried, his eyes bulging in fear. “No!” Sid cried, slapping D’Artagnan, “and calm do- OH SH*T!” “What is it?!” the Majin asked, his eyes spinning in confusion. “Can’t talk now, I’ll be right back!” Sid cried, leaping off the ship and back on the island, “Geppo!” He began bouncing through the air, zipping towards the Marine structure. D’Artagnan watched him for several seconds. “How can he....” the Majin asked himself, before shrugging. It could wait. What was more important was making sure his damn captain actually woke up! Coco walked down the halls of the Marine base, deep in thought. It was getting harder and harder to spread his creed, especially with the Captain and son now against him now. “The timetable will have to be... sped up,” the albino marine said, cracking a sinister smile as he reached the male’s quarters. He rapped on the door, three times lightly, three times even lighter than that. It was a signal only a few select Marines had been trained to answer. The door creaked open, revealing three Marines. One was a massive hulk of a man, his head almost reaching the ceiling. The other was a fairly normal-sized specimen, though he had a prosthetic arm. The third was a tad bit shorter than the second, and was wrapped up entirely in Marine clothing, not a bit of his skin visible. “Yes, Coco-sama?” they asked in unison. “It’s time,” was all the albino said, before continuing his stroll down the hallway. The group behind him cackled slightly, then left the quarters as well, quickly spreading to their own predestined locations... “Faster, faster,” Sid muttered, as he continued to strain his legs, willing his Geppo to make him go faster, “the storm should only be building in strength! Move!” Finally, the Marine base was in sight! Just a few more pushes, and- The gigantic marine from earlier came flying down, tackling Sid, one of his mammoth arms wrapping around the blue-haired teen’s neck, and they crashed into the floor, skidding a bit. “Mesh?” Sid asked, chocking slightly as the grip on his throat intensified, “what the hell are you doing?” Marine Ensign Morris calmly walked down the hallway leading to the Captain’s office, a fresh stack of paperwork in his hands, as well as a small file of complaints from other Marines about Coco’s.... unorthodox behavior. “Going somewhere, Morris?” The Ensign whipped around. The heavily-clothed Marine was leaning casually against the wall, several paces away from him. “Ensign Noir,” Morris stammered, “you’re not supposed to be here! Only those with permission from the Captain-” “A lot of things are going to change,” Noir replied, his voice like rusty nails being pulled across a dull chalkboard, “so your precious Captain’s word means next to nothing to me.” “What the hell is that supposed to mean? Are... are you going to lead a rebellion?” “Lead it?” the hidden Marine chuckled, “no, no, I’m no good enough to do it. But I am here to orchestrate it.” “You-” Morris said, quickly reaching for his rapier, but, alas, he was too late. “No Sword Style: Instant Death,” Noir intoned, appearing in a flash behind Morris. Almost immediately, the bones in Morris’ chest began snapping, bruising, and shattering. As the Captain’s assistant stumbled into the wall, Noir pulled a simple pistol from his belt and aimed it at Morris’s head. He pulled the trigger. “Sh....sh*t,” Sid gasped, as Mesh’s grip on his neck tightened even more. What the hell was happening?! One moment these were just ordinary Marines, and the next, they were trying to kill him! Sid’s train of thought was interrupted as black started to edge his vision. Crap.... I can’t.... die here... Sid thought, still struggling, if at a much lower tempo, I still.... need to find.... that thing.... “Shigan!” Captain Falstaff Cheney appeared seemingly from nowhere, his finger now firmly imbedded in Mesh’s elbow. The larger Marine howled and yanked his arm away, quickly rolling off Sid and facing his superior. “What the hell were you doing, Mesh?” Falstaff asked, scowling at his subordinate, “Trying to kill my son like that?” Rather than answering, Mesh let out a massive roar, then launched himself at the Captain, who quickly braced himself. “Tekai!” he cried, as Mesh slammed into him, causing the ground behind Falstaff to erupt, debris flying into the air. The Captain himself, however, remained steadfast, not even flinching from the attack. “Tekkai Ken!” Captain Cheney roared, bringing his hand and smashing it against the back of the larger Marine’s head. Mesh’s eyes went blank as he slid to the ground, groaning slightly. Kicking him, the Captain walked over to Sid. “We’re going back to base,” he said simply. “Why?” Sid asked. “Morris is dead,” Falstaff returned, “something strange is going on right now, and I don’t want you wandering off until this is resolved, got it?” “Got it,” Sid nodded, then suddenly remembered why he had come in the first place, “Oh yeah! Dad, there’s a huge storm coming!” His father looked back at him. “Is this true?” “Yeah!” Falstaff Cheney sighed. “Then let’s head back to the base. Looks we have one more thing to contend with.” On the horizon, the storm that had sent Knave and D’Artagnan flying towards Harbinger broiled, growing stronger, ever stronger. The dark storm clouds in the sky grew thicker, lightning cackling menacingly. The wind whipping about in the area was raising truly titanic waves, even forming small cyclones. The area was almost pitch black, so was the intensity of the storm. All this chaos was heading straight for Harbinger Island... Previous Chapter | Next Chapter
|
![[RDF Data]](/fct/images/sw-rdf-blue.png)