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His earliest memory? Darkness. Darkness everywhere. He could barely hear anything besides for a very, very, faint bubbling. He felt cold. Everything around him was cold. And wet. He felt wet, which was funny since he was at the stage in his life where he shouldn't feel anything at all. He shouldn't even have thoughts yet. But that was he earliest memory.And it stayed like that for who knows how long. But that was his life. Cold. Wet. Dark. Cold, wet, dark. Cold wet dark. Coldwetdark. Coldwetdarkcoldwetdark. Coldwetdarkcoldwetdarkcoldwetdark. Coldwetdarkcoldwetdarkcoldwetdarkcoldwetdarkcoldwetda-Slimy. Rough. Hard.New things started coming into light. Literally, While they were still closed, he could make out that something was casting a dark yellow tint into his vision, even though his eyes still weren't open. He could feel other parts of him, parts that would move on their own. He had no control over them yet. It was fascinating. These new experiences that were coming into his life.They made him feel uncomfortable and disgusted.Something went glug glug glug glug in his ear. He felt some other things attached to him. Though it wasn't like the other ones on him. They were extremely light and felt like they would fall off with just the slightest jerk of his body. He felt way too heavy and that everything around him was fragile. He also felt light weight at the same time. Like he was suspended in nothing.But none of that matter since he couldn't move at all! Well, the jerks his body were not under his control . . . yet, so they didn't count! It had to be under his will!And everything remained this way for a bit more, who knows how long. He didn't understand the concept of time yet. Soon but not at the moment. Days and days would go by, until one day he saw everything so much more clearly. The dark yellow was now so much brighter and thick at the same time. He could just barely make out his huddled lower half, as well as the long strings that were attached to him. All the sudden jerking motions he used to make had since long stopped, he was now in full control of all his movement. A day of celebration for him!He extended a limb forward, only to hit something in front of him and prevent him from going any further. This stirred new emotions inside of him: Anger, annoyance. He extended another limb and started to push against it, giving it all his might. He knew there was more on the other side of the invisible barrier and he wanted out. Normally, there'd be a struggle. But here there wasn't any. As he slowly pushed forward, he felt it crack. The crack then gave out and spilled him out into the new world. Welcome.Natasha had been keeping an eye on him.For 2 years, she monitored his vitals and kept an eye out for anything abnormal in his growth process. So far anything was going accordingly. However, the yellow ink that surround him made it hard to tell whether he had his eyes open or not. Hopefully not, because she did not need to add any more reasons as to why blood drawing was unnerving.Did she do this all the time? No. There were others that she had to attend to as well, but the task was just the same. She did work with a team though, rotating personnel every 4 hours so that they could get a small break. But this was her main position, in a dark lab with a glowing yellow incubation chamber and whatever was expected to grow and wake up inside it.10 p.m., she walked into the lab with her cup of coffee and took a sip. Another assistant, Lobo, was busy writing a report based off of the information he had just recorded. "Hey Lobo, what's up?" she asked. He smiled, not looking up. "Hey. Come check this out." He gave her 2 reports: one from last night and one from - ". . . right now. Is-is this accurate? This wasn't a bug in the equipment?" He shook his head. "Everything is working as it should be. I had the technicians come in earlier and even they confirmed it.""But that can't be right," she stated. " Why did his brain activity spike up?" "Not only his brain activity, but his movement as well," Lobo replied. He let her study it a bit more before offering his explanation. "I think he's bound to wake up much sooner than expected. My estimates tell me tomorrow nig-"
-CRACCK-
They both spun around. A huge crack appeared on the tube, quickly spreading throughout the surface. Natasha whipped around and had just opened her mouth to issue her partner a command when the glass gave out and spilled out all its contents. They jumped back, not wanting to be caught in the splash zone. The ink puddle grew and stopped just as it reached the tip of their boots. Silence. Nothing moved."What the hell was that?" Lobo asked under his breath, trying to comprehend what had happened. Natasha was just as stunned as him, her eyes scanning the ink for something. Was that him? Where is he? He didn't just die on us, right? If he's dead, then Lobo's good as dead! I'm as good as dead just for being in this room! Oh Cod, please show some l-The ink slowly started to pull back and a small blob began to rise up in the middle. Snapping back to reality, she turned and grabbed Lobo by the shoulders. "You know what you have to do. Go!" He too snapped out of his trance and nodded before running out the doorway, but not before slamming his fist down on the red emergency button next to exit. The room brightened and small emergency lights around the room started flashing (white, if you were curious).The silent alarm. It would instantly notify the guard center located on their level of an emergency and they would send a small group to handle it. It was standard procedure, but she wasn't sure what an armed guard was supposed to in this situation.The blob was just finishing it's transformation when Lobo returned with help. Ellen, Lenard, and Cici trailed behind, asking a Lobo a bunch of questions which he ignored and simply pointed to the middle of the room. Silence fell upon them as they stared at the final product. Large, yellow eyes blinked rapidly as they tried to adjust to the sudden brightness. Small arms and legs attached to a small body, also yellow in color. Stubby little digits attached to hand and foot. A rather large head with 6 small tentacles adorned with small black spots. Small stubs next to them. Small ears and a cute little nose. His eyes finally adjusted to the light, he looked around, taking in everything. It must quite a lot for the little guy.Then his eyes landed on them and remained on them. He tilted his head and a small smile began to form on his lips. Natasha noted that there was movement behind him, but couldn't make out what it was. Tentatively, Lobo tapped his boot onto the now shrunken puddle of yellow ink. Nothing happened. "Don't do it," Ellen warned. "We don't have any idea how it react." "Oh, let him. he deserves it anyways," Lenard snapped. Cici gave him a disapproving look and smacked him over the head. Ignoring them, Lobo slowly approached the small inkling baby. Or was it now child?"Hey there, little guy," he flashed a smile at the child. "I mean no harm." The yellow child tilted its head as Lobo stretched his hand out to pick him up. Just as his finger brushed its skin, a zap of electricity passed between them, causing Lobo to turn into his squid form and spasm out. Cici grabbed a yard stick that was nearby and smacked him aside.He transformed back into humanoid form and slammed against some cabinets. Through all this commotion, the child remained calm and watched it all unfold with great interest. Ellen rushed over to check on Lobo, Lenard following close behind. "Lobo? Lobo! You okay? How many fingers am I holding up?" Ellen asked as she held up 2 fingers in front of Lobo. "Ugh . . . my fucking head," he groaned, attempting to sit up. Lenard laughed and took out his phone to take a couple of pictures. "Looking good, idiot," he teased. "Fuck off," Lobo groaned as Ellen cradled his head in her lap. As much as Natasha wanted to go over and check up on him, she had to check up on . . . him. If things went well, then the child was a male. She turned to her left and opened the nearest cabinet looking for something. At that moment, M.D.F guards arrived at the scene. Clad in their midnight black uniform, tactical face masks, white armor, and wielding long modified cattle prods. They marched past her and stood in front of the child, pointing their weapons at him. Despite the obvious threat in front of him, he remained calm and let out a small squeak. "Wait! Don't hurt him!" Natasha commanded, trying to shove her way forward. Despite making no efforts to stop her, it was still difficult trying to shoulder her way through their strong shoulders. "Stand back sister," One of them replied gruffly. Yet there was no threat, it was out of boredom. "Let her," another commanded, stepping back to let her through. Getting to the front of the 15 guards, she locked eyes with the child. His eyes seem to light up with excitement upon seeing her. She expected him to stand up, but he remind sitting on the floor. She directed her focus to one of the guards. "Got any extra gloves?" The guards remained in their defensive stances, unmoving. Then one of them reached behind them and unhooked an extra pair of gloves from their belt and tossed it at her. Catching them, she put them on and slowly approached the child. She paused just a few cm away from from, wondering if the gloves would offer her any protection of not. Moment of truth, she scooped him up and braced herself.Nothing. Breathing a sigh of relief, she inspected him closely. A quick glance down confirmed that he was in fact a male. Patches of diamond patterned scales on his arms and legs. The small digits that she had noticed before were exactly small claws. The stubs on his head were horns. Turning him around revealed that he had 2 twin tails, each one about the length of his small arms and ending in clubs clustered with small bumps. She turned him back around and looked into his eyes. They appeared normal, until his irises split into 3 and lost their yellow color, turning blood red as his pupils turned into slits. Then they combined back together as if nothing happened. Gently, she opened his mouth and inspected it. A serpentine tongue and small shark like teeth."You did well for your first check up," she told him. He squeaked in response and started to squirm. "Aren't you feisty now," she muttered. "Everything checks out, but I swear they said you would have-" At that moment, 2 dragon wings sprouted from his back, startling her. Unlike traditional dragon wings, these were butterfly shaped. "There they are," she said, quickly examining them. He had stopped squirming when his wings popped out, but now he resumed, letting out another squeak."It is complete," she announced to everyone. She glanced at the guards. "Go tell The Trinity, brothers." The guards snapped to attention and filed out. Natasha returned her attention to the child in her hands, who was now squeaking a lot. All our work finally paid off.She held him up to the light and he stopped, looking into her eyes full of wonder.
Welcome to this world.
MONSTER ZERO.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
Tuesday morning. The sun had just begun to rise on the horizon, illuminating the neighborhood. The birds had just begun to stir meaning it would soon be their time to sing, to remind everyone: 'Oh, What a BEAUTIFUL day today will-'
*BEEP!*
*BEEP!*
*BEEP!*
*BE-!*
A clawed hand, covered in golden scales, slammed down on the alarm clock that sounded its own wake up call at that moment (5:30 am, to be precise). Groaning, the owner of said hand retracted it and rolled over in bed, having no desire to get up. But he had to.As warm as his bed was, he wouldn't be able to fall back asleep, no matter how hard he tried. Besides, this was his everyday schedule. Every.Single.Day.Good morning, Void, he thought to himself. He rolled over once again and stared at his destroyed night stand. This was the 5th night stand this month that had been destroyed by his strength. It was a miracle that his bed was still in one piece (say that again). With a sigh, he got up from underneath the covers and glared at the sunlight that leaked through the gaps of his shutters, threatening to flood his entire room with light should he dare open them. With that thought out of way, he looked down at his hands and feet. Was he checking to see if they were still attached to his limbs? No. He was staring at its texture. Golden scales covered his hands, running and stopping halfway up his upper arms. Claws sprouted in place of his nails and extended past his fingertips, somewhat dull from the neglect they were receiving. The same scales cover his leg, stopping just below his knees. His feet were dragon-like, 4 digits adorned with claws just like his hands. However, his hands maintained their humanoid appearance. They had no need for another form. He reached up and poke his horns. How lovely. Looking over at the headrest of his bed, they were indeed covered in scratch marks. Fuck me, he grumbled. He wondered what people would think of that. Would they think he was out of his mind? Maybe. But for that, you have to invite people over. He never did. Standing up, he stretched his limbs and felt his bones crack and pop. Delightful!Now, he had to get going. The earlier he got to Grizzco, the better. But he couldn't go out like this. The last thing he wanted was to draw any attention to himself and be called a freak. Not to mention them. Closing his eyes in concentration, he willed the ink within his body to seep out through his skin and swirl around his claws, scales, horns and feet. After a few seconds, the ink retreated back into his body and revealed normal skin and feet: no more scales, claws or horns. Additionally, he was now also lighter. He now looked like your everyday joe on the street. Now fully awake, he stretched his arms behind his back and changed out of his pajama's and got ready to head out.Down in the kitchen, he grabbed an apple off the counter and headed towards the front door. He wasn't that hungry for breakfast, but he still needed some form of sustenance to carry him through the morning. Checking his phone, the time read 6:20 am. It was very early, without a doubt Grizzco wasn't open. But it would be in 40 minutes. With a sigh, he grabbed his keys and his skull bandana, tying it around his head and left the house.Inkopolis Square.40 minute to get there on bus, 20 to get there on shuttle. In all honesty, he preferred the bus. After all, he was in no rush to get to his destination. After all, that was what he did every day. Grinding at Grizzco until the sun started to set, sometimes mixing in some ranked battles here and there. Turf wars were fun, but he didn't like squid parties. Everyone would be having a blast squid-bagging each other while he would stand at a distance and watch, the only thought on his mind being to splat them all (its all that was allowed). Ranked battles fell in the same category, except his teammates either threw or were just straight up ass. Of course, there was the occasionally shopping at the stores that resided there, but he owned almost all the gear he like and everything had no appeal to him. Getting off at his stop, he began to make his way towards the square. Even though it was still early in the morning, people were already bustling about. Who wouldn't want to go to the arcade, go shopping, or play some turf war, some ranked battles, and maybe even league battles?He would.He preferred salmon running. He liked the feeling of impending death. It was adrenaline inducing, and it made him feel alive. It reminded him of his time at his old home, with his old employers, with his old employees.With his friends.With his guardian.
With the pai-
Someone bumped into his shoulder and shouted at him to quit standing in the middle of the sidewalk. He hadn't even realized he had paused to think. Well, you were the greatest overthinker back at the base, he chuckled to himself and resumed his walk, eventually arriving at the Square.A catchy tune flowed through the air, people already bustling about and getting ready for a day of fun and work. Or fun before work. Teens and young adults mingled with one another. The shops were already open for business, the arcade ready to entertain. The Crust Bucket already had a line forming, which always surprised him no matter how many times he's seen it. As for the Lobby? People entered and waited to be queued up, and people left, satisfied with their experience, or pissed off. Those going in outnumbered those going out. Then there was Grizzco, his favorite place of the entire square. The shady business was perhaps the greatest thing there, because that's where a good deal of his money came from. Sure, he had a part-time job, but this place was great for some quick cash. The ability chunks weren't bad as well. And then the main attraction of the entire square. A window.That allowed a view into the studio of Off The Hook. Speaking of which . . .The familiar tune blasted through the air. Everyone turned their attention towards the screens that were all over the square and got ready for the daily announcements. He absolutely hated the announcements. Every 2 to 3 hours, they've got to announce the stage changes and everybody freezes like idiots. I'm outta hear. With that, he entered the clothes store and waited the entire thing out. 30 minutes later, he exited the store after aimlessly surveying the gear he already bought and those that he had no interest in buying. The broadcast was over. Good. The talk that came afterwards, however, was not. Not good. As he made his way towards Grizzco, his ears picked up snippets of the conversations around him over the blaring music."-four weeks now-""-still missing-?""-where is she-?""-two weeks-""-electricity-?""-what are they-?""-I miss her-""-I'm horny-""-Bro tf you on-""-bills-""-loans-""-revenue-""-I'm not a big fan of-"That's right. It's been now four weeks since the pop idol known as Callie, had disappeared into thin air. One week after her disappearance, The Great Zapfish that once resided around Deca Tower, had also disappeared into thin air. Of course, there was panic. Of course, the authorities responded. And then things just kind of settled down. Of course, the talk was still there, but life moved on. As did he, in some ways. Just before the entrance to Grizzco, next to the side of the lobby, and in front of Ammo Knights, was a drain. On top of that drain, was a shady women dressed in a traditional clothing, holding a paper umbrella. Anytime he got close, or anybody for the matter, she would disappear down the drain. He would always stare down the drain. I'll investigate it later, he told himself. He never did."SOMEBODY HELP ME!" Screamed one of his crewmates. Two males, two females.Perfectly balanced, as all things should- With sigh, he jumped off one of the ledges facing the bay and used one of his splashdown specials to neutralize the 3 Scrappers that were tailing his teammate like drunk drivers homing in on pedestrians, alongside the other salmonids he had managed to attract. 2 of them were eleminated. Without so much a glance at him, he threw a splat bomb behind him, feeding it right on time to the Maws. His other teammates were taking of the other bosses, more importantly the Stingers and Flyfish. Damn little demons.But with 15 seconds left, he had a small window to do what he needed to do. Picking up one golden egg, he swam as fast as he could towards the basket.
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Egg deposited. With a sigh, he watched as the salmonids retreated, the final wave over. The last remaining of the Flyfishes missiles slammed into the ground and exploded. Ignoring his teammates celebratory booyahs, he walked towards the pier. Spawning Grounds was his second favorite stage for salmon running, the first being the Ruins of Ark Polaris. "Hey buddy," one the girls called out to him. He paused and turned around. "What?" "You've been carrying that guy around for the last two waves. I think its time you let him go, no matter how cute it looks."Void looked down the smallfry wriggling around within his grasp. Towards the end of wave 1, a smallfry landed a hit on him just as the wave ended. Instead of splatting it, he simply plucked it off the ground and had been holding it ever since. The other girl approached him and tickled the smallfry. It squirmed even more and garbled. "It's so adorable! Too bad we can't keep them." Void resumed his walk with the rest of his teammates following him. At the end of the pier, he squatted at the waters edge and opened his hand, the smallfry sitting upright in his palm. "Be free, little shit." With a flip, it dove into the water and disappeared. With that, he changed into his squid form and super jumped towards the boat."100,000 coins. Excellent . . . I don't know what to do anymore." He sighed after picking up his rewards, starting his walk towards the bus stop. As he walked past the drain, he felt compelled to investigate it. But he was tired, he was hungry. He hadn't had anything to eat. After he passed it, he heard something pop out from it. A quick look back revealed nothing. I'm starting to tweak, he grumbled. It really is time to hit the hay.With a yawn, he resumed his walk, unaware that he was being watched. The sun had started to dip below the horizon, casting shadows on the square and on top of the shops. Within the shadow casted by the bronze turtle on top Ammo Knights, a group of suspicious individuals watched his every step, all of them wearing Fierce Fishskulls over their faces. "Everyday, he does this same routine without missing a beat," one of them hissed. "How is he not bored!?" "Oh, he is," their leader smirked, his tail swinging lazily behind him. "He's wanting more, but he won't do anything extreme. He's cautious, playing it safe. But too safe. That's what allowed us to find him." The entire group growled in agreement. "Well, boys and girls, I think a reunion's coming on! What do you guys say!?" They all cheered and started cackling. But for now they would feed. They were starving.??? smiled. Soon, my dear friend. Soon.
Soon you'll be home where you belong.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
The alarm rang once again, at the same. Again, he repeated the same steps from yesterday, minus the concealing of his extraordinary features. He managed to not transform in his sleep, which meant he couldn't destroy his newly built nightstand, or his new clock. But today, he decide to switch things up by actually eating breakfast, which consisted of 3 waffles, scrambled eggs, and some bacon. Ketchup on the eggs, mind you. After that, he brushed his teeth and got dressed, ready for another day of nothing but Salmon Run. Oh, it made his tax returns so much more interesting. Money was never a worry of his. For many different reasons.Now at the square, he made his way towards Grizzco, ready for another day of near death experiences. As he entered the place, his senses went off. Something was wrong. Something was off. He looked around but only 3 inklings standing around. They looked normal. They didn't feel normal. They didn't smell normal. "Hey there buddy!" One of them called out, waving at him. Void suppressed the urge to growl at them. 2 males, 1 female. The ways their eyes looked at him, he'd seen before. Eyes of killers. Hungry killers.He looked between all of them, deciding what to do. All his instincts told him to take them out. It's what he was trained to do. But what if he was buggin'? What if they weren't what he thought and they were just normal citizens? But then again, what if they weren't? Their eyes were too attentive for that of a normal person.He gave them a small smile and clasped his hands together. "Well, nice meeting you all. Just have one thing to say.""Lay it on us, bro!"The smile vanished from his face and was replaced with a glare. "I take my shifts seriously. If I see any one of you slacking off or doing something counter-productive, I will feed you to the salmonids myself. Is that clear?"The 3 of them saluted. "Yes Sir!"He smiled in return, glaring at them internally. Ignorant fools. So cocky and confident in their abilities. This will be their downfall, as it has been in the past for many of their kind. They never learn.The boat ride was anything but comfortable. The other 3 members (he didn't bother remembering their names, naming them Guy#1 & 2 and Woman) engaged in conversations and tried to drag him into them. They wanted to know all about him, what he does, what he likes to eat, his work experiences. He simply ignored them and stared at the horizon, at their ever growing destination: Marooner's Bay. This was their flaw.They were trying to hard to appear friendly. They were too tense, ready to pounce at any moment, and they were staring too eagerly. They weren't letting it flow and come out naturally. Any normal person with half a brain cell could see right through them and see that they had no experience.Which was exactly the issue. He could tell they were young, younger than the age requirement that Papa and Momma had implemented regarding battlefield deployment. These were normally followed strictly, depending on how you defined 'strictly'. But whenever they deviated from these rules, it ment nothing but trouble. These youngsters are deployed as cannon fodder, nothing more nothing else. They are given little training and minimum equipment, sent in with nothing more than overconfidence and lies. Its bad enough that their class already is expendable, but this was just another level of cruelty.He pitied them, just a bit. When you've seen these things occur many times since you could form thoughts, you just accept it. It was their way of life.It was his.He turned his head, watching them roughhouse with each other.
I wonder if they know that their fates are sealed.
Their first shift went by surprisingly fast. Despite their provided weapons, which he thought was a shitty comp, they managed to exceed their quotas. The more the better, right? Once his first shift was done, he stayed for some more. As expected, they stayed in his queue. The second shift went by just as quickly. Then the third, the fourth, the fifth, and so on. He will admit, they were useful and cooperative. They knew which bosses to prioritize. They remembered to eliminate the lesser salmonids. They even remembered that they can lure certain bosses closer to the basket. But, like he said before, they were overconfident. They rushed into combat too early, often getting themselves surrounded by the swarm, either needing him to revive them or provide them a way out. They lured too many bosses towards the basket. On their sixth shift, they lured too many Maws and turned that area into a minefield. They would also get caught up in bloodlust, splatting as many lesser salmonids as possible. Their seventh shift resulted in 4 stingers and 4 Flyfish. Quite the nightmare that resulted in his using his 2 specials in the FIRST WAVE. He made sure to jab them with the butt of the Eliter at the start of the second wave. All of these mistakes he committed when first started. He got it. It was a good way to get the adrenaline pumping, even more so than ranked or turf. It was a nice way to chase that high they got on missions without the high stakes they were used to facing. But unlike them, he had the certainty that he couldn't be killed. They, on the other hand, and the rest of their class were driven by one factor: hunger. And when hunger clouds every other thought and drowns out every other sensation, you would think that you are invincible. Pair that with the ignorance that comes with being youthful, and results are disastrous: both good and bad. They managed to squeeze in 3 more shifts before they were told one their last wave that it was time to go. "Man, that was a good run! Don't you agree, bro?" Guy #1 asked him. "Mm," was his only response. Woman stretched before slumping against some styrofoam containers. "I'm hungry, bra!" She whined. She took of her cap and threw it at Guy#1. "Buy me dinner, moron!" Guy #2 walked past her and brushed his gloved hand across her cheek. "Soon, darling. Soon we will feast, but we must be patient." The 3 of them looked at Void, who stared at the vast ocean with boredom. Guy#1: Do we strike now?Woman: God, he's so sad looking. I wanna claw his face off!Guy#2: This depressed looking garbage was The One? I bet I can easily take his position.The three of them looked at each other, debating silently what to do. Right now was the perfect time to strike. Their target wasn't paying attention to them, there are no witnesses on this automated boat, and should things go wrong: there was 3 of them. Even if his presence didn't match his appearance, and that every instinct told them that they should run in the opposite direction, they were Skullies. Bone Demons. Descendants of Ramarak, the Skull Devil. Woman, Flicker, flicked her eyes toward Void. Now?Guy#2, Cano, looked at and then back at her, locking eyes. Now.Guy#1, Skater, smiled gleefully and silently walked over the anchor of the boat. Carefully as possible, he picked up the anchor and slowly approached Void. In his hands, it weighed nothing. In his hands, it was a weapon. In his hands-Void's eyes suddenly glanced back, making him freeze in place. But just as quickly, he looked away. Skater hesitated, but shook off the feeling of dread and swung down the anchor, slamming it down on Void's head with a sickening CRAAACK! Void's body instantly crumpled from the impact and blood poured from the wound on his head. Skater stared at the blood on the anchor, and gave it a lick. "You're an animal," Cano snarked at him. Skater simply stuck his tongue out at him and tossed the anchor overboard. Ironic enough, it wasn't attached to anything. Flicker, got up from her spot and walked over to check on Void. Despite the injury on his head, he was still alive and breathing. "He's lucky to be a hybrid. Otherwise he'd be dead and we'd be fucked.""You don't say," Cano growled. He yanked Void up by his tentacles and stared at his sleeping face. "I don't get it. Why do we need him? We already have The Red Devil. He's a capable leader enough, more so than this shithead." With a scoff, he let Void's head drop back onto the deck. "Anyway, clean this mess up. The last thing we need is Grizzco getting investigated and us having to bail him out in one way or another." Flicker snatched one of the styrofoam containers and used it as a bucket, collecting up seawater and washing away the blood before it could stain the wooden deck any further. "*Sigh* I wanted to eat those salmoniiiiiidddssss!" she whined. Cano looked at her, and closed his eyes. "You know what? I feel ya."He knew they had gotten impatient, so he gave them an opening. Years of anxiety and stress, coupled with occasional outbursts of hyperactivity, and strict training allowed him be aware of everything. It was both a blessing and a curse until he learned how to tone it down. In any different scenario, he could have easily outwitted them and slaughtered them before they could even get their act together. But he let them take their shot. Besides, he wanted to see where this would go, and ultimately see if he could beat any information out of them. But with his luck, they knew nothing, which is the case with 95% of most of their cannon fodder. Send them in to die and give others leverage. Nothing else. The darkness that surrounded him was welcoming. He had always liked the dark. No one to impress, no expectations to live up to, no image to uphold, no worries or desires. Nothing. Sweet, relieving, nothing. He often wished he could just . . . stay there. Go back to a time when he never existed. But life, fate, had other plans.???: "Wakey-wakey, sleepyhead."???: "Hey man, wake up! Time for school!"???: "You guys didn't kill him, did you!?"???: ". . . ."???: "Oh, for fuck's s-enough of this. WAKE THE FUCK UP!"Cold water splashed his face and went up his nostrils. Like any normal person, he broke out into a coughing fit. He slowly cracked his eyes open, vision adjusting to the darkness of the night. His location? An alleyway. Typical. The moon overhead cast its light at an angle, casting large shadows in the alley. The alleyway he was in also connected to another alley, and at the opposite end was the same thing: another alleyway. At least they knew to find a secluded area to carry out the deed, he thought. Looking down, a bunch of ropes wrapped around his entire body. Their restraints, however-???: "Hey, knock knock! You with us or did they give you brain damage and you're just a husk of your former self?"Void groaned, bumping his head against the brick wall he was propped up against. "What do you want, Andy?"