Isla Serena Research Facility, hmm? Doesn’t look too shabby. Wolf’s thoughts spiraled around the distant island that he was now traveling to on a small cruise. His objective was simple enough. He remembered the email he had received the other day with the island’s citizens’ plead for aid. He put a hand on his pocket, and retrieved a small, holographic tablet. The seven inch device immediately lit up, from where he tapped into the email application. He eyed the message’s subject and email account. Sighing, he opened the message again, quickly scanning it.

From: Mustang <mustang@abomination.biz>

To: Wolf E. Urameshi <wolfywolfwolf@aeonmail.net>

Subject: Help us, Distress Code 0145EXELION

I write to you on behalf of the citizens and researchers of the Isla Serena Research Facility. I’m not supposed to contact outsiders from an outside line, but I have little choice. When you read this, I will most likely be dead, or killed on sight for violating a non-disclosure agreement. This place is not what they picture it to be. They claim that it’s for critical research into genetics and medicine, but that’s not what this is about.

The tears, the cries the people spill. Holy God, you have no idea. Even now, we hear them. You can’t fathom how bad it is. And the worst part is that there is nothing we can do about it. Rainy nights are the only comfort we have. Every day, the screams grow worse, and are replaced eventually by roars... deafening monster cries, like those of demons. What kind of insane experiments are they doing here?! As I lay here in the basement, tapping into a server and using a proxy to safely route this message, I hear them. They take people into some sort of rooms in the lower levels. Crap hits the fan every night, so to speak. How many restless nights have we had? If only we knew what kind of things they do down there. No, that’s not entirely accurate. Gods, we do know. You know, as well. Of course you do. Under this facility, there is a peculiar smell: the smell of blood.

We see them every night. God fucking damn it, I’ve been found, I think! Black bags! Smell of blood, screams and loud thuds, like those of knives or punches! Helpuswecanttakethisanym

Wolf eyed the rushed, last sentence that closed the message. *Only a member of the royalty, or of connection to the society, would use the Exelion code. It’s made known strictly on a need to know basis... is the situation really so bad that they would resort to such a risky message? *At the same time, a peculiar sense of dread pervaded him.

“Something bothering you, milord?” Wolf turned towards the source of the voice, finding himself locking eyes with the ship’s captain. The human wore standard Society sailor attire: a bullet and weapon-proof vest made of several lightweight metals over a white and blue polo shirt, lined with black, reinforced jeans and boots.

“Kind of. I still think this message is telling me something else.”

“Have you checked it for any encrypted messages or meanings, milord?”

“The formalities are not needed, Lawson. And I should have done that earlier, but I didn’t have the time, what with chartering your ship and leaving as soon as possible.”

“We’re almost there, milord. It’s rudimentary, but the ship’s magic steam technology is certainly best in class. We’ll be there in about a minute or two.”

“Alright, but just one question. This ship is obviously stabilized, but even then, at the speed the ship is moving, one was bound to be seasick or otherwise having motion sickness.”

“Good question! It’s actually very simple: buoyant mythril alloy, specially treated to keep us afloat and to reduce motion in the ship.”

“Land ho!” A sailor shouted from the crow’s nest, typing directions away in the nearby computer to the crew below deck to reduce speed and prepare for docking. Wolf began to climb the ship’s mast, eventually arriving at the very top.

“How’s it look like? Got anything to inspect?”

“Yes, milord, right here!” The snake sailor replied, giving him a telescope for him to look through. The island rapidly came into view. It was distinctly man made. Bubble jet thrusters kept the island aloft, with beaches and vegetation being homegrown in a greenhouse, then brought outside. Atop a stone cobbled path, a large building ejected copious amounts of steam from chimneys and gigantic exhaust pipes. Lights and neon letters identified key components of the facility, and worn lettering illustrated the place.

“The clarity is superb. Summarized specs?”

“Yessir. 200 gigapixels of image quality, and up to 7000 times of wide angle macro telephoto zooming, milord.”

“Okay, stop that. I hate it when... wait, the flying fuck?” Wolf looked through the telescope once more, eyeing the dock. To his surprise, a small fleet of ships was docked. “Here. Identify those ships and their make.” The snake immediately looked through the lens, wincing when he caught the fleet.

“Milord, those are Society-issue Agito warships, class Delta 40. They began to be decommissioned a few years ago when newer, more efficient models were made by the military. But not all divisions of the Anthropian military have completely stopped using them. I believe that the Fourth Battalion Dynasteía, from the Air Forces, uses modified versions as carriers to house their planes in.” Wolf nodded at the sailor, looking now without a telescope, as the ship approached the docks.

“If that’s the case, I want to know why they’re here. Unless the Fourth is here and are handling the situation, then someone else is here, and it’s one of two: either this place has been compromised or invaded, or we have a rat in the military. We should have received word if the Fourth was handling it.” Wolf jumped down to the deck, landing square on his feet and flapping his wings down to protect them from the currents of air. “Prepare to dock! Recon team, with me! Weapons free!” Wolf’s team was on their feet and exploring the area in a matter of seconds. The four-man team had weapons of all sorts: swords, guns or rifles, whips and some were potent magic users. “I want those ships explored, Lawson! Give me a report as soon as you’re done!”

“Yes, milord, at once!” Captain Lawson turned, barking orders at the fully armed sailors and entering one of the ships. Wolf’s attention turned once more to Mustang’s message on the tablet. The nagging feeling that this Mustang person wanted to tell him something desperately was still tugging away at his psyche. He turned his attention towards his own ship, eyeing the snake sailor that had given him the telescope earlier.

“Hey! I need you here for a sec!” Wolf shouted at the snake. He ran up to Wolf at once and saluted.

“Yes, milord?”

“What’s your name and rank?”

“Chief Warrant Officer Aeschylus Caligula, of Squad Festus, sir. I handle the technology of the ship and coding interfaces.” Wolf couldn’t help but feel a twinge of pride coming from the sailor’s voice, grinning at him. “...sir?” Wolf continued to stare at him for a second. Aeschylus the king cobra had one or two medals of outstanding service in his uniform. His slender physique’s hands were adorned by battle scars, and the calluses in his fingers showed a lifetime of experience with computers and the like. He suddenly eyed the weapon in Aeschylus’s belt... or what seemed to be one.

“Is that... a spatula?” Wolf asked, curiously eyeing it at a distance. Behind him, he could already hear some snickers and chuckles. Wolf turned at the small squad, composed of about ten members, and gave them such a cold, empathic stare that their faces went ice cold and silent. “Hey. Shut up.”

Aeschylus quickly regained his composure. “Oh, yes, milord. I’m sure what you’re thinking, but this is--”

“A Dekatron 4000 spatula. I recall seeing them in the army’s catalogue. They sell at insanely high prices.”

“Ah, yes, sir.”

“Oh, take a compliment every once in a while. You’re coming with me. Alright, team, move out!”

“Yessir!” Aeschylus replied along with the rest of the squad, preparing his equipment and moving closely behind the squad.

“Actually, Aeschylus, come with me to the front. I need your help with something.”

The king cobra snuck to the front. “Yes, sir?”

“Here, read this email and see if you can find anything in it.”

“At once, sir.” Aeschylus took the tablet that Wolf handed him, and started to read the message cautiously, making sure not to stumble on their way to the research facility. “There is definitely a pattern here. This Mustang person tried to send another message within this email.”

“How long till you figure it out?”

“Just a matter of minutes. But I need to read into the message more clearly to make sure. That will take me some more time.”

“Try to hurry. We’re getting close.” The team marched on, with Wolf on point and the rest following dutifully. The silence seemed to want to suffocate them. All they could hear was the sound of the fake flora and fauna that man had inserted. The synthetic plants shimmered and shook as part of the nature simulation program embedded in their inner network. Recordings of crickets and cicadas played in every turn of the island path to the top of the hill.

“There. I think we made it,” Wolf signaled, taking cover behind trees as his team hid around the perimeter. In the distance, a large tower-like building stood, omnipotent. Rows of windows had curtains of red, and at the very top, a large satellite dish was destroyed.

“By the gods... it’s magnificent,” Aeschylus remarked, examining it with his telescope.

“Yeah. I wish we were, but we’re not here as tourists. Let’s go.”

The squadron began to cautiously survey the area as they made their way into the tower. Near some bushes, a voice gently spoke.

“The Society is here.”

“Now remember, I do the talking,” Wolf warned his unit as they entered the tower, closely examining the area. The posh, well-furnished lobby was almost empty. There had been clear signs of a battle, though the damage to the building itself was not particularly harsh. Some craters caused by grenades or cannon fire pierced walls, and fires consumed a few carpets.

“Hey! Is anyone here?” Wolf shouted, searching for any survivors that could heed his call.

“...yes, right here...”

Wolf saw a wounded scientist on the floor, close to the door. He also saw several soldiers, armed and aiming at his unit. “Put them down. We’re Society.” He commanded, placing a hand on his weapon’s grip. The soldiers eventually lowered their weapons.

“Are you... here to help?”

Wolf approached the body and examined the man. The shark clutched his side. Wolf noticed that the blood flowed out of the wound in copious amounts. “Are you alright? What happened? We received a distress call from one of your people.”

“Pirates... they swarmed us in the morning and tried to kill us. They shot several scientists before the Fourth Battalion saw their ships.”

“I have every right to be skeptical here, you know. All we saw in the docks were the Delta 40 ships. Where are the pirate ships?”

“You’re asking the wrong guy, but last I heard, the ships were sunken after a naval battle. I believe the commander is in the lower levels, investigating the damage and the victims.”

*Something’s amiss. There’s something he’s clearly not telling me. But I should secure the place first and, of course, his life. *“Alright, but I want answers. You two stay here and protect the researcher. See if you can find first aid. The rest of us are going downstairs,” Wolf motioned to two of his soldiers as they moved to the entrance. Then the squad moved toward the stairs, descending into the basement. The scientist stared at them until the unit was out of sight. His weary face and yellow eyes suddenly changed into a grin and a frown. He motioned at the soldiers with a nod.

Ten seconds later, two bodies slumped to the floor, their throats slit, and blood splattering onto the pearly floor tiles.

“You don’t buy their story, do you, sir?”

“No fucking way, Aeschylus.”

The mercenaries descended the dark, dimly lit staircase, arriving at the site, where an unfortunate sight awaited them.

“What in the...?”

“Gods... I think I’m gonna throw up, milord.”

The sight of dozens of dead bodies, littered on the floor and covered in blood, was greeting them. Aeschylus clutched his stomach, and retreated towards a nearby trash can. He immediately took his head off of the trash can and fell to his knees, retching several times before finally vomiting onto the floor.

“Oh, gods...! Body parts—urrrgh!” It was all Aeschylus could muster before continuing to throw up. Wolf covered his muzzle.

Disgusting. *“This is low, even for them... I know this is harsh, but we gotta press on, people!” He yelled at the two soldiers, who nodded weakly. Wolf walked toward Aeschylus, kneeling to check on the king cobra with a pat on the shoulder. The snake looked at him, and cleaned his face before standing up, covering it with his uniform. In front of them, an elevator stood silent, awaiting a command. *That’ll be useful.

“Milord... this is just too much.” Aeschylus managed to utter, scanning the tablet still, looking for more clues to the cryptic message.

“Stop calling me milord, it’s Wolf. And yeah, I can see why. This is extreme.”

“Ah yes, sir, I’ve managed to... oh my...” The four froze in a room none of them realized that they’d entered, clearly entranced by the sight of dead bodies littered all over the floor.

“What... the Hell...?” Wolf stared at the vats of liquid in front of them. The place was a laboratory of sorts. Machines and computers whirred at every turn, beeping with each stream of data sent. Inside the tanks, corpses floated in silence. All sorts of men were floating: humans, gorillas, tigers, elephants. Some had their limbs and appendages either gone or disfigured, and others, though seemingly dead, were fully developed. Wolf slowly walked to the computers, entering data and investigating. His slow gasp was followed by slowly turning to his soldiers. A grim face was drawn on his face, and somber eyes were tearing up.

“...milord?”

“They... this was never a research facility. It was a gene-splicing and man-enhancing facility. They wanted to make the... perfect... beastmen.” Wolf shuddered with every word, trying to fight his disgust and fear. *None of us was clearly prepared for this. I’m speechless. I keep searching, trying to find a rationalization of this. And yet, there is none. This atrocity is unforgivable. No one can play God. To think that someone would have wanted to play such a role...! *Closing his eyes, Wolf breathed in long and hard, and slowly exhaled, searching for closure.

“I want some goddamn answers from that bastard.” Wolf turned towards the machines again. Enraged, he began to beat up the computers with his bare hands, with distant roars and screams. Breaking down, the devices slowly emitted sparks and fires until they were reduced to piles of scrap.

“Wait, mi-Wolf, you might want to hear this out first.”

“What?!”

“The message. It says...” All of a sudden, two gunshots interrupted Aeschylus, and two bodies slumped to the floor. The dragon and the snake turned immediately, realizing that two armed beastmen aimed rifles at them. “...They are watching you.”

Footsteps slowly approached them, and they recognized the figure once it came into the light. “I should have invaded the damn place sooner...”

“FYI, you’re a horrible actor. Why the ruse?” Wolf demanded the shark they’d encountered earlier.

“Why else? We’re pirates- we just want the resources... And we don’t really get along with the military... To summarize, you dickheads rub us the wrong way!” The man shouted before letting go of his white lab coat, flinging it aside with a sudden throw. The two gasped as a different person spoke to them. A heavily muscled sharkman wore a red, sleeveless rain coat, jeans and heavy boots. He took out a smoking pipe and put it on his mouth, grinning at them with chuckles.

“So what, this is your idea of raiding? Just making a massacre for prizes?!” The dragon’s rage was only barely contained by a desire for answers that only this man, and his actions, could provide.

“Of course! Neptune, Lord of the Pirate Seas, couldn’t have it any other way!”

“Then explain the vats. If you were here to kill these people, you would have also destroyed these...” Wolf noticed the grimace in Neptune’s face, and realized he was right on the mark. “But you didn’t. There’s a reason you didn’t, is there? Maybe... you’re just like them, because sympathizing with them for no reason at all is hard to believe.”

Neptune stared at them, playing with his pipe. “You’re not half bad, mate. It is as you say. I, too, am a result of this... thing, *used to hunt and catch things like these. *Then I wondered. Why listen to others and not to myself?” Neptune paced slowly between them and his own mercs, staring daggers at Wolf in particular. “Matey, you’re here on a goose chase. This ain’t some dumb base people with fancy degrees come to work at. Oh, no. It’s worse. It’s Hell incarnate!” The shark pointed at the tanks with the dead people inside. “My brothers have been subjected to *your *whims! Look at them! Defenseless, used and thrown away if they are worthless! Is that not an unfair existence?!”

“I... I don’t...” Wolf tried to find the right words, yet none came.

“NO! IT’S NOT FUCKING FAIR!”

“So it’s okay to judge all of existence over the wishes of one or two people?!”

“Yes!”

“Your line of thinking is flawed and baseless!”

“So says the guy sitting behind the desk and sending people to their deaths!”

“Milord is not like that!” Aeschylus screamed, trying not to clench his fists at the outrageous claims of Neptune. The enemies laughed at him.

“Oh, lookee here! We got ourselves a naïve badass here!” Neptune shrugged before continuing. “Listen here, boy. Life ain’t as good as you claim it to be. What would you do? Locked and without any purpose in life? Wouldn’t you try and fight your way out? Oh yes, we all would if we were caught up in this!”

Aeschylus remained silent.

“Enough.”

Wolf walked towards Neptune, slowly drawing his staff and gritting his teeth. “You are nothing but a sad, pitiful carcass of an existence. Such warped points of view are only a figment of your crazy imagination.”

Neptune’s men aimed their guns at them, but Neptune shook his head, and they lowered them. He slowly drew a dagger from his pocket. “You think you can take me? That stick of yours is worthless!” He stared at one of the men. “You! Go back upstairs and tell the crew to get ready. We’re ditching this joint.” As that mercenary ran, the other threw away his gun, instead making ready with his fists. Wolf and Aeschylus had drawn their weapons, intent on fighting to the death.

“You wanna presume we’re worthless? Fine. We’ll show you our worth in gold,” Wolf challenged, making a fighting stance.

“That’s the only way we’d have it, mate!”

The four charged at each other, separating into smaller groups. Wolf and Neptune engaged in a battle of attrition. Neptune slashed with his small dagger with frightening accuracy, managing to cut Wolf in his arms and chest a few times. His uniform, being torn apart with cuts, danced wildly in the air. Wolf retaliated with swipes and swings of the large staff, hitting Neptune a few times in the head and in his chest, bruising him. Neptune wiped the blood off his nose.

“I take it back, mate! Ya fight well enough!”

“Likewise!”

Meanwhile, Aeschylus and his opponent evaded and attacked equally, barely doing any damage to each other. With the press of a button, the cobra’s spatula had grown seven small, super sharp saws, whirring in unison with deadly precision. Swinging it, Aeschylus managed to cut the armor open, exposing bloody patches of flesh as he was hit by the soldier’s impressive martial arts expertise repeatedly. The two knelt on the floor, spitting blood and staring at their opponent.

“Coward! Show me your face, so I know who I shall kill!” Aeschylus demanded, dashing at the wounded enemy and swiping the sharp spatula at the head, managing to cut the front clean in half, exposing a crocodile face that stared in silence, narrowing its yellow eyes. A punch hit Aeschylus in the left eye, making him retreat with a wince and receive a flurry of clawed fists in his face and chest, throwing him towards a nearby computer. The crocodile jumped on him, continuing to attack his face with maniacal, raucous laughter.

“Aeschylus!” Wolf tried to run at the snake, intent on saving him, but a strong hand grabbed his wrist. Wolf looked back.

“The party’s over here, mate.” Wolf roared in pain as the dagger was driven clean to his bicep. Growling, Wolf tore himself away from Neptune and spun, hitting the shark with his tail, sending him flying towards a wall. Tearing off the dagger with a grunt, Wolf ran to the crazed crocodile, grabbing him from behind and throwing him towards Neptune.

“Hey! Don’t give up on me!”

“They’re... getting away...!”

Wolf turned to the pirates as they made their escape.

“Sorry to cut this short, laddie, but I have business to take care of!” Neptune shouted, pressing the button to the elevator with a wide smile.

“Like Hell you’re running away!” The dragon chased after them, managing to get into the elevator before it closed down. If you die on me, Aeschylus...

“Shit! Well, three’s a party then!” Neptune muttered as the elevator whirred into motion, carrying them at high speed to the rooftop. The pirates ganged up on Wolf, launching several stabs and kicks at the dragon, who tried his hardest to block them with his staff. He was not a super human, however, and received a few blows, turning his robe into patches of red.

“Some party! Where’s the bottle?!” Wolf asked, grinning as he attacked them several times, bruising them in the face and arms. This pattern followed for about a minute until the door opened and the two escaped, laughing at the chasing dragon. Soon, however, they stopped in their tracks, trapped between an angry dragon and a huge chasm of over thirty stories.

“It’s over for you two. I gotta say, that was fun.”

“Oh, put a cork in it, idiot. You haven’t won anything yet.”

Panting, Wolf aimed his weapon, coughing up blood. “Why? Why do this? If only you’d talked, or just gotten help.”

Neptune fell silent, putting away his weapon. “Sorry, lad. Maybe next time.” Suddenly, the two jumped backwards. Wolf’s eyes widened as he ran to the edge, then they narrowed in fury. Neptune and his ally waved at him from the crow’s nest of a warship as it sped away at high speed under a shower of cannon fire. Falling to his knees, Wolf grinned at the ship as it fled.

“Well played, Neptune. Well played.”

“They’re... gone?”

“Yeah, sorry.”

Aeschylus lay on a cot in the ship’s starboard side, being tended to by first aid personnel. Wolf laid a hand on the snake’s shoulder. His other arm was in an arm sling. His body was covered in patches of gauze. “For all the crap you endure, you’re a hell of a guy in the battlefield.”

Aeschylus turned away. “...Everyone calls me the weird gay guy that uses sissy girl items to fight with and can’t do shit in his post. I guess I just never cared, or I just didn’t want to give them the pleasure. All I’ve ever wanted was to serve. I’m always denied that chance.”

Wolf stood up, turning to leave. “You’re getting your wish. I’m naming you Admiral of Festus Squad.”

“S... Sir?”

Wolf left the room, grinning playfully at himself. Behind him, once the door was closed, Aeschylus started to weep, sobbing with a big smile.

Outside, Wolf walked to one of the cannons and stared at the ocean, a somber look in his eyes. “Locked and without purpose, you said. I daresay that we can just agree to disagree, Neptune.” Wolf calmly turned, opened the door to starboard, and closed it.