Deep beneath the earth, an entity began to awaken. With each generator activated, more and more of its consciousness was made aware of its existence.
And each day, its collective grew in number. Adding one more person than the day before.
Subconsciously, it prodded at humanity's unconscious, the collective will of man.
However, it would never learn through the lens of assimilated knowledge alone. The entity sought practical experience as well.
In the background, the sound of a generator loudly rumbled, as the mechanic whir of motors echoed from the metal ant.
L3gi0n, that was its name. It called itself legion, as though it were a part of a collective, and not a mere agent.
Did that mean it was not alone?
In the monochrome world of her new eyes, she saw it.
Over the ant, a tendril attached to its abdomen connected it to a greater web. One which stretched out far further than her range allowed.
It was then that Samarie discovered that she could see through walls… She really didn't need to mention that she could see through clothes as well.
After all, she needed to focus on the foe in front of their group.
"Stand back," August grunted, stumbling as he got into position to aim. "That… thing… It's quite fast. Work on distracting it, or try disabling it."
Though with the lack of joints on the ant, it was going to be easier said than done.
Taking a step forward, Samarie flourished her spear, etching a line on the ground.
"Make sure it doesn't get past this point then, August."
Without another word, her kagune erupted from her back.
Its mandible clacked, clicking, as it analyzed each of her movements.
But, it looked far too closely, Samarie closing the distance before it could react.
A stab came for its right forelimb, pinning it down. The Legion tried to shake her off, only for Samarie to launch off the spear, and grapple herself onto its metallic exoskeleton.
Her gaze penetrated the entity, scanning every nook and cranny to find a weakness.
Anything to poke at its monstrous defenses.
Just as she got a grip, however, the ant suddenly stopped moving.
August loosed a volley of arrows, each lodging themselves into its mouth.
Though, it was to little avail, the monster not even reacting.
Samarie quirked her brow, taking her spear, as she sliced at anything she could. Even blugeoning it with her Kagune. But it seemed as nothing would work.
When the action came to a pause, the entity glowed a menacing red light.
"What is it-?" The mustached man looked in disbelief, his eyes widening at the last second, when the glow erupted into a flare! "Samarie get of-!"
The girl would fail to hear anything, when violent red electricty shocked her entire body.
Samarie felt an uncomfortable shock, her nerves failing to register anything, other than an odd buzz. On the other hand, her limbs told a different story.
Her hands lost their grip, failing to endure under the onslaught, and the Legion took advantage of that before she could make a move.
Samarie flew into the air, crashing into the metal walls of the bunker. The air in her lungs left her, as she coughed in the aftermath.
One or several of her ribs were probably dust. But that was no excuse to not move!
The girl rolled out of the way, narrowly dodging a beam that was heading straight for her.
Once more, the Legion paused in its actions. Cautiously watching Samarie like a hawk watched its prey. Analyzing each and every detail.
That was until Abella came out of nowhere, wooden mallet in hand.
"Bella, no!" Samarie cried out, every fiber of her being pulling itself to together just to get her to move forward, A slight tint appearing over her hands as she ran forward
But, Abella would not move, not when the people she cared about were in danger. She was just the kind of person to put it all on the line for the right thing.
The mallet came down from high, impacting the Legion with a loud bang, as it thrashed about.
Turning around, the monster struck her harshly, ragdolling into yet another wall, as it wailed.
'Abe…lla?' Samarie's brain froze. Why did it react then?
"Raghhhh!" Like a maddened beast, it roared, crying out as it flicked its abdomen up and down.
Electricity dripped from its maw as though it were drooling. Sparks danced across its body, perhaps charging another one of its full body shocks.
At the end of the day, something was for sure.
Abella damaged that thing. Enough so that it was in pain.
What caused it be so damaged, Samarie didn't know. Maybe it was the mallet? Maybe it was because of Abella herself?
But perhaps she had found its weakness.
"Get away from her!" Samarie demanded, her will pressing against the world, radiating as an aura which weighed on the monster.
Slowing it enough that Samarie was able to stab her spear into the ground, and polevault into the Legion's face.
Her attack, however, didn't deal as much damage as Abella.
It only seemed to make it more mad.
A drooping glob formed over its mouth, firing it point blank at Samarie!
Samarie spun her spear in an attempt to disperse as much of the electric liquid as she could. But it was to no avail.
Electricity still followed the path of least resistance, after all.
Her body was paralyzed, clothes little more than patches, as her body was revealed to the world. Her body was scarred with lines that outlined the electricity's path inside of her.
Samarie, in a daze, tried to move out of the way.
But, when the entire mass of the entity tackled her at full force, she wasn't able to do anything but take it.
A dullness pervaded her senses. The world feeling as though Samarie had just woken up after an afternoon nap.
Everything was foggy, she had trouble looking at anything.
Vaguely, she was able to hear her shouts. But, her senses failed her.
What? What was happening?
Grogily, Samarie blinked through the haze, grabbing onto anything for even the chance to steady herself.
Though, when she grabbed onto something, she couldn't feel it, even when her eyes registered her holding onto a bench for support.
Expanding her awareness, Samarie found August and Abella running from the monster, both trying their best to dodge its beams, and frantic attacks.
Effectively, Samarie's attack had done no damage. But that was fine. It meant that it was still as durable when it didn't pay attention to someone.
Which narrowed its weakness down.
But it begged the question, what was different about Abella that she was able to not only hurt, but dent the ant's exoskeleton? To damage it so much.
If it was physicality or brute force, Samarie had the mechanic beat with her Kagune. The limbs could output enough force to beat bullets! By using them like whips, she could lash foes with forces capable of making sonic booms.
So then, that narrowed it down even further.
What was different with their weapons?
Using her body certainly wouldn't work, nor would her spear. Both were temporary measures, more a product of their kinetic force, than any actual damage.
However, as Samarie brought her attention back to the weapon Bella used, she got an idea.
A wooden mallet. Either the monster had an aversion towards everyday tools…
Or it had a metaphysical weakness to wood!
And seeing as she was right next to a wooden bench, it was safe to say she wasn't without ammo to use against it.
Her spear cut the bench to size, ripping off planks for Samarie to easily use.
Her Kagune each grabbed onto a piece, as she gripped a plank in her hands.
It was rough, shoddy work. But it would do.
And to think, all of this had come from a bench officers and staff used to wait for the elevator.
All the same, it would be what helped them get to the surface. One way or another.
"Hey bug eyes!" Samarie yelled, the Legion looking back towards her. "Try this on for size-!"
Crack!
Boom!
The air folded in on itself, as her Bikaku threw itself at the monster, smashing the plank it was holding into it.
At a speed the Legion had never seen before, it could not move in time to be struck.
At speeds that fast, it would be a wonder to not take a single bit of wear. Samarie would have given anything to even put a scratch on that thing.
The metal behemoth spun in the air, denting the wall so the bunker.
Only to still walk out like it was no-
It was leaking that same red electricity again. Except, this time, the electricity covered it like blood.
A large chunk of its flank was demolished. Though, it still stood, never the less.
Down two of its legs, and it was still fighting.
For what it was worth, it had her respect for surviving this long.
However, it would not survive another whip strike. Not when it was already damaged, and not when it couldn't react in time.
Weakly, Samarie raised her index finger, aiming for the Ant, just as Legion charged up an attack of its own.
"Let's see what breaks first!" The girl challenged, reloading the wood onto her Bikaku. "My Kagune, or your God's power!"
Blood dripped down the corner of her lips, but she did not mind the metallic taste.
This was the taste of victory, after all.
And it tasted like the best dessert of her life.
Just as Mataneko had said, down to every last drop.
Let's see what you've got-
"Samarie look out!" August warned, letting loose a blunted wooden arrow.
But, his warning would go unheeded, as the girl let the whip strike fire!
The air cracked, as both attacks met in the air. However, Samarie should have realized that the wood she carried could only take so much electricity before it overloaded.
The plank exploded in her palm, as the charge shot straight into the Bikaku.
In an instant, the RC cells that made up the appendage destablized, seizing the moment it came into contact.
Her nerves misfired, as the appendage retreated into the small of her back. Rendered effectively useless for as long as the fight progressed.
Samarie grit her teeth, pushing through the pain of her nervous system frying. Or at least, what was left of it after so many attacks.
It was no longer an argument about whether she could recover from what was being done to her. But instead, it was about whether she would return to normal once all was said and done.
Though, as Samarie felt her spine, she felt like there was supposed to be much more ther-
In her near 360 degree vision, there was a small blind spot, much like a horse's sight. In that small window, hid a floating gigantic fly.
One which spewed a globule directly onto her back!
"Ahhhhh!" Samarie cried, her throat becoming raw.
Her pain downed everything else out, her senses numb to the point she didn't even see the sheer amount of aura she was releasing.
Haki, her blessing had supplied. It was the power to impose her will onto the world. Making her stronger, capable of seeing the future, and even subjugating those who had a weaker will than her own.
Her haki pressed down on both the Legion and this fly, allowing the arrow August shot to strike the fly at full force.
The fly went down, but at what cost? Samarie was already injured, and both Abella and August were running off fumes.
Though, for Samarie being injured really didn't mean she was out of the fight.
It just meant she needed to help in other ways.
Her Rinkaku had dropped the planks they were holding when they were struck, clattering onto the floor next to her. Samarie picked a pair up, and threw them towards the duo.
Only for the Legion to grab them in mid air with its mandibles, crushing them under its mighty jaws.
Samarie couldn't believe her eyes. Although, it was hard to imagine the sight to begin with.
Her original plan was to blungeon the Legion with a plank and swap out when it was recovering. But now, she was just left with one plank.
A plank and a dream. That was all she had.
It was clear she needed a change of plans. Fast!
Weakly, Samarie sat up, her skin was smoking, while her back was fried. Every time she moved a muscle, something ached like it was nobody's business.
She was going to take a long nap after all of this was over.
The girl gripped onto her last plank like it was a lifeline.
"Abella! This is the last plank I have!" Samarie dramatically announced. "Take it!" She threw it with everything she had, the plank spinning in the air with a graceful arc.
Only for that last glimmer of hope to be squashed like the rest of the-
"Lenora!" Abella cried, anger pushing past the exhaustion in her bones to throw herself at the monster, smashing a wooden chair directly on its face!
The monster took a step back, stumbling onto the ground, as if unable to comprehend what happened.
"Say hi to the rest of your friends when you meet them!" Abella reminded the robotic monstrosity, running to Samarie. "In hell!"
Meanwhile, the monster girated, motors whirring faster and faster, as smoke rose from the sole opening on its mouth.
August, ever observant, had his eyes widden to the size of dinner plates.
"We need to go!" He yelled, helping Abella move Samarie, as they both limped their way from the coming explosion!
"Legion, huh." August sighed, "Guess this was what the Kaiser was trying to hide…"
"The Kaiser?" Abella asked, "You mean, you're in the fight against that dictator? Another member of the NLU?"
"No, I'm not a part of any organization," He denied with a shake of his head. "Just a man with a vendetta. One which has taken me to places I would have never dared touch otherwise."
"This isn't just a conspiracy, there are a lot more factions at work. This has been the work of years, and they are not willing to let all of that effort go to waste."
The older man's expression darkened, his fingers becoming clammy. "Best we can do is shut whatever project he's got down. And kill Him, just for good measure."
Abella could only absent-mindedly nod. Her thoughts putting her else where but here.
"Let's head to the resting quarters," August pointed towards a deeper section of the bunker. "I'll take the first shift on look out. Need to keep an eye out since Samarie here's all tuckered out."
A fatherly expression was plastered on his face. But Abella had other thoughts.
Mostly of them on the name Len- Samarie had.
Right, perhaps it would be better to talk things through when Le- Samarie was awake.