"Report Alpha this is Bravo one. The left passage is sealed about 100 meters in," A man decked out in military gear and a wetsuit spoke into a headset as four other members of his team used the light of a flare to examine the room that they found themselves in. There were drawings and marks all over the walls that looked like the scribbles of language and numbers.There were stone tables all over the place with piles of rotten wood beside them. Tatters of what looked like papers or parchment were on the tables along with now empty jars that were surrounded by the corpses of ants, beetles, and other insects. If an architect or some other type of engineer took the time to sit down and study the scribbles with a linguist, they would have noticed that each scribble was preceded by numbers that were the dimensions of some larger construct and followed by what would translate as technical jargon or notes.
Touching what they shouldn't, one of the four other Bravo team members lifted up a jar and smelled the dried out contents within. There was a sweet, almost earthy after scent that made the jar's contents seem otherworldly. Filled with curiosity the assassin put a gloved finger on the inside and was surprised to see that despite being dried out, the solid that remained had the same consistency as dried glue. After moving the dark film on top, everyone was hit by a sickly sweet scent that reminded them of flesh rotting. Saying nothing, the team leader put down his hand from his earpiece and trotted over to his team member that couldn't keep their hands to themself. Without needing to say anything, Bravo four put the jar down and got back to examining something else. Scrunching his nose because of the jar, Bravo one, realized something as he got reports in, there was something that they were all missing.
"Report Alpha, this is Charlie one. The right passage is sealed about 100 meters in. From what I can tell, the maps that we have been provided are incorrect," Charlie one spoke into an earpiece from a similar room with runic carvings all over the walls. With a single motion, all of Charlie retreated with their leader and met up at the crossroads that split into two paths.
"Report, Bravo, Charlie, what about the third path," a message was sent to both team leaders as they regrouped in a circular room that had a massive fresco all across the walls. The depictions were slightly more ancient and less refined images than what was woven into the rug that was used on the first day of the conclave, the one that led up to Aaradhya's throne. The leaders looked at each other, then around, then back at each other in stunned silence. Neither of them saw a third path. They were about to respond when Charlie Five pointed out something that had changed.
"Was that always there," next to the wall between the two paths, there was a divot in the floor that was shaped like a circle. How no one saw it before was a mystery, or rather, it was as if something or someone had revealed it now. The only thing that left them any hints were the earthworms that were beside the stone despite there not being any soil in the surroundings. The team leaders deliberated before jointly bending down to examine the spot. At the center of the circle was a cobbled stone that jutted out of the floor subtly. Charlie's team leader pressed it down. Before anyone could react, there was an ear grating rolling sound and rumble in the room.
Bravo and Charlie team leaders made the same motion as both groups double timed it out of the round chamber. Only after the rumbling stopped did they return. First, they were surprised to find that there was light coming from the once dark room. They were forced to take off their night vision goggles. They were greeted by a changed room. The entire floor slanted at an angle, revealing a dirt and stone path that led in between and lower than where the other two paths led. Miraculously, there was a lit wall torch that was blazing at the entrance with another being barely visible a dozen or so meters in. Bravo one motioned toward Charlie one to call it in.
"Alpha, this is Charlie one, Bravo is taking point on the third path, we will report when we reach another intersection," Charlie one motioned toward her fellow team leader and mentally noted that this would not be the first time going down in one of these secret paths. They had already chosen half a dozen paths thus far with more than half being hidden behind a similar mechanism.
"My head hurts," Charlie two complained. For whatever reason, he felt the need to vocalize and draw attention to himself.
"So does mine actually. It's the stress," Charlie three patted two on the shoulder and walked ahead of him as the rest of the team filed in behind Charlie one. Neither team leader spoke about the lit torches as if it was standard fair, they didn't feel the need to say anything as if they were expecting it. That said, both of the team leaders shared a look and frowned. Neither wanted to open comms and report on something that felt supernatural.
"Who do you think lit these torches," Charlie two asked Charlie four as they ran into yet another lit torch on the wall.
"I don't know, some follower of the Golden Horn must know about these passages and has been tasked with keeping the torches lit. According to our info, we should be heading to a central underground hub afterall," four guessed. It was a strong guess but it was not good enough to assuage the beating hearts of everyone present.
"How did they get down here and ahead of us then," Charlie three elbowed Charlie five and said in concern as they held a separate conversation.
"I think that headache that you people in Charlie were talking about is spreading, my head is killing me," Bravo three chuckled as he spoke up.
"I know what you mean, there's this piercing pain right behind my eyes," Bravo two rubbed his temples and jolted.
"Hey, what if there is something in the air," Bravo three leaned over to Bravo Five.
"Cover your mouth and nose if you think there is something. It's just possible that the air quality is low," Bravo five tried to see if there was anything that could be gleaned from the atmosphere.
"Cut the chatter, something is up ahead," Bravo one put up a hand. Both team leaders assumed that there were followers of the Golden Horn down in these halls. They were wrong. The hall opened up to a hub, a cavernous cathedral of stone. In the firelight of standing torches, they could make out flying buttresses and ribbed vaulting in the shadowed ceiling. They all heard humming that was accompanied by music. The voice wasn't a good singer but they weren't that bad either. They were also most likely male based on the tone but it was difficult to say with only the humming. That was as much information as Bravo could gather while staying in the doorway. Both team leaders cautiously called it in. The response was not what they had expected. Instead of getting in contact with Alpha team, both team leaders received static.
"Come my friends, I have been waiting for you," the singing stopped. That's how it started, the mind games. Bravo and Charlie, wary but confident, walked into the lit nave of the almost magical underground fortress. They found themselves walking out of one of many arched doorways. In the middle of a rotunda was an androgynous looking figure with long hair and striking features. A wide and leaf-less tree with yellow growths along its trunk and limbs rested at the figure's back as they sat upon a throne of bark. A table was set before the yellow robed man with a gas powered mini stove and a kettle.
"Who are you," Bravo one aimed his gun at the weird person that wore flowing robes. The Bravo team spread out behind him and followed suit.
"I am Pie," Pie lifted a hand and poured themself a cup of tea.
"What are you doing here," Charlie also aimed her gun but it was more threatening as her aim was spot on. If she were wearing her night vision goggles she would have noticed a laser pointing directly at Pie's forehead. The rest of Charlie was no less accurate as they fanned out behind their team leader.
"On the island or down in this place with all of you," still steaming, Pie flipped their palm to reveal a handful of sugar cubes that came from thin air. The weird fellow placed them in the cup and snapped their fingers to reveal a delicate teaspoon with a skull and roses carved into the handle. The music that was ever present played softly even though no one could see the musicians.
"If you could answer both, I would appreciate it," Bravo one placed a finger on the side of the trigger as he put his other hand down. The rest of the Bravo team aimed their weapons down.
"I am here on the island because V was worried about continuity and potential threats. I am in this location specifically because Woad found you Ghosts snooping around where you should not be. Attempting an assassination that you should not be," Pie blew on their tea and took a sip.
"Who is V and Woad," Bravo team leader frowned beneath his mask, thinking that someone on the task force leaked their plans.
"V is me. Or rather, the version of me that won in the game of life before I could exist. Woad is another failure that could have been, a failure who exists thanks to circumstances beyond our control," Pie smiled as they spoke cryptically.
"What do you mean," Bravo one couldn't understand but Charlie one nudged his side.
"Hm. The best way to say it is V is the original and Woad and I are copies, does that help you my friend," Pie smiled in a congenial manner. Charlie one's face soured as she pulled the trigger. No one flinched as there was a white light. No one batted an eye when crimson exploded from Pie's forehead. No one smiled or frowned when the ceramic cup shattered or moved when the table flipped when a pair of legs knocked into it.
"Why'd you just shoot him? We could've gotten some more information out of him," Bravo sighed.
"What kind of information were you expecting to get, the man was clearly insane," Charlie one said.
"But he was down here long enough to light all these torches and where is that damn music coming from," Bravo one looked around for an orchestra as the music changed tones. Before anyone could react, they were all plunged into darkness as all of the standing torches turned off. It only took a moment but they all fumbled around in the dark for their goggles as the music took on a darker tune.
"That was not nice," a whisper came from the dark.
"Holy shi...", Charlie one turned her night vision on to find Pie standing right in front of her. Before she could react, a hand snatched her goggles and pushed her down.
"HES ALIVE," Charlie one screamed.
"Who," Bravo one looked in her direction but didn't find anything wrong other than Charlie one on the floor, a meter away from a pair of goggles that had somehow detached from her helmet and fallen to the floor. He looked back toward the fallen Pie after some thought and found that the person was splayed out on the floor as per normal when someone was shot in the head.
"Are you going crazy," Bravo one asked as he graciously passed the goggles back to Charlie one after picking them up.
"Bastards, he was just here. Why didn't you shoot him," Charlie one looked around with the gun raised as she motioned to her team. The music changed again.
"Are we going crazy or is there actually music playing," someone from Bravo whispered but his voice seemed to resonate.
"Over there," another member of Bravo shot his gun toward the stands. Everyone saw him pull the trigger as a handful of casings ejected from his rifle.
"Why'd you shoot," Bravo one raised his voice.
"Pie, I saw him next to that entrance over there, look," Bravo two pointed to a body that was slumped against the wall with two bullet holes in the chest and three in the stomach
"How could he be over then when...", Bravo one looked back to the weird tree and noticed that Pie's body was gone. That was when the music changed again and they were all blinded as the torches came back to life. They all heard a sickening rumble that was accompanied by the sound of saws and violins.
"What the fuck is this thing," Charlie four, as the fastest to lift the night vision goggles away from the face, dove to the side as a giant pillar slammed into the floor to their left.
"Focus up," Charlie one was the next fastest as she pushed Bravo team leader to the side to avoid a tendril that had slashed horizontally.
"Is the tree attacking us," Bravo one's mouth was agape even though it was covered by a mask.
"Shoot the yellow parts that are glowing, I saw something like this in a game," one of Bravo's team members opened fire on the pustule of a limb that had stretched into a spear toward another member.
"Take it down," Charlie one rolled away from Bravo one, spun on her knee, and unleashed an ungodly hailstorm of bullets toward a pustule that had been revealed on the main body of whatever it was that they were facing. The massive tree shuddered as bark fell away from the main body before it could fully retract its lashing limbs. The rest of Charlie focused on the branch that outstretched into their direction like an arm. With a viscous splatter, yellow ichor spilled onto the floor as the broken limb fell to the ground, limp. Another soldier from the Bravo team dove through the arch that the broken tendril made and slapped a bomb right on the side of the tree trunk.
*KABOOM*
The Bravo team member that placed the bomb pressed the trigger the moment that she got clear of the blast radius.
"What was that thing," Someone in Charlie spoke their mind.
"I don't know but it's dead, there's no way that it could have...", Someone in Bravo spoke but shut up a moment later. The stone tiling that had been upturned revealed a dirt floor. Out it came a tide of worms that had lengths similar to small to medium sized snakes.
"Woad, I could have handled it. I was just testing a new power out," Pie stepped out of the broken tree with a gentle smile and greeted the worms with a handshake. Charlie one already aimed her gun at Pie's head as the music stopped momentarily.
"Aaradhya is close, let's finish this so he can get out," Woad, a man made of worms, took Pie's hand and walked toward the broken tree with a squish of each step. The broken tree moved as worms infested and burrowed into it. The amalgamation of wood and worm crashed into a wall as it got its footing and released a sickening crunch and watery hiss of thousands of worms being crushed.
"There. Shoot into the cracks of its armor," the same Bravo team member that suggested shooting the yellow pustules spoke out as if they were experienced with fighting monsters and let loose. The nearly dozen masked figures unloaded each of their magazines before the creature managed to right itself. Half of its spindly body oozed with a viscous goo as bullets peppered into the cracks of its wooden armor. The creature tried to move one last time but a violent string of grenades kicked up a cloud of dust as soon as it took a step toward the Ghosts.
"Everyone be careful. We don't know if this thing has a third phase. We don't want to lose anyone before we even get on with our mission yeah," the Bravo team member that gave everyone good advice actually laughed like this situation was normal. Everyone put their guns down and restocked their empty magazines.
"Does anyone want to volunteer to go back for ammo, we need a resupply", Everyone remained silent as the Bravo team member spoke.
"I'm sure everyone here is still good right," someone worked up the courage to speak.
"Should we call this in? I know that we've all seen some crazy stuff before but this... this is just out of the park," the same Bravo team member that barely worked up the courage to speak, spoke up once more.
"We are good. We can call it in after we finish off the targets we were meant to take care of. We don't have a signal right now. Besides, that thing is dead," Charlie one said. The dust cleared and showed the charred and broken body of a tree and the splatter of worms beneath the debris. One of the soldiers got close to it for the sake of curiosity.
"Yo, back off from that thing. It's probably some mutated radiation thing. You might get another arm or leg or something," Someone in Charlie wisely advised.
"Why would there be a science experiment like that down here. More than likely, we are all hallucinating," the Bravo team member said.
"The same thing? I don't think that's likely," a Bravo member disagreed.
"Mass hysteria. It's possible we all went crazy on the torch fumes, I mean, think about it," the Ghost said.
"Or, we are fighting a monster that can transform," Bravo one said with a solemn expression.
"My friends, we are not monsters. I just said that we are clones," Pie's voice resounded as the music once again played in the ears of Bravo and Charlie. In what could only be described as slow motion, the charred wooden body of the creature exploded open as worms splattered into chunks all over the room. The wooden parts of the body folded inward and overlapped with goo and white fog. The new amalgamate then twisted into a fleshy drill that launched forward. Pie's head exploded out of the drill that had opened in all four intermediate directions. His jaw unhinged in a way that defied all logic.
This human head devoured the closest Ghost as the drill bit snapped shut on the Bravo team member's upper body. Before one could even blink, the drill spun and slammed down which made the assassin;s leftovers vanish in a gory splatter of viscera. Like a pebble in an ocean, the giant drill mouthed worm vanished into the stone. Not a single trace of its passage could be spotted save for a smattering of tiny holes that quickly sealed themself. Charlie One stood there, stunned out of her mind as the creature breached the stone and swallowed one of her men whole.
The scene became one of somber consequences as all of the Bravo and Charlie team were speared through and eaten by a creature that Charlie One couldn't understand let alone fight back against. A few seconds before all hell broke loose…
"What do you mean," Bravo one couldn't what Pie said as Charlie one nudged his side.
"Hm. The best way to say it is V is the original and we are copies, does that help you my friend," Pie smiled in a congenial manner. Charlie one's face soured as her finger landed on the trigger and pulled. Off in the distance a small hole appeared in the stone just beside an archway that led elsewhere in the caves. The blood vessels in her eyes popped as veins appeared on either side of her forehead. She whispered, "Behind you," and a few other unintelligible things before she dropped to her knees. All of the Charlie team aimed their guns at Pie and closed in on Charlie one, closing the ranks.