Explosions rang unendingly while fire fought against the heavy rain that fell from the dark clouds above.
The facility was a chaotic mess of broken rooms and dead defenders battered into the ground.
A small group strolled through the carnage. The orange from the fire mixing with the flashing blue lightning, painting them an eerie mix. All while the night tried to claim whatever it could in its darkness.
The guards stopped fighting soon enough. Some ran. Others fell to their knees, begging for their lives. Yet the people who had attacked them seemed completely apathetic.
Whimpering and crying as they were passed by. The glimmer of hope that they might survive, snuffed out by dark tendrils that pierced their hearts a second later.
The tall, dark-haired figure from before glanced behind. A deranged look of joy in his eyes. The flash of realisation on the pathetic guards now lifeless faces. A crooked smile on his.
A bark of laughter rang out as he didn't even pause after his senseless slaughter. Seeming to find amusement in the whole situation instead.
The others all seemed to hold different thoughts. Some held smiles too, clearly unaffected by it all. Others looked on grimly. They tried to ignore that gnawing feeling inside them.
They knew that this would be a bloody night. But, it would all be worth it if Saturn's blood made up part of that too.
The compound fell piece by piece as the group barely slowed. It all went so easily. Saturn had clearly underestimated his enemies and overestimated how secret this place was.
It was ridiculous how little security actually existed here. What little did exist all seemed designed to keep people in. Not out.
Some of them had already started to have those thoughts as they continued their rampage forwards.
Whatever it was they were keeping here, they clearly wanted it to stay here. As they moved further in, they noticed a feeling. Like the walls almost seemed to start suppressing them.
Stopping abruptly, a giant man with long blonde hair stared intensely at the walls.
"Hmm, what's got your attention, Newgate..."
came the deep, gravelly drawl of their leader. The giant man tensed for a second at his words before turning to meet his steady gaze.
Yellow pupils met dark as they locked onto each other.
"Sea stone. It's thin, but the walls have sea stone lining them."
He finally spoke gruffly in answer.
"So they do... This might be more fun than I thought."
The drawl came again. Not tired, but seeming bored. It felt like the world was a game and he had already reached the top. All that was left was to play until he was done with it.
"Something, no, someone, has got to be being kept here then?" another spoke out in confirmation of the silent understanding they'd all come to.
"It seems likely," Newgate answered with a nod of his head as they continued on again.
It was certainly not what they expected. But it didn't matter.
They were here for Saturn's head. Whatever was going on here didn't matter to them.
---
The room shook as plaster fell from the ceiling. A loud rumble drowned out the worried shouts and mad scrambling of the once-apathetic scientists.
The power shut-off had caused the training hall to flush the water out. Atlas took a breath of fresh air as his lungs inflated. He could feel his strength slowly returning to him as the seawater left through the grates in the floor.
His mind swirled as the haze was pushed back and his vision cleared. If he had been under that pressure any longer, he doubted he could have kept his transformation up.
His form started hissing as he deflated back to his original size. Standing tall, his height left him towering over nearly all who came close.
He couldn't remember a time before he first started to distort his height. But now he no longer even needed to use his powers. At some point, he truly had become the giant of a human.
His eyes narrowed as they watched the scientists. The blaring alarms and flashing red caused a surge of emotion he hadn't felt in years.
Hope.
He tried desperately to push it down. Refusing to believe in it. That he might finally have a chance to be free of this place.
Getting his emotions under control, a cold glint flashed through his eyes. His gaze lingered momentarily on the fat old man. He was the only one still sitting calmly in his seat. Surrounded in the centre by his erratic scientists.
Saturn's eyes moved, sensing a certain danger from in front of him. He locked onto his weapon-in-training, a small smile tugging at his lips as he felt how quickly the feeling had disappeared.
For a second, something else flashed across his features. It was gone before it could be read. Instead, he just sat there. The scientists' frantic attempts to fix everything becoming more desperate as they all failed.
Yet there he sat. Unfazed as he stared into the eyes of the man he had spent the last ten years moulding into the perfect weapon.
"Hmmmm. I suppose this could be the time to have him... field tested anyway," he mumbled to himself as his smile widened into a icy smirk.
"ENOUGH!"
His sudden shout scared the rest into a cowering silence as they all stared wide-eyed at him. Gone was the fear of the intruders. Now it was once again replaced by their overwhelming dread for Saturn.
Nodding his head once to himself, seemingly confirming his acceptance of their reactions, he spoke.
"Grab Subject 00. We will leave for the command room."
With that, he stood up to his full height and stalked out of the room first. He never bothered turning around, already sure that they would do as he ordered.
The scientists all looked from one to the other. Worriedly, they glanced into the hall at the much too relaxed subject.
A cold flush ran through them as they saw the smile pulling at his lips. Something unsettling settled in their guts.
He seemed too happy. The gloomy and despondent test subject they knew was gone. This person was almost bouncing on his toes in eagerness.
Some of them sighed in relief, though. They had been testing and training him to become a weapon against the World Government's enemies, after all. And with all that brainwashing, they couldn't help but feel that maybe they were truly safe.
With that in mind, many stood up straighter and tried to regain their former stony composure.
To Atlas, it seemed almost darkly amusing. He had seen them all running around like headless chickens. Tears pricked at the corners of their wide eyes. No amount of pretence now could fool him about the cowards they had shown themselves to be.
Still, he played along. His moment would come soon, he could practically feel it. At first, he thought about just making a run for it.
It would be easy. Saturn had already left and the facility was in shambles. By the time the old sadist even realised he had run, he would be out of here.
Then Saturn would be too busy with whatever managed to get this far to stop him. He could almost feel the cool wind lapping at his face and the fresh air it would bring.
But then his thoughts came back to the years of torment he'd endured here. That smile on the man's face as he'd watched him struggle. The way he would nod his head, satisfied by the show. All while Atlas could barely stand.
No, he couldn't just run. Saturn needed to pay. This would be his best chance at that. While they all tried to save themselves, letting down their guards. They'd even removed the shackles put in place to weaken him.
Just a bit longer.
---
The Rocks Pirates moved at the sedate pace of a group already assured of their own victory. How could they not be? They had trapped their target on his own secluded island. The very environment that he used to deter intruders now made any attempt at a quick getaway nearly impossible.
Newgate's face hung solemnly. His massive frame marched alongside his crewmates. His distaste for unnecessary death, especially at any he couldn't know were deserving of it, muted by the knowledge that this was for the greater good.
The instability of losing Elder Saturn from the council might be the only way they could truly start to bring down the World Government. One crack in their impenetrable armour at a time.
With that thought in mind, he pushed any unsavoury emotions aside. He focussed back in on his surroundings.
Not all the crew seemed so at odds with their actions. Some seemed to enjoy the carnage and destruction they were leaving in their wake.
The drunkard John grinned widely. His body swayed with every step he took. His eyes glinted at anything even remotely shiny along the way.
The youth, Kaidou, seemed like an animal unleashed as he barrelled through the defenceless and defended alike with no distinction.
His club swung wildly, smeared with the blood of its victims. He may have been the youngest of their crew, but he was already proving to be among the most ferocious.
Newgate shook his head as he sighed. The boy was a monster.
Shiki seemed unfazed by everything as he sauntered along, dispatching any who tried to attack him.
They were a crew of oddballs no matter how you looked at it. Then again, Newgate knew that when you stood at the top, you could afford to be different. Who was going to stop you?
He wasn't exactly normal himself. Standing at nearly 22 feet as a human attested to that. Sighing again, he trudged along. Keeping pace with his crew. Even surrounded as he was by supposed crewmates, he still felt completely alone.
He felt as though his mission for a family was somehow getting further away. No matter how many people littered the decks of the Rocks' ships.
Still, he held on tightly to the hope that one day things would change. That he would make his own family. One way or another.
That thought made him turn to a pink-haired woman with a penchant for sweet treats. He chuckled at the recollection of her "dream".
They had all been a little stumped when she stated it out loud. So confident and unabashed.
"I will find the perfect man to create the ultimate family, one that can never be broken! Together, we will forge my utopia!"
He had nearly spat out his drink at the time. A small smile tugged at the corners of his lips, finding a little comfort that others in his crew were maybe not too dissimilar to him.
Although he thanked whatever lucky stars might exist up there she had decided he was much too old to be that "perfect man."
'Whoever gained that spot would need their help too. Gurararara,' he thought absentmindedly to himself to lighten his mood.
The sea stone lining grew thicker now. This must be the centre of this maze-like complex.
'Time to find out what Saturn was really up to here.' Newgate's thoughts turned back once again to their mission.
It wasn't long before they came to a long corridor that ran invitingly to the heart of this compound. If this were any other crew, they might have stopped at this obvious trap.
Then again. When had an obvious trap ever stopped them? No trap could hold them. Either way, they would always come out on top.
As they walked forwards, the complete lack of anyone started to cause the first sense of unease.
Something was wrong. They were walking down the perfect bottleneck. A place designed for nasty surprises for any would-be intruders.
It was like their enemy had suddenly given up. As much as that would be nice, no one believed that a member of that council would just lay down and die.
Finally, they made it to the end of the corridor. With every nerve in their bodies on high alert and their muscles pulled tighter than steel string. They pressed on.
With a bang, they kicked open the door to the control room and rushed in. Weapons at the ready. They yelled out whatever war chants they had.
Just as the last member stepped in, the roaring ended. Weapons stuck awkwardly in mid-swing.
Standing in the middle of a pool of blood. With dead bodies scattered about. Torn and beaten into various levels of pulp. Was a young man. Holding a much smaller scientist in a choking grasp.
His once-white clothes were stained a deep crimson red. His black hair pulled out of his face as a crazed look lit his eyes.
Crack
He snapped the neck of the man in his grasp.
The Rocks Pirates just stood there in an utterly confused shock as they tried to wrap their heads around the scene.
Suddenly, a sinister laugh broke the tense silence.
"Kukukukukukuku!"
Rocks' laughter filled the room as every body stiffened involuntarily. The eerie sound bounced off the padded walls and left them all on edge.
"Well, what do we have here..."