CHAPTER-V
Kyle woke up, staring at a blue sky decorated with dark clouds. The morning air was overcast—a friendly atmosphere for their journey. Kyle rolled to his right, glancing at the red sand that stretched as far as the eye could see. He traced his index finger across the ground, swirling it to form a small circle. With his head still slightly throbbing, he sat up; the world seemed to spin quite fast for a moment. His blurred vision gradually sharpened until he could see clearly once again. He saw Dianne approaching, cupping water in her hands and gently helping him drink. He wasn't sure where she had found fresh water—perhaps she had run to the coast and back? It didn't matter; the cool liquid soothed his parched throat.
Slowly, Kyle stood and stretched, feeling every inch of his muscles relax as his energy returned.
"Captain, how about we take it easy today? Chasing too many missions at once will only wear us out faster. We need to rest occasionally," Dianne said while massaging Kyle's left arm.
"The sooner the better, but you're right. We should try to lighten our mental load on this trip," Kyle replied.
Dianne agreed, immediately grasping Kyle's palm and leading him forward. she talked about how she used to lead her father like this whenever they walked through the city park. She expressed a deep longing for the butterflies that used to flutter ahead of her, decorating the morning sky above the garden. Kyle, struggling to keep up with Dianne's pace, tried to tell her to stop, but her enthusiasm was so great that she didn't seem to hear him at all. Realizing this, Kyle playfully pulled his hand back, chased after her, and swept her up, carrying her like a princess. He spun around, laughing heartily as Dianne shrieked in a mix of panic and joy. They both tumbled to the ground, unable to stop laughing even as they hit the dirt, sending dust swirling around them. Dianne reached for Kyle's scarf to wipe away the few tears that had escaped from laughing too hard.
"Hey, you have your own! Why use mine?" Kyle joked.
"I like the scent. I'm used to mine already, so I'll use the Captain's," Dianne teased.
"Good grief, you're something else!" Kyle stood up, pulling Dianne to her feet.
Dianne brushed the dust off her clothes before noticing something and pointing it out to Kyle. She tugged on his sleeve until he looked. Following her finger, Kyle saw a rodent chasing an infected centipede. The rodent ran with incredible speed, causing the small Symbiote to flee aimlessly in a desperate attempt to save itself. The centipede tried to sting the rodent several times, but it had no effect; eventually, the rodent lunged, pinned it down, and bit its head off.
"The law of the jungle still applies, I see..." Kyle remarked.
"Captain, do you have any interesting stories you can tell me?" Dianne asked.
"Stories? Interesting? You are my story. To me, that's the only one that matters," Kyle answered.
"Oh, Captain, stop it! Come on, don't be shy, tell me something," Dianne urged.
"Alright, alright. I'll tell you while we walk, but let's keep a slow pace," Kyle said.
They turned and continued their journey toward the meteor's crash site. Walking straight through the hills, they eventually saw a single red stalk protruding from the ground in the distance. Red dust puffed out from it repeatedly. Kyle immediately ran toward the stalk and quickly contacted Charles. The radio call was answered, and Kyle explained what he saw while Charles took detailed notes. This was the beginning of a Parasite Tree. Since roots can spread anywhere, it meant a The Colony Symbiote was likely nearby. Kyle destroyed the bud and led Dianne to search for the source—the forest of blood-red trees that acted as the extension of the viral spread.
From behind a ridge, Kyle and Dianne witnessed a horrific sight, which likely explained why a lone tree had suddenly sprouted in the middle of the desert. The parasite forest had been decimated and leveled. Every tree had been sliced down with clean, sharp cuts; only the stumps remained, while the trunks had vanished. Kyle contacted Charles again, who was stunned by the report. No known Symbiote had an interest in cutting down live trees. Dozens of speculations raced through Charles's mind until he reached a tentative conclusion: "If it's not an Alpha Symbiote, then it must be related to yesterday's meteor."
"Everything leads back to that meteor in the end, doesn't it?" Dianne said, shaking her head.
Kyle also found numerous corpses of The Sloth One Symbiotes, marked by cauterized slash wounds.
"Charles, I think we have a real hope of fighting back against the Symbiotes," Kyle spoke into his radio.
"Huh? What do you mean?" Charles was confused.
"I don't know, it sounds like a fantasy, but miracles can happen. Based on your report—if that meteor appeared suddenly in the atmosphere and plunged to Earth—I'm convinced it wasn't a meteor at all," Kyle explained.
"Is this like those crossover stories? Where a franchise brings in a character from another world to draw in fans? Our world is so messed up that I'm actually considering that. Is that what you're thinking?" Charles mused.
"And usually," Charles continued, "no matter how powerful the guest character is, they don't have a massive impact on the main plot; they're just a cameo for entertainment."
"Exactly. But I'm not sure what kind of person they are, or if they are entirely on humanity's side. I'm moving on; most theories end up being nonsense anyway." Kyle ended the call.
They continued toward the impact site. Slowly, the sun began to descend from the peak of the sky, preparing to sink into the darkness of the western horizon.
Strangeness continued to pile up as time passed. They found a Sky Piercher dead, its body pinned to the ground by its own stinger. Oddly, there were no large mountains in sight, meaning something must have carried it here. Before they could dwell on it, Dianne called out from the edge of a cliff.
"Captain, this person is definitely a character!" she shouted, pointing toward the valley floor.
Kyle ran to Dianne's side. Below them, hundreds of The Crawler Symbiotes lay dead, their bodies looking as if they had been professionally mutilated. Their blood formed a small river flowing downstream, creating a sight both gruesome and bizarre.
From above, they could clearly see a massive message scratched into the earth with a large stone. It read: "LOSER."
"Good lord, what is this..." Kyle muttered.
Dianne tapped Kyle's shoulder. "Captain, should we keep going to the meteor, or do we follow this person's trail?"
"What trail? They didn't leave any clues about where they went. They're clearly on foot like us, but moving much faster to have reached here from the landing site before we did."
"Sounds like you're looking for someone."
A woman stood nearby, a long red cloth draped over her shoulders fluttering in the wind. Her eyes were covered by a metallic visor—a thermal imaging device. She was a Meta-human, parts of her body showing synthetic flesh where the skin had peeled away. Her left arm was blackened, and above the elbow sat an isolator device designed to suppress the spread of anything through the bloodstream.
"Are you the one who came from the meteor?" Kyle asked.
"Captain, you're mistaken. This is Alisa, my friend. Even if her face is covered, I know her walk and her voice," Dianne interjected.
"Dianne? Is that you!? Long time no see," Alisa greeted her.
"Alisa, what happened to your left arm?" Dianne asked.
"This? I'm infected with the Radiate Virus," Alisa answered.
"What!!" Dianne and Kyle shouted in unison.
"You're a Meta-human, how is it possible to be infected? And are you still... 'in there'?" Kyle asked.
"I'm safe. I don't know how, but I managed to build this device to keep the virus from taking over my brain," Alisa explained.
Meanwhile, on Olympus
Charles had just received news that sent him rushing across the ship. A senior researcher's laboratory had exploded, incinerating all research data and the professor inside. Charles, the head of broadcasting on Olympus, hired the two best detectives and brought a full news crew to cover the incident. Their footsteps thundered through the grim, dark corridors. However, they were forcibly stopped by police officers guarding the scene. The detectives were allowed inside while Charles organized his team for a live broadcast.
"This accident occurred exactly one hour ago, at 2:00 PM local time, October 7, 2089, in East District, Block Z, Unit 3656. The cause of the explosion is not yet fully known, but it poses no threat to the ship's integrity due to the reinforced steel layers of the lab. The casualty is a senior Russian researcher, Professor Ivan Petrovich Morozov, who was believed to be inside at the time. Stay tuned for further updates," the reporter concluded.
Charles watched the detectives sift through the ash-covered lab. He couldn't enter, but that didn't mean he wouldn't find out what happened. Filled with suspicion, Charles turned and headed back to his office.
Passing through the market, he entered another corridor and turned left, waiting for the steel door to slide open. When he entered his office, he was startled to find someone sitting in his chair.
Mariabelle Spielberg. The President's wife was waiting for him.
Charles bowed and greeted her. "What brings an Olympus high official to wait in my office?"
Mariabelle stood and approached him. "You seem to have many theories spinning in your head."
"I have to consider many perspectives to piece together a story. That's how I got this position. I don't just report what happens; I investigate, and I always have suspicions," Charles replied.
"I can't stay long. All I want to say is: be careful and play it cleaner. Your name is being mentioned far too often by those... disgusting people." Mariabelle walked out after saying her piece.
Charles turned, surprised, just as the door hissed shut.
Back on Earth
Kyle, Dianne, and Alisa were on their way to find the "meteor" visitor as the sun dipped lower, turning the sky a deep crimson.
Suddenly, a horde of Symbiotes sprinted toward them from behind. Their shrieks echoed off the canyon walls—a discordant mix of bird chirps and ape screams that grated on the ears. Kyle began picking them off from a distance with his laser rifle. Every time one fell, the ones behind would trip and roll across the ground. Without warning, Alisa pulled a sword hilt that suddenly ignited into a long, glowing heat-blade. She spun with incredible speed, slicing through multiple Symbiotes. Kyle and Dianne fought desperately, firing relentlessly, until they eventually reached their breaking point. Kyle led them in a retreat, constantly creating obstacles to slow the pursuers. Large boulders rolled down, crushing Symbiotes, but they were eventually cornered at the edge of a ravine.
The Crawlers approached slowly, emitting raspy, wet growls from their throats. There were dozens of them, looking truly nightmarish. Kyle, Dianne, and Alisa were backed against the edge, fear finally creeping in. Suddenly, the sound of old-school rock music blared from nearby: Rollin' - Limp Bizkit.
"PUT YOUR HANDS UP!!"
The music reached its climax as the young man in the dark blue coat dropped from above, shouting:
"Go back to hell, my darlings!!!"
His massive black sword hit the ground, miraculously creating a powerful shockwave that sent the Symbiotes flying. Terrified, the creatures began to retreat, but the man went wild.
"Where do you think you're going!!?"
He leaped into the swarm, hacking through them brutally and without mercy, letting their blood spray everywhere. Strangely, the blood repelled before it could touch his body, instantly hardening into blood-bullets that pierced the thick hides of the Symbiotes. The man continued the slaughter, the music player in his pocket continuing its loud, badass rhythm. Seeing this, Kyle, Dianne, and Alisa felt a surge of adrenaline and joined him in the massacre.
The Symbiotes might as well have been crying.
The laughter of the four became the herald of suffering for the creatures hated by the universe.
Breathe in, now breathe out
Hands up, now hands down
Back up, back up
Tell me what you're gonna do now
Keep rollin' rollin' rollin' rollin'...