Rumble

Brother Tode meanwhile was doing just as Ghaur expected, heading for the backup control room after his royal building was compromised.

When the enemy ships were first detected, he quickly ordered all available units to mobilize, but the process was slow with all of their resources poured into the current invasion of Athens. He left few soldiers for protecting the city, choosing to go all-in on the invasion knowing that if he failed it would likely end his reign.

With only peacekeepers left in order to maintain the law, the response was poor in defending the city against the invading army that was now attacking them. Relying heavily on automated turrets that were mostly set up outside for a bit of extra protection, did little to stop the invading Atlanteans and Aqueos.

Using his escape paths, Tode soon found himself face to face with Ghaur and his elites who stood between him and the control room.

"Hold," said King Tode, holding up his fat green hand to bring a halt to his people, feeling something off about the situation. The two muscular servants carrying his sedan chair paused next to his wife Vira who was able to keep up on her own two feet along with his brother Prime Minster Ragar and the rest of his trusted council just behind them. Surprisingly enough, Broop, the King's Buffon, could be seen riding the back of his chair much to the council's dismay at having to bring along such a useless thing, but they had to swallow their remarks because of Brother Tode's persistence in keeping him.

All of them guarded by the royal guards who wore green and gold-trimmed armor, ready to lay down their lives for them.

"Ghaur, I see you made it just fine, nows not the time to waste with pleasantries though, let's take this inside the control room where we can better discuss things." Said Tode.

Vira his wife leaned in whispering,- "We can't trust him, especially now..." but was cut off by Tode's hand so he could hear what Ghaur had to say.

Ghaur sneered,- "Don't worry about the control room, my people are already inside taking care of things, and I think it would be best to have our discussion out here, tell me Tode, how are you going to take responsibility for this?" He asked.

Tode furrowed his brows hearing his name said so casually with so many around,- "Now is not the time for such discussions, nothing has yet been lost and we still have everything to gain," he said trying to persuade Ghaur to back off for now.

Ghaur scoffed,- "Nothing has been lost, LOOK WHERE WE ARE!" He yelled meaning both the past and present situation. Ignoring how Tode recoiled, he continued- "I've trusted you long enough, our priests have trusted you long enough, our people have trusted you long enough, this is the end for you Tode, you've made too many mistakes and are no longer fit to lead. This is a long time coming, I hereby relieve you of your post as ruling regent, you and your line will be purged and I'll personally see to it that your kind never rules again, men, attack!" He said waving his hand forward.

His white armored elites moved forward, firing at the royal guards who returned fire.

"Defend the King!" "Kill the Rebels!" "Kill the Traitors!" yelled many of Tode's men as they fired back while the white armored elites fought silently without much sway from the voices around them, following Ghaur's orders to the letter.

Not expecting things to turn so dire, Tode was at a loss as to what to do next as he was shuffled off to the back for protection as his guards stepped in front to guard him.

The warrior-priests slowly closed the gap to make sure none escaped, a few falling on each side before the front lines pulled blades and charged, determined to cut them down once and for all.

Ghaur and Tode watched from the back lines, with the latter shouting out commands that gave his men an advantage over the priests who didn't have any effective military training aside from basic combat, not to mention the royal guards were some of the best fighters in all of deviant society.

This didn't deter Ghaur though as he knew his men wouldn't likely win, not without help anyway,- "Morjak, Gelt, kneel before me, it's time to fulfill your duty," He said calling his personal guards over.

"We hear and obey." They said together in sync as they took a knee facing the enemy.

Ghaur put his hands on the back of their heads,- "For the purity of our race, you two shall be the hero's to pave the way, know that your sacrifice will lead us to a purer future."

Morjak, Gelt lowered their heads giving a small prayer,- "For purity."

Ghaur repeated the prayer,- "For purity," as he used his power to achieve the exact opposite.

Morjak grew long fingers and claws, his suit tearing open revealed a creepy, evil-looking second face where his abdomen should be, including a largemouth with fangs and two pupilless white eyes.

Gelt's arms turned into 3 purple tentacles each, giving a total of 6.

After increasing their strength a bit more, Ghaur finished as his two newly born creations stood tall,- "Finish it!" He commanded.

Morjak and Gelt instantly took off, rushing past the priests who gave way upon hearing their priest lord shout,- "Let them through and back them up, it's time to end this farce once and for all!"

The front-line elites took a few step backs as the two approached, making room after recalling what Ghaur's last monster did.

Expectations high, Morjak and Gelt didn't disappoint as Gelt came within range and shot out his 6 tentacles catching 6 weapons, holding them in place as Morjak ran through them claws out, slicing their throats as he passed, straight into another who was ready with a swing, which he caught as his second face caused the attacker to scream in fright, right before having his head bit off.

The other royal guards paled seeing a couple of monsters pop out of nowhere taking 7 of them down in a flash.

Tode also shocked seeing the rumors from his spies turn out true, took a few moments to take it in before yelling,- "KILL THEM! don't give them any momentum, attack, attack now, ignore the rest!" Knowing how dangerous they could be.

He couldn't believe Ghaur actually had that ability, even after receiving the reports of it being a possibility, it seemed way too far-fetched that the guy who hated Mutates and would sacrifice them would actually create them.

Gathering their nerves the royal guards angrily roared as they rushed the two, ignoring the priests who switched to shooting them once again from a distance when the opportunity presented itself.

Morjak took the left while Gelt took the right.

Morjak claws were strong enough to defend weapon strikes while his second face unnerved and bit through whatever got too close. A weapon strike from his blind spot was caught with the teeth as a free claw tore open the face of the would-be attacker before biting through the rest of the way shattering the weapon.

Gelt was having a much easier time thanks to his tentacles, sweeping the legs and wrapping around unsuspecting foes who he slammed repeatedly back forth on walls, ceilings, other enemies until dead, throwing the bodies at the rest. Crushing others with pure strength as his tentacle's constricting power ended their pathetic struggles.

Vira and the council members seeing their guard's lives being reaped by the second started to panic,- "Tode, we must flee."

Ragar and the rest second that,- "She's right my king, we have to leave now while we can."

Tode couldn't believe what was happening, after coming so close to finally righting everything, suddenly their city was attacked out of the blue and Ghaur betrayed him. If only Kro and his men were here, he could take care of everything.

Unhappy about the situation and reluctant to leave the control room, Tode could only agree, ordering the closes to guard the line as they retreated,- "Hold steady men, you will be avenged, let's go," he said turning to the others.

Ghaur not missing that fat head-turning to leave, shouted,- "Don't let him escape, kill him now!"

The white armored priests once more advanced into melee range to help quicken the process as Morjak worked again with Gelt to clear a path to the king.

Tode knowing that at any moment those two could bypass his men, urged his servants to move quicker,- "Hurry, move faster, we need to get out of here."

Council members Sluice and Shelmar headed the pack as they rounded the corner only for their eyes to widened when they came across a group of invaders led by the big grey vampire Thakorr who tackled the two, chomping into their necks, trying to quench his never-ending thirst.

Tode's group stopped in their tracks as another one popped out, taking out two of them in one fell swoop.

Thakorr's few men who were also turned came around the corner attacking those they saw taking out more council members, even Ragar, Tode's brother was no exception as he screamed for help, his subservient respect going right out the window,- "Tode help me!"

Others shouting for their king, got the attention of Thakorr as he looked up from his feeding frenzy.

Now trapped between a rock and a hard place, Tode's ashen face could easily be seen as the reality of his predicament hit him. Looking back he could see the two priest monsters breaking away and heading towards him while the monster in front looked at him with red glowing eyes and gore-covered mouth dripping with blood.

"No, I will not fall here, drop me and go block them," said Tode, ordering his two strong servants to place him down and attack the vampires.

Vira quietly shivering in fear beside him, hoping he had a way like he always had before,- "What now, what do we do now?" She asked fearfully.

Tode almost forgetting her saw the big one get up and run over, grabbing Vira by the head, he apologized,- "Sorry my dear, but desperate times call for desperate measures, my people can't afford to have me fall here," He said, giving his goodbyes as he threw the stunned woman at Thakorr who didn't bat an eye seeing the red woman thrown at him, easily swatting her away while his men dealt with the servants who were putting up a valiant fight as Tode tried to escape.

Surprisingly fast for a 6' morbidly obese deviant, Tode tried to slip around to the left with Broop riding his shoulders, panting heavily as he went.

Thakoor not having that cut him off, causing Tode to fall and roll when he attempted to stop himself from running into him.

Picking himself back up, on his hand and knees, he groaned in dismay at seeing the big grey monster in front of him, and the two others just behind as Morjak and Gelt caught up.

With the rest of the royal guards now dead, Ghaur walked over with a frown. Keeping his distance at seeing some of the invaders, Atlanteans who looked like they were transformed or infected with whatever those creatures were he saw earlier. Neither Tode nor he recognized the grey monster that was Thakorr for who he truly was, the current ruler of Atlantis.

Ghaur wanted to mock the king before his death, but Thakorr who paused upon seeing Morjak and Gelt arrive began to move again to finish what he came here for. Hand outstretched he reached for Tode's giant head who desperately yelled,- "GLOMM, PROTECT ME!"

Broop hearing the command, threw a punch at Thakorr, his tiny fist changing into a big purple fist, blasting away the surprised vampire who slammed into the nearby wall. Broop then proceeded to transform into a large purple blob before taking a purple humanoid blob form, Glomm, the shapeshifting deviant.

"We fight now yes?" Glomm asked with a grin.

Ghaur's eyes widened,- "You clever bastard, replacing Broop with Glomm, I can't believe General Dulpus lent you his disgusting champion, dammit, this complicates things, but in the end, you won't make it out of here even if your champion does."

Glomm was the deviant he feared most, the only one he was sure wouldn't be affected by his powers since he had complete control over his body, because of his shapeshifting powers.

Tode hearing his words, couldn't deny them seeing as he was surrounded by enemies. He prayed for the first time in his life that Glomm would be able to keep him safe.

Morjak and Gelt attacked next while the recovered Thakorr ordered his men who finished off the servants to attack. Ghaur then ordered what was left of his elites to head them off and once more support Morjak and Gelt with priorities to kill the king when possible.

Seeing the priest elites firing, Thakorr ordered his men to change direction and face them while he personally took care of the king and others.

Morjak aware of who Glomm was, went straight for him, thinking he could do some damage shredding him to pieces or eating him with his second face as he dived headfirst into the mass that Glomm was becoming as he saw enemies approaching.

Gelt meanwhile was trying to sneak some tentacles around to get at King Tode who was cowering behind Glomm.

Glomm's form shot out and reshaped as it avoided Morjak, grabbing him by the arm and throwing him at the incoming Thakorr while sending its own tentacles to head off Gelt's tentacles.

Gelt's tentacles, however, were individually stronger as he started to overpower Glomm's before more shot out to contend with him, tying down his 3 left tentacle arms. His right 3 moved to help Morjak who now found himself in a bind dealing with an angry Thakorr who got bit by the second face when he came flying over. His abdomen's teeth sinking into the left shoulder of Thakorr who roared angrily before sinking his own teeth into Morjak, draining blood faster than he could produce.

Morjak gave a painful yell as he felt claws dig into his flesh to keep him from running. Snorting at the gall of him to think he would run as he increased pressure on his abdomen to bite through while using his own claws to rend flesh from his attacker, trying to get his fangs out.

At first, Thakorr ignored him thanks to the increased regeneration drinking gave him, but as the wounds started to pile up, he jumped up slamming Morjak down, denting the impact area, causing both to release the other as Thakorr stood back up.

Not giving Morjak the chance to recover, Thakorr immediately picked his foot up and slammed it down, intending to stomp him into paste only for three tentacles to wrap around his prey and drag him away just in time. The area further warping as the metal floor gave way to his foot.

Glomm not staying idle attacked the now vulnerable Gelt who had all arms tied up. Sending 5 pointed, skewers, shooting right through Gelt's exposed chest, and extending out the other side. Pulling them back right after as he turned his attention to Thakorr who was now charging over.

Gelt who just finished pulling Morjak back to safety coughed up blood as he fell to his knees. His closest friend and ally Morjak could only watch, uncaringly, as his long-time friend keeled over dead. The only thing on his mind was completing the mission, there was nothing else as he noted that he could no longer count on Gelt and prepared to reengage with the enemy.

Ghaur cursed,- "Dammit Gelt, you should know better" as he glanced over at his elites battling with the changed Atlanteans, wondering if he should use his power and sacrifice a few more purity for the greater good, the eternal struggle within himself.

Thakorr swatted and tore away incoming purple tentacles and hands as he tried to close the gap between him and his prey.

Similar actions were being taken by Morjack opposite him as Glomm struggled to defend against the two of them at the same time, throwing all he had to keep them at bay.

Seeing a losing battle for what it was, Glomm's face appeared on the backside to consult Tode,- "I can't fight and defend at same time, I grapple big grey one, you run."

Tode shook his head,- "No, that's suicide, you're the only one keeping me alive, the second I leave your protection I"m dead."

Distracted, Glomm didn't even hear him as his face disappeared halfway through his rambling after telling the king what to do. Seizing a chance he tripped Morjak yelling back to the King,- "Now!" as the purple blob shot forwards engulfing Thakorr who struggled to tear him off, glad that he no longer needed to breathe.

Caught off guard seeing Glomm still going through with the plan, Tode panicked as he struggled to get back on his feet and make a run for it.

Noticing it wasn't going to work as Morjak got back on his feet first, Glomm was preparing to skewer Thakorr like Gelt to try and finish him off so he could get back in time to protect the king, Sensing the danger, Thakorr claws came together above him as ripped Glomm open, freeing his head, knowing that he wouldn't be able to recover if his head was destroyed.

Glomm seemingly unhurt by being ripped apart still sent multiple spikes through Thakorr's lower half, crippling him as best he could before heading back to the King.

Tode freaked out seeing Morjak approach, ran as fast as his fat little legs could which topped out at a decent 40 kmph, but still wasn't fast enough as the outstretched claws grew ever closer until a purple tentacle appeared wrapping around them, pulling Morjak back.

Just as Tode thought he was safe, just about rounding the corner when suddenly a metal object pierced his head, dropping him dead. Thakorr had ripped up some of the broken floorings and threw it at Tode as hard as he could muster, obliterating his head, leaving a big hole in the side of it.

Angry at failing his mission, Glomm cursed the King, he could have done so much more if he wasn't ordered to stay Broop until he said otherwise. This wasn't his fault, his perfect record was ruined because of that stupid bastard of a king, he was just following his stupid orders as commanded. If Tode heard his thoughts he would have agreed, having made the mistake of wishing to keep him a secret weapon rather than using him earlier when he should have.

His large purple blob body wriggled in outrage as he engulfed Morjak squeezing him to death while ignoring the painful bites from his second face. He furiously squeezed all the harder trying to snuff the life out of him, for unlike the grey monster, Deviants did need to breathe. He could feel the struggles lessen as time went on.

Ghaur watched on, not at all unpleased with the way things turned out, having his goal accomplished one way or another and the mutates killed, whether they were his or not.

"Retreat, our job's done here!" Ghaur told the men as he fell back to the control room.

The few elites left made a break for it after knocking back those they were engaged with.

The vampiric Atlanteans wishing to follow were told to hang back as Thakorr all healed up got back on his feet looking at the purple blob. He wasn't finished here yet, he would follow the rest of them later, but first, he needed a drink as he grabbed one of the fallen bodies that still had blood.

Glomm sliding off the corpse of Morjak, watched where Ghaur and his men fled before turning his attention to Thakorr. He planned to kill them all for making him fail, but this big grey one would certainly reap the heaviest price for his role in his failure.

Feeling Glomm's glare, Thakorr gave him a fanged grin,- "You're an interesting one, the way you can control your shape, why don't you join me, I could use a man like you."

Glomm,- "So you can speak? Why you don't speak earlier?"

Thakorr,- "Did you not see me order my men about? But to answer your question, I had a mission, and that mission has been fulfilled, thus freeing me up to do other things now, so to say."

"And you, will you not join me?" He asked the blob again.

Glomm sneered,- "I will not betray!"

"Shame, then I guess I'll end you here," Thakorr said getting up, feeling fully refreshed from his short rest and drink.

"It is I who will end you!" yelled Glomm who still looked a little chewed up from earlier, attacked.

Thakorr knowing how annoying it was fighting the shapeshifter, shamelessly had the dozen men that were left help out in ending him.

Use to being outnumbered in wars, Glomm didn't blink when he saw himself being surrounded. Shifting his shape at will, he attacked multiple foes at the same time. Sending sharply pointed tentacles to try and thin the herd while focusing on Thakorr.

Not aware of what he was facing though, Glomm grew tired of spearing them and breaking them only to see them heal and get back up for more. He didn't pay attention to how the elites were dealing with them, too busy defending the king at the time, and he didn't have the luxury to go check it now.

Thakorr grinned seeing how Glomm was now on the receiving end, struggling to fight them off as they continued to tear into him when they could.

Finally piercing one in the heart and crushing another's head, two of them went down for good, unable to get back up. Glomm would have celebrated if he wasn't growing exhausted, his stamina reserves just about depleted as the fight continued on, not to mention the many torn, sometimes bloody, pieces of him littering the place. He tried going after the big grey one, Thakorr, the leader of the group, but the others would take the chance to cause more damage as their leader defended.

With his movements growing slower, Thakorr congratulated him,- "You've put up a good fight, you've even managed to kill a few more, but I see your stamina can't keep up anymore, are you sure you don't wish to join us?" He asked one last time.

Glomm glowered back,- "Never! I'll definitely kill you all!" He shouted, right before shifting into a snake and slithering away.

Surprised, Thakorr took off in pursuit yelling,- "Get Him! Don't Let Him Escape!" Irritated at seeing the snake grow some after reattaching pieces that were torn off that it happened to slither over as it ran away.

Dodging hands, Glomm took off in a random direction trying his best to escape, to live, and fight another day.

When the snake had to slow and go around an obstacle, Thakorr leaped catching it in the middle, instantly sinking his teeth in and draining him. Glomm hissed angrily trying to reshape himself again, but he made a fatal mistake as Thakorr fangs easily found his veins in snake form and sucked him dry faster than he could have ever expected. His heart only inches away from the penetrating teeth spelled his doom as his snake body shriveled in Thakorr's grasp, leaving nothing but a dry husk.

Pleased with his multiple victories, Thakorr dropped the dried-out stick, looking to where Ghaur and his elites left, eager for more blood.