Article 14

 Prologue

It was a warm summer evening, the sun was starting to sink and the moon was taking its place for the night. Matsuda and Motohama were walking around a campsite called Shipoopi, a popular place to spend the night outdoors and observe the stars on a warm summer evening. That was the case until a phone call made by the park ranger was the reason why agents Motohoma and Matsuda found themselves clearing the campgrounds. That night was particularly strange and disturbing for the two as they found their boots sinking into the wet grass around them, stained with the terror that resided there. "Jeez, this is one hell of a mess," Motohama said jokingly, trying to hold back the pain in his eyes. He adjusts his glasses. "What is this now, 20?" Matsuda spoke as they entered the cabin. A blood trail the size of a road stretched twelve feet, leading to the entrance of a broken-in cabin. Flies covered the bodies, all with their organs ripped out either missing or spread out upon the beds and floor of the quarters. "And on top of this there were more bodies reported out in the woods?" Matsuda said as the two found dozens of mutilated corpses inside the cabins, all in their beds. The smell of blood soaked within the wooden walls. A stench so strong that it made the two boys gag.

"This was no animal attack," Motohama said with disgust. "Yeah but what could possibly do that?" Matsuda asked. "I don't know, but call in for back up, whatever it is it's still out there and we need these bodies cleared!"

BANG BANG!

The two jump in their skins as they draw their rifles, filled with ammo capable of projecting ammo composed of plasma matter. They run out to see a flying pinkish like worm hovering around the park ranger. He empties a pistol trying to kill the creature, but it ends up biting into its neck and ripping out an artery. As the man fell to the ground bleeding profusely the two teenagers took cover and loaded up their guns. "That explains all the animals ripped apart! It looks like a whole bunch might have nested here!" Motohama yelled over the sound of Matsuda's rifle. Matsuda then takes out a plasma grenade and throws it at the pile of bugs burrowing into the ranger's corpse. Some had little wings and others claws, a couple looked like fish with fins and gills to compliment their tails, and they all varied in size, some as small as worms and others as big as wild boars. In the end it didn't matter, they all blew up the same as the grenade flashed a bright blue and tore up the ground, mixing blood and dirt as all the same. All that remained were maggots that slowly withered away in the crater. The two walk out with their weapons drawn wearing suits. Matsuda looks at the crater and picks up one of the small maggot looking worms. 

"These things are death itself" he said as the worm begins to fade into dust. Motohama then looks back at the cabins, smelling the stench of death that was around them. Rain started to pour as Matsuda walked away from Motohama. Motohama looked around, trying to figure out what was going on. What got him here in the first place? He then looks down as the crater forms a puddle and stares into his reflection. "Where did it all go wrong? What exactly happened on that date?" Motohama asked, confused. "Motohama?" Matsuda asked. "What?" The rain continued to pour down on them as lightning struck. "We're not the only ones who've changed, you know." Matsuda just stood there as he looked down at the ground. "I know."

"Issei"

  High School Where the Fallen Ones Hide

Issei felt a warm pair of arms wrapping tightly around him, he turned around in his own bed and pecked the forehead of whoever was hugging him, hoping that when he opened his eyes he'd see red hair. But instead he got more, he got a warm smile from a face with beautiful blue eyes. "Morning sleepy head" she said softly as she stroked his chest with her sharp nail. Issei shows her his golden brown eyes. The two smile, trying not to cringe as they smell their morning breath, and close their eyes once more as they embrace in a kiss. The sun poured through the window, heating them under their blanket. After what felt like bed rotting together, the two finally make the choice to start their morning. 

Rias goes to open the shades, on Issei's desk he finds a newspaper with Matsuda and Motohama faces on the front paper. "Nice job fella's" he said with a smile. He then puts the paper down as Rias drags him back on top of the bed. "Let's take a shower," she says. Issei runs off with glee with the image of his two friends in the paper imprinted into his brain. They stood proud, posing with the governor as they accepted their award for bravery and valorance. 

 High School PSD Recruits Experience on the Front Line: Saving the Nation from a Catastrophic nightmare. 

 By TheNothingMan1738

 This morning at camp Shipoopi, two high schoolers emerge from the grizzly sight after fighting off two bear sized monsters that are responsible for the tragedy. The two boys Motohama Shinya and Matsuda Gen have agreed to do interviews and can be found on column fourteen. 

 14

 I got the call to this place last night with Matsuda from a frantic park ranger. We didn't know what the hell we'd find until we found the forest the camp was in. You didn't need any more directions once you were there, not if you're a PSD agent.

"And what does PSD stand for?"

We're the law enforcement concerning all supernatural phenomena. We patrol, secure, and detain any threats we deem to be so. We go by the SCD protocol, Secure, Contain and or Detain the threat in our maximum security facilities. 

"What happened that night as you were patrolling the area?"

Matsuda: Bodies of countless animals were scattered all around the woods, all killed in different ways. We knew we were at the right place. When we got to the camp ground we knew it was too late, but not late enough to stop whatever was spreading. This was some kind of creature, they're like worms and evolve in a caterpillar like manner, except instead of cocoons they just eat living tissue and copy its DNA. Out of this world if you ask me. All the bodies of the individuals we found were disfigured the same as the animals. It took the second team to come in hours to identify each victim. We found a total of ten more among the woods afterwards when the incident was all said and done.

"You say no more?"

Matsuda: Yeah that's right, we found the initial swarm that did most of the heavy work. They ranged from bug sized to boar sized. All of them had very little distinguishing features, some had wings, some had claws and little arms like a rodent, and a couple looked like fish that crawled around like snakes. They were all pink too. They weren't fully evolved. So Matsuda took out a grenade and blew them up while they were feasting on a corpse, it was the rangers so we knew to note him down as a victim. We had no choice but to use it as a decoy. These things, they're incredibly dangerous even in their early stage. They're very individualistic and we're not sure how they reproduce. Despite their strange anatomy, they're not too different from most organic creatures. It might take us a while to hunt and kill each and every one considering the manpower needed to pull this off, but if we keep hunting them down at this rate we'll be seeing a world free of these guys in the next three years.

"Tell us about the other ones you fought"

Motohama: Which ones?

"Agent Matsuda said you two took on your own evolved ones. Are there some that can develop into more complex creatures?"

Motohama: Absolutely. Once me and Matsuda cleared the main camping grounds we led two teams to scout and close off the rest of the woods. That's when we found more dead campers. Our teams took the time to collect their bodies so they could be buried while me and Matsuda split up to tackle the beasts ourselves. 

"You weren't concerned about the potential threat these things could pose? Some of the records here show that these creatures can grow up to three meters in size and take on over a dozen traits all at once."

Motohama: No, that didn't matter. We had a job to finish, we needed this to end tonight. If these things attacked the nearest city it would be devastating. We're fighting a war here. When the job was done we found a trailer, a small village, and a summer house by a lake. I took the trailer when it was too late. Butchered animals let me know this thing was evolving. I assessed each one's attributes so I could know what I would be up against. I found some rodents, a skunk, and more chewed up animals. They're one hell of an invasive species. 

Matsuda: We don't know what to call them yet. But for now they're worms, they start off as maggots one centimeter long and grow into a long six to twelve inch pinkish dark red worm. They have no eyes, or some don't, some have black beady eyes. We don't know if the blind ones can use echolocation or how they see. Well it doesn't matter now. 

Motohama: I saw a family dog webbed by the biggest spider, only for the wound that killed it in the cocoon of silk that imprisoned it to be that of a scorpion. I knew I had to rush into the trailer. Normally I'd prefer to wait for backup, but Matsuda stated it perfectly that we're trained to fight in scenarios where we are outnumbered. I was late, because a woman was hiding in the trailer bedroom for some time. When I walked in, her husband was missing his jaw, his throat, never mind. I don't think you can publish this. The details are getting graphic.

"Just keep going, you're doing great, kid."

Motohama: Right, anyways the man was dead. The place was a mess. He tried to fight it with a knife and a homemade flamethrower from his lighter and some hairspray. Three bullets fired through the door showed that the wife was inside the bedroom firing at it in a panic. I walked around with my weapon and made myself present in case she was still in there armed, but all I could hear was the sound of her choking, gagging. I rushed over to see her, she was on the bed and well this thing was a monster. What it did to her I'll never forget. The last of her ammo would be spent on trying to kill the giant I had to face. You see this thing was already a monster, it had a scorpion tail, a skunk and web sac, so it was armed and dangerous.

 A dog snout, the perfect killing machine. It used the woman's body to grow into a giant bear sized beast. I fired my weapons and engaged in a fire fight. Hitting its webpack released a ton of skunk toxin that made the place stink. The thing kept binding my hands with web fluid. 

It was easy to break out. But I remember this thing had a tail that could crush anything around it, it smashed the trailer up as I ran outside and unloaded all my ammo on it. The beast had the woman's hair from the last mutation, scorpion legs and a tail from what I'd assume would be their pet scorpion, and all the other animals within a mile radius. I don't think I was more terrified, even when those merged humans the size of skyscrapers attacked the city. Probably because I was alone in the woods and not in a city full of people. I fought with every last resource I had at my disposal. If it weren't for my tax funded toys I'd probably be dead. Then I left to meet up with Matsuda who had to clear out a whole village. There were more messed up animals, pets, people. It was a massacre. These things, they don't just eat, they make a mess, they'll place the corpses on sticks or, hang them, as if to show us "look what we did". It's frightening. We knew we were not dealing with some mindless rabid alien. No it was at least as smart as our smartest animals, but human intelligence has yet to be in question. But we do know it has human-like emotions. What we walked into was the workings of a sadistic creature, an entity that hates us. Hates us so much that it would rather kill us in crude, graphic, unnecessary ways over any diplomacy. These things may be supernatural, and if so, our goal is to wipe them all out. 

"You two have already done so much for this country and the greater community of this planet. Matsuda, the people would like to know what happened when you were at that village?" 

Matsuda: Well to call it a village is not accurate, it was more like a small summer house neighborhood. But the scene was no less the same as my partner's here. This thing went inside and massacred everyone in their sleep, everyone in their beds. Everyone except for one person. He hid in the bathroom as I went in. And after looking at the horror show I fought the sum of all the traits of everything inside that house in the form of a monster. It was like a fly and a bull frog the size of a bear, or a mountain lion. It had a tongue that could stick anything to it and rip you apart. Strong hind legs and wings. Completely different from Motohama's experience. My only fear is that these things can mate in their evolved stages.

"Tell me more, how did this incident end?"

Matsuda: Well, I can say that I acted fast. I wouldn't say I'm some hero for saving the survivors life. The creature busted down the door and almost blew the man's head off with its tongue. I blasted its back with everything I had. All my equipment was well suited for the job. This thing had softer skin than most of them that I encountered, but still rough like a shark. It turned around and roared at me as I shot off its giant tooth. The man managed to make a trap, stalling the creature and allowing me to take a shot and kill it. He flooded the bathroom by clogging the toilet and electrocuted the monster, and then from there I blew it up. He was the only survivor from that house. He's the real hero of the story, fighting alongside us to take back our planet from demons. When we met back up, we cleared the village looking for whatever made that mess. This is when we found the gruesome killings. More houses up north of the neighborhood were hit. It was like hell and Earth had a crossover. And then me and Motohama spotted it. Our two teams became one as we surrounded the beast, it was horrifying. Had these skulls on its shoulders, blond hair, three tails and seven eyes. It took us till morning to kill it.

"Where do you think these things reside? If you two had to guess?"

Motohama: There must be a nest somewhere, a nest where they're bread by beings higher than us, a nest were…

 THE FALLEN ONES HIDE