>>5301945It isn’t long before you start sensing something… <span class="mu-i">off</span>... about the water around you. Not <span class="mu-i">off</span> like the engine room of that <span class="mu-r">SUB</span> you blew up, mind, but definitely <span class="mu-i">off</span>. Static electricity dances along the surface of your jumpsuit and hat and a faint taste of ozone and cotton candy tells you that you’re getting closer to the cannon’s killzone.
Your suspicions are confirmed shortly after when you skirt around a perfectly circular divot in the seafloor–its edges lined with an impossibly-thin layer of glass still glowing orange from a prior strike.
And you just <span class="mu-i">had</span> to leave the marshmallows in the <span class="mu-i">van</span>...
“Shut up about the marshmallows for a sec and <span class="mu-i">look!</span>”
Barely resisting the urge to slap Art upside his dumb ginger head, you take his advice to heart as you spot it–the barrel of a colossal gun atop a hill that looks farther and farther away every second you stare at it.
“So…” Talbot grunts as you all drop into cover behind the remains of a shipping container with a vaguely-familiar company logo etched on its side, “That’s the <span class="mu-r">CANNON,</span> huh?”
“<span class="mu-i">One</span> of them, yes.” Sybil hisses as she glances between you and your fellow janitor. “Covert operations are more your strong suit, Stanley–lead the way when you’re ready.”
Piece of cake, you chuckle as you gently nudge The Goth’s bare shoulder! Surveying your approach, you immediately spot a few good candidates: giant coral growth? Check. Big-ass boulder with a divot you can shimmy under? Check. Mountain of plastic weighed down by two cars, a viking longboat, and a tank? Checkaroo!
As your route slowly forms in your head like a puddle under a spilled milk carton, you notice something else out of the corner of your eyes–something <span class="mu-s">BIG!</span>
“Holy <span class="mu-i">CRAP!</span>” Art hisses, “Th-they’re <span class="mu-b">WHALES!</span>”
‘<span class="mu-i">Whale</span>’ he ain’t wrong–from the murky deep comes the face of a gentle giant you’ve only seen in those conservation commercials–one that rivals the size of the <span class="mu-r">SEA DEMON</span> you went <span class="mu-i">SICKO MODE</span> on earlier with a mouthful of brush-like bristles inside!
“Baleen…” Sybil remarks, captivated by the massive beast just like the rest of you. “I’ve never seen one this close before…”
Gracefully drifting through the water like a parade float, the creature lets loose a ringing, almost alien call throughout the sea… and is immediately answered by a trio of fellow whales following close behind! As you, Ly, Lil’ Stanley, and the rest of your cohort watch in awe, you barely react when a sparking projectile the size of the lead whale’s head engulfs the beast in a flash of blinding light!
>CONTD. 