Council of Creators Episode 21

Ambush is the 21st episode of Council Of Creators. It was written by Koopa. This is the second story in the Sepsis Arc.

Koopa was slumped over the vacant bar counter at the Council of Creators base, a half-full glass of cloudy lemonade sitting on the counter a short distance away from him. In a state of half-sleep, half-wakefulness, his eyelids were drooping, his green eyes turning watery and periodically dripping tears to try and rehydrate themselves. It was then that Mosu approached him. "Koops, what's wrong?" He asked.

In response to this, Koopa shuddered, and jolted 'awake'. His dishevelled form became clear to see under the light of the hanging lights. His skin was a pale cyan in tone, and black rings had formed around his eyes from many a sleepless night. He also looked thinner than usual, and his sternum could be recognised through his skin, rising like a steep cliff out of his chest. His breathing took the form of slow and deliberate gasps as he caught his breath. As Koopa spoke, his eyes darted from left-to-right. It was clear that he was trying to think about what to say with a great deal of effort.

"Oh...uh...." Koopa began. "You don't have to hide it, tell me the truth, friend." Mosu replied, an air of confusion in his voice. Pulling himself to his feet, Koopa began to stammer. "I-it's nothing, I swear. I've not been sleeping well at all t-these p-past f-few nights. I've b-been putting a lot of work into my sprites, that's all."

Koopa's eyes were practically spinning in their sockets. Beads of sweat were forming on his brow. By now, some of the other COC members had arrived to see what was the matter. "Listen, Koops," Scoobs interjected, "You've been here long enough for us to know when you're trying to spare us from hearing some sort of terrible truth. What's up?"

With a deep sigh, Koopa replied. "You're just going to keep prying away, aren't you?" To which everyone else in the room followed up with a "Yes!" in unison. Koopa sighed in exhaustion, before speaking again. "I... I've been having extreme nightmares... but I'm starting to think they're visions."

"Visions?" Mosu asked. "Are you sure you aren't just having nightmares from putting so much stress on yourself?" To this, Koopa shook his head. "Something about these nightmares are telling me otherwise. I keep seeing this... thing, in them. It has a long neck, and it appears to be extremely strong... Musclebound, even. It has no skin to speak of... And the sound... the horrible, horrible sound..."

Koopa shuddered violently.

"I have reason to believe this creature is real. It might have something to do with Keratos's appearance when you guys first met me." Koopa gazed out of the window listlessly. His expression suddenly turned grim. "And... I fear that it may be coming to kill us here".

Concerned expressions spread throughout the Council. Mosu was the first to speak. "Koops... Are you sure you're okay? You look like a wreck, and you sound completely delirious!" Super followed with "A monster coming to attack us here is absurd. You need to sleep, Koopa. You're going crazy from all the time you spend holed up in your room spriting your countless creations. Fatigue takes hold quickly, and it can make even the soundest of minds deranged."

Koopa looked around the room, his eyes dilated and teary. He gave off the same emotion as a puppy who had been kicked in the side. "I...I can't believe you'd say that..." He replied, his voice low and raspy. "I knew no one would believe me... I JUST KNEW!" And with that, he pushed through the crowd and made for his room, locking the door behind him.

It was then that the ground began to shake violently. Objects fell off the counter, including Koopa's discarded glass of lemonade, which broke into pieces when it hit the floor, throwing glass everywhere. The very floor itself began to buckle, and through the cracks an ominous black smoke began to gush forth. Over the sound of the splintering timber and breaking glass, a deep, droning sound could now be heard. Someone was coming...

Thrown off balance, Super's eyes widened as he looked at the developing scene. "What the hell is going on?" He asked. "I have no idea, but whatever is behind that sound is clearly hostile..." Cdr replied. Scoobs was about to add his own contribution to the discussion, but suddenly the whole floor gave way, throwing everyone to the ground.

What stood before them was nothing short of terrifying. Standing in the middle of the ruined room was the very monster Koopa had just described! The creature's two jaws were dripping with some unidentified substance. As the two jaws opened and shut, a horrific noise escaped its twin maws, similar to static that had been lowered in pitch. The upper jaw closed, and from the lower, the creature began to speak in a low baritone.

"Keh heh heh heh heh... You really should have believed him..." The monstrosity uttered. "Not that it would matter much... Sepsis chose wisely to send me out now, he knew Keratos wasn't up to the task."

As the other Council members looked on, the demonic creature bowed its long neck.

"But, I play by my own rules. I am Myos, The Second of the three pathogens. I will make you bleed, and before I'm done with you, all of you will experience unimaginable pain."

Super immediately tried rushing Myos, but was rammed by the beast's long neck and thrown across the room, breaking a hole through the wall as he fell into the hallway beyond. "Looks like we have no other choice but to fight..." Scoobs thought, as dust and plaster from the ruined wall filled the air.

Myos's two jaws opened, and from both cavities a powerful beam was fired, creating burnt marks as it trailed across anything in its path. Myos craned his long neck to allow the two beams to strike Mosu, who had been attempting a sneak attack. His wings set ablaze, the heroic insect was sent tumbling to the floor.

At this point, Cdr found a chance to take the form of Ultraman Jack, and attacked Myos with an Ultra Slash, severing one of the muscular pathogen's two shoulder spikes. Myos responded with an incredibly loud screech, one that caused all who heard it to feel as if they were withering away. As Cdr fell to the floor, he began covering his ears.

Myos stood in the centre of it all, cackling with malevolent laughter. Koopa's door remained firmly shut. From within, Koopa sat against the door, holding it closed. His eyes were shadowed and devoid of all expression, yet within his head, he felt a seething anger that boiled within his deepest thoughts. He wanted to tell the others that he told them so. In his heart, he wanted to see their expressions when Myos appeared. He had proved them all wrong, and now they were in danger of falling to the disease kaiju that had attacked them at their most vulnerable state.

Koopa suddenly pushed his laptop across the floor, the computer sliding to a halt at the foot of his bed. "GRAAH! I just can't hold a grudge against them, can I? Looks like I've got to clean up this mess, before we all perish..." Standing upright, he walked towards the door, before unlocking it and then kicking it open.

The sudden sound caused Myos to stop attempting to crush Cdr's colour timer and spin on his heels to meet Koopa's gaze. The Creator's red abdomen gem was now glowing bright blue. "Hate to break it to ya, but your rampage has come to an end!" Koopa yelled, as his abdomen gem suddenly sprouted a set of two bright blue energy tendrils, which shot towards Myos. The pathogen had barely any time to react before the two tendrils passed straight through him.

For a brief moment, time appeared to stand still. An afterimage of Myos split from the long-necked monster, and merged with Koopa's body. In a sudden burst of light, Koopa concluded the Absorption Inheritance technique, and his body changed form. His skin was now bright red, while his Abdomen Gem was now whitish-grey in colour. Two spikes erupted from his shoulders in a similar fashion to those on Myos. A few moments later, time returned to normal, and Myos found himself tumbling across the floor.

Myos craned his head upward to see Koopa standing over him, who was raising his right foot. Before Myos could react, Koopa pinned his neck down with his foot, causing the mutant pathogen to utter a strained squawk. Koopa leaned in close, his eyes glowing with an unnatural sense of energy.

"No one ever hurts my friends."

Myos prepared to fire his Twin Jaw Beam, only to receive a vicious kick from Koopa, dislocating his lower jaw and sending him rolling into the centre of the room.

With tears beginning to stream down his cheeks, Koopa's eyes cut straight into Myos as the wounded beast pulled himself upright. Myos's lower jaw hung limply against his neck, but his upper one continued to issue deep groaning sounds.

"You have made a huge mistake, you abominable wretch!" Koopa spoke through gritted teeth. He and the other members of the council stood over Myos. Cdr had now assumed his Godzilla form, and Mosu had to stand upright because of his damaged wing.

"What do you say, Koops?" Mosu asked. "How do you think you should go about disposing of this beast?"

Koopa looked around at the ruined bar. Bottles of alcohol and soft drinks alike were broken and strewn everywhere; the floor (or, what was left of it) was soaked in many thousands of litres of what had once stood on the shelves, and the smell of alcohol vapour filled the air.

Koopa chuckled, before presenting an unlit match. "Well, I thought it was about time this room had a redecoration. "Let's all do the honours."

At once, he hurled the match forward. Before it had time to hit the ground, Cdr, Mosu, Scoobs and Koopa all fired their respective beams at the match as it fell, causing it to burst into flames. The tiny fire fell to the ground, and landed right next to Myos.

The fire was swift in its progress - Myos howled in agony as the flames advanced up his body, melting away his muscles one by one. As the bones in his long neck became visible, Myos's shrill cries grew weak. In a few moments, the whole floor was ablaze, and Myos had been reduced to little more than a skeleton. Shortly after this, the sprinkler system came online, bringing Myos's fiery demise to a close.

Four days later...

"And there we go, the last nail!" Cdr proudly exclaimed, as he finished securing the last shelf to the wall in the newly-rebuilt bar. The other creators surveyed the new room, and it was clear to see that all of them approved of the new design.

As Koopa took a drink from his glass of cloudy lemonade, Super nudged him in the arm. "Hey, looks like your predictions were true, friend! I do apologise for not taking it seriously."

"It's nothing," Koopa begun, pausing his response between savouring the bitter drink. "Most of the time, these rare premonitions don't come to anything, and they only come on very rare occasions."

Koopa watched Cdr placing bottles onto the shelf.

"I sure hope that shelf doesn't come down. It'd make a mess if it did."

Super and Koopa paused to both watch the shelf, just in case. Mercifully, it didn't fall.

"Heh, looks like fate didn't have it in for us this time!" Koopa mused, before taking another draught from his glass of lemonade. After he finished, everyone laughed heartily.

THE END

Kaiju

 * Myos
 * Keratos (Mentioned)
 * Sepsis (Mentioned

Council of Creators

 * Koopa
 * Super
 * Mosu
 * Scoobs
 * Cdr

Trivia

 * As of its original release, this is currently the longest Council of Creators episode.
 * In creating this episode, I aimed to contrast high action with periods of emotional tension.
 * This is the second episode of COC created by KoopaGalaxain.