45 – Decisions

45 – Decisions

"God damn it! This is your fault, you crazy clown!" Hawkeye cursed at Harley Quinn as a pack of three Velociraptors chased from behind, quickly gaining on them.

The two were wearing clothes fashioned from plant fiber and cloth, clearly not designed for much comfort and more for the limited protection they could provide to the harsh environment.

While Hawkeye had a bow in his hand and a makeshift quiver on his back, Harley had a primitive spear in her right hand and a massive wooden club in her other hand.

"It's not my fault! I didn't expect these large chicken bastards to smell the meat!" Harley retorted.

"We're on a death island filled with fucking dinosaurs! It shouldn't have needed to be said! Cooking meat in the middle of a beach on a campfire with downwind blowing into the forest was a recipe for disaster!" Hawkeye retorted, angry and annoyed.

While the two argued, wasting their energy, the raptors easily caught up to them, their bipedal legs far faster than the two humans, and just as one of them was about to pounce onto the fleeing form of Harley, she suddenly turned around and thrust the sharp end of the spear deep into the throat of the pouncing raptor, covering her spear and face in viscous blood.

Cursing about the mission he had been assigned, Hawkeye turned around and notched an arrow, quickly releasing it once he aimed at one of the raptors not far behind, hitting it in the shoulder.

Cursing again about how inaccurate the bow was, he tossed it aside, "Here!" Harley shouted, letting go of the spear for a moment to toss him the club she had, which he effortlessly caught and smashed directly into the face of the raptor he shot that did not stop advancing.

While those two beat and stabbed to death the last raptor of the small pack, far down the beach towards the swamp, a trio of men, specifically, the trio of men that followed Volkov, could be seen running from all sorts of critters.

Flying ants the size of a fist, snakes as long as a car and more than large enough to eat two grown men whole, crocodiles that could easily crush and destroy cars, and unfortunately for them, they were about to meet one of the worst inhabitants to deal with that called the swamp home.

The Kaprosuchus.

Lunging from out of the swamp like a speeding bullet, the Kapro opened its maw wide and, before two of the men's eyes, watched as it snatched their friend and flew past and ahead of them.

Before they could react, a Titanoboa lunged from the tall grass nearby, sinking its dagger-like venomous fangs deep into one of the remaining two men.

Seeing two of his friends die and no way out, the remaining man changed direction and started dashing east, trying to get around the Boa and Kapro that would easily slay him, only for...a giant frog to come leaping out from the long grass where it accidentally fell on the last man, knocking him unconscious. Unluckily for the man, he was then consumed by a small group of giant ants.

Across the Island, other Players were having just as difficult starts as they explored the Island and faced the many dangers that lurked where the eye couldn't see.

Just as Victor was about to worry about what they would do to him, a strange noise echoed across the room, and the two crazy...splicers, Atlas called them, seemed to get scared.

"You hear that?! Let's bug!" The other Splicer whispered to his friend, looking out into the distance in fear.

"WEAK! You're a weak chopper!" The Splicer that originally spoke chastised his partner, pointing his bloodied pipe at him.

"This little fish ain't worth toeing with no Big Daddy!" The second splicer retorted.

"Yellow! Always have been!" The first splicer shouted at the second splicer before bending down over Victor, "You'll be no better off with the metal daddy, little fish. See you floating in the briney," The Splicer laughed with sadistic glee.

His vision adding again, he opened his eyes not long after, feeling the ground shake and a menacing growl from out of his vision.

Walking slowly from out the corner of his eye was a...deformed giant wearing a scuba suit of some kind with a drill for an arm, with the other hand clenched as if ready to punch something.

Then, to Victor's bafflement, a...child came from behind him. The child, shoeless, wore a tattered dress with a menacing and large syringe in hand, then she bent over, her face revealing to be ashy pale, with sickening yellow eyes that had no pupils.

"Look, Mr. Bubbles. It's an angel! I can see the light coming from his belly...wait a minute, he's still breathing," She pouted before looking back to the giant, "It's alright, I know he'll be an angel soon," The girl smiled at Victor as if knowing something he did not.

Then the child walked away, the metal giant, no. The Big Daddy following behind her, ready to protect her.

His vision adding once again, Victor awoke with a start, finding himself lying on the ground and feeling groggy.

He felt...strange, and with a raise of his hand, he watched fascination as electricity began to spark from his entire hand, emitting it in electricity.

Clenching his hand, the electricity dissipated, and with a deep breath, he climbed from the ground.

He needed to know. What exactly are Plasmids? How did they function? How were they created? What else could they do?

With a goal in mind, nothing in Rapture would stop a Husband from finding a way, even one filled with such little hope in finding a way to save his wife.