Yay! I updated before the month ended!

So we now begin our first arc of the story - Aftershock- labelled as such above the chapter. From here on out, I'm going to be focusing on a few characters in different chapters. This is where the challenge into making this fic comes in: there are so many characters doing stuff in so many different places, it's like writing multiple stories for one. The pacing will be different from OP:ASA as you have seen in the introduction and will see in this chapter, and I'm still trying to figure out how to put everything in place, but I'm getting there. :)

For right now, I will put in a few characters in each chapter to have the chapters at a decent length. And yes, I know "Less is more", but this chapter was fun to make even if it looks lengthy or not.

Anyway, here is the first chapter of the arc. Enjoy!

^ O - Aftershock - X []

Chapter 1: The rust of the Great Chain

The earthquake has left guests distressed in Sunni's backyard, many of them lying around in the lawn, dazed from the unexpected event. Despite of everything, none of them are seriously injured, even the rides, the food stands, and the stage are intact. Everyone starts to recompose, helping each other on their feet, aiding the children from the tea cup rides and around the food stands.

Papa Parappa lies dazedly over a pile of wires near the sound system, holding his head as he tries to get up. "Oh my aching head..." He said irritably, raising his head to look at his surroundings. His ears then raise in shock, looking back over to the stage. "Hello up there! Are you kids alright!?"

"Ooohh..." PJ and Ma-song eyes swirl, lying in between the drum set and the keyboard in a dazed state like everyone else. Katy helps Lammy up on her knee at the front of the stage.

"We're okay, Mr. Parappa!" Katy said reassuringly, "Just give us a few seconds to catch our breath!"

"Oh what a relief!" Parappa sighed, placing his hand over his chest with his eyes closed. He then looks alarmed again, "Oh! What about Parappa!?"

Papa Parappa and the gang look over at Parappa from afar, seeing him lying up against the knocked down table, having Sunny's cake all over him. He has never felt so horrible in his life. Not only did he lose control of himself in front of everyone, but an earthquake happened and completely ruined Sunni's birthday. It's like his worst nightmare was made into reality.

"Ungh..." Parappa comes to, putting his hand over his forehead in a dazed state. He opens his eyes slowly, noticing his father and his friends rushing over to him.

"Parappa! Are you okay!?" Papa Parappa asked, kneeling besides his son.

"How many fingers am I holding up?" PJ asked, raising a few fingers in front of Parappa.

"Give him some space! Let him get up!" Katy exclaimed.

Parappa looks around with his eyes half open, looking at their friends' concerned expressions.

"Parappa! Say something!" Lammy said worried, with Ma-san saying the same thing next to her.

Without thinking about it, Parappa looks past his friends, seeing some of the guests walking by. They haven't forgotten what Parappa said before the quake happened, as some of them shake their heads at the pup with disappointed looks. Others begin to murmur about him again, which Parappa can hear more clearly than the words from his friends and father, causing his lips to curl in distress. Parappa then looks a little to his right, seeing his worst fear culminating instantly. Looking past his father, Joe is talking to General Potter in his usual heroic mannerism. The General nods repeatedly with his hand around his chin with a stoic expression. In front of the two, Sunni is there, keeping her distance from Parappa.

"Sunny..." Parappa said in a weak tone, still dazed from his fall earlier.

"Don't move, son! Let me get this cake off you first!" Papa Parappa said, trying to keep his son from injuring himself more, as he grabs a napkin from the ground and rubs Parappa's frosting covered cheeks.

Sunni looks on, as Parappa's harsh words continue to echo in her head, making her feel incredible sad. Parappa notices this, as his eyes dilate in response. "Parappa..." Sunni begins to say, as tears then stream from her eyes. She can't help but burrow her face into her hands, hurrying into her house. Parappa's eyes shoot open, hurrying up on his feet.

"Oof!" Papa Parappa is pushed away on the ground by his son, who runs after Sunni.

"SUNNY! WAIT! IT'S NOT WHAT YOU THINK!" Parappa cried, as Sunny hurries inside her home, slamming the door behind her. Parappa looks on sadly, as General Potter walks by him, staring at him with an upset look before looking at the guests.

"Attention, everyone! I'm afraid we're going to cut this party short." General Potter said to the guests, "I apologize to all of you, but please remain calm. Right now, I need everyone that are injured to drive to the nearest hospital in an orderly fashion. Thank you for coming to my daughter's Birthday. I hope you have a wonderful day."

The guests sigh as they all begin to leave. Parappa then stands next to the General, "Sir! What happened just now - !"

"You have said enough, soldier," General Potter replied in an upset tone, not looking at Parappa "Don't make this more complicated."

General Potter goes into his home, leaving Parappa on his own. Parappa looks down at the ground in disbelief, still flabbergasted by everything that has happened. He then sees his musical sheets laying on the ground nearby, wrinkled and muddy from everyone panicking during the quake.

"Oh no..." Parappa walks over to his sheets in silence, as Papa Parappa pushes himself up to sit upright.

"Parappa!" Papa Parappa tried to get up to comfort his son, but doesn't get a response from him. He sees his son kneel over to grab his sheets, disheartening him in the process, knowing that there is nothing he can do or say to cheer him up. The gang stand around Papa Parappa, saddened to see their friend in such a state. "This is all my fault..."

Parappa looks at his sheets again, as his tears drop on some of the notes.

^ O X []

A car is parked on the side of the highway, with its headlights shining its rays through the dark, shining over a man's back. The man in the light is carefully walking ahead, looking back at his girlfriend standing behind the open car door.

"Don't worry; I got this." The man said. The woman nodded, having her hand close to her face in worry, watching her boyfriend get close to what lies ahead. The man casts his shadow over Raiden, who is crawling alongside the rail, getting away from his broken motorcycle, which is releasing a cloud of dark smoke from its burnt up engine.

"Uuughh..." Raiden weakly places his right arm over the rail next to him, using the strength he has left to push himself up from the ground. The cyborg is in bad shape, having multiple burnt wounds he received from getting electrocuted all over his body, sparks crackling out of them every now and then. He is also bleeding from some of his suit's openings, as well from the top of his skull, blood streaming down across the center of his face. His eyes are half open, blankily staring ahead as if he can't tell what is real or not. He headed towards his briefcase -where he has his sword- that fell off the bike before the crash, moving slowly towards it with short, tired, breaths.

The man carefully approaches Raiden from the side with a worried expression, maintaining some distance, "H-Hey - are you okay, buddy?" He asked.

"GGRRRRRR!" Raiden turns his head at the man with a snarl, glaring at him with fiery, glowing, red eyes.

"Whuh!?" The man gasped, taking a few steps back from Raiden's sudden outburst.

Raiden's body then emenates a red misty aura. The sight of it would make even a strong man's blood to freeze with fear. Raiden then smirks wildly, clenching the rail hard enough to bend the top of it inwardly. The man and the woman are frozen in place, having no idea what Raiden is going to do. Raiden takes a step towards the man, but frowns instantly upon doing so.

"GAH!" Raiden's eye color flickers back to blue. He staggers back against the rail, doubling over in the process. He breathes heavily as his vision grows blurry, seeing the road glow red to grey and vice-versa. Raiden covers some of his chest wounds with his left arm, gritting his teeth in pain, "Grrr... stop it! STOP!" Raiden smacks the side of his head with his right hand, causing his eyes to stop turning red for a second longer. "Aaagh!" He continues to hit his head harder after each hit, his head getting numb from the blows. He hits himself one last time, strong enough to release another current of electricity, electrifying his head repeatedly, "AAAAHHHHH!" His deadly aura then dissipates into thin air and his eyes return to their natural color. "Uughh..." The electricity around Raiden's skull stops as well, as the cyborg sighs in relief and collapses over his left shoulder with a loud thud. Raiden lays motionless on the floor, smiling weakly with his arms clamped around his chest.

The man looks back at his girlfriend with the same worried expression. She is at a loss of words as well, doing nothing but shrug with uneasiness. The man slowly looks back at Raiden, getting closer to him while staying alert. He nervously extends his arm out to Raiden, gently grabbing him by the shoulder. He then turns Raiden on his back, gasping at the wounds the cyborg has on him.

"Oh man, you're hurt real bad!" The man gasped. He then looks back at his girlfriend, "Helena, call an ambulance! He's wounded!"

"O-Okay!" The girlfriend, Helena, replied, taking out her smartphone to call for help.

The man then kneels over Raiden's side, "Hang in there, buddy! Help is on the way!"

The man continues to talk, but Raiden can't hear him. He can't hear anything that is going on around him, nor can he hear anything in his head. He can't even feel his own senses, as they have grown numb from the pain. The cyborg can do nothing but stare blankily at the the dark clear sky above, eyes half open like before. His right eye twitches, glowing red for a split second before turning blue again.

^ O X []

"OooOOOooooh..."

Bentley lies dazed on the ground with his wheelchair after the dreaded quake, having fallen over from the quake's magnitude, "Oooh, my head!" He said, rubbing his temples with his right hand, and searching for his glasses with the other, tapping at different parts of the wooden floor with his palm. "Ah! There we go." Bentley finds his glasses, putting them back on. He blinks a few times, staring up at the ceiling as his vision becomes clear, "Oh boy... Do I dare look around?" Bentley is afraid to see the damages in his apartment, taking one big gulp as he pushes a button on his wheelchair's arm pad.

A pair of long, robotic, arms, with four fingers, pop out from the top portion of the mechanism attached behind the wheelchair's back rest, pushing the chair and Bentley back upright. The arms go back into the mechanism, as Bentley adjusts his glasses, bewildered by the mess before him. And by mess, there is none; all the artwork, treasure, one-of-a-kind items are neatly in their displays, as if the quake never happened.

"Well then -" Bentley said astounded, arms on his hips, "Now this is what I call a fortunate turn of events. Who needs insurance when you have such fine craftsmanship. Then again," Bentley rubs the back of his head, "It was me who built the displays up from scratch."

As Bentley turns his wheelchair around with a sheepy smile on his face, he sees that his computer is rebooting. Bentley raises an eyebrow, "There must have been a power outage; Ugh - the mortal enemy of every nerd worldwide." Bentley then pushes another button on his arm pad. The chair's mechanism opens a slot from its bottom portion's right side, as Bentley's laptop comes out connected with a metal gadget, which places the laptop several inches over Bentley's lap, placing it in just the right spot for Bentley to use efficiently. Bentley squints his eyes, seeing that his laptop has just finished rebooting. "Hmm..." Bentley checks the power to his wheelchair with his laptop, displaying his wheelchair's engine grid on the monitor. He sees the chair's power grid stabilizing, causing Bentley to rub his chin in confusion, "That's perplexing. Did the chair get damaged? I wouldn't be surprised if that were only the case, but why did -"

Suddenly, an alarm screen flashes black and red on Bentley's computer monitor on his desk.

"Huh!?" Bentley turns his gaze at the screen, seeing a small Cooper Gang symbol flash red with the alarm on the bottom right portion of the screen. Bentley's eyebrows furrow with worry, hurrying over to his computer, putting away his laptop back into his chair's mechanism. He places his hand on the mouse and clicks on the flashing symbol. The alarm screen closes, as several windows enlarge from the symbol, covering the whole screen. They are all camera footages, displaying different areas of Bentley's laboratory of sorts. The laboratory is a mess, with viles and papers scattered across the ground, as well as chairs and other kinds of furniture. There are broken jars laying around a science table, with the chemicals that were contained in the jars leaking over the edges, letting out deadly fumes and disfiguring the surface it touched. Bentley's jaw drops, having trouble registering everything he is seeing. The thought of seeing such a mess in his lab was improbable, especially now as he is feeling the irony from his comments moments before.

"Oh no... OH NO!" Bentley looks at the camera footage window in the center of his screen, raising his eyebrows in horror. Bentley quickly looks back at the recorded footage in a nervous state, with the footage showing nothing but static while rewinding, "What the!?" Bentley gasped, baring his teeth nervously. After a few seconds, the footage then shows a particular part of the lab, showing a pedestal having a small display case with a book inside, having multiple lasers around the case. The turtle then looks at the time the footage was taken. "This was right before the earthquake happened!"

Sparing no time, Bentley plays the footage normally, taking account for any abnormal activity. Nothing moves in that footage, which makes Bentley even more nervous. The footage then shows static, which Bentley plays out as he increases the volume to his computer speakers. He tries to ignore the sound of the white noise, trying to hear any weird noises in the background. "Huh?" He hears a few sounds, but it is hard to tell what they are. The static stops, showing the lab again in it's messy state, with the center window showing once again the image that sparked Bentley's nerves.

Bentley gets closer to the screen, seeing the timer on the footage again, "This is - This happened moments after the earthquake stopped! No no no no NO NO!" Bentley throws his hands beside his head, "How could this have happened!? My security is top notch! There is no way anyone could have gone through in that span of time!" Looking around, he takes a few of his gadgets lying on the table, "This couldn't have happened in a worse time!" After putting his gadgets away, Bentley hurries to the front door, "I need to get Murray! This is a Grade-A emergency!"

Bentley leaves his apartment, frantically getting his door closed and locked before leaving while saying gibberish out loud. Back at in his computer screen, the camera footage in the center shows that some of the objects of the lab are gathered in one area where the book is. The lasers are offline, and the book and pedestal are gone.

^ O X []

The Sanctuary is quiet once more, having nothing but the sound of sewer water flowing out of the pipes and the radio giving off static. Big Daddy's portholes glow yellow, slowly standing up on one knee, as the Little Sister is seen in a fetal position. She raises her head with worry, looking at her surroundings while trying to stay calm.

"I-Is it over?" Little Sister asked, getting on her knees. Big Daddy pats Little Sister on her head, calming her down. Seconds later, the radio starts playing another song.

"Somewhere... beyond the sea. Somewhere, waiting for me -"

BOOM!

A loud explosion is heard above, shaking the pipes on the ceiling, dust falling over Big Daddy and Little Sister. "Oh? Fireworks?" Little Sister blinks in confusion. Gunfire is then heard above, with the sound of cries and screaming accompanying it shortly after.

"F&*^ing bastard!"

"What do you think you're doing!?"

"Get out of my way, you bloody fairy!"

"Guuuuughhh.." Big Daddy groaned, hearing multiple voices above. A few seconds later, he hears the alarms the turrets make when they spot an enemy, hearing them fire their weapons instantly. Little Sister gets up, staying close to Big Dadddy, who listens intently at the sounds above. The Protecter then hears more explosions and more voices, causing him to raise his head alarmingly.

"F*&^ off! You're stuck with me unless you let me open this door!"

Big Daddy turns towards the staircase, hearing different voices that are coming from the Sanctuary's entrance.

Little Sister hugs Big Daddy's leg, scared, "A-Are the Angels here? How did they find us?" Big Daddy's port holes glow red, as he gets up and catches the Little Sister's attention, pointing at her backpack. "We're leaving!? Um - okay!" while the girl is scared, she understands what she must do. She grabs her backpack and audio diary near her bed, and hurries over into the medical room. Big Daddy stands guard, as the Little Sister opens the drawer filled with ADAM, putting all the viles in her backpack as fast as she can.

"GUUUUUUUGHH!" Big Daddy groaned, making Little Sister to hurry as she wears the backpack around her back, having the audio diary attached to the backpack's side. The girl runs out of the medical room, rushing over to the vent on the wall. As she pulls herself in legs first, Big Daddy quickly grabs a map, and gives it to her. The Little Sister sadly looks at Big Daddy from within the vent, as she then looks at the map given to her.

"B-But Mr. B! That is so far away!" Little Sister cried, "How are you going to get th-"

BANG!

Big Daddy slams his fist on the vent's rim, bending it a little as Little Sister gets scared in the process. The girl opens her eyes nervously, seeing Big Daddy's portholes glow brighter in red, "O-Okay! I'm going! ... Please be there!" She then goes down the vent, as Big Daddy gently places his hand on the vent with his portholes glowing green for a few seconds. Big Daddy then turns around with his portholes glowing red again, and runs off with his drill slowly spinning, leaving the radio to play the rest of the song.

Big Daddy runs up the stairs, stomping his way across the hall, seeing the double doors are getting cut open by a spark on the other side. The Protector groans loudly, as he charges at the door shoulder first, bending and knocking the cut piece and the rest of the door over the Splicer that was cutting the door open. "GUGH!" The Splicer cried, falling on his back with the door falling on him, as Big Daddy then stomps over his face, crushing his skull in half.

"Yaaaah!" A Thuggish Splicer runs up to Big Daddy from the side and hits him across his right shoulder with his wrench. Big Daddy doesn't faze from the blow, as he swings his drill outward in retaliation, hitting and cutting the Splicer up against the wall near the open Sanctuary entrance. "Gugh!" The Splicer is dazed, as Big Daddy then grabs him by the neck and starts up his drill.

"It's past your bed time, young man!"

Suddenly, a Leadhead Splicer comes out of hiding from a pillar behind Big Daddy, and shoots the Protector rapidly with her machine gun. The bullets clank against Big Daddy's back and engine, as Big Daddy swiftly throws the Splicer he was choking to the Leadhead Splicer, knocking her down on her back with the Thuggish Splicer laying motionless on top of her. "GOOOOOOAAAAAA!" Big Daddy stomps forward at the Splicers, and skewers through their bodies with his active drill, causing them to scream as their blood and gore are splattering on the area around them and over Big Daddy's body. As Big Daddy continues to drill them apart, the sewer gate is cut open from the other side, as the turrets guarding the gate go off, shooting at the Splicers in its view. More screaming is heard, as a stick of dynamite then flies in, landing in front of the turret.

BOOM!

The explosion destroys the turret, creating a big dust cloud in the process. Big Daddy looks over at the cloud, and sees a red light glowing from within the cloud, hearing a ringing sound from its direction. Big Daddy quickly raises its drill over his face, as a spray of bullets fire at him from the light's direction. The light comes out of the cloud, as it turns out to be a light from a security bot, which is made of boat motors and turrets, having two propellers to make it fly. "MUUGHH!" Big Daddy clenches his fist his anger, as he swings his drill to the side, and shoots an electric current at the bot with his hand. The bot sparks as it falls on the ground paralyzed. Big Daddy then kicks the bot hard back into the cloud, crashing into something before blowing up shortly afterwards.

"Oi! There's a damn Big Daddy in there!" A Splicer exclaimed from outside the Sewer entrance.

"Let's go then! He must have a sister with her! We can get ADAM from her after we kill him!"

"GRRRRAAAAAAAAAAAAOOOOOOO!" Big Daddy roars with his arm and drill apart from his chest, as he then charges into the cloud with fury. Screams and gunfire are heard moments later, defened by the sound of Big Daddy's drill tearing them apart. A Leadhead Splicer with a shotgun walks backwards up the slope back in the tram tunnel from the dust cloud in the sewer entrance, shooting downward at the Protecter after him, bullets clanking upon impact. The dust disperses upon Big Daddy walking up the slope, as the Protector then charges towards the Splicer and uppercuts him with his drill, slicing his chest and face open, blood and gore splurting out from there, as the Splicer gets knocked into the air and falls dead on his back. "Guuughh!" Big Daddy slows down his drill and takes a few steps forward, shocked by what he sees around him.

All around Big Daddy, Splicers are all over the place, fighting each other with crowbars, guns, explosives, and other tools of mass destruction, all trying to kill each other in a berserked state.

"DIE, YOU!" A Leadhead Splicer fires her shotgun into another Splicer's face, taking him down instantly. The Leadhead scurries on top of the corpse, digging her nails into the corpse's stomach, bloodying her fingers. "ADAM! ADAM! Where is it!?" Another Splicer then comes in, hitting the Leadhead Splicer over the head with a crowbar, causing her to buckle, as the Splicer continues to club her down. Similar attacks are happening all the Protector, even on the Bistro's rooftop, as one of the Splicers falls off, landing on his head, breaking his neck instantly.

Big Daddy looks around alarmed, as he notices his turrets are destroyed, seeing Splicers fighting around their smoking remains. "Mooouuuhhh..." Big Daddy snaps out of his stupor, and rushes forward to the Bistro, running by Splicers beating each other up. It is just as crowded inside the Bistro as it is outside, with many Splicers attacking each other as well. Big Daddy runs past many of the Splicers, charging at one that is in his way.

"Wha!?" The Splicer looks to his left, as Big Daddy hits him across the face with a left outward swing, knocking the Splicer to the ground limplessely. The other Splicers starts digging into his corpse for ADAM, while Big Daddy runs out the Bistro's rear entrance and abruptly stops, spreading his arms and legs apart in shock upon seeing what lies ahead.

It is unbelievable. Hundreds and hundreds of Splicers are causing havoc in the remaining part of the tunnel to the Apartment complex, all of them getting at each others' throats. The once quiet tram tunnel is now filled with the screams of psychopaths and the deafening sound of continuous gunfire. Big Daddy has never seen so many Splicers in one location. He didn't even think there would still be this many alive. How they all managed to get here so suddenly has made even the monstrous protector to stop in his tracks. "Buurggh.." Big Daddy fingers twitch, as the Protector looks over the battlefield, seeing the Apartment Complex at a distance, seeing more Splicers attacking one another inside. There is no other way around this; Big Daddy knows that he has to keep moving forward for his sake and for the Little Sister. "GUUURRRGHGHHHH!" With a loud groan, Big Daddy rushes forward into the array, dashing past several Splicers that are too distracted in their fights to notice him. The sounds of gunfire and death around Big Daddy grows louder, pushing him to run even faster.

"WHERE DO YA THINK YA GOIN'!?" Suddenly, a Thuggish Splicer on top of a burning flipped tram nearby jumps on Big Daddy's back, causing Big Daddy to nearly fall over from his momentum. Big Daddy then turns around, trying to knock of the Splicer with his arm and drill, but the Splicer constantly shifts his weight around to avoid getting grabbed, "Oi! Give me 'and! This bucket must 'ave a Little Sisteh hidin' somewhere!"

A Leadhead Splicer then gets close to the struggling Big Daddy and shoots him repeatedly with his shotgun, "Come on! Bring the girl out!"

"GOORRRGH!" Big Daddy then turns violently at the Leadhead Splicer, swinging his drill outward.

"Guughh!" The tip of the drill scrapes across the Leadhead's neck, gashing it open as blood spurts out immediately afterwards. The Splicer gasps for air, as it then falls dead near the burning tram.

"Oh s**t!" The Thuggish Splicer on Big Daddy gasped, as Big Daddy then grabs him by the shirt collar while he was distracted, "AHH!" Big Daddy slams the Splicer onto his back and stomps on his face with his right foot, crushing his skull for good measure.

Big Daddy then hears someone rushing at him from the side, as he turns to their direction, only to see a big fist heading straight for his face.

"UGGHHH!" Big Daddy cried, as the force of the punch staggers him back a little, feeling dazed from the knock-back. Before Big Daddy can retaliate, someone else grabs him from behind and slams his back against the tram. "URGH!" Big Daddy then gets punched in the abdomen hard enough for him to double over, as the same attacker then grabs him by his back and hurls him across the ground. Big Daddy lands on the ground, tumbling sideways until he hits the glass wall of the tunnel with a loud thud. Big Daddy gets back up on one knee, staggering to regain his composure, as his two assailants stand side by side, leering at the Protector from the tram tracks.

The two are Brute Splicers, heavily spliced from a dangerous combination of tonics. They are roughly Big Daddy's height, both bald with a five-o-clock shadow. They are wearing suit pants and a vest with a white undershirt, nearly ripped apart from their gigantic arms and body figures.

"Take a look at this little whore. It looks like she wants some more." Said Brute #2, who hurled Big Daddy just now.

Brute #1 hits his fists together with a growl, "She's in for a good poundin'!" Brute #1 said, as he then charges at Big Daddy shoulder first, "HIYAAAAHH!"

Big Daddy's portholes glow red with anger, as he gets up and turns at the incoming Brute. He extends his arm, and shoots a breeze of ice on the ground ahead of him, creating a slippery slope. "Uph!?" Brute #1 runs over the icy path, losing his footing as he stumbles forward to the Protector. Big Daddy then swings his drill into Brute #1's left shoulder, cutting some of his shirt and skin off. "AHH!" Brute falls on his right shoulder in pain, tumbling up against the glass wall near Big Daddy, who readies his drill to pierce into the Splicer while he was down.

"GUURHH!" Suddenly, Big Daddy swings his drill outward, knocking aside a Splicer's corpse that flew towards him. Big Daddy sees Brute #2 throwing things at him from afar, as Brute #2 picks up another corpse and throws at Big Daddy again. Big Daddy groans loudly as he charges at Brute #2, knocking the incoming corpse away with a left outward swing and throws a left fist at the Splicer's face.

"Tsk!" Brute #2 catches Big Daddy's fist with his right hand, as he then pulls Big Daddy closer to him and kicks him hard in the abdomen with his left foot. Big Daddy doubles over from the impact, while Brute #2 clamps his hands together, and hammers Big Daddy's back with great force, pushing the Protector down on his knees. "Come on, now! Open wide for daddy!"

"BUURGGHHH!" Big Daddy quickly gets back up, lifting Brute #2 off the ground with his upper body, knocking him a few feet away as the Splicers lands hard on his knees. Big Daddy then shoots a bolt of electricity at Brute #2, who gets stunned by the current flowing around his body. Big Daddy readies his drill again, but Brute #1 comes from behind and wraps his arms around Big Daddy's waist.

"URAAHH!" Brute #1 arches backwards with Big Daddy, suplexing the Protector onto the pavement behind him. Big Daddy groans in pain, feeling the pavement crack under his shoulders while helplessly staring up at the sea through the glass above. Meanwhile, Brute #2 recovers from the electricity, seeing Big Daddy being held by his partner, who struggles to keep Big Daddy from escaping his grasp, "You awake over there?! Hurry up and kill this b***h!"

"Right!" Brute #2 cracks his neck, as he then charges at Big Daddy and jumps on top of him. Big Daddy tries to raise his drill, but Brute #2 pushes it down with his left hand over Big Daddy's right bicep, and proceeds to punch Big Daddy in the face with his free hand, "Come on then! Call her out!" Brute #2 punches Big Daddy, bending the bars over Big Daddy's helmet inwards, "If you don't call her out soon, we'll force you to watch us f*** the ADAM out of her!"

"GUOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOGHH!" Big Daddy's diving suit glows red in anger, causing steam to fly out from it's openings.

"AGGHH!" The Brute Splicers are caught off guard by this, as Brute #2 covers his face with his right arm to stop the steam burning his face. The steam loses its pressure, as Brute #2 raises his arm to see if it is safe. "GUGH!" Immediately after exposing himself, Big Daddy grabs Brute #2 by the face, grasping his fingertips over his forehead. "Le-Let go! Let g-UuuruuugUUGHHHH!" Big Daddy's hand is then encased in ice, partially freezing the Brute's forehead and eyebrows in a cyan surface, "UuuuUUURGGHH! COOLD! COOOLD!" Brute #2 gets off of Big Daddy involuntarily, as Big Daddy then raises his left leg and kicks Brute #2 in the gut, knocking him on his back as the Splicer puts his hands over his face in sheer agony. Big Daddy then activates his drill, placing it over Brute #1's hands around him, scraping chunks of his skin off.

"AAGGGUUH!" Brute #1 cried, as he releases Big Daddy, pushing him to the side to get back up. He stands looking at the back of his hands, having almost lost them as they are bleeding from the cuts at a rapid rate. "Auurggh! You stupid b***h!" Brute #1 turns to Big Daddy with his hands clenched into fists. His eyes then widen in shock, seeing Big Daddy rushing towards him. "UGH!" Big Daddy shoulder barges the Splicer hard, sending the brute rolling backwards few feet in a limp-less fashion.

"OORAAHH!" Brute #2 charges Big Daddy from behind, reeling his left fist back in the process. Brute #2 then throws his fist forward, as Big Daddy quickly turns around, knocking aside the Splicer's arm with his drill, "Guh!?" Big Daddy then punches the brute across the jaw with his left hand, staggering the Splicer a little to the side. Brute #2 grits his teeth in anger, as he looks back at the Protector to retaliate, but Big Daddy surprises him by doing a left 360 degree spin with his drill, performing an inward slash at the Brute. "Whoa!" Brute #2 kneels to his left corner, narrowly avoiding the deadly drill hitting him across the skull, feeling only the heavy air of blood and rust flowing by. "I got you no-URGH!" Brute #2 grunts, as Big Daddy instantly knees him up across the jaw, causing him to stand up in pain while shielding his face with his arms. Big Daddy swings his drill outwardly, knocking away the Brute's arms, scraping off some of his skin in the process, as Big Daddy proceeds to uppercut the Brute up across the jaw, breaking some of his teeth. "OOOGHHHH!"

Blood splurts from the Splicer's mouth, as Brute #2's breathing grows raspy from the damage he is receiving. He staggers back slowly in a near unconscious state, as Big Daddy rushes towards him. Brute #2 blinks heavily, regaining consciousness, as the Splicer then makes a desperate leap at Big Daddy's left shoulder. Big Daddy gets past the brute's arms and grabs Brute #2 by his shirt collar, catching and lifting him up with one arm. The Protector then throws the Splicer to the side, as the Splicer tumbles near the burning tram. "GUUOOOOGHHH!" Big Daddy roars as he activates his drill and rushes over at the nearly dead Brute, aiming for his chest.

"Get outta the way!" Brute #1 rushes to his partner's side, pulling him away from Big Daddy's path moments away before he could get skewered. Brute #2 lands on his side in a weakened state, as Brute #1 quickly grabs Big Daddy's right bicep with both arms the moment Big Daddy got close. Brute #1 shifts his weight over the Protector's right side, pulling him down to the ground with him, holding him down with his all strength in an armbar position. Big Daddy struggles to break free, but is only making circles with Brute #1 re-positioning himself every few seconds.

"Grr! F**k off!" Brute #1 growled at struggling Protector. He then raises his voice, "Oi! Give me a hand! This one is nearly dead!"

Some of the Splicers around the fight stopped what they were doing, as they see their one big threat being subdued. "A Big Daddy here?" One of them ask, drooling nonstop. They tightened their grip over their weapons, having a sensation they have killed countless times to maintain.

"If we kill him," A female Spider Splicer, clanking her hooks against each other excitedly, "Then we get the little prize!"

"That Little Sister is mine!"

The Splicers then encompass Big Daddy in a bloodthirsty manner, some of them firing their shotguns and machine guns at him, while other splicers bang and scratch the Protecter with their hammers and hooks while being careful not to get shot. Big Daddy's suit clanks and rattles with every blow, scratch, and shot it receives, with the Protector's innards shaking in the process. Big Daddy's portholes glow yellow, as he tries harder to get up and fight back, but it is too difficult for him to move with Brute #1 holding him down by his drill arm. Big Daddy groans, moving a little slower as the damage is taking its toll. He looks around during his struggle, seeing the rest of Splicers that aren't even attacking him, which are far too many to count. There is just far too many Splicers for him to handle. As a Splicer hits him over the head with a wrench, he looks down at a puddle, looking at the reflection of the glass ceiling over him. Big Daddy then fiercely puts his palm on the ground, portholes glowing red with adrenaline.

"GOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGHHHHHH!" Big Daddy pushes himself up on his knees, giving him enough room to put the tip of his drill on the ground in front of him.

"What the!?" Brute #1 is raised with the drill, which activates as Big Daddy raises it a little more and stabs the ground with full force. The drill skewers hard at the ground, creating a crack and a small shockwave that knocks every Splicer nearby away. Big Daddy roars, skewering into the ground repeatedly, creating a blue wave around his drill in the process. "Aaaah!" The Splicers screamed, as the shockwaves are also blowing rubble from the cracked floor into their beings as fast as bullets, killing some of them while the rest scurry away in pain. Brute #1 continues to hold Big Daddy despite of the struggle, as he breathes heavily while his stomach is already bleeding from the rubble blown into him. The Brute's eyes grow heavy, slowly loosening his grip, which Big Daddy notices as he stops drilling the ground.

"GOOOAAAAHH!" Big Daddy shoots a strong gust of wind from his palm at the ground beneath him, sending him and Brute #1 spiraling up in the air across the track.

"Aaaaaahhh!" Brute #1 cried in midair, startled enough to keep holding on to Big Daddy. As the two spin 360 degrees, Big Daddy pulls Brute #1 by the collar, keeping him close as the two do a few more spins while heading towards the ground. The two land roughly on their sides, creating a large crack on their landing spot before tumbling sideways shortly afterwards. Big Daddy stops himself with his right foot in a kneeling position, skidding across the ground a little, quickly planting the Brute's cheek up against his drill. "N-Ngh!?" Brute #1's eyes widen with horror, seeing the blood of his cheek course along the blade of the drill, too weak from their battle to get away in time, "W-W-Wait! WAIT! J-Just calm dow-"

BRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHAHHHHHH!" Big Daddy activates his drill, scraping and slicing the right half of the Brute's face into mince meat. The Splicer cried like never before, as blood, gore, and bone bits splur out of his insides, all of which bathes over Big Daddy's figure and the ground around him. Big Daddy then drags the Splicer's face across the other end of his drill, scathing away half of his head, as he then lets the brute go, who falls lifelessly on the bloody ground chest first, blood still coming out.

Big Daddy takes a moment before getting back up on his feet, as the damage he has taken so far is getting to him. "YEARGGHH!" Suddenly, the moment Big Daddy stands up, Brute #2 charges at him with a tackle, knocking the Protector down on his back. "You 'kin b****h!" Brute #2 slurred, spitting out blood, as he then grabs the staggering Big Daddy up and throws him up against a burning tram. With his sense of adrenaline kicking in, Brute #2 holds Big Daddy up against the tram, slowly damaging him with the flames.

"You think you're so tough!? You need to know your place!" Brute #2 grits his teeth, trying to ignore the pain of his fingers burning, "You're built to keep us away from our treasure! You are MEANT to die! That liddle b***h you have following you around is MEANT to die! People like me still have a chance! People like me deserve to live! Puppets like you deserve nothing!"

In that moment, Big Daddy clenches his hand into a fist and punches Brute #2 directly in the center of his frozen forehead, "AAAGGGHHH - AAAGGHH!" Brute #2 releases Big Daddy, taking several steps back, turning around with his hands against his head hunched over in agony, "Uughh.. uggh.. AAHH! IT HURTS! AAUGUHHH!" Brute #2 lowers his hands from his skull, revealing his frozen forehead is cracked open, with bits of skull sticking out and blood seeping profusely from the cracks, flowing over the Splicer's face.

Big Daddy staggers forward, with his shoulders and back glowing red from the fire, as the Protector's body then shakes with fury. "GOOOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGHHHH!" Big Daddy spreads out his arms and legs, throwing his head back with a loud ghastly roar, stunning every Splicer that is nearby. Brute #2 gets startled by the roar, unintentionally turning towards Big Daddy in the process. As Brute #2 opens his eyes, he sees Big Daddy through his bloody, thrusting his drill at him.

"GUUUUUGHH!" Brute #2 cried, as Big Daddy skewers him with his drill, going through his stomach and out his backside. Big Daddy continues to roar, driving the skewered Splicer off his feet and slamming his back against the glass tunnel, creating a crack that is larger than the brute himself. The Brute's eyes roll back into his head, as Big Daddy's drill doesn't shut off. It continues to drill the Splicer, spewing blood from the corpse's wounds, as the drill is also making the glass tunnel's crack bigger. The Protector continues, as the crack spreads farther and wider, creating more leaks into the tunnel in the process. The remaining Splicers stop fighting each other upon hearing the crackling noise, looking up to see water seeping from the cracks above.

"The hell is...!?" The Splicers turn over at Big Daddy, still drilling the Brute's corpse and the glass, bathing his suit with the blood of the Brute. They flabbergast at the Protector, "What is he doing!?

"He's going to kill us!"

"Not if I can help it!" A leadhead splicer fires her machine gun repeatedly at Big Daddy's back, "Naughty boys deserve to go to bed early!"

"Yeah! Kill the defective f**k!" a dozen more join in, shooting Big Daddy from behind mercilessly with their machine guns and shotguns. The bullets clank and bounce of the Protector's back and engine, causing him to groan in distress as his portholes flicker with each bullet hitting him. He is too weak to fight any more Splicers.

"GuuuuuuUUUUUURGAAAAGHH!" Big Daddy's portholes stop flickering and glow bright red with anger, as he musters up enough strength to speed up his drill, which skewers through the glass, causing the crack encompassing a large portion the tunnel's right side to burst inward.

A large quantity of ocean water cascades into the tunnel, stopping the war amongst the Splicer in one second. Big Daddy falls back with Big Daddy, with the Brute's corpse falling over him as the water pours in. "NOOOO!" The Splicers cried out, as they then get caught in the water's heavy flow, filling the tunnel up at a quick-neck pace. The rapid flow knocks a tram up from the ground, crashing into the Bistro, which instantly drowns moments after the tunnel collapsed. The water flows in hard into the Apartment complex, with several Splicers trying to escape by going up the higher floors, with one Splicer losing his grip on the handrail and cries as he falls into the rising below. The water flows rapidly into the sewers, shaking it in the process, as the water reaches the Sanctuary. The drawing of Big Daddy and Little Sister on the wall gets caught in the wave, which drowns the Sanctuary moments later.

All of Olympus Heights is now underwater after two minutes since the tunnel collapsed, as its power goes out, having nothing but dead bodies floating around in different locations. Many of the corpses lie around where the tunnel collapsed, as well as the first Brute Splicer floating lifelessly above the tunnel grounds.

"Gooooooooaaahh..." Being the only one that survived, Big Daddy gets up with the Brute's corpse around his drill. He pushes the corpse off his drill, as the body floats around lifelessly with a blood hole in its a chest. The protector then turns and takes a step forward along the tunnel, knocking the dust up beneath it. His portholes glow yellow, as he looks at his surroundings, seeing that there is no one stopping him from moving forward. His body is stiff from all the damage he's taken, but he is still strong enough to move. With a soft groan he marches towards the Apartment complex, walking slowly in the ocean water as he pushes aside a Splicer's corpse that was floating in his way. As the Protector walks, he listens to the song that was playing in the radio a while ago in his head, hearing its final notes play out.

^ O X []

A man lying against the back gate removes his arms covering his forehead, as he and the rest of Heihachi's guards notice that the quake has ended just moments ago. They look around dazed and confused, slowly recuperating from the prior event. "Uuhh..." Some of them pull themselves up on their feet with the wooden hand rails, while others use the back yard's gate. They adjusted their suits and sunglasses, as one of them looks ahead, "Heihachi-sama! Are you alright!?"

On the other end of the backyard, Heihachi maintains his meditative stance despite of the recent circumstances. He has not moved a single muscle since that ordeal, having no signs of injuries or distress on his being. His guards sigh in relief upon seeing this.

"Oh good. He's okay." One of the guards said. They all then face each other, "Is everyone alright?"

"A few scratches, but we're fine." Another guard replied.

"We need to check back in the shrine. We must report any damages here and outside of the estate."

"It looks like everything is fine here." The guards look around the back yard, seeing nothing out of place before the quake occurred.

"It seems that way. That's... strange, as a matter of fact."

As the guards continue to discuss, Heihachi opens his eyes and looks down at the ground to his right. He places his palm gently on the stone floor, dragging it across slowly, taking note of every tile and indents in between. He frowns, clenching his open hand into a fist as he gets up on his feet, standing straight. He closes his eyes again, taking a deep breath, exhaling it out of his nostrils. Electricity then courses along his body briefly, as he squats midway and turns around.

"HOOORAAAAAHHH!" Heihachi turns, raising his right foot high, and stomps the ground with all his might, shaking the ground around him with half the magnitude of the earthquake for a brief moment, having electricity course along his right leg as well.

"Huh!?" The guards startle as they feel the vibrations from Heihachi's stomp reaching them just reaching them from afar. They look over to their Master, who stays posing in his stomp position. They continue to stare, having no clue why Heihachi did that.

Suddenly, the guards hear something snapping to their right. They turn to see the rotten tree is inclining further over at Heihachi's position. One of the guards looks down at the base of the tree, seeing its roots snapping one by one. The guards gasp in awe.

"Look out, Heihachi-sama!" One of the guards yelled, as the trees roots then snap, causing it to fall over at Heihachi's direction. The guards hurry to Heihachi, but they are too far to reach their Master in time, as the upper part of the tree goes down at Heihachi. Sensing it coming, Heihachi's eyes shoot open, as the old warrior drags his right foot across the ground behind his back, squatting a little lower while reeling his right fist against his waist.

"TORRRYAAAAA!" Heihachi's right arm courses with electricity, as he then stands up and swings his right fist vertically , hitting the falling tree with a fierce short uppercut. The tree gets knocked up a few feet, as its upper half splits in half almost instantly, looking like it was cut by a long blade, with no splinters sticking out as well. The tree falls hard on the ground, with the split halves landing in a distance beside Heihachi, who keeps his fist raised. The guards stare in awe, as Heihachi lowers his arms next to his waist, looking down at his fist "That was no earthquake!" He turns around midway, looking at the sky with a serious expression, "The aura is gone... but where did it come from!?"

^ O X []

I hope you all enjoyed the chapter, because there is more goodness to come. Ciao for now!