"Shit! Shit! Shit!"

"Look out! They're coming from above as well!"

"Keep shooting! Don't let them through!"

"Kyahhhh! ! !"

"He-Help Me! It's got my leg!"

In the middle of the night, a massacre broke loose. Bullets, explosions and fires echoing all around as one lone individual dressed in blue plates of armor and leather painted with tribal symbols ran away, dashing and pushing through the lush vegetation, leaving the sounds of gunshots and agonizing screams of despair of his colleagues behind him, growing weaker and weaker as he gained more distance, the rising smoke of the fires growing smaller and smaller.

His breathing was heavy, his legs felt numb, his back drenched in sweat, the terror on his face as visible as the stripes on a tiger, blood stains all over his garments and gushing out from the teeth marks on his right arm. Yet, there was no room in his mind for all of this right now. All he cared about was his own life, and keeping it intact.

He kept running and running, moving away the vegetation with his hand, searching for an exit, for a place to hide and bear through the night, but as he made a turn in the darkness, his eyes failed to see the poor footing. And as a result, he fell down the clif, his body rolling and hitting against the dirt for a short, yet painful amount of time before finally smacking his body against the ground. A sense of pain coursed through his whole body, most likely a rib or two broke on the fall, yet there was no time to dwell in injury, he had to keep moving.

Once he got up on his feet, a rustling sound came from around him. Quickly, he pulled out his rifle, aiming at the vegetation, his eyes searching for movement among the shadows, yet he saw nothing. Slowly, he began to calm down before hearing the sound again.

Out of reflex, or perhaps of fear, he opened fire, spraying suppressive fire all around him, small flashes of light illuminating his surroundings before dying out completely as his cartdrige ran out. Quickly, he pulled out the empty mag and searched for a new one within his pockets in a hurry and with panic, his shivering hands taking a hold of one and attempting to put it into the gun, failing a few times before finally connecting properly and loading up.

And once more, a sound came from within the darkness, but this was not rustling of vegetation. Instead, it was the grumbling of an animal, a low, deep grumble only a very large creature could do.

Slowly, the man raised his head and saw something in front of him, not in the shadows in front of him, but much higher. At almost fourthy feet or so, two large, reptilian eyes looking down at him, their gaze completely focused on their prey as their owner took a step forward, allowing the moonlight to illuminate it's large, scaley body. It's massive head and powerful jaws, opening up to reveal razor sharp teeth capable of crushing flesh and bone with ease.

The man's skin paled like a sheet of paper and terror took over him as he quickly aimed his gun at the beast, which roared out as it attacked him, giving birth to a new source of light and sound as the bullets shortly brought light upon a small part of the dark forest, the screams of that unlucky man echoing along with the roars of his hunter.

*40 years later*

If you could ever have the chance to change your life, to change yourself, would you do it? Even if that meant leaving part of what once made you human behind? Would you be able to live with yourself after taking that decision? Even if that decision was for the sake of surviving?

In the face of adversity, sometimes this is a choice that must be made, whetever one wants it or not, a choice must be made, as there is no such thing as "making no choice", only even greater consequences for not taking it.

Some people choose to seek strength, others seek intelect, and those are the ones that can face adversity more easily and attain higher standards in society, but to survive, to truly thrive and reach the pinnacle of the food chain, one needs not strength nor intellect, but something that requires neither, yet surpasses both. What one truly needs the most is, without a doubt, the ability to adapt. This is an universal and never-changing fact, no matter what.

"Hey! You're not supposed to run around here!" Yelled the angry teacher at his students while chasing after them

"Come on, teach! This is supposed to be a trip!" Said a female student while looking at him with a smirk "Where's the fun in staying still!?"

"That doesn't mean you just get to dick around like this either!"

In a ship sailing back from a trip to an island region, a couple of classes from different schools were returning from their field trip. It was originally meant as something close to a joint trip between schools to study different cultures, yet it ended up as more of a vacation than anything else.

Because of this, and as one may expect of teenagers, they were loud and very lively, running from one place or the other and gathering in small groups to fool around. Everyone, except for the casual misfits that chose to either just sit back and sleep through the trip or those that simply preferred the idea of silence and to enjoy the view of the ocean. One young man in particular was among the latter.

This teenager, instead of hanging around friends or just enjoying himself, decided to lean over the rail, calmly staring at the seemingly endless ocean and sky stretching as far as the eye could see. His mind seemingly lost in pensive thought as the wind made the bangs of his blonde hair framing his face waver slightly.

Although deeply lost in his own thinking process, the train of thought was cut short by a strong slap on the back.

"Ow!"

Upon turning his head around, the young man saw another student wearing the same uniform as his, except that the frame and insignia on the blazer were green. He was slightly taller and a bit more on the buff side. His hair was dark brown in color and his blue eyes, seemingly filled with a sense of confidence, were focused on him.

"Yo! How's it going, Max!?" He said cheerfully, a carefree and lively smile on his face

"(Alex...)" Thought Mark while looking at the person he saw as something close to a friend with something akin to a poker face

"Hey, now, don't go giving me that face...I was just being friendly here" Replied Alex while sweat dropping with a somewhat weak smile

"What's wrong? I thought you said you'd be picking women"

"It's called "pick chicks", not just women. And yeah, I was doing that up until I suddenly wondered what YOU were up to"

"I've been here"

"And what else?"

"Nothing else..."

"Eh?"

Alex looked at Max for a moment or two while blinking before wrapping one arm around his neck and making a rather irritated expression.

"You know! We're on a boat! A sailing boat! A cruise ship! A vacation! A pleasure trip!" He said with a popped vein mark "This is pretty much a golden chance to get that cherry popped, and you're telling me that you've been here doing nothing!?"

"Why...Does everything boil down to sex with you!?" Snarled Max while struggling to free himself from his grapple "I told you already! I'm not interested in that sort of stuff!"

"What are you, a Mormon!?" Replied Alex "We're gonna start collegue next year! This is the best chance to get rid of it, or are you planning to reach thirty years old and still drag around that virginity of yours!?"

"Like I said! I'm not interested in that! Besides, you know I hate dealing with women!"

Alex kept his friend locked on his grapple for a moment or two before finally letting go of him,

"Yeah, yeah...I get it already, mister "I don't like women"..." He said while shrugging with both eyebrows raised while using a slightly dissapointed tone "Even so, talking with one wouldn't hurt...Or you know, spending time with your little sister would be nice too-"

"She's not..."

"Huh? What did you say?" Asked Alex while turning around to look at him

"That bitch ain't my sister..." Said Max in a tone that had a mixture of anger and disgust

Looking at his friend, the brown-haired young man could see only his back, as he was already leaning once again on the rail, but he could tell his eyes were probably filled with a silent, yet deep anger and resentment boiling up from the bottom of his gut.

Although he had good grades and was a clever guy, Max had one lingering issue. He had a strong misogyny. Due to this, he always had next to an impossible time dealing with women. Even something as simple as talking usually proved difficult, although not impossible. And his little sister, which just started highschool this year, was someone he showed a very strong animosity towards. Despite her gentle and friendly behavior with all her classmates and teachers alike, she was probably the person Max despised the most, becoming agitated or rather agressive just by hearing her being mentioned and rejecting the very idea of acknowledging her as a sibling, despite her mother having properly married his father so long ago.

The reason behind why would he have such a deep hatred towards such a gentle girl was a mistery to everyone. Well, everyone except for Alex, who knew both of them for quite a few years already.

Right now, he wanted to say something, but all the years they spent together made him learn that, whenever Max got in that sort of attitude, he wouldn't listen to anyone or anything. In other words, it was his way of saying "fuck off".

"Fine, I get it...I'm gonna go take a nap or something" He said with his eyes closed before turning around, opening them slightly and looking at him over his shoulder before muttering "You know, you can't hold a grudge against an entire gender foverer just because of something that wasn't even her fault to begin with..."

And with those words, Alex walked away, leaving Max by himself to ponder in his own thoughts in complete silence.

"(What do you know? What does any of you know?)" He thought while thinning his eyes "(Just because a woman is a woman, she can get a way better treatment than any man out there...Because their bodies are thinner, they're seen as fragile, so no one bats an eye if they punch you, yell at you or insult you in all sorts of way, and if you try defending yourself just a bit, everyone around you inmediately lynches you right then and there, then treats you like it's all your fault. Even if they lie and are two-faced, everyone always believes them without even listening to you. People are kinder to them, help them right away and always are polite to them. If something like that happens to you, they just tell you to "man up" or "be a man" and deal with it by yourself...)"

Although it could be argued that these oppinions were quite biased to some degree due to his own perception, Max's perspective was formed out of personal experiences he had throughout his life. Unfortunately, his aloof personality always made school difficult to deal with for him, and his ever increasing animosity towards females only made it harder, as people quickly ostracized him as a brute and a misogynist by both men and women alike. This, in turn, only served to make his perspective of an unfair social system even stronger, as well as making people avoid him even further.

"Ah...Ahhhhh..."

"(Hm?)"

As he was too absorbed in thought to realize up until now, the young man suddenly noticed a voice next to him, upon turning his head, he saw a girl with long brown hair leaning her entire upper body over the rail, her head lowered as she opened her mouth widely and let out everything that was within her stomach.

"Bleeeerghhhh! ! !"

"Ehhhhhh!?"

Max's eyes widened and he broke a cold sweat as he got off of the railway and took a step away from her.

"(A woman!?)"

He looked at her as she kept ejecting what was most likely her food just a while ago for a moment or two before she finally finished, a dizzy and sickened expression on her face as she sat down on the floor.

"(Is...Is she seasick?)"

"Uwaaaaaaah...The ocean took my lunch!" She said with teary eyes

"(No...I think you're the one that gave it away...)" He thought while looking at her and sweat dropping "(Or rather, I don't think you can even call that "lunch" anymore either...)"

Taking a closer look at her, he noticed she was wearing a different uniform from the one he had. Unlike him, her uniform had a tinge of purple on it's fame and insignia, simbolizing she was a student from one of the eastern schools.

The various schools were, in fact, a single institution,but divided in four different schools, each one focused around the particular interests of the students themselves, who choose which one to attend to after taking a tests.

The green, which simbolized the west and was Alex's school, was a school focused around sports and physical health. Most of the students there were bound to become professional athletes or medicians. The dark blue, which simbolized the east and Max's school, was a school of high grades and pearless education. There was a rumor that those that attended it were kids with wealthy families, but the truth was that most of them were average people with a certain skill for studying. The white, which simbolized the north, was a school of those focused around literature and philosophy. Many people wondered just how was white related to that area of education, but many suggested it may reffer to the purity of seeking nothing but the universal answers, or perhaps snow. One way or the other, wondering about it didn't make much sense.

And last, but not least, the purple school. This one was a school focused around the various types of arts and forms of expression, along with communication. Many famous artists, entertainers and even some celebrities were formed in that school, but there was a lingering stigma surrounding it about most of the students being oddballs and misfits. Then again, stigmas flew around for all the other schools as well, as well as with any other place. At the end of the day, it was all a matter of perspective. And from what he had seen before, it wasn't such a bad place, but the female population was larger than in his current school, which was something he didn't find all too pleasing. Right now, though, he couldn't help but feel like she found the trip even more unpleasing, as her weak stomach had fallen victim to seasickness.

The girl remained in her mixture of sickened and saddened state for a moment or two longer before suddenly noticing Max's prescence.

"Eh?"

"(Ah...She noticed me...)"

"E-Erm...!"

The young man looked at her as she seemed to go into a short panic before closing his eyes and turning around in an attempt to leave.

"Ah! Wait!"

"What?" He asked while turning his head to look at her over his shoulder

"Erm...Can you please help me?"

"No"

"Ehhhhh!? Whyyyyy!?"

"Because I don't want to..."

The girl had a drowsy and slow voice. More than due to her current state, it felt like that was her usual way of speaking.

"Please, help me!"

Max looked at her for a moment or two, her big, teary eyes focused on him, almost begging for a helping hand.

"Pleaaaaaase!"

"..."

"Pleaaaaaaaaase!"

The young man suddenly popped a vein on his forehead, irritated by her constant request for his help. She was really starting to get on his nerves.

"Pleaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa-"

"Oh, for the love of-! Fine! I get it already! Just shut up!" He snarled with an irritated expression

"Eh!? Really!?"

"I'll just help you find a doctor, but that's it!"

"Yay! Thank you, mister...erm!" She said cheerfully while looking at him before going silent for a moment "...Brian!"

"Don't go giving people random names just cause you don't know their real ones!" Snarled Max with a popped vein on his forehead "Also, don't call me mister! I'm the same age as you!"

In all honesty, the young man didn't want to help her, but her whinning probably wouldn't end unless he did so. Using one shoulder, he helped her up on her feet and took her back inside. There, he searched for the doctor's office through the hallways, which he heard about at the start of the cruise. Silence remained dominant for a while before he caught notice of her giggling besides him.

"What's so funny?"

"I mean...you're actually a nice person, right?" Said the girl while looking at him with a smile "You were giving me this really scary look, but you still helped me out, so you're actually a nice person"

"I'm just helping you because you wouldn't stop whinning...I'm not a nice person, especially not to women..."

A short moment of silence went by, the girl probably thinking about his words before speaking again.

"Hey, mister...What's your name?"

"For the last time, don't call me mister" He replied without even looking at her and keeping his focus forward "Also, why do you want to know?"

"Because...I want to know?" She replied with a confused expression, probably unable to understand the meaning behind the young man's question

"Fair enough, I guess..." Said Max with a monotone expression "My name is Max"

"My name is Lily...Nice to meet you, Max" Replied Lily while looking at him with a wide and rather honest smile

The young man looked at her in silence for a moment, trying to figure just what was going through her mind right now. Oddly enough, he didn't seem to mind her as much as he did other women, the reason as to why was something he couldn't understand, but she definitely had something different from other women he had seen so far. Unfortunately, that train of thought was suddenly interrupted by the hallway shaking with a strong intensity.

"Wha-!?"

"U-Uwahhhhh!"

Almost as if an earthquake had hit the ship, everything suddenly began to shake, causing both of them to lose their balance and fall to the floor.

"Owie!"

"Hey, what the hell was that just now!?"

Within less than a minute, the peaceful silence from before was replaced by the raging sounds of thunder as loud as bomb and waves hitting constantly and furiously against the boat.

"What's going on out there!?"

Slowly, both of them got back up on their feet while struggling with the ship's unstable balance. They kept walking forward, attempting to find a way to see outside, they found a door leading out into the open. Stumbling their way outside, they finally made it out, but their eyes widened in front of what they saw.

Just as the sounds echoming inside had suggested, a powerful storm was raging on. A strong wind blowing hard enough to almost lift one off of their feet, rain pouring down with such intensity that one felt like it would get crushed by it, with the water seeping in all they way into your bones, pitch black clouds covering the sky, making it look like it was midnight and the ocean waving and raging with an intensity one could only see in nightmares. It was almost as if nature itself was waging a war against something, with the boat caught up in the middle.

"What's going on!?" Asked Lily while looking up at her surroundings with a mixture of shock and fear

"Hey, hey! Wasn't it mid-day just half an hour ago!?" Asked Max this time while looking at the storm with an expression of shock and confusion "How the hell did it get this crazy so fast!?"

"U-Uwahhhh!"

"Run away!"

"Help me!"

"Everyone! Hurry back inside!" Said one sailor while pointing at the ship

Both students and common passangers alike were on the deck as well, running around from one place to the other, some trying to help wounded friends while others went into a panic due to being caught up by their fear as the sailors and other ship crew tried leading them back inside.

"Max!"

It was amongst this chaos that the young man suddenly heard the voice of his friend calling out to him.

"Alex!?" He yelled while turning his head and seeing him running towards him

"Hey, are you okay!?"

"Yeah!"

"What the hell is going on here!?" Asked Alex while looking around him "There wasn't a single cloud just a moment ago! How did it turn into this crazy storm!?"

"I don't know! I never heard about a storm like this happening out of the blue!" Replied Max while recalling what he learned about geography from one of his teachers "At least not this fast!"

"Hey, you three! What are you doing!?" Yelled one sailor while approaching them "This isn't the time to sit down and talk! Go back inside right now! It's dangerous out here!"

"He's right! We have to hurry up and-!"

"Hey! Look at the sky!" Yelled one of the passengers while pointing upwards

Upon hearing that, Max, Alex and Lily alike raised their heads to look at the sky, their eyes widening like plates and their skin going pale as a white of sheet of paper upon what they saw.

Way up above in the skies, a crack appeared. A white, shinning crack similar to one you'd see on a broken glass covered the sky. It didn't seem quite big from their point of view, but considering how cloearly it could be seen from so up above, one could estimate the cracks in the sky covered a space of about a couple of football fields.

"(Eh...?)" Thought Max with widened eyes, a blank expression on his face, as his bewilderment surpassed any other emotion right now "(What...is that?)"

The cracks made a sound that could be heard even over the raging storms, echoing like the cries of a whale. It grew bigger and bigger, covering more of the sky while echoing an electric sound, similar to what you'd hear when a generator or machine is being powered up, before the white light grew brighter and suddenly exploded, the cracks turining into a large hole in the sky and shooting down a massive beam of light that pierced through the ocean.

The waves then suddenly changed, adapting to the beam of light and spinning around it, as if the ocean was one giant tornado and the beam was the eye of the storm, drawing everything within its reach closer to it, including the ship as well.

"Wha-What is that!?"

"Uwahhhh!"

"Look out!"

Everything shaked more and more violently as the ship got sucked into the twister of water, causing it to bend towards the center and making the footing even more uneven. This, conbined with the slippery floor from the rain, caused those who were outside to slip down towards the edge, and those unlucky enough to grab onto something fell out of the ship and into the water. Their screams hardly able to be heard over the rage of nature and this unnatural phenomenom.

"Kyaahhhhhh!"

"Uwaaaaaaahhhhh!"

"Nooooo! I don't wanna dieeeee!"

"Mommaaaaaaaaaa!"

As they slipped down, a few people managed to grab onto anything they could for dear life.

"Sh-Shit!" Said Alex as he held tightly onto the side of the frame of the door leading to the hallway

"Everyone! Hold on as tightly as you can!" Yelled the sailor to the trio while holding onto an outer pillar

Everyone held onto the first thing they reached as hard as they could. Alex holding onto the doorway, the sailor onto an outer pillar and Max and Lily holding onto a different one. They kept holding for a moment or two, using all the strength they could muster, but their muscles slowly began to give in. Max being the one to loose his grip first.

"Shit!"

"Max!" Said both Lily and Alex

As he slipped down the floor, Max desperately struggled to hold onto something before suddenly getting a grip onto the rail. He tried to hold on, but the slippery metal and his muscles weren't able to do so, causing him to loose his grip once again. It was at the last moment that the sailor quickly let go, slipped down the floor and quickly extended his hand to grab Max's while wrapping the other arm tightly around the railway.

Suddenly, the pressure coming from the light beam became stronger, the feeling of being pulled towards it far more powerful than before. It was almost as if this light, whatever it may be, was trying to take them with it. For whatever reasons, no one could understand why or how, but Max sure didn't feel like finding out.

"Damn it!" He said as he struggled to keep his grip on the sailor's hand

"Max" Yelled Alex before letting go of the doorway and slidding down towards the rail as well, holding onto it tightly in the same way while extending his hand towards him "Take my hand! Quick!"

Max listened to his words and tried to extend his other hand as well, trying with all of his strength to reach out, but at the last second, the sailor's grip was loosened, just as the tips of Max's fingers grazed those of Alex's.

"(Eh?)" He thought with widened eyes. A white, hopeless expression reflecting on them "(You're kidding me...right?)"

His mind was blank for a moment before suddenly realizing his predicament.

"Uwaaaaaaahhhhhhh! ! !"

"Maaaaaaaaaaax ! ! !"

The last thing Max saw before being swallowed up by the waves was his friend reaching out to him, both he and Lily yelling out his name at the top of their lungs.

*Scene*

The water felt as cold as ice, seeping deep into his bones, the little air in his lungs already leaving him, his body being dragged like a rag by the waves, unable and helpless to do anything.

As his consciousness slowly drifted away, everything around him became darkness. It remained like this for a moment or two before flashes of light began to move around the darkness, a drowsy, heavy feeling overcoming his body. He could hear a weird static and machine-like sounds around him, yet he could only see blurry images. This lasted for a moment or two before suddenly hearing a new sound. A blurred, seemingly incomprehensible sound, yet, Max could understand it clearly. This sound came along with a new light, flashing in synch with the sound, almost as if it was this light's voice.

"(Do you seek life? Or do you accept death?)"

"No...I don't wanna die..."

"(Why?)"

"I...I just don't want to die..."

"(So you seek life out of instinct, out of fear of death...That's your answer...)" Said the blurry voice echoing within his mind "(Very well...As lacking or basic as it may be, your answer is an honest one...)"

After accepting Max's answer, the light suddenly became brighter, almost blinding, engulfing everything for a short moment, followed by the sudden appearance of a plumbob-shapped stone.

"(You shall have the second chance you yearn for...)"

And those were the last words the young man heard before any light and sound engulfing him dissapeared, giving darkness and silence the control over everything once more. This lasted for a moment or two before his ears caught a new noise, this one being the sound of the waves coming closer and getting away at a steady pace, almost like a calm heart beating. Oddly enough, there was also the sound of an animal, most likely a bird of some sort.

"Hmmmm..."

Slowly, Max opened his eyes and saw the blue skies above him. At first his vision was blurry, but it steadily became clearer as the drowsyness faded away as well.

"Hm...?"

As he kept looking at the sky, the young man's view was suddenly blocked by something that got on his field of view and blocked it.

The shadow it made by blocking the sun made it hard to identify, but it looked like a bird of some sort was looking down at him, tilting it's head a few times with a bit of a speedy reaction in the same way as any feathered creature did.

"Eh?"

Max's eyes widened as he looked at the bird and the bird looked at him, both of them exchanging stares before the bird nudged its head down, poking him with its beak in the forehead.

"Ouch!"

In reflex to this sudden poke, the young man quickly got up, causing the bird to take a jump backwards, as if scared by his sudden movement.

"Ow...what the hell?" He said while rubbing his forehead with both hands before turning his head to look at his attacker "What kind of bird attacks someone out of the blue like-?"

Upon looking at his feathered assailant, the young man saw it more clearly. It was a brown bird with a sout body and a large peak. The shape of its wings suggested it probably wasn't capable of flight and It walked slowly in two legs, just as any other bird. Oddly enough, it didn't ressemble any creature Max knew about, and yet, he had the feeling he had seen it somewhere before.

"(Wha-What is this thing?)" He thought while looking at it and sweat dropping "(A big pidgeon? No, it's too big...Maybe some sort of wild chicken?)"

As he looked at this bird, confused by its appearance, he noticed a few more roaming around. They were large in number, but didn't seem all too interested in him. In fact, they hardly seemed to even notice he was there, besides from the one that gave him a little poke in the forhead. They seemed rather harmless too, if a bit absent-minded as well.

While wondering about them, Mark suddenly realized he was on a shoreline. Judging by the thick forest beyond the birds and the way the ocean stretched far and beyond, he came to realize the place he was at may be some sort of tropical island.

"Did I...get washed up here after the storm?"

Right now, he was surprised more than shocked by the current situation, although he wasn't all too sure whetever he should be shocked about having survived that supernatural storm or about being lucky enough not to drown in the ocean and reach an island safely. The real question, though, was his current location, or rather, the location of the island he was currently at. Unfortunately, there was no way for him to know or even get a clue, at least none he knew about.

Even just thinking made his head hurt so much that he had to put one hand over it to try and calm down the throbbing sensation coming from within.

"Damn it...what the hell happened back then?" He muttered to himself while lowering his head slightly, his eyes suddenly catching sight of something that made them widen "Eh?"

On his left forearm, slightly below the wrist, there was a small plumbob-shapped object deeply embedded into his skin and flesh.

"What the-?"

Max took a moment to look at it carefully, despite seeming like some sort of crystal or rock due to it's shape and color, it had an odd orange-ish glow in it's inner frame and seemed to be embedded quite well, besides from feeling perfectly smooth to the touch. It seemed to be made of some sort of metal, but he couldn't figure out which one. Not like that part really mattered to him right now, though.

"Daaaamn it! Come off, you little-!" He said to himself while placing his fingers over it and attempting to pull it out.

He kept struggling and pulling as hard as he could, but it was no use. The little object didn't budge an inch. Whoever implanted it into his arm, it made sure no one would be able to rip it out. Oddly enough, despite digging so deep into his flesh, the object didn't feel uncomfortable or bothersome at all. In fact, it felt so natural that didn't even notice it until seeing it with his own two eyes.

Most likely, someone implanted it into his arm through surgery, and a professional one at that. But what probably concerned him the most wasn't the object itself or the idea of it being surgically implanted into his body, but rather, the otherwordly feel this object gave off to him. No matter how or where he looked at it, this implant didn't seem like something man-made, or human-made, as for that matter.

"Hey, hey...Seriously now, just what happened while I was out cold?" He asked, a notable concern in his expression as he recalled the storm and the cracks on the sky, along with the beam of white light "Could it be...It has something to do with that crazy sci-fi beam?"

As unbelivable as it may be, the supernatural events that took place during that storm were just as crazy as the implant on his arm, if not more. Could it be they are related in some sort of way? Did he get abducted by aliens or by some shadow goverment and turned into a ginea pig for some messed up project?

There were too many question brewing up within his mind and no way to answer them. If he were to keep thinking, his brain would probably explode.

But it was then that his questions eventually led him to think about the ship.

"Wait, that's right! The ship!" He suddenly yelled, causing one of the birds to turn its head and look at him "What happened to everyone else!?"

Although his thoughts were initially focused on his own well-being, he recalled the ship and the dozens of other passengers within it, including Alex and Lily. Unfortunately, this led him to panic due to his mind thinking the worst-case scenario.

"Don't tell me I was the only one that made it out of that alive!" He said to himself as the thought suddenly implanted itself into his head "No way! That can't be it!"

Quickly, Max got back up on his feet and looked around him. He looked at both sides of the beach as far as it streched, running from his current point to a few feet before reaching the end of it, eventually stumbling into the forest area.

"Hello!? Anyone!?" He yelled while moving the vegetation aside, making his way as fast as he could "Come on, this isn't funny! Someone! Anyone, please!"

The idea of being stranded alone in an unkown island was already terrifying enough, but the thoughts of shadow goverments and alien abductions, along with all the crazy things that happened so far, stirred up his paranoia to the edge, causing his sense of reason to waver. Adding the idea that everyone on the ship may have died only made it twice as worse. But if he had made it out, if he had survived through that storm, then someone else should have done so as well. It was this thought that helped him hold on onto some semblance of hope.

Max kept running and running, losing himself in the vegetation before running out of breath and stopping right next to a tree.

"This has to be a joke, right?" He said while taking deep breaths with his body bent and both hands placed on his knees "There has to be someone out there...There just has to be!"

As he tried to convince himself to hold onto this slimmer of hope, the young man suddenly heard the sound of footsepts. Quite slow and heavy, but they were footstepts nonetheless. Max quickly raised his head, hoping to see a group of people or something of the sort, but what he saw was everything but human.

Slowly and calmly, a pair of horns poked out into view, followed by a large, elongated buckler-like bonny head and a stout body. A large creature walking on all four, seemingly aware of the young man's prescence, but not bothered in the least by it. Behind it, a few more similar creatures, most likely members of a whole heard, followed behind, seeking food among the vegetation.

Max remained silent at first due to the shock of seeing such a creature, but unlike the first one, he knew the identity of this one, as it was a very popular animal, albeit an extinct one.

"(A...A triceratops?)" He thought with widened eyes, unable to believe the creature he was looking at was actually a triceratops.

Dinosaurs, creatures that populated the earth millions of years ago and went extinct due to a natural cathastrophe, are one of the most popular type of extinct animals, espeically among children. But the keyword there was "extinct", meaning that they should have been wiped out from the earth millions of years ago. Yet, he was looking at a triceratops, one of said creature to have gone extinct, and not only did it seem alive, it seemed quite healthy as well.

He almost wanted to touch it just to make sure he wasn't going crazy or delusional, but part of him was telling him this was indeed real, and that he should probably hold back from touching it. After all, even if they were herbivores, approaching and touching a creature with horns of that size was probably not the safest idea.

His mind could have probably wandered about this for hours with no end in sight, but this was abruptly interrupted by a hand suddenly covering his mouth. On reflex, Max struggled to break free, but this quickly subsided after he heard a voice, a human voice.

"Hey, you! Calm down!" Said the voice behind him

"(What!?)" Thought Max after turning his head to look behind him

The individual standing behind him was not only a human, but a student as well. Judging by the uniform, he was from a different school, probably the western one, judging by the green-ish color of the frame and insignia on his blazer.

And he wasn't alone either. Along with him, two other people were behind, one holding a baseball bat and the other a frying pan. Both of hem also students, but one of them was from the north, and the other from the south.

Seeing Max had calmed down and was silent, the green student let go of him and made a hand gesture to remain silent before pointing at the triceratops.

"Don't make any sudden sounds" He muttered while looking at the giant four-legged creatures "Those things don't seem violent, but they get aggressive fast if you're not careful"

The young man looked at him, then at the creature while breaking a cold sweat. He already imagined approaching it wouldn't be a bad idea, but now he was even more convinced of how bad of an idea it would be.

"Where's your group? Are you alone?"

"N-No, I'm alone..."

The trio looked at each other, seemingly surprised by his answer, before looking at him again.

"I see..." Said the student on the front before changing the subject "Anyway, we should hurry up and get out of here. I don't want to stay too close of these things for too long"

"Then what do we do?"

"For now, let's just go back...I'd rather not be around for too long"

The two other students, along with Max as well, nodded in agreement and followed him, sneaking their way through the forest before reaching a small lake-like area. There, he found a group of people gathered around, all of them students as well. Probably around twelve or so, all gathered together around a makeshift campfire.

"Hey, everyone! We're back!"

"Did you guys find any good food already?" Asked one of the people from the group gathered around the campfire

"Not yet. All we could get are berries"

"Again!?"

"If you don't like it, then get your ass off of the floor and go get something yourself!" complained the student dressed in white

"Hey, who's that dude?" Asked one of among the group, who noticed Max on the back

"Ah, right" Said the student dressed in green before turning his head to look at him "We found him earlier while looking around...I didn't ask his name yet, though"

"I'm Max...Max Rockwell" Said the young man, hoping this piece of information would help

"Max...I think I heard the name somewhere before..."

"Either way, I'm sure having more people around will be helpful" Said the red student while looking at him with a smirk "For now, just make yourself at home. We'll go gather some more food later"

"Okay..."

"Oh, and by the way. My name is Jared. The other two you met are Carl and Barry" Said Jared while pointing at the purple and white student in the same order as he said their names

The young man was not all too sure what to do, so for the time being he decided to sit down somewhere close to the group and try to relax. He could have tried to be more friendly or attempt to integrate himself into the group, but there was an odd tension among the people for some reason, and he felt like it was a bad idea to approach them for now. And besides, he wasn't all too sure how to even aproach others in the first place. Usually, it was him who got approached by other people such as Alex, and even then that was considered rare.

On the other hand, he couldn't really blame them for being tense if one considered the current situation.

Stranded on a misterious island after an otherwordly storm, filled with dinosaurs and probably monsters he had yet to run into. It was just a given tensions would build up due to fear.

One thing he did notice was that everyone else had an implant on their arm as well. Some tried to rip it off, others stared at it with slight fear, and others simply ignored it. This, in turn, caused him to look at his own implant as well. Just what on earth was this thing, exactly? What was it the point of implanting it into their bodies?

Was it some sort of tracking device? Or maybe a devious prototype meant for testing on them?

One way or the other, he just couldn't seem to figure it out. He just had too little information to go by with right now. One thing was for certain, though. At the very least, he wasn't the only one stuck here. There were other people from the ship that survived.

"(I wonder if those two are okay...)"

While raising his head to look at the sky, he wondered about the well-being of his friend, and a bit about Lily's as well. Even if she was a woman, and a bit of an odball, she didn't seem like a bad person.

Unfortunately, he had no way of knowing right now. All he could do was wonder. This was not a one-sided feeling as under the same sky, in the same island, Alex made his way through the vegetation, along with the sailor, who helped make the trip easier by cutting a path open with a blood-stained machete.

"Hey! Max! Where are you!?"

"Hey! Keep it quiet!" Said the sailor while turning his head to look at him "Do you want another of those things to jump out at us!?"

From the moment they arrived to the island, they began to search for Max and any other survivors. Along the way, they got into a few unpleasant encounters with some less-than-friendly dinosaurs that had a taste for spitting out poison. Fortunately, the sailor and his machete were able to deal with them without too much issue. Even so, avoiding these encounters as much as possible was in everyone's best interests.

"If it does, then we'll deal with it!" Snarled the athletic young man

"Alex! Rick! Please, wait for me!" Said Lily walking a few feet behind them, seemingly exhausted due to the distance covered

"Hurry it up, Lily! We can't waste time!"

"I-I can't keep up anymore! Please, let's stop for a moment!" She begged with long breaths

"Damn it! It's gonna take forever to find Max like this!"

"Alex, you need to calm down" Said Rick while looking at him with a stern expression "I know you want to find him, but acting rowdy like this is only gonna get us killed...Besides, you saw what happened during that storm. It wouldn't be surprising if he-"

"Shut up" Interrupted Alex "There's no way that dumbass could die from something like that..."

The sailor looked at him for a moment in silence before replying.

"One way or the other, we won't find him if we get killed or starve to death...Right now, we need to regain our strength" He said while looking at him with a mixture of seriousness and understanding in his expression "Besides, those two won't be able to keep this pace for much longer"

Hearing the sailor mentioning them caused Alex to turn his head to look behind him. He saw both Lily, who was starting to regain some of her bearings along with a small girl in her early teens standing next to her. She had long hazelnut hair and brown eyes, along with wearing the white uniform of their school given to every first-year. She was a girl he knew all too well, and one which would most likely bring all sorts of problems when they managed to find Max, despite her gentle and caring personality.

"(I'm glad we found her when we did, but I doubt he'll be alll to happy to see her...)" He thought while looking at Alice, Max's younger step-sister, before looking forward again and raising his head to look at the sky "(Either way, we'll just deal with that when the time comes...For now, just make sure not to die!)"

*Scene*

A glass of water was filled with wine promptly by the snap of fingers made by a man with a rather fancy set of clothing sitting on a chair located on the edge of a large table. The room he was at dimly lit by a candle over the table and by a few lights placed on the walls, along with the mounted heads of many animals. Some of them were only skulls, while others were conserved through the process of taxidermy. A rather eerie aura, but perhaps that was the whole point of it.

The man was lean and appeared to be in his late twenties or early thirties, despite his smooth skin. His red and slick hair pulled back in a rather fancy manner. His mind was seemingly thoughtful about something, his green eyes focused on the words and drawings printed on old, yellow-ish papers as he looked at a worn out journal before hearing the sound of a few knocks coming from the door.

"Come in..."

"Excuse me" Said a burly man after opening the door and walking inside

Unlike the first one, he was tall and very muscular man with a gruff face and voice. One could almost think of him as a hardened marine or a heavy-weight boxer that could rip off someone's head with a punch. He was dressed in full-body armor dyed red, except for the head.

"Sir, my apologies for interrupting you, but I received news from the scouts..."

"Is it about the event from yesterday?" He asked, his gaze still focused on the journal

"Yes, sir..." Replied the man after walking closer and placing a few reports on the table "According to the scouts, there are between 100 to 200 new survivors that arrived into the island, all spread throughout different beach areas, and some already within forests...Judging by their clothing, most of them seem to be students from a private school of sorts, while others are-"

"Did I say I wanted to know about their prior lives?" Interrupted the man on the chair, a certain impatient tone on his voice

"So-Sorry..." Replied the burly man while breaking a cold sweat, a slight mixture of apology and fear in his expression

Despite being far more muscular and taller, the man seemed almost scared of angering the one on the chair.

"It's fine...After all, what is life without mistakes?" He said with a bit of a playful tone

The man took one last sip of his glass before putting it down next to a plate with cooked steak and salad on the side before diverting his eyes towards a window and opening it, allowing sunlight to come in and making the dozens of mounted heads more visible.

Through the window, a view to a gigantic alien-like structure on the distance floating could be seen. It was hovering on the sky through the use of some sort of unknown power, and didn't seem to be connected to the floor.

"But to think we'd get such a large batch of new "specimens"" He said while looking at the obelisk with a smirk "Looks like "it" is growing impatient, or it merely wants to experiment again?"

"Sir?"

The burly man looked at his boss, slightly confused about what he meant for a moment or two before he finally spoke once more.

"Well...One way or the other, there's no harm in having a few more "neighbors"...Don't you think, soldier?" He said while turning around to look at his subordinate with a smirk

"Then, should I send someone to recruit them, mister Alazar?" Asked the soldier, a more stern expression appearing on his face

"No...Not yet..." Replied Alazar while raising one finger, almost as if an idea just crossed his mind "For now, send the scouts a message. Tell them to keep an eye on the larger groups, and to not interrupt, no matter what...Let nature do her work and cull the weak for us..."

"Understood...I'll make sure to send the message via Dimorphodons...I doubt these people will pay much notice to them" Replied the soldier "Now then, if you'll excuse me..."

After making a salute, he turned around and left to send the message while Alazar quietly kept his stare focused on the obelisk, the smirk on his face still there.

"Now then...I'm sure things will get interesting from now on" He said with a certainly amused tone "What will you do, new survivors? Or should I call you, new specimens?"

A slight and muffed laugh came out of the man as he looked at the obelisk, wondering about just what sort of new workers, enemies and slaves alike he would obtain from this new batch of people. Would any of them prove themselves to be worthy to survive? Worthy to thrive? These questions dwelved deep within his mind, breeding a slight sense of excitement and interest within him.

And just in the same way as him, many other people began to take notice of the new survivors. From the depths of dank caves in swamps, to the snowy mountains of the north and the volcanos, where rivers of molten lava flowed freely. From all sorts of places in this island, groups and individual survivors alike spread all over the island watched in silence. Some of them curious about the new surivors in the same way as Alazar and preparing for the upcoming days, others not concerned about it and keeping to their own business. One way or the other, all of them were focused on the massive obelisks located all over the island.

On this island, on this world where only the strong survive and monsters roam freely, where life and death are only a fiber's witdht from each other, a new journey brews up for the unfortunate individuals caught up in it.

Right here, right now, the struggle for survival begins.