• The Reader


    Yesterday, at 2am, a horde of roaches was spotted just outside of Hydro Lane metro station, one of Tropal’s busiest stations, being fed a substance, believed to be Nuclear Peanut Butter, a plasmatic compound discovered by Dr. Alkus Winnd, currently the mayor’s advisor, in the year 2016 as the result of mixing peanut butter with classified materials in a compressed pot. The creature feeding the roaches Nuclear Peanut Butter was what looked like a humanoid roach. It has been labeled as the roach man. The roaches underwent a transformation into bigger roaches with giant scorpion-like tails and claws on their hands. The beasts were led into the metro station, going on a rampage that would end up killing everyone in that station.
    One of our lead reporters, Larrane Mazo, was sent into the station to report what had happened in the station. She was sent with a live feed camera that would show us what kinds of things these roaches were doing in that metro station. The footage yielded disgusting images. Nuclear Peanut Butter was spread on the walls, eggs of the roaches scattered everywhere. She approached what looked like an armory, with guns everywhere. All of this scared the reporter so much that, fearing for the city, starting shooting at all the eggs everywhere. Roaches started swarming around her, but she managed to take down every one of them and then ran out of the station, fearing for her life.

    Part 1: The Station

    [align=center]Into the Station

    Alkus Winnd, the creator of the substance, was enraged by this. He knew that it was his duty to his city and to his country to stop these roaches that he had a hand in creating. He couldn’t let these little insects destroy a city that he has worked so hard to help build. He knew that this was impossible alone, so he formed a group to help him. He recruited his friend Ricardo Looz, a member of the BLS, Behind Lines Soldiers, a special ops group, created for use in the war of 2025. He also recruited the reporter, Larrane Mazo, who went into the station alone and lived to tell the tale. His final recruit was Cindy Kage, the police chief of Tropal.
    After getting permission from the mayor and supplies from the police, they were off to the metro station. They arrived at the metro station equipped with some minimal firepower guns, oak tea which was discovered by Alkus to be a great wound healer, blunt machetes, water bottles, bulletproof vests in case the weapons from the armory are used against them, some charges to collapse the metro station, crushing the roaches in the building, and tools to repair their guns. The metro station was covered in Nuclear Peanut Butter on all sides. They found no entrances or exits, other than little globe sized holes that only the roaches could fit through. Calculating the amount of weight on each area of the wall, Alkus placed charges in a few places that would create a gap big enough for them to walk through without risking the structural integrity of the wall. They all ducked behind a car nearby as Alkus set of the charges. After the explosion they gained entrance to the building via large gaping hole in the wall. Once inside the entrance was sealed of by nuclear peanut butter that oozed down the wall.
    Water


    All the doorways in the building were completely intact though missing the doors that used to fill them. A roach walking past the doorway in front of them spotted them and immediately went in, charging at them, but then crashing into a wall, now stuck to it by the nuclear peanut butter that was on it. Cindy shot a few rounds at it and then finished it off with her machete.
    “You better not freeze up like that every time one of those bugs comes at us or we’re going to have a lot of trouble with this,” She told them
    Moving on they encountered two more roaches. This time a bombardment of ammo came that way, finishing the roaches rather quickly.
    “Nice to know we’re a team now,” Cindy happily said grinning.
    Moving through the station they encountered some roach eggs. Knowing the threat these things posed, they slashed at them with their machetes until there were no more. After an hour or so of fighting through the station, a great discovery was made. The tail of the roach and the gap in their exoskeleton, caused by their mutating happening too fast, are primary weak points in the average roach. Moving through the station, they came across a room. It was no different than the others except that it had no roaches. They took a rest and covered some of their wounds with the oak tea. Ricardo’s hand was a bit unsteady because of his wounds which caused him to accidentally spill some oak tea on the nuclear peanut butter. It dissolved immediately.
    “Hey Alkus check this out!” He shouts, awaiting Alkus’s arrival, “Look what happens when I pour this oak tea on the nuclear peanut butter.”
    “It dissolves!” Alkus states in awe, “Wait, let me try something else.” He takes some water and pours it on the nuclear peanut butter, reacting the same way. “Everyone gather around! I’ve got a plan!” He says in a mildly loud voice.
    He explained the plan to the team, that they would go to the central control and turn on the sprinklers, melting all the nuclear peanut butter and, effectively, clearing the metro station of roaches.

    A Clear Objective


    Examining the torn and partially covered map, they finally spotted their position on it. They were northeast of the main control room which was conveniently located in the center of the metro station. They were about to decide which path they would take when they heard a train approaching. The train sounded like it was approaching fast and soon came into sight. They watched as the train hurdled towards Alkus at top speed, while they sat there, motionless.
    “Look out!” Shouted Cindy as she tackled Alkus out of the path of the train. “You better be careful next time.”
    Out of one capsized train car came two titanic roaches the size of fully grown grizzly bears. Running away from the roaches was no option, as they were as fast as deer. Following instinct, the team immediately shot at the roaches. Ricardo took a moment to visualize the enemy, while avoiding its attacks, something he had learned in the BLS. He got a good look at the antennae and made a plan. He shot at the antennae of both roaches, driving them insane and causing them to bump into each other repeatedly. Fragments of the roaches’ exoskeletons flew everywhere, revealing their vulnerable bodies.
    After Ricardo’s plan worked the team dealt with the roaches rather easily. They continued to run through the station without anything very memorable happening. The team approached the main control room at a rapid pace. Soon they were at the room, all out of breath. They all stepped in at once, unaware of the danger that is about to fall upon them.
    “Why hello there,” Said a squeaky voice out of nowhere.

    The Roach Queen


    “Did I just hear a voice?” Inquired Larrane, “It sounded kind of… squeaky.”
    “Don’t make fun of my voice!” Screamed a shadowy figure in front of them. They noticed the figure raise its hands and saw as all the nuclear peanut butter started to flow around it. The team started shooting at the figure, stopping its transformation and knocking it to the ground.
    “How rude! To start shooting at a girl when she’s done nothing wrong!” Whined the person, coming out of the shadows appearing as a humanoid roach.
    “Nothing wrong? You polluted our metro station with this… this filth, and these horrible roaches!” Shouted Ricardo.
    “Silence! I will not delay any longer, this ends NOW!” She screamed, throwing a glob of nuclear peanut butter at the team, trapping them to the wall. The roach girl repeating her earlier action, but this time going through with it, covering herself in the mass and created an exoskeleton of it. “No longer… will anyone mess… with the roach queen!”

    Outside the Station


    The Reader


    Tropal is now in an absolute state of panic! The roaches are dashing out of metro stations everywhere. There is no confirmation whether any roaches have escaped the city but every other city in the area is watching its routes in and out carefully. Residents of Tropal are encouraged to grab a weapon and fight they’re way to the police station, now being used as a safehouse against the roaches.


    Meanwhile, in tropal, many roaches charged out of the station at devastating speeds, tackling pedestrians, clawing at cars, and wreaking as much havoc as possible. The roaches started infesting more and more buildings. They seemed to be coming out of all the metro stations.
    “How can they do that?” the mayor said, “They’re coming out of all the metro stations”
    “I think I may know sir,” explained his assistant, “They might be going through the metro tunnels. May I suggest quarantining the metro stations?”
    The mayor replied, “Of course!” He pushed a button on his phone, “Get the metro stations quarantined and place them under watch by the police, A.S.A.P!”

    Escape

    Alkus noticed the sprinkler handle on the left, motioning it to Larrane, who was nearest to the handle.
    “Hmm… what should I do with them. I could kill them, but that wouldn’t really yield anything good. I know! They can be test subjects for nuclear peanut butter,” The roach queen murmured to herself.
    Larrane tried to push the handle but just lightly touched it. She finally struggled to push it all the way down, but it was no use, nothing came out. The roaches must’ve sabotaged the sprinkler system
    The roach queen however, noticed her action and angrily launched another chunk of he goop at her. The force of the impact ended up taking the first chunk off, freeing the team. The roach queen then threw other globs at them, noticing their attempted escape. Quickly thinking, Ricardo shot the sprinkler on the ceiling. The sprinklers flooded the metro station, and the spraying soon reached other metro stations as well. Their mission had been completed.

    Part 2: The City

    Planning


    Alkus’s group started walking towards the nearest exit when a police officer came in to investigate the sprinkler sound. He asked how they were still alive and was told the story while they walked out.
    The team was disgusted at the state of their formerly industrious and utopia-like town. Bodies littered the streets, buildings deserted, some ruined. The roads cracked and covered in blood and nuclear peanut butter. It was difficult to believe it had only been 3 days. They took great care not to slip.
    The police officer started talking, “Anyways, let me lead you to the other survivors, we’ve all taken shelter in the police station.”
    After leading the team to the police station they had a small meal of sandwiches and apples. They loaded their guns and stepped into the briefing room.
    The mayor put the city map on the table with all the survivors circling it, “Ok so here’s the plan, team alpha will be headed by Cindy and will go to the fire station to get the fire trucks, they’ll be our best weapon, and team beta will be headed by Winnd to puncture the water tower as a sort of roach bomb. We’ll meet back here at the end of our missions.” He said as he handed everyone walkie-talkies. As Ricardo walked out of the room he noticed a small roach. He splashed some water on it and walked away. Although he didn’t realize what was in his hand, a phone, with the roach queen on the other line!
    Afterwards, Winnd took a little stroll around the police station, looking at what used to be such an amazing town. Cindy came to join him, with tears in her eyes.
    “What’s wrong?” Inquired Winnd, “You seem so sad.”
    “That’s because I am sad…The town was so great, it’s just horrible to have it in this state. I mean what if it never goes back to how it was before.”
    “It’s okay, I know we’ll rebuild this city, someday,” Replied Winnd, patting Cindy
    “You know, you really have done so much to protect this town, you’re a hero,” Cindy responded.
    “No, I ruined this town, if it hadn’t been for my discovery none of this would have happened, “Winnd added, “Anyways, we better get back to the police station to plan our attack. Cindy nodded at him. They returned to the station and split up into their respective teams.

    The Discovery


    “I’ve got it!” shouts Winnd in an office in the station, “I’ve got the answer!”
    “What have you got the answer to?” said a passing officer.
    “I have the answer to the roaches,” He exclaimed with pride, “I’ve created a serum that can quickly mutate us into amphibious creatures, it’s a little unstable and may cause a few undesired side-effects, but it’s the answer! We’ve got to do it!!”
    “But we can’t!” shouts Larrane, also passing by, “We can hold down the police station a little longer and go with our original plan, if that doesn’t work we can leave everything behind and move to another continent, where we’re protected by the ocean.”
    “And when the roaches build boats?” questions Winnd.
    “Then we’ll be ready, ready to exterminate them, we’ll have the upper hand because they’ll be walking right over their worst enemy.”
    “But with my serum we’ll be IN their worst enemy,”
    “If it’s too unstable we can’t risk it, let’s just go through with our plan and decide afterwards.” finishes Larrane as she leaves the room.
    “I think it’ll work,” adds Cindy, “We all have to take risks to survive.”
    “Let’s just go through with the missions and see how it goes,” ends Winnd, also leaving the room.

    Plans in Motion


    Both teams leave the police station on their respective missions. Team Alpha continued on their path to the fire station, encountering a few roaches, but nothing big enough to panic over. Team Beta approaches a giant black lump the size of a plane in the road.
    “What is that?” demanded Ricardo, “Recon! Investigate this lump!”
    He did not realize that the lump was moving. Without warning the lump rose and revealed two mighty pairs of double jointed arms, a small pink nose, small teeth, huge eyes, and a repugnant hairless tail. It was a rat.
    “Oh no! Not rats too!” bellowed their leader, “Shoot it! Shoot it!”
    The rat fell quickly after a great barrage of gunfire, but not before calling its rat underlings to attack. The rats took substantial fire, but kept coming from all sides. They had killed four men and injured one. The team heard a siren blaring in the distance. It was the fire trucks! Team Alpha had succeeded and come to help them. The trucks fired gallons of water, bringing down the rats one by one. They had reached the tower. Alkus, being the team leader, fired a rocket at the water tower that was assigned for just this purpose, at the water tower, to make the water shoot out at a high speed all across the town. Everybody gathered together to survive the flooding and waited for the water to pass. They had started back to the station when they heard a large boom from the direction they were headed. The teams hurried to the station to find it collapsed.
    “I’m so glad you could join me,” boomed a loud voice from nowhere, “I was getting rather lonely.”
    They looked on top of the building and saw a giant gorilla with four tentacles sticking out from his stomach and the roach queen on his head.
    The soldiers took no hesitation and immediately shot at the gorilla. The gorilla simply swatted the bullets away with his new tentacles and jumped down, crushing a person. Alkus had an idea and dashed inside the ruined station.
    “Where are you going!” yelled Ricardo
    “My serum, It’s our only hope now!” he answered back, breathing heavily as he rushed through the ruined hall. He ran to the office room and opened the cabinet to the desk, with a bunch of bottles in it. He took all of them and ran out of the building. The exit was in his site, he was almost there. Before he knew it a swift punch from the gorilla to the building sent a large piece of debris at his head.
    “Alkus! Let me help you!” shouted Cindy
    “No, no time for me, just take these bottles, give them to everyone, tell them to drink them and jump in the water.” he told her
    “No! I won’t leave you here! I can’t! You’re too important to leave here to die! I won’t let you go!” She yelled as she carried his body through the doorway,
    “Everyone! Drink these and jump in the water! They’ll let you survive!” She threw one to everyone and handed one to Alkus. She drank one and jumped in the water, still having Alkus in her hands.


    Hydropolis: A new Civilization

    A blue scaled creature sat at a desk. It had gills on its neck and notable features of a hippopotamus. “Mr. Winnd would you please come in here?”
    A creature looking similar to the first but more resembling of a panda walked through the door. “Yes Mr. Mayor- I mean president?” Asked Alkus, walking into the room.
    “I think I speak for Hydropolis and even for all of New Tarapeak when I say that you deserve my position of president much more than I do, I may have been mayor before, but this is just too much for me. You are the hero of Tropal and deserve a seat of power. Come with me to the balcony, where I shall place this ceremonial crown on your head, dubbing you president.” The President answered back.
    They swam up to the second floor and went out to the balcony. The President had just placed the crown on his head when everyone in the city collapsed.
    “Oh no! This is as I feared… … the serum is affecting our brains… … …At least… we left... some monume…” Said Alkus as he too blacked out.