8
Lian, Batangas
"Don't open the door. We cannot trust anyone now," the man in a grey long sleeve shirt said as he stood up from the bamboo sofa he was sitting on.
"I know right. Just prepare your pets just in case. I'll prepare mine," his twin brother said as he fixed his black Nirvana shirt. "Are we sure we were not followed?"
"I'm not sure. It's better to be careful. As long as we make sure that she is safe from them, we can stay here," the man in grey said.
"Alright," the man in Nirvana shirt said.
Another knock hit the door. This time it was harder and louder than the first one. The twins stared at each other as a series of knocks hit the door.
"Open the door, and give her to us. I assure you, no one will get hurt or die at the very least," a booming masculine voice said outside the house. "Give us the girl and we're good."
"Tang ina mo!", the man in Nirvana shirt said. "You're not having our bunso!"
The door suddenly exploded into bits as a fireball hit it from the outside. Three men, dressed in long black robes, stepped inside the house. They were also wearing black, 1800's wide brimmed hats that cover their faces. On their hands are walking sticks painted in black and gold.
"We did our best to settle this as peacefully as we best can, but it seems like you don't want to do so. Now, get out of our way, or die. We're not leaving without the girl," the leader of three said.
"Over our dead bodies, motherfucker," the man in grey said as he took his shirt off. His body is riddled with intricately drawn tattoos. On his left arm are tattoos of a boar, a dog, a rat, a tiger and a snake. On his right arm are a horse, a rabbit, a goat, an ox, and a monkey. His torso is covered by a huge tattoo of a rooster with its wings open, and on his back is a massive tattoo of a chinese dragon.
"Try me," he said.
One by one, the tattoos on his left arm slowly faded like ink washed away by water as black smoke rose from where the tattoos were. The smoke separated into five clusters, and slowly, they began taking shape.
A boar, a dog, a rat, a tiger and a snake. All black and are defined by gothic details and are supersized. The beasts roared as their bodies began to solidify.
"Don't make me pull off my other arm. I still have the rooster and dragon, and you don't wanna mess around with them," the tattooed man said.
The beasts started to charge into the men in black robes as purple and red balls of light came out of their canes. The balls of light hit the animals one by one, but they just passed through them as they turn into smoke and back into their solid forms.
The dog suddenly pounced into one of the men, biting his head off as the other four feasted on the man's limbs, eating him like he's a chicken in front of hungry wild animals.
The two other men started to charge into the twins, firing the balls of explosive lights. The tattooed man was about to extract the tattoos on his right arm when his brother stopped him.
"I got this," the man in Nirvana shirt said. Suddenly his eyes turned pitch black and black fluid started oozing from them. He opened his mouth and his hands, as they started to bleed out black liquid. A tiny bat came out of his mouth, followed by one on each hand. He closed his mouth again, and pain and disgust painted his face. He started to gag, like a drunk man who's had way too much alcohol. The gagging went harder and harder and he was forced to open his mouth again. The moment his mouth opened, a swarm of bats suddenly came out of it, as well as from his both hands.
The two other men started to panic as the swarm of bats started to flock into them. Balls of light exploded everywhere, hitting bats in random. The five beasts joined the bats into the flocking the two men, spewing blood and guts everywhere.
"Let's get out of here. Go get your pets! I'll go get Sari!" said the man in Nirvana shirt.
The beasts started to dissolve into smoke again and returned into the tattooed man's left arm. The twins ran up into the stairs when suddenly another man in black robes and hat appeared before them, holding a young lady, around 18-21 years old and with rainbow colored hair on her neck, making her a human shield.
"Sari!" the man in Nirvana shirt said.
"Now back off, boys. Or your sister is going to be a big mess," said the man in black robes as he tightened his grip against the girl's neck.
"Don't you dare hurt Sari!" the tattooed man said.
"She will not get hurt. As long as you don't do anything stupid." the man in black robes said.
The tattooed man started to extract the tattoos from his right arm when his twin brother held his arm.
"What?" he asked.
"No. Please. Sari will get hurt," the man in Nirvana shirt said.
"Good boy!" the man in black robes said in delight. "Now, if you'll excuse us, we've got business to do."
The man in black robes suddenly disappeared together with Sari, leaving his brothers bewildered.
"Now what the fuck are we going to do, Elias?" asked the tattooed man.
"I don't know. I just don't know, Joaquin", said Elias as he fell down on his knees, sobbing like a kid.
***
"I am Dyesebel, queen of the Sama Bajau, rightful heir to the throne. The Perlas ng Silanganan and the Kingdom of Maharlika are OURS to claim!"
The earth shook all around them as the waters started to drain out not too far from Corregidor. Dyesebel stared at Atunanen with puzzled eyes and he nodded, as if confirming something to Dyesebel.
As the waters gradually become more and more shallow, a huge brown sphere, around 15 times the size of an average wrecking ball, emerged from the sea, shining in its glory like a polished metal. It is connected to a pillar like structure that is divided into segments, each segment has a pair of black leg like segmented projections on the sides. On the sphere are black spikes, covering its surface. About a few hundred meters away from the spiked sphere emerged a pair of golden brown pincers the length of a bus. The water was completely drained as the creature exposed its entire body.
On its back is a woman, her head adorned with a crown of colorful corals. On her hand is a sword with teeth like projections on the edges. Gills are also visible on the sides of her neck.
"Finally, Taninggiya. You finally tamed him," Celeste said.
"Yes, Celeste. Desperate times call for desperate measures," Taninngiya said.
"Indeed, indeed," Celeste answered.
"Mother? What are you doing here?" Dyesebel asked the woman.
"Oh dear. No mother would not want to be on her daughter's side during the greatest battle of her life. Besides, after centuries of quest and persuasion, I finally tamed the great Tambanokano," Taninggiya said. She then got her mouth closer to the gargantuan scorpion's head and whispered something to it.
The tail of the Tambanokano started to move frantically as if trying to find its target. It finally stopped when it finally got the right aim toward Qianliyan. The sphere on its tail started to shake violently while glowing bright green.
Suddenly all of the spikes on the sphere flew into the air, toward Qianliyan as the Tiburones started to charge toward Qianliyan's army. The serpents of Marianas followed suit and the Moros of the South loaded their bows with the burning arrows. The hundred turtles of Alaminos also started to swim toward the enemy.
"Oh Godmotherfuckingdamnit! This is gonna be fun!" Pedro said as he suddenly disappeared into thin air.
"I know right," Rocky said as she and Enteng started to levitate into the air.
