The Last Colony

Part 1

Mark sat at his table at Pax signing papers and taking pictures with fans. This year wasn't any different from any other time he had done it. The fans were enjoying themselves and he did his best to make their experiences memorable. Beside him, he joked with Sean to break the awkward tension that had formed between them since trying to destroy the idea of 'Septiplier.' Sean and himself were still friends, but their relationship had become strained over the last few years. He wanted to fix that. He had been so close with him. However, Sean was keeping him at a distance as of late. With the end of Septiplier, Sean didn't seem to be himself anymore.  Sean had gone through two failed relationships and a mass touring schedule that was taking a toll on him. Sean would never burden anyone with it... but Mark could see it. Sean was depressed and stressed out. His best friend was backsliding, and he wouldn't let anyone help him. Mark couldn't help feeling like it had been his fault. If he hadn't pushed to end Septiplier so hard for the sake of his own girlfriend, maybe his best friend wouldn't be such a stranger now.

Mark reached out to pat Sean's shoulder. It was meant to be friendly and comforting. Yet, Sean awkwardly shifted in his seat to discreetly slide his shoulder out from under his hand. Mark dropped his hand with a heavy heart, before accepting a picture handed to him by a fan. Giving the fan his best smile, he leaned over the table to sign his name on the picture. However, his mind was miles from what he was doing. It was replaying the night that they had gone out to the movies together. They had been enjoying the movie, when Sean had kissed him before the lights turned back on. He could recall the fear in Sean's eyes that night. The desperation to know what was on his mind. They both had prior commitments. Girlfriends. The kiss had caught him off guard and he had bolted. Sean tried to follow him to explain, but right there in the mall... Mark had ended whatever Sean had been trying to start. Glancing over at Sean now, he regretted that night. He could see that Sean was smiling on the outside, but on the inside... Sean was in agony.

There was a deep loneliness in his bright blue eyes that had never been there before. Mark finished taking a picture with a fan, then asked Sean gently. "Hey Sean, do you wanna get dinner after this?" Sean finished signing his name on a picture, before answering lightly in a numb voice. "No thanks. I was going to get something with Robin. Say hi to Amy for me." Mark felt his heart sink to the pit of his stomach. How could he ever make this up to him? Could he even salvage the friendship they once had? He turned to face Sean, asking more hopefully. "Sean, please? We could do something. Just us?" Sean handled a picture to a fan with a smile, before it faded as he looked at him to answer. "Sorry, Mark. I don't wanna give people the wrong idea." His words cut him deep. He felt like he understood what Sean was implying to him with those cold blue eyes and grim voice. Mark swallowed down the lump in his throat. He was going to try and ask him something... when people started screaming in the building.

Mark didn't think anything of it at first. People screamed at Pax all the time. He tried to wait for the screaming to pipe down enough for Sean to hear him. However, the screaming just kept getting louder and louder. Soon everyone was staring off toward the noise. There was a mass of people that were screaming and bolting for the exits. As whatever it was drew nearer, the bystanding crowd began to bolt for the exits as well. This caused the exits to jam up as people tried to shove and wedge their way through like wild animals. Sean kept his eyes on the stampeding crowd, asking him over the screaming. "What's going on?!" Mark gave him a shrug in response. This was all new to him. Their Pax security moved closer to them protectively, yelling into their earpieces. "What's happening?!" The crowd slammed into the tables to avoid a figure that leapt out at the mass of people collected around the exits. The figure tackled a man to the ground and bloodcurdling screams filled the air.

As the crowd rushed to get away, Mark saw the figure through the crowd of bodies. Mark's breath caught in his throat thinking he might be imagining this. The figure rose to its feet and roared at the screaming crowd with a face smeared in fresh blood. It was just a human man at first glance, but his eyes were a bloodshot red. The man growled like an animal at the screaming crowd, his veins standing out along his exposed skin. Then the man attacked someone else. The man moved with an inhuman speed. Using his hands and feet to chase after someone in the crowd. The man jumped over tables and bounced off walls like a parkour expert to tackle down his prey with precision. Mark saw the man tear out a woman's throat, feeling his blood run cold. If this was a cosplay thing, someone had taken it WAY too far. The security with them, started getting antsy as more of these types of people started appearing. A woman from the second floor jumped down to a steel beam like a cat. She let out a high screech, before her long inhuman tongue shot down to wrap around the neck of a person running away on the ground floor.