Variant: The Inception

Encounter

"Hanchou, Hanchou," says Jeremy softly, tapping on his captain's laps. Mark wakes up in response to his calls.

"What is the matter, Jeremy, you sound agitated. The rest of the team is awakened by this commotion.

Jeremy catches his breath and speaks, "it seems we have company, a lot of company. Jeremy was on watch duty. He had noticed sudden movement in the trees and shrubs far in the distance and checked it out with his night-vision binoculars. "Hounds, a whole herd of them are coming this way.

"What?" Asks Reina, "how could they have found us?"

" I don't think they found us on purpose, I think it's possible that we are probably just on their path," says Krash.

"That's a big maybe sir," interrupts Tanya, there's nothing to back that up. And besides, there has never been any reports of hounds herding up like this", she continues, looking at them through the binoculars, "either way, I wanna kick some ass."

"Whatever the case may be, our job description includes requires us to exterminate them. This is a good chance to reduce their numbers. Squad One, get ready for battle," says Mark, handing the binoculars to Jun, "I think you can handle that much without your serums." 

"But Hanchou," says Jenny girlishly, "since you do not need to take the serum, you shouldn't measure us up by your level." The rest of the squad laugh as they dress up. The atmosphere before the battle seems light. That was what Mark was aiming for.

"Okay fine, I'll use a handicap. Just one hand. If I use both hands, I'll treat you all to lunch for a week. Subsequently, whoever ends up using their serum will treat everyone to dinner for a week. So, are you all in on this wager?" Asks Mark. They accept as they walk down towards the plains from the hill they were on. They pair up into their usual two-man cells, with the exception of Mark. The hounds' number almost fifty. Though they are strong and fast, their lack of intelligence makes their attacks weak and predictable. Scratching, grabbing, lunging and biting are the only moves they are capable of. They put up quite a fight because of their numbers, but in the end, they are no match for Squad One. They slash through them with zero casualties or injuries. This is possible because the hounds aren't intelligent enough to dodge or block their attacks.

"Though we have never fought hounds before, I thought they would be stronger than this," says Jun as he wipes his blades on a piece of cloth.

"Yeah, or maybe we are just too much for them to handle," adds Antonia, grinning bumptiously. 

Dawn is overtaken by morning. The sun's rays pierce through the clouds in the horizon far, far ahead slowly as they walk back towards the hill they camped on. The hill seems like it was shielding them from the glorious encroaching sunrise. They hadn't taken more than five steps when Mark, Tanya and Kuma stop at the same time. Everything seemed and felt wrong right at that moment. Mark felt an uneasy feeling he had forgotten he was capable of feeling. His thoughts blackened, his mind darkened. He felt a heavy weight on him as though the entire universe was parked on his head. It was the ominous presence of foes he had never faced before and some he had once encountered.  "What's wrong Hanchou?" Asks Reina. Before she could receive an answer to her question, she follows her captain with her eyes as he turns around. The sight before them is enough to make a normal human being wish for the ground to open up and swallow them in whole. 

There were beasts, the kind you hear about in fairy-tales or in folklore and myths. Most of the beast had on it a combination of some of the most lethal parts of the most lethal animals that walk the earth; some had the upper body of a lion or a wolf and the lower body of a tiger or jaguar and a tail of a snake, some had the full body of a baboon or ape and the arms of a wild carnivorous animal. They were abominable. The most unspeakable one was a hound with the limbs of a gorilla. He seems to be the one controlling them, a hound with intelligence. Although it seems like his intelligence is just a tad above theirs.