When the Pipes Burst // A SHARKCO fanfic

Chapter 1

Entities, man-made creatures that were created to aid humans with whatever they needed. Work, chores—you could even befriend one! They claimed that these entities were "less soulless than robots" and "actually felt empathy for humans" but Vandal knew that those claims were bullshit.

Those creatures were the same ones that were taking over the world and killing many humans.
The only safe place left was Sharkco Mall, where the hellspawn originated from. Sharkco Mall was the only place with resources and weapons. Though it came with its own dangers, like blackouts and floods.

Vandal was one of the few survivors. Sure, he was all for the survivors winning this war, but his loyalties didn't exactly lie anywhere. He stole anything from anyone and everyone; everything he owned was owned by someone else or bought with stolen money.
He had even helped out the entities with a few things—anything for a couple of bucks or materials.
The entities were still heartless beings. They had cores, but they were full of hate and spite.
Except for one, this one was different.

Kyorou, a pariah amongst the entities.
Kyorou was an entity that resembled a Shiba Inu. He had black-brown fur and rust orange stripes on his legs, speckles on his tail, and little symbols down his back.
Kyorou wasn't exactly hated by the other entities; hate was a strong word, maybe mildly disliked? Avoided?
Anyway, most were fine with him as long as he didn't interfere with their fighting.
What was different about Kyorou was that he believed that entities and survivors were more alike than they seemed.

The two had decided to team up, Kyorou wanted Vandal to convince the other survivors that entities could change, and Kyorou would convince the entities that survivors could change. It was a simple sounding plan, but when saying things, you didn't really get the depth of it all.

There was one entity that despised Kyorou, an entity named Talismane. Who the two were fighting with right now.

CURRENT

The mall was mostly free of territorial fights, as it was the weekend, the time where survivors healed their wounds and entities recharged their cores—the very things that let them keep their forms.

Talismane, however, had no respect for this tradition, she had her own plans.

The usually quiet and peaceful mall was filled with the clanking of weapons as Vandal and Kyorou fought with Talismane beneath the giant oak tree that grew in the small garden at the centre of the mall. Vandal swung his crowbar at Talismane, who dodged out of the way with ease and prepared an attack. Vandal yanked his crowbar out of the soil and swung it just as Talismane jumped at him.
He knocked Talismane back with his ability, and she collided into one of the pipes in the wall with a loud crash.
Vandal didn't hesitate for a second, he ran forward and swung his crowbar with all of his might, aiming for Talismane's head. Talismane quickly slid out of the way as Vandal's crowbar hit the pipe. He yanked the crowbar out of the pipe and looked around.

CLANK

A small piece of the pipe clanked onto the ground. He hadn't even noticed what had happened until he heard it.
The sound of rushing water quickly filled the room.
"FLOOD! FLOOD!" Kyorou screeched, hoping that all creatures at all corners of the mall would hear him.
You could hear commotion in the pipes as the entities that roamed the mall during floods began to stir. More holes in the pipes opened as the flood entities clawed through like a chick hatching from its egg.
"FLOOD! FLOOD! EVERYONE, RUN AND HIDE! TAKE COVER!"

When an event like a flood or blackout happened, the whole concept of "survivors vs. entities" was lost. Special entities roamed the mall during these times, being even more deadly than the apex predators that roamed most of the time.
All teams were lost, the entire concept was gone, vanished, disappeared.
During a blackout, the blackout entities picked away at the weaker people, slowly killing everyone off. Entities fighting tooth and claw with each other, survivors fighting over the last weapons—it was all a mess.
The floods were a little bit more organised. Everyone stopped fighting to hide and find cover, as most of the mall was filled with water. If the entities that swam below the surface happened to spot you, you were toast, especially if it was Leviathan, the apex predator of the depths.
Even if fear brought them apart or together, survivors and entities would never be alike. The heartless beasts would never even come close to being like the survivors.
It just could never be.

Everyone ran from their homes, helping each other find a safe place to stay. Kyorou was trying to get everyone organised, but you couldn't even see his hat over the heads of the many entities and survivors that were crowding through the usually empty mall.
Water began to fill the room until it was up to his knees.
"Kyorou! We have to move," he spat, sprinting over to Kyorou and grabbing his arm.
"Where to?"
"The tree, climb it. I do it for every flood." Kyorou dragged Vandal over to the tree, letting the survivor climb on his shoulders so he could get up. Kyorou used his claws to ascend the tree until they were face-to-face within the bushy leaves.
"We're safe now. Wanna watch the entities?"
Vandal gave Kyorou an odd look, like the taller entity was crazy.
"It's really beautiful, and you never really see them when you're not in the tree, so now's our chance," he insisted.
"Sure, why not?"
Vandal shrugged and sat down on one of the branches next to Kyorou, only ever-so-slightly peeking out of the leaves.
Water had flooded the mall, and the aquatic entities slowly emerged.

There was a teal entity with beautiful dapples and markings and elegant fur. This entity floated around the water with ease, staring up at the ceiling like someone gazing at the stars.
There was an entity with greyish-blue fur and long whiskers. This entity resembled a shark and occasionally leapt out of the water, leaving showers of droplets in their wake.
There was a maroon shark-like entity with glowing crystals covering their body. Whenever they leapt out of the water, a quiet tune could be heard, like the entity was emitting music.
There was a shark-like entity that also looked similar to a lionfish. They had long, sharp spines and white stripes. They were chasing around the other shark entities in a playful manner.
The last entity caught his eye. This one had skin coloured different shades of grey, green, and blue in patterns that resembled waves of water. This entity had three crystal-blue glowing eyes, but the part of this entity that Vandal liked the most was the giant fins. When they swam, the fins moved gracefully with them.
"Ooh, interested in Leviathan, eh?"
"THAT'S LEVIATHAN?"

Kyorou shushed him, placing a fluffy finger over his mouth.
"Yeah, that is."

When other survivors told stories of Leviathan, Vandal had imagined a giant dragon with teeth sharper than the peaks of mountains, massive eyes that stared through you, many sharp spikes that could impale even the strongest normal entity, and a large, glowing lure that looked like one of the floating cubes that gave anyone who harvested them a boost.
But no, the apex predator of the deep is this majestic creature with long fins and beautiful eyes.
"I expected Leviathan to be... scarier."
"You should see them in action."

The flood entities discussed in murmurs before dispersing, all heading their separate ways to hunt for potential victims. The glowing shark stayed.
"Who's that?"
"That's Synth Shark, she-"

Just then, something rustled behind them.