The Monster Multiverse

June 20, 2XXX
11:50 a.m.

“In the past, the government used to hide these humanoid species from the world.

However, it was decided that we could benefit from peaceful co-existence, and thus this bill was born.

Since then, the Cultural Exchange Program has been a huge success, and the various species have been able to integrate into human society at ease.

Amazingly enough, the world hasn’t changed much from it.”

“Yeah, right.” A fair-skinned man in a Kevlar vest over a red shirt and a pair of green cargo pants responded to the screen before putting a stick of cigarette onto his mouth. After exhaling smoke like a train blowing off steam, the man stood up from his chair and put out the cigarette by slamming it into his bare palm.

With a sigh, he put a beige bandana mask and a pair of black-tinted sunglasses. He then picked up and cocked a pistol before holstering it before grabbing hold of an AK-47 assault rifle and loading a magazine into it. Putting on some black gloves and a beige cap, the man exited the confines of his room into the hallways of the hotel.

The hallways were empty and quiet with the midday sunlight shining through the window at one end of the hallway. Something the man knew lest he would not strut out of his room in body armor wielding an assault rifle. He continued to the elevators, not encountering a soul and pushed the button for the bottom floor, the floor of the parking area.

A jingle then came out as the elevator’s song. It was in Filipino, a language the man had to know if he was to properly operate inside the country. He reminisced the first time he had arrived to the Philippines. The country had declared to be part of the Cultural Exchange Program two and a half years earlier. Something that was apparently not supported by the entire country as it divided politically as soon as the declaration reached every single island of the archipelago.

It was not a clear divide though, more like pieces of a puzzle were taken out of the entire picture. Mindanao used the political instability to try and secede but that only caused the state to divide into loyalists and secessionists.

The elevator had reached the parking area. The man stepped out of the lift and made his way towards a smooth and slick, tinted silver car through the mostly empty parking area. He did not mind his surroundings. Even if someone had spotted an armed man board a vehicle, he or she could do almost nothing about it.

The man entered the car, started it and drove out into the city of Manila. As always, the city was busy with people, human and monster alike. The parts of the Philippines that accepted the Program went as far as to let the monsters roam around in broad daylight even if the entire country has yet to completely decide on the issue.
The silver vehicle drove on and passed by the Manila Bay. Ships and yachts hung around in the bay like patrons in a bar. Soon the man noticed a garbage truck in his rearview mirror. Things were going as planned so far.

The man soon pulled up in front of a bus and turned his head to the side, seeing the building of the embassy for Philippine and monster relations, located in front of a boulevard. He noticed that there were a group of people taking photos of the building behind a metal fence with a stone base. They appeared to be local tourists with a guide. He could hear from the guide the word ‘ANM48’. According to the news, the monster idol group was currently negotiating for a concert tour in the Philippines to improve human-monster relations. Some of the singers themselves are present in the meeting.

The man opened the door of his car and pulled out his pistol and grabbed his rifle before disembarking from the vehicle. A passing Angel with dove-like wings took notice of his unusual appearance. “Hey--” She could not finish her inquiry before the man raised his pistol and shot the Angel right in the forehead.

The gunshot made everyone in the immediate vicinity turn their heads, except for the ‘tourists’, one of whom pulled out a pistol and shot the tour guide several times. The ‘tourists’ then put on beige bandana masks and brandished some automatic weapons. The embassy guards scrambled with their guns up ready to do battle with the attackers whom were more than happy to take part in the imminent gun fight.

Meanwhile, the man calmly strolled towards the firefight while blindly firing his rifle upon the fleeing civilians, hitting a few of them, both man and monster. In all honesty, he never expected the highly inaccurate hip firing to hit anything but a kill was a kill, he thought.

An explosion soon caught the man’s attention which signaled the breach of the embassy gates. The man holstered his pistol and properly held his AK to join the gunfight between the guards and the attackers. He kept his distance and picked his targets, dispatching guards one by one. The garbage truck the man saw earlier had arrived and opened its cargo. Out the truck came a buff, large attacker wielding a minigun covered in beige, heavy armor reminiscent of bomb disposal gears. The brute aimed his weapon at the guards and opened up, massacring some guards and forcing the rest to find cover or retreat into the building.

More attackers emerged from the truck, except that these were carrying far heavier arms, one fired off an RPG round into the embassy building’s entrance before joining the initial attackers in the advance towards the main building. The guards’ retaliation from the windows proved almost fruitless as the attackers moved on forward, returning fire even when taking casualties.

The man, meanwhile, calmly strolled, occasionally firing his rifle at the building. He made his way behind the minigunner and patted the brute in the back twice. The brute nodded and soon a whistle blew out which the attackers took as the cue to drop to the mowed lawn of the courtyard. The brute rained a stream of bullets into the embassy, sweeping the windows with hot lead. After the glowing red minigun stopped, the attackers resumed their advance. This time with a little more speed with no bullets being fired upon them. The man motioned to the brute to watch the courtyard with a handful of men as the response teams will waste no time in doing their jobs.

The attackers patiently waited for the man to enter the ruined entrance of the embassy, watching for any hostile activity. The man, as usual, calmly strolled and noticed the bodies of either embassy guard or employee. With a wave of an arm, he gave the order to accomplish their objective. “Not one soul stands.” Muttered by a rifleman. The man watched as the attackers spread out in teams to wipe out anyone who was inside the building. He himself had an objective but just to remind himself, he pulled out a picture of the ANM48 group picture of the current main idols. Putting it away, he moved out as well.

Passing by the empty, ruined hallways and finishing off a bloodied survivor, the man reached the room where all the negotiations happened. It did not seem locked so the man kicked the doors open and with his rifle up, checked the room. It was empty, only the ornate furniture present.

Seeing a door in the corner of a room, the man made his way towards it and tries to open it only for it to not budge. He then pulled out a breaching charge and placed it on the locked door before distancing himself by only a few steps. The resulting explosion of the door barely fazed him and he entered the room only to find a cell with only a single lightbulb on its ceiling. The cell only had a large hole in it with a ladder leading down. It was no mystery to the man what that meant: His objectives have escaped. He was impressed that they had thought something like this and at the same time, frustrated that they kept him from accomplishing his mission.

He thought about going down the larger-than-normal manhole to follow his targets but then they might already be too far and the hole might be rigged for all he knew. Before he could decide, the loud hums of powerful engines reached his ears. The local army was here. The man hurriedly went outside with his fellow attackers and found the multiple armored vehicles parked outside the embassy with entire battalions of soldiers mobilizing about. Everything was still going according to the plan.

The minigunner revved up his weapon and pointed it at the newcomers but the man quickly placed a hand on the large weapon, a gesture calling for a halt. The brute relaxed and the man calmly walked towards the Armed Forces of the Philippines. A person in green officer clothes also made his way towards the man. The officer was a head shorter than the man and looked young with fair skin. “Ahh, the Elite Crew. I trust you have apprehended the monster invaders?” The officer asked to which the man shook his head. “Mmm, I see. Well that’s too bad. Nevertheless, the liberation begins.” The officer said before motioning a soldier to get him something. Soon, a soldier arrived to hand the officer a megaphone.

Standing on top of a tank, the officer began his speech and declaration. “Aking mga kapatid! Aking mga taong kapatid!” Soldiers lined up to listen to the high-ranking officer while the man merely stood vigilantly by the tank. “Tayo’y nilusob ng mga masasamang halimaw! Hindi ng mga sakim na Espanyol, hindi ng mga abusadong Amerikano, hindi ng mga malulupit na Hapon! Pero ng mga halimaw ng ating mga alamat at kuwento! Ang mga halimaw na wala ginawa kundi mangaso at pumatay ng ating mga kababayan!” The officer took a softer tone. “Akala natin hindi sila totoo, mga kuwento lang ng ating mga lolo’t lola para takutin ang mga kabataan. Pero hindi. Totoo sila. Totoo ang mga katha-katha ng ating mga ninuno. At ano ang ginawa ng gobyerno natin?” The officer returned his loud tone. |Sa halip na gawin tayong ligtas sa mga halimaw na ito, yinakap nila ang mga aswang! Nagpakaputa sila sa mga halimaw kasama ang iba nating mga kababayan!”

“Pero hindi tayo. Hindi tayo na alam ang totoo. Dahil doon, nasa sa atin para palayain ang ating bansa sa mga halimaw na ito! Nasa sa atin para gawin nating ligtas ang mga anak natin! Nasa sa atin para gawing dalisay ang ating lupa at dugo!” After the last word, the soldiers cheered. “Aking mga kapatid! Aking mga taong kapatid! Halika at ibalik sa ating kamay ang ating kabiserang Manila!” The soldiers cheered once more before moving out with captains and lieutenants giving out orders as the battalions mobilized against their own country.

The man could not understand the entire speech but he knew enough that the officer believed that the monsters were hunters of men and called out the current government for whoring themselves to the monsters and that they were going to liberate the Philippines and make it safe against the non-human intruders. He watched the officer he knew as General Neil Calderon hop down from the tank and approach him. “Most of the government officials may still be holed up in the Palace. Take as much of my men as you need and capture them though you are free to use deadly force if you like.” General Neil ordered. “However, I want the Elite Crew inside Quezon City. We must take the place if we want to cause as much disruption and morale loss in our enemy as possible.”

The man nodded. His time in the Pearl of the Orient was going to be long and loud.

June 21, 20XX
9:34 a.m.


I woke up only to see a dim red light shining on my face. Putting up a hand, my grogginess slowly dissipated away as I became more aware of my surroundings. I seem to be inside a small compartment with three other men in black military gear. One was asleep and seemed to be an African-American with a well-built body, a pair of glasses and a black do-rag. One looked Chinese with pure white skin wearing a black beret, staring at nothing while listening to what I believe is music with the earphones on his ears. The last one was… wearing a round, yellow mask with a smile drawn on the mouth and two holes cut out for the eyes to see. He was busy with his phone.

My brain then functioned enough to provide me the context of the situation. This little unemployed boy named Iyasu volunteered to serve in the United Nations Security and Transport of Extraspecies from Risk or U.N.S.T.E.R. or for the even shorter version: S.T.E.R. They’re basically an international version of my home country’s Cultural Exchange Security Squad.

This branch of the U.N. was founded to protect the recently-introduced extraspecies from deadly human action since the The Global Backlash. Some people thought this was an overreaction to a clearly immature reaction and was a waste of resources and that the death threats, genocidal ones at that, were as empty as outer space. However, yesterday’s events proved otherwise and showed that some humans in the world were willing to take their hatred and fear of the monsters to the next level. Still, the coup here in the Philippines was viewed as small and likely not to influence the bigger parts of the world. That seemed naïve but I hoped they were right.

The compartment I’m inside, I recalled, was an APC taking me and the three men to Quezon City to help and treat the wounded coming from Manila. The fighting in Manila was still going and the part of the army that was still loyal to the government was fighting tooth and nail to put down the so-called ‘revolt’. It seemed a little more than a ‘revolt’ to me but whatever it was, it was clear that armed Filipinos was going toe-to-toe with armed Filipinos with unarmed Filipinos undoubtedly caught in the middle. It was a civil war in all senses of the words.

The vehicle I’m in stopped and the door popped open, letting the bright sunlight in. “Norm, Norm wake up. We’re here.” The Chinese man woke up the black man. The three then got up and disembarked the vehicle with me following suit. It had just occurred to me that these men were wearing different uniforms than me. I wonder who they were. “Holy crap Ty, you look like hammered s***!” I heard the black guy say. Once I got out, I saw them talking to another black person of similar uniform but he looked like he had just been into the war zone but he still looked more mature than the others. “Looks don’t count for s*** in the jungle. This is the ‘Pines baby! Naw, I’m just kidding…”

I found that I was in front of a University. Its entrance looked grand so I assumed it was quite the prestigious academy. However, what entered the place were not students but soldiers, some of whom were probably former students. I volunteered to help treat wounded from Manila, the first casualties of the war, but I was not exactly sure where to begin. It was then someone else made that decision for me.

“Hey, can you drive?” The smiley-masked soldier patted me in the shoulder.
“Umm… yeah.” I responded.
“Get in the jeep then.” He motioned at an open military jeep.
“Y-Yes sir!”

I got on the vehicle’s driver seat as the masked man sat on the shotgun beside me. The three other men embarked behind. “I’ll point out where we’re going.” The smiley-masked man said. “Be careful, it’s rather busy around here I expect.”

With the key already in the ignition, I turned on the engine and began driving. Heading inside, I saw that the campus was huge and looked like every square of it was being used for U.N. operations. There were people running around. People carrying stuff. People driving trucks or jeeps. And people just sitting around, relaxing or chatting with each other. It seemed the war was so far away judging from the atmosphere. I have a feeling some of these people wanted things to be that way.

It was then the three men started talking. “So what’s up Ty? What mess you and Larry has gotten us into this time?”
“I’m sure Larry already told you we’re U.N. now. But as for the details, our current job is to assist S.T.E.R. They’re the people responsible for getting the Extraspecies out of places like these.”
“Does the UN really need our help? I mean, I’m not complaining for a 4 mil payment but don’t they got the U.S. to help ‘em out for this kind of stuff?”
“As y’all know, the U.S. has recalled most of its troops back home with everyone wondering why. The U.N. boys told me that maybe they’re fearing a civil war over the Extraspecies and is going to need every soldier they have in U.S. soil.”
“But didn’t the U.S. Congress already pass the Act?”
“They had but the increasing backlash and bulls*** that came after it made them reconsider enforcing it. Unfortunately, the destabilization has gone too far and the U.S. government is trying to get their country under control.”
“Damn…”

So that’s what’s happening in the United States. I was wondering why there was very little activity from the world’s top superpower in a crisis like this. “So who’s backing us up then?” I realize too late that I may be butting in an important conversation. “I-I’m--”
“Some of the European and some of the Asian nations.” The one called Ty answered. He, nor any of them really, seemed to mind my sudden intrusion. “Who’s this guy?” Spoke too soon.
“He was riding with us on the way here.” The person beside me replied. “Looks S.T.E.R. to me.” By that he meant I was wearing the uniform S.T.E.R. issued me: A beige flak jacket over black shirt with black cargo pants. The helmet I wore was also beige in color. I just realized that our uniforms look a lot like the uniforms the M.O.N. uses from back home.

Ty chuckled. “How’d you get a S.T.E.R. soldier drive us, Larry?”
“Guess he’s green.” Larry, the smiley-masked man beside me, replied. “Hey, is this your first day?”
“Uh… yeah.” I answered as I continued to drive. “I’m-I’m a volunteer for medical work.”
“You know how to deal with Extraspecies injuries?” Larry asked.
“N-no.”
“Well you’re in luck then. There’s two who know how in this very jeep.” Larry said.
“Really? Who?”
“That’d be me and the guy beside you.” The black guy known as Norm spoke up. “Hey, what’s your name kid?”

“I-I’m Iyasu.” I introduced myself. “Iyasu Majima.”
“Iyasu? Are you Japanese?” The one I assume to be the Chinese guy asked. I assumed since my eyes were on the road, slowing and stopping amidst the busy base.
“Umm… yes.”
“Cool.” He responded. “I’m Kyle. Kyle Ang. We’re probably not visiting your country anytime soon.” A brief chuckle was my agreement. Japan was one of the countries who welcomed the Cultural Exchange thing so he was probably right.

“Park it over there.” Larry pointed. I stopped the jeep in front of a large building, undoubtedly the headquarters judging from the numerous people coming in and out of it. “Go talk to a General or a Commander or something.” Larry told me as his mates got out of the vehicle. “If you can’t, come find us. We can certainly use a hand or two.”
As he disembarked, I asked him one final question. “Who are you guys?”
“We’ll tell you later, ki--”

*BOOM*

He did not finish his sentence when the building suddenly exploded. Me and the others quickly ducked and covered but fortunately, only dust came down on us. “What was that?!” I yelled. I knew Quezon was near the battlefield but I didn’t know this place was gonna get hit. I started thinking what was in store for me now. Am I going to be working while under fire from bullets and artillery? What am I gonna do if I encounter a rebel? My family is pretty tough but I’m pretty damn sure we’re not tough enough to stop bullets.

“THEY’RE ATTACKING!” I hear someone yell really, really, loud. “THE REBELS ARE HERE!”

And then a more calm voice spoke from the speakers scattered across the campus. “ALL UNITS WE ARE UNDER ATTACK. I REPEAT, WE ARE UNDER ATTACK. THIS IS NOT A DRILL.” The announcement then repeated over and over.

“Larry!” I heard Ty yell. “We gotta get inside and get in touch with the commander! You too, Iyasu!”

And so, the four of us frantically went inside the building and jogged our way to, what I assume is, the commander’s office. All the while as explosions from somewhere slightly shook the building and people ran back and forth. There was no way I could know what exactly was happening but I know that I had to stick with these four guys I had the pleasure to drive for.

“You guys aren’t S.T.E.R. Who are you guys?” I repeated my question from earlier.
Larry answered. “We’re the Bad Boys. We’re a mercenary group. Currently hired by the United Nations for added manpower and for…” He stopped for a moment as if he realized something. “…uhh, other reasons.” Did… did he just hide something from me? I guess there was another reason why the United Nations hired these ‘Bad Boys’ and I have a feeling this reason was more important.

No time to pry as we reached the office with Ty just barging in. “Hey commander, I take it we’re not singing karaoke with the refugees anymore.”

“No, Ty, you’re not.” The commander Ty ‘talked’ to looked like a man in his late thirties and he was… Japanese? His stern, bespectacled face was clean from any facial hair and his hair was properly combed to a side. I was pretty sure he was S.T.E.R. but he wore a blue uniform instead of the regular one. “You will be evacuating them. And protecting them while you’re doing that.” He then turned to a window. “Along with any non-UN personnel. As much as you can anyway.” He added before returning his gaze to us. “Who’s this guy?” He asked while looking at me. Should be obvious who he was talking about.

“He’s Iyasu Majima, a volunteer from Japan.” Ty answered. “You know, like you.”

The commander nodded. “Welcome to the Philippines, Majima.” He greeted me in our language.

I nodded, acknowledging the greeting. It was supposed to be a proper bow but considering the situation… “Well, we ain’t getting the girls out standing out here. Let’s go!” I followed the Bad Boys out of the office with Ty briefing as we went. “We’re loading the refugees in trucks and taking them to the coast to be shipped to Palawan. From there they can either head to Vietnam, Malaysia or China. The monster gals will probably go to China and then to Japan.” He told the entire scenario before issuing the orders. “Larry, Norm, I want you two to help the evacuation and handle any rebbie that gets too close. Kyle, you’re with me, we’re rejoining the others to hold any positions that can be used against the evacuation.”

Then we made it outside. A moment ago, the place was relaxed. People were dashing off sure but the place was at ease earlier. Now, people were dashing everywhere. Some were on the ground with someone tending to them. There was a tent burning. There was smoke coming up from an area. I saw a small crater also emitting smoke. I hear the whirring sound of something incoming. The sky was becoming darker. I was in the heat of a war and my mind was working to keep me calm and not fall apart.

“Hey.” Larry called to me and broke me from my trance. “Just stick with us and you’ll be all right. But…” He then handed me a pistol. “Here’s something when that’s not enough. You do know how to use this right?”

This was going to be a long day.