:Alive: First Warning [IC/Not Accepting] [Pg-16]

[Yosuke-kun]

Riku couldn't help but marvel at the healing that Luna had managed to produce. It was incredibly fortunate that they had someone with that kind of ability with them, but even so he thought it may be in their best interest to pick up medicine somewhere along the way. Once she was finished, Riku thanks her and stood carefully. To his surprise he felt no pain in his leg as he'd expected. If Luna's Perfect Bloom worked this well then Riku might end up being healed by it more than he really needed. 

 

 "What did I miss here and where is the rest of the group?"

 

Amaris had come down now, with a look of confusion on his face as he surveyed the surrounding area. Earlier, Riku had the time to see Amaris chase after the voice that had called for help just before he was dragged out the window. If he'd been so focused on that person that he'd completely miss the other events, then well, Riku was hesitant to ask who they were.

 

"Well, some of those Majin attacked us. I think we're okay for now though, so that's a relief." 

 

Something else pulled at Riku while he was talking to Amaris. The two of them were the only Japanese people there, so a part of him felt somewhat more comfortable with Amaris than he did with the others. On the other hand though, Riku wasn't fully Japanese. He didn't seem like the type, but Amaris might be the same as the other people that scorned him and his parents for their mixed family. 

 

I guess it doesn't matter now. Not like race is important here anymore.

 

Choosing his words carefully, Riku looked towards Amaris and asked "So, I'm guessing you noticed, but that person had a Tokyo accent like us. Was it... someone you might have known?"

Before he got his answer however, Leroy had begun flying the pale gothic girl, Destiny she said her name was, about. It may have been bad of him, but this was the first time he'd really payed attention to Des. It didn't make him feel better knowing that he was paying attention now because the flight she was going through was doing wonderful things with her bosom. Slightly embarrassed, Riku looked away towards the other two girls.

 

"Now see how your fayth is all dark and forebodin'?  Mine's all about lifting people up!".... "Now don't get any funny ideas fellas, this trick's only for the ladies!"

 

At that Riku smiled. Regardless of the reason why, it was heartening to know that they had somebody like that with them in this hellish future. The flying kangaroo as the red haired girl called him earlier had even managed to lift Christina up enough to reveal her name and make a joke with Luna. That kind of power was special, and something that Riku had admired in people as something that he felt he lacked. He walked out to the others and looked about, as they all seemed to be in good spirits now.

 

Then Christina began to talk more after summoning what Riku assumed was her Fayth. Either that or her hands had spontaneously exploded as gauntlets appeared. She seemed somewhat nervous about what she was saying, and rightly so too. They were still strangers after all. Even so, she was taking charge of things, and assuming the role of a leader, and Riku wasn't about to protest. 

 

"Oh, uhhhhhhh, who's... with me?"

 

Once she'd concluded her speech, Riku clapped lightly. It was just the rallying call they needed to advance in this world. The summoning of her Fayth had helped to give a nice touch to it as well. So, Riku was sold.

 

"I'm with you. And you know Leroy's right Christina. Those metal sheets might still come in handy." he said as he picked one up and placed it near the car. "I doubt it will stop the Majin, but it may slow them down even if it's only for a few seconds, and we can use them to armor the car too. And they may help hide us while we rest too if we set them up right. I mean, it's just a thought but there's no sense in throwing out things we can use like this. Sooo we going for a road trip?"

 

Once he finished he looked into the window where he was dragged out of to see the elegant girl who'd yet to give her name or really interact with the others looking out at them. No point in any of them remaining loners here, so Riku called out to her.

 

"Hey, come on down! We're gonna go take a tour of the apocalypse!"

Soon after, he heard a loud roar from somewhere in the city. For a moment he wondered if he should be ready to fight, but the sound came from quite a ways off, so it didn't seem to pose any immediate threat to them. No point in worrying about what might never happen.

[Admiral_Stalfos19]

"Oi...stop that dreaded nonsense!  No need for sadness here, we've got each other to keep spirits up!" Des looked up to see who it was that said this... only to return her head back down to her knees where it was previously buried, and this time look slightly over to the left.
 
"I've been down all my life," said a continually dreary Des, "You really think someone like me could possibleeeeEEEEEEEEEK!!"
 
She screamed at that last part as Leroy grabbed Des by the arms without warning, and soared into the air with her in tow. Initially she was still in shock that she was picked up like that in the first place. But after the first lap around the broken down office building that the party had been using as a hideout, something else had begun affecting Des entirely. A warm feeling had seeped through the cracks in her heart and slowly enveloped what was once hollow inside. Eventually, Des began to wrap her arms around Leroy's shoulders, pushing her breasts up against his chest as affection took over.
 
After a few more laps around the building in mid-air, Leroy finally planted Des back down where she was, and in turn, Des wiped away the last few tears she was emitting, and picking up Thanatos from where she left it. At this point, Riku had stepped out with a smile on his face, and as for the other two...

"Don't try to flirt with me, floaty!"

"Yeah, no flirting, ya floaty!"
 
Des could only smirk at this, as it seemed the other two girls seemed to want nothing to do with Leroy's mentioning that the stunt he pulled with Des was a lady's only trick, though they said what they did in a joking manner.
 
"Well good for you two... cause this is my flirting floaty," Des had hugged Leroy from behind as she said this. She had to admit that she needed to be around someone with such a positive nature as Leroy's. After all, it was thanks to him that Des was in high spirits for the first time in her entire life.
 
Then Christina began to rally the others
 
"So, we just have to survive right? I say, we don't wait for these Majin dudes to come to us. This is a war of attrition, ain't it?  I think we should take these uh, Fayth we've got now, and we go to them. They flipped our worlds upside down.  They took away people and things that were precious to us.  So we should pay back the favor. We should track them down, one by one.  And crush 'em. Oh, uhhhhhhh, Who's. . .with me?"

 

"Eh, what the hell," Des said as she shrugged her shoulders, "If any one of us is gonna die here, I'd rather that we go down fighting."

[Dad]

Christina

 

Riku had recovered now, and quite quickly thanks to Luna's handy work.  He had applauded her little rant, to which Christina found a little odd, as she wasn't expecting it.  Still, she was grateful.  In the brief time she was gone, no one managed to get severely hurt, and it looked like everyone's spirits had been picking up.  And now, with Destiny suddenly crushing on Leroy, things seemed to have found a very sudden normality.  

 

 

"I'm with you. And you know Leroy's right Christina. Those metal sheets might still come in handy." 

 

Christina watched as Riku moved one of the sheets back over to the car.

 

 "I doubt it will stop the Majin, but it may slow them down even if it's only for a few seconds, and we can use them to armor the car too. And they may help hide us while we rest too if we set them up right. I mean, it's just a thought but there's no sense in throwing out things we can use like this."

 

He was right.  It still served a purpose in the end, those metal sheets.

 

"Sooo we going for a road trip?"

 

Christina chuckled to herself.  "I dunno about a road trip, but I'm down to fix up this car," she said walking over to the SUV.  Perhaps they could--perhaps?  No.  They definitely could find parts for the vehicle as they traveled.  "If we're gonna do anything with it, I could use one or two of you guys to go with me.  Maybe we do a little shopping.  Pick up some car parts, medicine, food, whatever man," she said leaning against the SUV now.  "We hunt supplies, and meet back here.  And then, maybe after, we can uh, do a little remodeling on this thing."  In that brief amount of time between Riku mentioning a road trip, and Christina leaning on the SUV, she had come up with several ideas on how to better make use of this SUV.  It was heavy, and could serve, possibly, as a mobile safe house.  With some thick armor plating, stronger lighting, and a stroke of luck, they could super charge it.

 

"Hey, come on down! We're gonna go take a tour of the apocalypse!"

 

Riku suddenly called out to a girl higher up, still in the building.  Christina hadn't seen her before she took off.  Christina nodded at the girl in the window as well, urging her to join the rest of the survivors as they began to plan out their adventure.  "I guess we should make the most out of--"

 

But before Christina could finish, there was a powerful, guttural roar far off in the distance.  And it sent a shock through her system.  "What.  The hell.  Was that?"  she asked slowly.  In truth, she didn't want to know.  Whatever it was, it was probably big, and nasty.  Christina shook her head, trying to quickly take her mind off of it.

[Mr. Hyde]

Leroy smiled.  Christina was it?  He finally got the name out of her.  That was good...now all of them had the info they needed to get to know each other better...save for the girl still keeping herself at bay, on a higher floor of the building.  She must not be as used to this as all of them had come to be.  

 

He heard the rest of the group poke fun at him for flirting with Des, giving him the newer nickname "Floaty".  

 

"Well i guess it's better than flyin' kangaroo or winged wallaby that's for sure!"  He said with a laugh coming through his smile.   

 

"Well good for you two... cause this is my flirting floaty!"  A hug from behind caught Leroy by surprise.  Des, the girl who wore close as dark as the sky above them, had suddenly called Leroy her floaty.  He became flustered!  He knew he had lifted her spirits, but not to this degree...he was glad, and also a little embarrassed.  

 

"I like it...floaty's nice...cute even..." he said scratching his cheek.  It wasn't before long that Christina had given a speech about taking the fight to the monsters and scavenging the town in search of materials, and other necessary objects.  "Oi!  That idea sounds too right!  I've always been a little passive, but these buggas don't play nice, so why should we!  I'm with you all!  I hope the rest are as we-..."  Leroy's stomach growled loudly, enough to rival the distant roar in the background.  He sighed.  "How are we evah gonna find a place to sleep in a world like this...hmph...so much noise..."  He started pouting, Des still clinged to his waist.  

[Cosmo.]

Des from behind hugged Leroy and said: "Well good for you two... cause this is my flirting floaty!"

"I ship that already, what should the ship be called... Desroy! Or maybe Lestiny! You choose!" Luna jokingly said

 

Christina then made a speech about finding food and stuff.

"I could help gathering food! I always liked helping with the shopping when i was little!"

As she said that she could hear a loud and distant scream coming from the other part of town.

"Oh, yeah... i said helping with the food, yeah, no...."

And also Leroy's stomach was screaming too, so Luna thrown the apple at him, hoping to calm that growling beast inside of him.

 

"Yeah, about that scream, whatever it was, it doesn't seem nice, and i think he's coming for us......"

[Super Chaos Sonic]

"Well, some of those Majin attacked us. I think we're okay for now though, so that's a relief."

 

Amaris rubbed the back of his head, sighing when he heard this. He felt that if he wasn't so wrapped up with that Lying Ripper, he might've been able to help out with the others. "I see...I'm really sorry about running off like that." he said, only to hear Riku once again speak.

 

"So, I'm guessing you noticed, but that person had a Tokyo accent like us. Was it... someone you might have known?"

 

Silence befell the young Japanese man, as he sighed and ran a hand through his hair some. "The voice...was of someone I knew, yes. I thought...it was a woman I had fallen for." he said as he put his hands in his pockets slowly. "Ya see...just before I ended up in this ruined city...that night I was planning to propose to her. However...Asa, the woman, said we couldn't be together because of her family. I...I thought she was here and was in danger." Amaris sighed as he pulled out his phone and pulled up the Beastiary list, showing Riku. "It was nothing but one of those damned creatures...Yuel called them Lying Rippers..."

 

Amaris finished talking with Riku for the time being as he saw the rest of the group slowly reassemble. At this point, Christina began her very 'fiery' and passionate speech, which made him smile. It reminded him of those huge anime speeches he had heard countless times...and he was pretty sure Riku heard about them too.

 

Nevertheless, it seemed that the group was getting fired up from this as well, and were in one accord with taking on this hellish world. They began to prep the SUV that Christina had come across as well as prepare for their journey...however...that came to a halt as they heard a loud roar in the distance.

 

"What.  The hell.  Was that?"

 

"I propose we don't wait to find out..." Amaris quickly tossed in, as he looked to the direction in where the roar came from.

[a bad post]

Mia watched passively from his window as the others killed off the last of the creatures. Several times he had tried to summon that Fayth thing, as Yuel had called it, but to no avail. Perhaps it was because he didn't have enough "faith" that it would appear, or maybe he just couldn't summon one. That was always a possibility of course, though if he didn't Yuel probably wouldn't have told him to summon it. What did she know though, she was simply a piece of data on a phone application.

 

"Hey, come on down! We're gonna go take a tour of the apocalypse!" 

 

The shout from below brought Mia back to reality, letting out a small gasp as he realized he'd been day dreaming. Mia had to admit the boy from the ground floor startled had startled her... him. Mia laughed silently to himself. For so long he had forced himself into the identity of his sister no he really was starting to become her. How long could he keep up this lie before he began to believe it himself.

 

As the others on the ground began to take notice of him up at the window Mia turned on his heel wordlessly descending until he reached the ground floor of the building. While he kept an outer aura of calm a million and one questions flew through his head. How was he supposed to hide his identity from these people. What would they think if they found out? They couldn't through him out right? All of them needed to stay alive from this "experiment" or whatever it was to work, so they couldn't just abandon him right. 

 

Mia wordlessly joined the group standing towards the outer edges of it, hoping nobody would bother him. He was still working on calming himself down when the piercing roar echoed throughout the area causing Mia to place his hands over his ears and shut his eyes tightly. He was still doing this even after the roar had subsided sinking to his knees, the only thought running through his head now was 'What kind of crazy, fucked up shit have I gotten mixed up in!'

[Dad]

Christina

 

At last, the final member of the crew had shown up.  She was frail looking thing, but at least she wasn't without new found companionship.  Christina looked around silently at first.  "Riku.  Destiny.  Leroy.  Luna.  Amaris.  And her," she thought.  There was a lot of variety here.  Though she still didn't know much about everyone's Fayths just yet.  The final girl was walking down the stairs when suddenly she collapsed to her knees at the sound of the monsterous roar, far from their location.  Even after it had subsided, the girl remained on her knees, with her hands over her ears, almost frozen in fear.  Christina walked calmly over to the girl, placing a comforting hand on her shoulder.  Christina placed a second hand on the opposite shoulder and stooped down to eye level with the frightened girl.  Even though her eyes were shut tight, Christina went on.

 

"Hey," she began simply.  "I'm not gonna ask you if you're okay.  Obviously you're not," she said bluntly.  "But this rag tag crew isn't going anywhere without every member of it.  If we're the last ones on this God forsaken rock, we can't leave you behind."  Christina embraced the girl with a hug, resting her head on one of her own hands.  "I know this ain't gonna be easy," she went on.  "But there's gotta be someway for you to pull through this."

 

Christina could understand the shock.  You've just been taken away from everyone you know and love.  Now you're stuck in the middle of the apocalypse with six strangers, a couple trillion demons, and a cellphone app you're probably gonna be charged for later.  This wasn't a shock.  It was devastating.  Christina could understand why this girl was so frightened.  She had no one to turn to.  Until now.

 

Christina raised her head off of her own hands and tried to slowly raise the girl's head to look her in the face.  "There's a lot out there that we don't know about.  We're gonna go through hell from here on out," she said still being as blunt as ever.  "But if there's one thing I can say we do have left, it's each other.  I mean, look at us!" she said laughing.  "We don't each other well, but we're all that we've got."  Christina stood up, letting go of the girl's chin.  "And we've got a lot to do.  So if that means I gotta carry you outta here, so be it.  But you're not gonna stay there by yourself."

 

Christina was determined to get this girl out of her emotional slump, and up and at 'em.  She was feeling good.  She was nervous, but she felt like a big sister.  She felt--URRRRRRRGOOOOOOOOOOOWRRRRRRRL.  

 

That  Was Christina's stomach.  She felt hungry.

 

"Hmm," she said holding on her waist.  "Maybe we should find lunch before we do anything else."

[Yosuke-kun]

As Christina's stomach growled, Riku suddenly became aware of how hungry he was as well. Hungry as he was though, that roar still bothered him quite a bit. Was it really safe to go hunt for food after they heard such an awful scream from across a destroyed hellscape? Of course the answer was no, but then there was really nothing that was safe for them to do here. They may as well go get something to eat before making a perilous trek to god knows where. So, Riku pulled out his phone and opened the :Alive: app.

"Yuel, is there anywhere nearby where we can get some food?" he asked, hoping that whatever her answer was a fully stocked convenience store down the street

"There's a grocery store not far north from you guys, but be careful, the area around it is crawling with Majin."

 

"Thanks Yuel." Riku said as he looked at the others then put his phone into his pocket. "Well, it's worth a shot right? Either way, I get the feeling that staying here is bad idea.

Without much more than that he climbed into the back of the SUV and pulled on the seat belt. The events around him started to make him think about what he'd been doing with his entire life. He'd went through high school, failed in his only relationship and lost his two best friends because of it, and he entered into college without really knowing why or what he wanted to do. What was more, he'd never even done anything significant in his life. He was always just... sorta there while other people did things. Was he really the right person for this kind of mission? Would he really be able to help anyone? Much less the human race?

 

Apparently his thoughts had been noticed though, as he turned to see Luna uncomfortably close to him and looking at him carefully in the eyes.

"Umm may I help you with something?"

[Admiral_Stalfos19]

Destiny had stopped hugging Leroy the moment the roar could be heard in the distance... unmistakably Majin in origin. She was prepared to move out, but then a series of stomach growls had made her reconsider. First was Leroy's, and then Christina's which was louder for some reason... and then the last one belonged to Des herself. However, this one was quieter than the other two, as Des was used to going without food for an entire day at a time. She could do a lot of things on an empty stomach as a result... but fighting wasn't one of them, least of all if fighting competently was all that separated life from death.

 

And then Riku asked where there was some food, to which Yuel answered that there was a nearby grocery store... with Majin roaming around nearby. However, as the rest of the party entered the SUV, Des stayed behind momentarily... only to contact Yuel herself.

 

"Going to a grocery store guarded by Majin, are you mad?" she asked.

 

"I'm sorry, but the Majin are everywhere; you're just gonna have to be careful," replied Yuel, pausing momentarily, "You're scared, aren't you?"

 

"What?! NO!!" Des retorted in a dynamic manner, before she realized the fear in the back of her mind, "...quite. I... I'm only fighting because I can't run."

 

"I see," Yuel said in a pondering tone, "Don't worry Des; the others will have your back if you need them to."

 

With that said to her, Des closed the :Alive: Survival app before walking towards the SUV, this time coming up from the driver's side. She specifically remembered that that door in particular had been ripped clean off prior to her finding Christina, so the driver would be the most vulnerable to attack.

 

"Hey, Christina; I'd rather that I drive this time," Des stated, "If push comes to shove, I could probably use this wide open space that you hadn't minded at all better,"

[Mr. Hyde]

Leroy grabbed the apple thrown by Luna.  

 

"Meh...I'm not such a big fruit guy, but beggas can't be choosers!  Thanks Luna!"  He took a bite straight to the core.  It was juicy, and tasted unlike any apple he had had before.  Everyone in the group must've been hungry as well, he could hear Christina and Des' stomachs growl almost as loud as his.  

 

It was then that Riku's Yuel told them of a grocery market nearby.  Too bad the place was swarming with those bastard Majins.  

 

"They probably aren't as tough as you Leroy...after all, you are quite hungry.  The probability of you dying on this mission are practically null!"  

 

"Thanks Yuel...thats a real confidence boostah.  Nonetheless, i'm pretty much game for the idea!  If a majin decides to give us a scare, we'll blast 'em halfway to the moon!"  Leroy jumped into the trunk.  It was his favorite part of a car to be in.  So spacey!  

 

"Why don't you just fly Leroy?"  Yuel questioned.  

 

"Aye...flyin has it's perks, but i don't wanna desensitize my self to it just yet...besides, I wanna hang out with my pals in the car!  Problem?"  He didn't give Yuel the chance to reply as he closed the app.  Des was petitioning the finder of the car to drive, but why would she volunteer to drive on when the door is non-existent.  "I don't care who's drivin'!  Just get us there safe!  All of us!"  He flashed Des a wink.  

[Cosmo.]

Yuel informed everyone about a grocery store near her, but probably filled with Maijins. Everyone was jumping into the SUV.

 

Luna missed home, right now she wanted just to be under her blanket, reading a book while drinking tea or hot chocolate, or maybe cuddle with her dad. But she cared about these people, she didn't want them to die and food is what was needed right now.

 

As she was thinking though, Luna was staring without even thinking at the void, or in this case at Riku which was right in front of her.

"Umm may I help you with something?" As Riku asked that, Luna realized her terrible mistake.

"Uhh, nothing, sorry, i was just thinking.... Yeah, i'll go now....." She was blushing so much while she said that, and quickly sat in the back of the car.

 

"Anyway, If the Maijins attack us, i'll try to shoot them with my bow, it's one of the only ranged Fayths we have. So if everyone's ready, fasten your seatbelts because we're going shopping!"

[Dad]

Christina

 

Riku was first to be on board with the idea, questioning Yuel about a grocery store.  Conveniently, there was one not far from their location.  But as Yuel said, it was likely filled with Majin.  Christina was about to jump into the driver's seat when Destiny threw her for a loop.

 

"Hey, Christina; I'd rather that I drive this time," Des stated, "If push comes to shove, I could probably use this wide open space that you hadn't minded at all better,"

 

Christina paused, but she was okay with this.  "Sounds good," she said surprisingly.  She tossed the keys to Destiny, and watched the others pile in.  Leroy went for the trunk, and Luna and Riku ended up next to each other in the backseat.  That left room for herself, Amaris, and the other young lady who's name they still did not have.  But being the impatient person that she is, Christina called out, "Shotgun," as she walked around to the other side of the SUV.  "This way, if we end up crossing some nasties, I can get in out of the car without you having to pull over, Destiny," she said quickly.  Christina figured, at best, if any Majin showed up on the road she would be able to crack open the passenger door and do one of several things:  dive out, climb onto the roof of the vehicle, or climb onto the hood.  Dangerous, sure.  But it wasn't something she hadn't done before.  Things were more dangerous at her dad's old gym, compared to being on these roads.  She wasn't concerned about her own safety.  She was concerned about the safety of the others.

 

Now that she had actually known about her Fayth, Christina was looking forward to a fight.  She was prepared to take on the next Lurking Gluttony, and beat it to a pulp.  Though she knew she should be wary, still she would venture someplace scary.  Not knowing what else lie out there waiting for them.   As she hopped into the passenger's seat next to Destiny, she looked back to Luna and Riku.  A sly grin crossed her face, as she wondered if they had become interested in one another as quickly as Destiny did to Leroy.  "Seatbelts kids," she joked.  Christina kicked her feet up onto the dashboard, waiting for the last of the passengers to pile in. 

[Super Chaos Sonic]

It seemed their path had been set...and everyone was piling into the SUV. Amaris hopped in after the others, somehow getting stuck with the back, but then again, Christina, the girl with the fiery fists called shotgun. Was probably best not to mess around with her.

 

"Anyway, If the Maijins attack us, i'll try to shoot them with my bow, it's one of the only ranged Fayths we have. So if everyone's ready, fasten your seatbelts because we're going shopping!"

 

Amaris noticed Luna here in the back and heard how her Fayth was apparently a bow. And the only ranged weapon they had. "Actually ma'am...I have a somewhat ranged Fayth as well. As long as I keep it in one style, Mangetsu, I'll be able to use Sotsuki as weapons I can throw." he said with a smile. "If anything, I'll have your back."

[Yosuke-kun]

"Oh yeah, no problem Luna." Riku said as the young girl looked away blushing lightly. Well that was kinda strange, but Riku supposed that it was understandable. He'd been lost in thought mere seconds before he noticed her anyways. It had only just occurred to him that he'd never thanked her for healing his leg before. Especially in such an impressive way too. As the girl looked away, Riku reached over and tapped Luna lightly on the shoulder.

"I forgot to thank you for earlier. My leg doesn't even hurt anymore thanks to you." he said putting a sincere smile on his face

 

With the group piled into the vehicle, the SUV began to move towards the location Yuel had specified. Riku hoped that what Yuel had told them about the amount of Majin there was exaggerated, even if only a little. The group may have made it through their last battle, but there were no guarantees they'd make it through the next one or that they'd manage to even make it  to the next one. Especially if one of them got sick and they couldn't get medicine for them until it was too late. That was something they'd have to keep in mind once they got to the grocery store. Grab any medicine that might be left over.

 

So far they'd run into very few Majin on the path over, but several times they'd heard the same echoing roar break through the buildings across the ruined city. It didn't sound as if it were any closer, but at the same time it wasn't moving farther away either. What kind of horrid beast could have made such a bloodcurdling cry? Even in this new world that Riku found himself in, he was certain he couldn't imagine the beast that they were coming up on. Attempting to put his thoughts on something more peaceful, Riku closed his eyes and allowed himself to doze off slightly.

 

Riku had hoped that when he woke up he'd be back in his room on his bed, but as he'd found out, that was not the case. He hadn't even had the fortune enough to have a decent dream either. At least, before it might have been nice, but now not so much. Any dream involving his ex-girlfriend Chigusa these days usually ended with the image of her and Yusuke interlocked in a vulgar display of affection. Due to that, Riku's previously small optimistic outlook on things had become dim and forlorn.

 

On the bright side though, Yuel's information about the grocery store had been correct to an extent. Riku's English definitely needed practice, but he was sure that the sign on the store read 'Stop n Shop'. It was more than the Stop n Shop though, they had found themselves in a wide open shopping plaza with several different stores lined up, including two Starbucks for some reason. Riku never understood that part of American business sense. Why put two Starbucks less than a mile away from each other?

 

Realizing that wasn't what was important, he stepped out of the car and let out a soft yawn as he looked around. There were no Majin in sight, but as they'd recently learned, that didn't mean the Majin weren't there. However, there were other stores around them that might hold useful supplies in them as well, including a pharmacy and a sporting goods store. Supply gathering aside, they still needed to work on armoring and repairing the SUV. There was also gas to consider too, which they could get from the auto shop just across the street. There were several jobs that needed doing, and only seven people to do them in just a short amount of time. They'd need someone to decide who does what, unless they could come to a unanimous decision.

 

"We might be able to get a few more useful things out of the other shops around here, right?" Riku said, again putting himself out there in the center of the attention. He'd felt awkward enough addressing the others the first time, but he'd now done it several times since. Swallowing any coyness he was still feeling with a small gulp, he continued. "I think that we should elect a leader to assign what each of us should do. At least for now."

 

Everyone's eyes were on him now, and Riku got the feeling they thought he was trying to claim leadership for himself. That wasn't what he wanted at all though, he didn't think he was even able to lead a horse to water. Besides, he could already think of two much better candidate who'd already unified their group fairly well, and one he'd thought tough enough to competently assign roles to each of them.

 

"I'm not saying me though, I'd probably just mess up somehow. If I had to choose anyone, I'd vote Christina. She seems the most capable for this. At least, I think so." With that RIku let out a small nervous sigh and looked around at the group, hoping they could come to a decision fast before any nearby Majin realized they were there.

[Admiral_Stalfos19]

Des was expecting Christina to maintain her stance as the designated driver, but sure enough, Christina had tossed Des the keys to the SUV instead... which she caught like a pro. After hopping in the driver's seat, Des started to do things that one should always do before setting off in any vehicle, only to find herself constantly adjusting the rear view mirror the slightest millimeter at a time. She never had to do it this much last time she took her driving test, however...

 

"This'd be much easier to get right if the steering wheel wasn't on the wrong side of the actual car," Des muttered to herself, making one final adjustment before putting on her seat belt, "Bugger it, that'll have to do..."

 

Then, Des started the car up and checked to see if everyone was inside. Herself? Obvious check. Christina? Check. Riku? Chech. Amaris? Check. Luna? Check. The forgettable andro? Check... she supposed. Leroy? After realizing that he seated himself in the trunk, Des turned to face him.

 

"The hell're you doing in the boot for?" asked Des, "That's the least safe place you could park your arse down, ya pillock,"

 

After rolling her eyes to whatever Leroy would've said in response, and maybe chuckling slightly as well, Des finally put the SUV into drive and began moving, although she set off considerably faster than most drivers would... and the first gear change was a little rough. But it smoothed out at the end. Whilst Des was driving along, Riku suggested electing a leader for the group... and immediately nominated Christina.

 

"Fair enough," Des replied, "I'd probably say the same thing..."

[Mr. Hyde]

Leroy hopped out of the trunk, carefully caressing his buttocks.  "Oi Des...you think you could've made that ride a little smoother?  Not that I'm dissin' your drivin' skills or anything, landscapes not what it used to be either...but nevertheless!  My poor rump is howlin' like a dingo!"

 

Above him was a strange sight.  The sky had become an even darker shade of rust.  The sun must've been setting on them, and soon it would be night time.  That was obviously not the time of day they really wanted to be in, and gathering supplies was not the last thing Leroy was planning on doing if he was going to kick the bucket any day now.  He forced optimism into himself to nag off those pessimistic views.  Of course they had to gather stuff, how else were they going to survive an entire year on Luna's apples.  Not to mention other supplies.  

 

Back to reality, Leroy thought that they'd be heading to a mini-mart of sorts, but this seemed more like an outside mall.  "Great...a mall...ya blokes ever heard of Dawn of the Dead?  Well this would be like a twenty times worse situation if we get into trouble!"  He grinded his teeth...this wasn't like him, he had to be the beacon of hope for these dreary folk.  

 

"I think that we should elect a leader to assign what each of us should do. At least for now."  Riku said suddenly, with uncertainty lurking in his voice.  His tone easily suggested that he wasn't the one for the job.  It was a sensible idea though, smart on the guy.  Two votes for Christina had been tallied up.  Leroy could think of no one better suited for such a task.

 

"Yeah yeah, let Red have it.  I'm more of a follower anyways, if I'd been put in charge, we would just slack off all day and Christina would kick my butt then to challenge me for the position...so to avoid all that nonsense, I nominate Red as well."  He checked out the sport outlet a few yards away.  "Oi, don't mind if i have a look in there do ya?  They've probably got all sorts of campin equipment and other tools for survivin'?  Of course I'd need an assistant, preferably a dreary Lolita type, who ain't so keen on drivin'!"  The thought of Des had brought pain to his rear end yet again.  

[Dad]

Christina

 

The car was packed, quickly.  The drive to the grocery was a bit tedious, and looking around made Christina realize how grim the situation was.  Even with Leroy's fantastic, lively, hopeful presence, the sight of New York brought a different kind of despair into Christina's eyes.  She stared into the empty sky, as various conversations went on in the car.  This wasn't a depressing despair.  It was one that made her angry, and uncertain.  Could they really do this?  Could these seven people possibly turn around the entire planet?  In a year's time?  That was unrealistic.  Impossible. Right?

 

She sighed, putting her head in her hands.  Her thoughts were distracted as the SUV came to a sudden stop.  They had arrived at the grocery, and a number of other stores surrounded them.  They weren't far apart, but in hindsight, this was extremely dangerous.  Spreading themselves thin could be bad, but staying together could take twice as long in searching for supplies.  Just as Christina was thinking this, the sun's orange glow began to settle, and streamed across her face.  It was getting late, and there was no telling what Majin would come out at night.  "Shit," she thought to herself, scrambling out of the SUV.  Just in time to stumble upon an awkward conversation as Riku, Destiny, and Leroy suddenly voted Christina as team leader.

 

"Yeah yeah, let Red have it.  I'm more of a follower anyways, if I'd been put in charge, we would just slack off all day and Christina would kick my butt then to challenge me for the position...so to avoid all that nonsense, I nominate Red as well."

 

She scratched her head, feeling a bit pressured and otherwise embarrassed.  "Well, that's not the kind of reputation I wanna have," she said jokingly.  "I'm all for it, if everyone is in agreement.  But I don't want this to become an issue.  I'm not here to be bossy.  We're in this together, right?" she said trying to rally herself.  

 

Taking a look around, there were several destinations, all of which were necessary as Christina identified them.  There was an auto shop, a sporting goods store, and a pharmacy in addition to the grocery.  Four destinations.  They would have to split up.  With that in mind, Leroy had already decided where he wanted to go, and who he wanted to take with him.

 

"Oi, don't mind if i have a look in there do ya?  They've probably got all sorts of campin equipment and other tools for survivin'?  Of course I'd need an assistant, preferably a dreary Lolita type, who ain't so keen on drivin'!"

 

Christina smiled.  "Good idea," she said painting a picture in her head.  There were four stores.  Ideally, with seven people, only one person would have to go alone.  Christina nominated herself for that task.  "Okay.  If no one else wants to lead this pack of pups, here's what we're gonna do," she said calling everyone to a huddle around the hood of the SUV.

 

"Three teams of two people.  Leroy, you partner up with Destiny.  Check out the sporting goods.  And while you're there, see if you can't find me a pair of rollerblades, would ya?  I've got an idea and I'm gonna need to be mobile outside of the SUV.  The most important things you could possibly find are flashlights, batteries, walkies, and knives.  But anything you can think of that would be important, grab it."  She turned to Riku and Luna next.

 

"Riku.  Take Luna and hit the grocery.  Don't bother picking up anything that isn't bagged or canned, because it'll end up going bad faster than we can find a means of storing it.  If you have to grab anything that might spoil, I'll cook it as soon as possible.  Just make sure you get plenty of water and non-perishables.  Fruits are fine too."  Now, she paired the last two members together.  Amaris and Mia seemed to be a decent team.

 

"Amaris, you take our remaining friend here and pick out the pharmacy.  I don't know much about prescription drugs, but if you identify anything and you know what it's for, pick it up.  Just make sure to grab splints, gauze, rubbing alcohol, and bandaging tape.  That way we can at least handle breaks and bleeding if worse comes to worse.

 

And if anyone needs me, I'll be in the auto shop just across the way.  I'm not gonna roll the SUV into it until I know it's safe.  We don't have a lot of time either," she said finally taking a breath.  She looked around to everyone, just to reassure them.  "And if anyone is in trouble, you're going to have two options:  win your battle with your partner, or  run.  But whatever you do, do not scream.  If anything crazy happens, get back to this spot and find a way to signal me." she said urgently.  Because it was so late, there was no telling what surrounded them in total darkness.  Screaming or yelling would give them away, so they had to remain quiet for as long as possible as not to draw more Majin to themselves.  "It's already late, so we'll meet back here, in this exact spot, in one hour.   Everybody got it?" she asked at last.

 

The plan was laid out before them.  Now it was only a matter of executing it.  Christina already knew what she was going to look for in the auto shop, and had a hopeful mindset that everything she needed would be in there.  But first it had to be empty.

 

"I'll see you guys soon," she said turning and heading off to the auto shop behind the SUV.  The sky was growing more dim by the minute.  Now, staring at the auto shop's broken doors and shattered glass, she felt a sense of nostalgia and anxiety.  And somewhere in the back of Christina's mind, something was coming.  She wasn't sure what it was, but something was coming.  For her.

[Cosmo.]

The trip in the SUV was quite short, and Christina was nominated the leader.

 

"Riku.  Take Luna and hit the grocery.  Don't bother picking up anything that isn't bagged or canned, because it'll end up going bad faster than we can find a means of storing it.  If you have to grab anything that might spoil, I'll cook it as soon as possible.  Just make sure you get plenty of water and non-perishables.  Fruits are fine too."

 

Luna was teamed up with Riku, she hoped that things wouldn't get much awkward.

"It's already late, so we'll meet back here, in this exact spot, in one hour.   Everybody got it?" 

"Got it! Now let's go!"

 

Luna got with Riku inside the grocery store, everything was calm and probably dusty. Luna went instantly to the canned food department, picking up some canned beans, canned pineapples, canned artichokes and some canned meat. She also found a few pans and cookware.

"Hey Riku, mind helping me with these?" Luna said indicating the water bottles.

 

Luna found a cloth bag, perfect for holding stuff, and if needed, temporary bandage or clothing patch. She returned outside, putting in the SUV the resources that she found.

Luna heard something, she wasn't sure what it was, but it was scary. "It must be my imagination, after all today i got sent into the future, got attacked by demons and stuff like that, it was probably just a dream...." She said it to calm herself but it didn't succeed, she still was scared.

 

She returned inside to help Riku and also to find more resources, the more the better.

She still wasn't calm, her heart kept beating, she knew that the noise from before wasn't her imagination, it was real and it was coming....

[Super Chaos Sonic]

Amaris, you take our remaining friend here and pick out the pharmacy.  I don't know much about prescription drugs, but if you identify anything and you know what it's for, pick it up.  Just make sure to grab splints, gauze, rubbing alcohol, and bandaging tape.  That way we can at least handle breaks and bleeding if worse comes to worse.

 

Amaris got out of the SUV just in time to hear this. Given the fact that the others were already in pairs, this left Amaris with one person: Michael. He turned his attention to the last member of the group and made his way towards him...or...her?

 

"I'm afraid we weren't formally introduced." Amaris smiled as he waved a hand some, before putting it in his pocket. "Amaris Ishida. I hope you'll have my back!"

 

The introduction was out of the way and the rest of the group was already in motion. Amaris took lead and headed towards the pharmacy, which was in shambles to say the least. Debris and fallen buildings everywhere around it, along with it seeming ransacked a few times.

 

"Really doesn't seem like there's a whole lot..." Amaris sighed as he rubbed the back of his head. "Anyway, see if you can find the gauze and the splints. I'll take a look for any bandages and rubbing alcohol, along with any other essentials."

[a bad post]

Mia opened his eyes hearing the muffled voice of the red-headed girl speaking to him. He only somewhat registered the fact that her hand was on his shoulder, though had he been paying attention he probably would have pulled away from the girl. He heard the girl's words, but his mind couldn't process what this girl was saying. All he could think of was how terrible everything was right. Even when the girl's stomach growled, something that normally would have made him laugh he found no humor in it. In fact he felt anger boil up inside hearing her laugh.

 

How could any of them find humor in their situation. They had to survive the fucking apocalypse for a whole year!? What did any of them find funny about that.

 

As the rest of their little ragtag group headed for the SUV the red-head had procured Mia walked wordlessly behind them sliding into the backseat next to one of the Japanese boys, not even giving him a sideways glance.  

 

Mia stared out the window of the car as he watched what was left of New York City fly by. In little time at all they arrived at what appeared to be a shopping centre. As he climbed out of the car the others in the group voted the red-head the leader of the group, though Mia couldn't care less who led them, so he continued to remain silent. 

 

The girl with the blessing of leader began assigning them roles as to what they would be grabbing. Mia found himself paired with the other Japanese boy who introduced himself as Amaris. 

 

Mia simply stared at his outstretched hand before turning on his heel and heading for the pharmacy. He said something as they walked inside, but Mia ignored him walking to the back of the store where he knew the prescription drugs would be. Pushing open the white door that led to the back room, Mia let it swing quite back closing behind him with a soft click. Grabbing one of the pharmacy's small shopping baskets Mia walked up and down the shelves looking carefully... a certain something.

 

Several minutes later, when Mia emerged from the back, there were three small boxes in the bottom of the box. He quickly moved to the shelves grabbing several pain killers, as well as few things some of them could take if they were to get sick, along with a few bottles of water they could use to send the pills down.

 

Done with his "shopping" Mia joined Amaris at the other end of the store, his basket filled to the brim water and medicine, though Amaris would probably notice the young man was struggling with the basket shifting awkwardly between each hand, as if he couldn't find a comfortable way to hold it.

 

"Ummm... I'm done..." Mia said though he never made eye contact with Amaris the whole time glancing around the pharmacy uncomfortably as to though avoid trying to look at the Japanese boy.

[Yosuke-kun]

Unsurprisingly the other members of the group all agreed with Riku about assigning leadership to Christina. It only made sense for her to be their leader, as she had already proven herself the most capable after she'd taken the initiative and brought back the SUV, as well as the speech that had brought the group together for the first time. Riku had already begun admiring her being able to keep her composure as well as she did the whole time through. A large part of Riku wished that he could be like that, but he knew that he didn't have that kind of potential. He didn't have the skill to move people the way that she did.

 

"Riku.  Take Luna and hit the grocery.  Don't bother picking up anything that isn't bagged or canned, because it'll end up going bad faster than we can find a means of storing it.  If you have to grab anything that might spoil, I'll cook it as soon as possible.  Just make sure you get plenty of water and non-perishables. Fruits are fine too. It's already late, so we'll meet back here, in this exact spot, in one hour.  Everybody got it?"

 

Alright. Riku was put on grocery acquisition with Luna. Of course he had no objections to what he gathered, but he was starting to feel iffy about whether or not anything would even be left; much less anything that they might be able to use. Most of it was probably ransacked by now, and anything that wasn't had likely expired ten years ago. Of course they had the best luck with canned food, but would it really last that long?

"Don't worry Riku!" Yuel chirped as he and Luna made their way to the grocery store. "There's plenty of foods that will stay edible for much longer than ten years that a lot of people wouldn't have even thought to grab. That and New York was reduced to this in only a couple months due to it's high population and powerful reputation at the time. So not many humans would have even been alive long enough to raid everything in there."

 

As Yuel spoke, Riku pulled the phone out and stared at the digital girl looking back, wondering at what point did she think that might make him feel better. After a couple seconds, Yuel blinked and seemed to understand what she did wrong as she began frantically waving her hands back and forth and put on a large awkward smile.

 

"I mean, they all fought well! And I'm sure nobody died painfully but... Sorry, I'm not helping am I?" 

 

Riku sighed as Yuel apologized and closed the app herself. In a way, he did appreciate what Yuel was trying to do; even if it was weird having a phone app try to cheer him up. Besides, it did kind of work. Riku had less doubts about them finding nothing in the store after Yuel had spoken.

 

Even though Yuel was right about the food supply, there still wasn't very much left in the ways of non-perishables. A few cans lined the shelves, as well as a number of water jugs, but not much past that. The interior was trashed as well, and smelt of rotted fruits and meats, as well as something more foul than those. The power had gone out years ago as well, so vision was severely limited for the two of them as they proceeded forwards. Old magazines and even a few spots of dryed blood splattered the grounds, and not far off, Riku could saw a small mound laying sprawled across the floor.

 

As the two of them ventured further inwards, Luna began to drift off to gather an assortment of canned goods, while Riku took upon himself to find something somewhat healthier for them to eat, as well as keep and eye peeled for Majin. Although the Stop-n-Shop seemed clear, there was no harm in being too cautious, especially now. From what he could tell they were clear, but Yuel had warned them that their were Majin in the area.

 

As Riku scanned the isles, he eventually found himself tripping slightly over the large mound that he'd seen when they'd entered. Something was off about it though. When the bottom of Riku's foot struck it, he thought that he felt his foot get caught underneath something rigid or bumpy, and heard an odd scraping, clattering sort of sound as the mound moved with his foot. After another seconds thought, curiosity got the better of Riku, and he bent down to examine what exactly he had tripped on. The dim lighting made it hard to make out, but he thought for a moment, the shape, there was something eerie about it. As he looked closer, he began to make out arms, legs, and soon found himself looking into the eyes of a human skull with a small hole in the dead center of it's forehead.

 

Riku gasped and fell back, then immediately began to feel sick, and was forced to cup his hand over his mouth to keep from vomiting all over the skeleton. Looking more closely, there was a large pool of dried blood near where the skeleton's head had been before Riku had moved when he tripped, as well as an even more grotesque pool of dried and crumbling gore, rot, feces, and dead skin around the rest of the body. The site was horrifying, not because it was the first real human remains Riku had seen in his life, but because Riku knew that this person had been killed not by a Majin, but by another human.

 

The more he had thought about it, the more he felt sick, until he felt he could no longer hold it in. Fortunately, Luna managed to jolt him away from the mess before him, as she called over and asked him for help getting a few water jugs from the shelves. Thankful for a reason to tear himself away from the skeleton, Riku scrambled to his feet and made a short jog over to Luna.

 

"Right... I'll take these." he said, as he pulled two gallons of water from the shelves. There were still a few more, but his hands were all full now, and he couldn't drop any of the water either. They'd likely need all of it. Looking around, Riku found the solution, as he set the water jugs down and ran over to one of the metal caged carriages. Before grabbing it, he thought momentarily about the noise it might make, and so gave it a few light pushes and pulls. To his delight, the noise it made was rather small, so long as he did not push too hard or fast. 

 

"This will probably come in handy. Right?" Riku said to Luna in a sort of joking manner as he walked back to the isle and loaded the cart with water. Finding he still had room in the cart after he'd taken the water, he'd begun walking the isles, until he reached the Asian section, which he was surprised to find was mostly untouched. After scanning the isle and questioning why it was in the state that it was, he pulled out his phone and opened up the :Alive: app.

"Yuel, how much of the food is still good in this section?" he asked as the pink haired sprite popped up on his screen. A moment later, a small light was emitted from Riku's phone that moved up and down the isle once each, then Yuel replied.

"Almost all of it. If I had to guess I'd say that most people ignored this isle due to an ethnic difference in the people who came here. In America, Asian cuisine was seen as something more of an exotic dish and less of survival food. In a way, it makes sense that they wouldn't look here with that in mind. Even so, a majority of the food in this isle is still edible."

 

"Wow... It's not that I'm not thankful, but what a stupid reason to waste good food."

 

In a way, that made sense Riku supposed. Still, how silly that the men and women who came here before him had not more thoroughly searched for long lasting food. Either way, Riku found himself thanking any gods that would listen for leaving this isle in the condition it was in while he loaded the cart with bags of rice, instant noodles, and a few snacks that he'd enjoyed from back home, with Yuel occasionally chiming in when he would grab anything that had expired. He didn't even care how many racial jokes awaited him when the others got back, all he could think about was how hungry he was.

 

After a minute or two of that, Luna had rejoined him, and began to help him load the cart. Something seemed off though. Earlier she had seemed so chipper, aside from her initial outburst after they'd all arrived, but now she was quiet. Riku thought she looked somewhat deep in thought in fact. It was only then that it occurred to him that Luna was probably the youngest of the other six in their group. Of course, they'd never mentioned each others ages before, but you could kind of tell just by looking at her that she was younger than the other members. The fact that she'd been handling herself as well as she was up till now was somewhat impressive.

 

Momentarily glancing back to the skeleton, Riku looked at Luna and began thinking of things that he could say to potentially cheer her up. Unfortunately, he was never very good at this kind of thing. For the second time in the past few minutes Riku felt himself wishing he had Christina's ability to understand and talk to people, and silently berating himself for lacking such a crucial skill in this moment. Even so, Riku decided that saying anything was better than staying silent. Besides, he suddenly remembered what he was wearing. Slowing the cart to a stop, he reached back and flipped his hood up, causing the cat ears he'd sewn on to stand straight up.

 

"I bet you one of those boxes of Pocky that I can get Des to squeel at these." he said hoping that his poor joke would distract Luna from any negative thoughts. "She seems like the type to get all girly over cats and stuff. Not that I'd try to get between her and Leroy. I've seen how well kangaroo can box. Plus I kind of have high hopes that I can get him to fly me around some time."

 

Feeling satisfied with the now nearly overflowing cart and making sure to grab what was likely the last remaining package of silverware in the world, Riku began to slowly wheel it back out to the SUV, taking care not to go too fast, lest he make more noise than needed. Luna followed him close by as they carefully made there way out of the Stop-n-Shop and back to the SUV. Before they left though, Riku gave one last glance to the skeleton, feeling pity for the person who'd likely died trying to do the same thing that he and Luna had been doing. He wondered who the person might have been, and if they had been there for their family. These lead Riku to thoughts about his own family. His mother would have been cooking breakfast right now, and Mako would be waking up for school. Of course Riku would have been asleep still, waiting for his mother to come and wake him. He wondered about how they had fared in the days after he disappeared too. Knowing his mom, she probably gave the Majin a hard time taking her and Mako even without using a Fayth. That's how she was. Tough as nails.

 

As he pulled the cart to a slow stop beside the SUV and opened up the trunk, he felt a tear rolling down his cheek. Before Luna could notice though, he wiped it away and began to load the food and water they'd gathered into the vehicle. The last thing he needed was to be seen crying by any of the others.

[Cosmo.]

Luna finally finished the shopping with Riku, he saw him in the SUV, he didn't seem fine, neither Luna did, so he went close to him.

"Hey, i see that things aren't alright, you probably are missing home like i am. But we can do this, we're surrounded by awesome people, everyone has their problems but we can help each other to solve them."

 

Luna went in the back and grabbed a packet of Panda Pocky.

"Well, i don't know if Des would like these, but i sure do! Are you hungry?" Luna said handing him a few Pockies. the atmosphere was quiet, but tense, it was very weird. 

To Luna this post-apocalyptic world seemed just dusty, like time had stopped. The others didn't finish their shopping yet.

 

-A Minute Later-

Luna finished the Pockies, Riku though didn't seem to feel better though. Luna instinctively hugged him. "You know, my mom when i was sad, just hugged me, didn't speak, just hugged me 'til i was fine to talk. Now, tell me what's wrong, if you want i can help you" Luna said to Riku smiling.

[Dad]

Christina, Auto-Shop

 

The sound of broken glass crunched under her feet.  Christina stepped carefully over the seal of a formerly glass and metal door, ducking under its middle steel bar that separated its frames.  It was incredibly dusty, and naturally rusted.  To her right, as she entered the building, a yellowing white counter top, with a brass bell on its right side.  Beneath it was a little laminated sign that had become smudged and un-readable.  It said something like, "--ng f-- ---vi-e".  The place smelled of rust and mold, and its paint had begun to fade from the walls.  Broken plastic and metal framed chairs lined the walls, likely for would-be customers to sit patiently until their car was serviced.  Being inside this place, despite its dilapidated state, brought back memories for Christina.  Instead of being depressed as she had expected, she felt a little intrigued, and wanted to further explore the shop.

 

There were several doors to the far end of the room.  One of the doors on the left was labeled "Employees Only", and was likely some kind of storage area or break room.  A second door marked "Restroom" on the opposite wall was, well, just as it said.   Christina's curiosity of course got the better of her, and she peeked inside.  "Ugh, yuck!" she said immediately holding her nose.  The toilet had been stuffed to the brim with tissue paper, and some kind of dirt brown water nearly oozed over from its top.  The bathroom reeked of feces, vomit, and urine, and Christina didn't dare take another step inside.  What was even more frightening was the noticeable dried blood running down the side of the toilet, the far back wall, and the now broken and dusty mirror.  She ducked out of the bathroom as quickly as she had entered it, and made her way to the last door that remained.

 

This door was wide open, and before stepping inside, Christina could see tall rusted, red metal pillars.  Likely a lift.  Stepping inside now, this was the garage she had found, and it was a nice size as well.  Seeing this brought a smile to her face, as she had known her way around cars and garages very well, being a daddy's girl.  "Nice," she said to herself quietly.  She didn't expect much of the equipment to work, but there several things she could use without power.  There was a heavy manual chain lift just beside the heavy lift.  A blue steel metal canister, nearly three feet tall, was isolated on the right side of the room.  It was either oxygen or propane, but she wasn't quite sure.  There were several heavy duty tools surprisingly.  The place had been ransacked mostly, as big named power tools she was hoping for were not in sight.  However, she was fortunate enough to find a large pipe wrench, an engine hoist, two heavy duty chains, a thick steel grate, and a powerful crank.  Everything here was useful, and she planned to put it to work.  

 

However, with daylight being sparse, she wouldn't have time to make any changes to the SUV tonight.  A lot of these things were super heavy, so she wouldn't be able to carry much of it.  She would have to bring the SUV into the garage to load it up.  As far as armoring the big bastard, they could make do with siding from other vehicles through out the city.  They didn't have any high pressure cutters, but hopefully Destiny's scythe could do the trick.  With some of Ares' flames, they could easily weld the siding onto the SUV and bulk it up a bit.  Doing this though, would require changes to shocks, springs, and tires, to maintain the vehicle's weight.  It would have to be done in daylight.  "Unless. . . ." Christina thought to herself.  She couldn't get the siding right away, but there were some nearby metal coils that she could also use.   Two of those bad boys would be enough to adjust the shocks on the SUV and support the additional armor.  As well as one or two other things she had in mind.  "Hmph," she said to herself, nodding her head.  She was satisfied with this train of thought, and went to grab the large chains to carry back to the SUV.  She had begun to tug at one of the chains to bring it free of the wall attachment, when Christina thought she heard a noise.

 

At first, it was very slight, but Christina was sure she heard a metal scraping and screeching sound.  "Hmm?" she thought aloud, peering back into the shop.  It grew a little bit louder now, and the sound got progressively closer to Christina.  "What the hell?" she whispered to herself.  Now she could accurately tell where it was coming from.  Just outside the garage.  And it was obnoxiously loud this time.

 

 

"Jesus!" she thought covering her ears.  Then, just as abruptly as it started, it stopped.  Christina looked up to see a shadow standing in the entry way of the garage.  "Uh. . . Leroy?" she asked aloud,  not able to identify the figure as the last of the sun's rays shrouded it.  Then, the figure stepped towards her, slowly.  The screeching sound came with it.

 

"What the hell!?" she shouted, angered at the annoying sound.  That's when the creature turned its head at an odd angle, like that off a dog.  She could see it a bit more clearly now.  This thing was not Leroy.  "Shit, you are definitely not Leroy," she said backing away slowly.  The creature inched towards her again, but Christina continued to back away.  But now, whatever this thing was, began to move a bit faster.  It had broken into a series of long strides, when Christina noticed what was causing the screeching sound.  An enormous axe.  And it was attached to this thing's arm.

 

"Holy shit!" she said dropping the chains, and ducking through the doorway.  And just in time.  The screeching stopped, only to be followed by the crashing of steel against drywall.  The creature cleaved an entry open in the shop, and stared Christina in the face.  It bared it's teeth, and a low gurgling sound could be heard coming from its mouth.  The creature was huge, at least ten feet tall.  And it was very muscular as well, with a hulking frame similar to that of a tank.  Its face was bloodied in and around its mouth, as though it had just eaten flesh.  It stomped in long strides again towards Christina, to which she answered with a dash for the doorway.  Behind her, she could hear the lobby of the autoshop being ravaged by the axe the creature was carrying.  Carrying?  That wasn't quite right.

 

When Christina got a better look at the tall bastard, as it crashed through the door, the axe wasn't being carried by this thing at all.  The axe was a physical part of it.  It was attached to the creature's arm by way of a fleshy rotator-esque cuff.  It was gross looking, but Christina could tell it was dangerous.  She pulled out her phone, and called to Yuel.  "Uh, Yuel, you wanna tell me what the hell this thing is!?"

 

Yuel rubbed her eyes, and glanced around Christina.  "Wha--what?  What time is it?" she asked, stretching.  

 

"Yuel!  Were you sleeping!?"

 

"What?  What!?  No!  Of course not!  I was--!"

 

"Never mind that!" Christina butted in.  "What the hell is that!?" she asked turning the phone towards the axe-armed creature.

 

"Eek!  I didn't think you would see one of those so soon," Yuel commented.

 

"Well!?"

 

"Ehem, this is a Beastial Class Majin.  It is the Executioner," Yuel declared.

 

"The what!?"  Christina rolled as the Executioner dropped its axe over her head, narrowly dodging the strike.

 

"The Towering Executioner to be exact."

 

"Yeah, I can see that," Christina remarked, catching her breath.  She stood up straight, and began to edge around the Executioner, carefully watching its movements.  She was prepared to dodge, roll, jump, and weave out of the way at a moment's notice.  "Anything else you can tell me?  Does it have any noticeable weaknesses?  'Cause I sure don't see a friggin' HP bar."

 

Yuel paid no attention to Christina's joke.  "Erm, do be careful of the axe dear."

 

"Yeah, thanks for your help," Christina said shoving her phone back into her pocket.  Christina eyed the Executioner carefully,  The creature snarled at her, and swung its blade in a wide arc, boasting its power.  Christina wanted to yell back, but she didn't want to alert too many Majin, let alone worry the others.  She was just out of earshot, so it was unlikely they would hear the fighting going on.  Christina cracked her knuckles, and roller her right shoulder, as Ares appeared over her fists.  She raised one gauntlet, and motioned the Executioner to attack her.  "Come on you big, hail the king looking shit.  I'm gonna cook you alive."  The Executioner did not take the taunt lightly.  Though it did not fully comprehend Christina's taunt, it charged towards her, axe in toe.  Christina waited patiently, bobbing back and forth on either foot, timing her jumps.  When the creature slowed for just a brief moment, she could tell the swing was coming.

 

She rolled hard left, and tucked in her knees as the blade came down behind her.  Christina came out of her roll almost perfectly, and threw a hard right punch into the Executioner's side.  But it did not phase the creature.  It turned its head slowly to look at Christina, baring its teeth again.  "I'm . . . sorry?" she said as the creature roared at her.  The Executioner went to grab Christina with its free arm, but she managed to scramble beneath its tall legs, and get behind it.  This time, Christina cocked her fist back, hoping to get more power out of her punch.  Unwillingly, Ares flames went out as she drew back.  But Christina kept going, and punched the Executioner in its back anyway.  And fortunately, Ares found its mark.

 

The flames roared on impact, reigniting on Christina's gauntlets once more.  She back pedaled a bit, as the Executioner roared in pain, and swung its blade around wildly.  It turned to face Christina now, angrier than ever.  Once again, the Executioner swung its blade high, and brought it down at Christina's head.  She managed to dodge the first swing, but the Executioner was still on the attack.  It quickly dug its axe out of the ground and swung it wide right.  Christina wasn't prepared for this, and in a desperate attempt to keep from being killed, she ducked the swing, knowing she couldn't dodge it in time.  The axe flew cleanly above her head, and back around to the Executioner's side.  This was a long, drawn out attack, and the beast was left open.  Christina sprang forward with all of her might, unknowingly igniting her feet.  By the time her brain registered that she had closed the gap with Executioner, she was already face to face with the Majin.  "Eh!?" she squealed.  The Executioner also grunted in confusion, unsure of how Christina had suddenly appeared before it.  "Wait a minute!" she said realizing how close she was.

 

Christina pushed off of the Executioner, only to deliver two swift kicks to the monster's head.  It stumbled backwards, allowing for one final opening.  Christina sped forward again, still blazing fast, but not nearly as fast as her last sudden spark of energy.  Only this time,  she had already had her right hand drawn back, and it became lit with fire as she charged in.  The Executioner turned its head only in time to see a scorching death laid out before it, as Christina launched the creature high into the air with a mighty, flaming uppercut.  It spun backwards and crashed into the ground, leaving a sizable crater in its wake.

 

Christina wiped her face of sweat, and clenched her right fist in victory.  "Next time, step to me with the sack to back up your bullshit," she said walking over to the Executioner's limp body.  It's head rolled just slightly, and Christina instinctively leaped into the air and landed down on the monster's head with her knees, crushing its head.

[Admiral_Stalfos19]

Des sighed as she browsed through the sporting equipment with Leroy. They'd already got the things that Christina said would be useful; about 7 each of walkie-talkies and flashlights, plenty of batteries, a couple knives and even that one pair of roller skates that Christina wanted for whatever reason. However, Des found herself wandering around the hunting department, having picked up some bait that she always wanted to try against these Majin as well as a hunting rifle with a good scope, and was currently looking for a recurve bow that had a scope on it as well... which eventually she found. She was sure that she could transfer the scope from that bought recurve bow onto Luna's bow so it could fired more accurately, but Des needed Leroy to pick up a toolbox first.

 

With these in hand, Des made her way to Leroy, passing by some bear traps that she had once looked at and considered, but ultimately decided against out of thinking they weren't the effort. The fishing lines she wasn't sure on either; she didn't want to bother removing them from the rods that were stocked for sale, but she couldn't find any separate lines yet, and although she could see potential use in them for tying things up, she had no idea how strong these lines actually were. However, Des heard a roar while she was busy finding said fishing lines, which immediately caused her to stop her search.

 

"Where... the hell... did that come from?" asked a concerned Des.

 

"Sounded like it come from the auto-shop..." Yuel stated in a worried tone, "...which also means Christina might be in danger."

 

That was all Des needed to know. She immediately took off to regroup with Christina, but whilst she was running, she began fine-tuning her walkie-talkie's frequency so that it would match that of at least of the others in the basket that Leroy would've been carrying.

 

"Destiny! You weren't meant to take off like that!" Yuel whined, "You should've went back and found Leroy,"

 

"That's what the walkie's for, you idiot. Now shut up a minute and let me... hm?" Des stopped tuning for a moment, having heard a sound that may've been emitted from one from the others, "Got it. Yo, Leroy, this is Des. I'm going on ahead to check out that disturbance. Before you go try and chase me or whatever, could you pick up one of them small toolboxes on your way out? I'll definitely need it at a later stage."

 

"...you do realize that Leroy would be more concerned about the disturbance, right?" asked a sarcastic Yuel

 

"Well I don't need him yet. But anyway, let's just hope that thing is all bark..." with that, Des kept running, exiting the sporting goods store with Thanatos in tow.