The shopping district of the Fallout Shelter was busy as usual, the carefree Shelterians moving throughout the large structure, moving about their business and making purchaces without complaint. Making their way through the crowded entranceway, a small group of four stepped through the breezeway into the main area, taking quick glances at all the open shops and taking in the multiple smells of all the baked and fried goods. The building was composed of two floors, a crystal-clear glass roof showing the clear-blue sky above them. Plants, benches, and tables filled many of the empty spaces, making things seem more peaceful to many of the more weary travelers of the Shelter.
"Now then, remind me again why we're going shopping together...?" Rockman Special muttered, hands buried deep inside the pockets of his bluejeans. The wolf anthro, Darrak Zentar, simply chuckled and smiled. "Aw, now come on, how often to we get out like this together?" His second partner, Qazie the Kung-fu Kitty, took an arm to Rockman's neck and brought him close, the grin on his face looking abit more 'sadistic', him being the more battle-loving member of their little team, as he proceeded to grind his knuckles against the author's scalp. "Heh, we don't get enough chances to torture you, anyway!" He cackled, ignoring the tormented one's cries for release.
The wolfen sighed, continuing to watch Qazie torture of the writer for afew moments, until they heard the pounding of sandaled feet along the path, quickly reminding them of their female companion. "Oh, crap... Sephi, WAIT!" His warn went unheeded as the purple kitsune made a leaping pounce onto his back, sending the trio to the floor in a heap on the floor. "Don't you guys DARE forget about me!" The foxgirl yipped, the three tails moving lightly in the air as the males squirmed in an attempt to escape the dogpile. "That's nice and all, Sephi..." Rockman muttered, attempting to get his elbow out of Qazie's side. "... But if you don't mind... Could you let us get up... Please..." Sephi smiled as the three struggled to get up from the tangled mess of limbs, leaving Darrak to smile at the chaotic mess.
Up above on the second floor, a slim figure watched the compacted mess of mass struggle to free themselves. She let a single, unpainted fingernail grace the corner of her lips as they curled in a smirk, green eyes focusing on a single target, the other hand lingering to her side. "...So this is where he's been hiding all this time..." She muttered to herself, her right foot upon a bench, the arm resting on her jeaned thigh. "Four years is far too long..." She muttered, letting the fingernail stray from her lips along the fabric of her dark-blue shirt, gliding close to her chest. "I think its time that we changed that..." She slank away, hips swaying as she kept an eye on him from the corner of her eye, knowingly catching the eyes of many of the other forumers.
Managing to squeeze out of the mass of fur, Rockman gave a quick stretch before moving to his feet, dusting off his legs below the knees. "Well, that was enjoyable..." He muttered, putting his hands into his pockets as the others come up beside him. "Well, I suppose we should check out some of the gaming stores first..." He started, taking slow strides towards the stairways. "There's supposed to be a..." He couldn't get much more out, before another body collided with his own, sending him to the ground once more. If one were paying close attention, they could've seen that she had slipped her arm around his waist, pressing her body close to his own as they both came down.
"Heheh, sorry about that..." She apologized, sitting up overtop him. Her midnight-blue top caught the eyes of many of the shoppers, matching jeans accompanying. A black cap hid her gaze from the eyes of the others, except for her target. Piercing, green eyes looked down upon his, capturing Rock's brown ones and sending him a silent message. Time seemed to stop as they held their conversation, before she feigned surprise, holding out a hand to him. "Oh, I'm so sorry! I wasn't paying attention to a thing!" She rose up as he took her hand, pulling him close to her and ignoring the glares from Darrak and Sephi. Leaning her face close to his, she whispered into his right ear, her breath tickling his neck. 'Be seeing you later, Sync...' The woman twisted around Rockman, bringing a gloved hand to her head, index and middle fingers pointed up to make a mock-salute. "Sorry!" She called out, making her way towards the exit.
"What was that about...?" Qazie asked as Sephi walked up towards the shaken writer. His eyes seemed out of focus, arms completely limp as wet noodles. "Hey, you alright, Boss...?" She nudged an arm and jolted him out his thoughts as if her hand were pure electricity. "Oh... Uh, I just remembered... I have to take care of something..." He stuttered, getting odd looks from both males and a curious stare from their female addition. "I'll... see you all later...!" He didn't even look back, dashing off towards where the young femme had escaped with great haste, leaving the others to watch. "He's lying..." Sephi stated, though they all could easily tell. Rockman wasn't the greatest of liars in the universe, and something about the woman sparked his interests to the point of where he could ignore his friends. "Maybe, but that's his business..." Darrak stated, beginning to move towards one of the stores. "Whatever he's doing, he'll come back, I'm sure of it..." Qazie nodded, taking longer strides away and leaving Sephi to stand by her lonesome. "Come on, he'll catch up soon enough, Sephi." She watched amoment further before walking off as well, deciding to put Rock towards the back of her mind as well.
"Why don't we look here, first?" Darrak pointed out, looking towards a Betatronics store. The more bare-handed of the trio shook his head, motioning at the next-door establishment, a setup for fighting equiptment. "You two can look over there... As for me, I think I'll give this place a little look-over..." He grinned as he eyed one of the defenseless mannequin displays, cracking his knuckles and imagining the many ways he could 'play' with it. The wolf antho sighed to himself as he walked alongside Sephi, trying not to imagine the chaos that the cat could create. He crossed his arms and watched as the purple foxgirl bounded up to the cashier, tails swishing behind her. "Excuse me, but do you have anything Axl-related...?" She pondered, eyes beaming with childish excitement. The receptionist tacked upon the computer under her counter for amoment, before smiling towards the foxgirl. "Well, we seem to have some back-orders on some Axl dolls... I could bring them out for...!" She never finished her sentence, as childlike, ear-catching squeals broke her train of thought. "That would be wonderful! Please, please!" Her clawed hands were brought to brought together, and one would think they were in an anime to see the stars floating in her eyes. Darrak simply smiled and turned towards one of the other displays, technology not being of his higher interests.
"Hmph... Hey I could use some service over here!" Qazie called out, cleaning white stuffing off of his claws. "These cheap dummies don't even last three seconds... Where are the good ones!" He walked around the open area, the many weapons and fighting books on the walls and shelves tempting him. "...Come to think of it, where is everyone, anyway...?" He muttered to himself, bringing a paw to his chin. "I haven't seen hide or hair of anyone since Rock left..." He turned around to look at the entranceway, unknowing of the fact that his shadow was beginning to take a third dimension.
"Where is she...?" Sephi tapped her foot impatiently, cheeks puffing out slightly as she gave minor attention to a bobble-head Mr.OMA figurine. "She should have been back by now..." Darrak sighed, turning his attention from the strategy guide he had been reading to look towards her. "Sephi, she's been gone for only two minutes... Give her some-!" He stopped in mid-sentence as he noticed the peculiarity at her feet. "What...? What's the matter?" She asked, innocent to the fact that her very shadow had taken form, a small insect-like figure that slinked to a beat all its own. Darrak drew his sword as the creature lowered its inky-black body to pounce upon its prey. "Sephi, look out!" The kitsune was worried when Darrak drew his weapon, and his warning only added to the sudden panic. Instinctively, she whipped about and lashed out with a clawed hand, catching the shadow creature in mid-air and plowing it into the counter to her side, plastic pieces flying about at torso-level.
"Wha-What are those things!" She cried out, bringing out her Frost Bullet handguns from her sides and clenching them reflexively. "I don't have a clue..." Darrak muttered, watching as more and more of the shadows rise up from the very shadows of the items and displays in the room, piercing yellow eyes gazing upon them hungrily. "But we don't have much room in here, we've got to go, NOW!" He jerked his head to the entrance, bringing his three-foot sword into an attack position. Sephi nodded her reply and began to back towards the exit, just as the creatures began their assault. A cry of battle escaped Darrak's maw as he let loose with a wave of slashes and cuts, curving his wrists to attain a proper flow as he lashed out at the monstrosities, cutting through one and letting dark matter splatter about, never losing his beat as he cut through the next one and continuing on as he backed after Sephi. The foxgirl was doing her best, long-range being her best form as she blasted one shadow after another, luck being on her side as some of them were encased in ice by the compressed freeze blasts, left to become ice statues for hours.
It took only afew moments for them to escape the enclosure, but their predicament had not lessened in the least. Woe took their hearts for amoment, for their problems had increased, the creatures having more room to multiply around them. What was worse was that they began to take more complicated forms, ranging from the bug-like shadows to huge sword-wielding monstrosities, each eying the two with hungry eyes. "Wait, Qazie!" Sephi yelped, coming back-to-back with Darak, who was letting the seriousness of the moment take him into a more focused state. "What about Qazie!" Her quandary was soon answered as the Kung-fu Kitty made his own entrance, a larger soldier-like creature flying out of the fighters boutique and plowing over a mess of creatures. "Now, THIS is how you're supposed to fight..." He seemed like he was lecturing the monsters, flexing his muscles from the light exercise and grinning like a madman. "Hmph, I see you're having your own problems too...?" He dropped into a battle-stance, tongue gliding about his teeth for amoment as he eyed the many battle-fodder around them all. "Let me take care of some of those for you!" He jumped into the horde, and that was the cue to begin the almighty melee.
Darrak plunged his blade deep into the gut of three of the larger shadows at once, ripping it out to slice at a flying coral-colored beast. "Sephi, Qazie!" He yelled, trying not to get some of the black goo that was flying from the dying creatures in his mouth. "Batter up!" Sephi nodded, understanding the order. "Okay then... Here we go!" The kitsune charged a shot to her guns, pointing them at a pirate-like monster just as they reached peak. Releasing the trigger, the shot hit point-blank in its head, freezing the being instantly. "Qazie, you're up!" She cheered, blasting another pirate-being before spin-kicking the frozen block to the fighting cat. "One volley, coming up!" He yelled, grabbing two wizard-like shadows and clashing heads together. "Get ready, Darrak..." He picked up the frozen block with both hands, ignoring the way the ice irritated his furry hands and how the smaller creatures beat on his chest and back. "Here it COMES!" He tossed it high into the air, bending back onto his hands and twisting his body, spin-kicking the lesser-beings away before performing a front flip, feeling the muscles in his body tense up even further. Reaching his peak like a spring would, he lept high into the air, twisting his body to continue properly, and hit the falling block of ice home with his right foot.
Time almost seemed to freeze as he connected, before it restarted again, sending the block flying towards Darrak at high velocity. The wolf anthro had moments to spare before throwing his sword into a fat-gutted beast and bringing out his katars from his back, the weapons wrapping around his wrists into their bracelet-forms. "Alright..." He breathed, slashing a turkish shadow before bringing both katars back and slamming them straight into the incoming iceblock, his body shuddering as the blades tore through the frozen pirate. As the two ice blocks slammed into the creatures behind him, the blades began to charge with frost magic, a natural reaction to his weapons being enchanted for so long. "Here we go, Frost Slash!" His mouth twisted to show glistening fangs and he could barely keep from howling out as he whipped around, slashing his arms out and sending two wide-arc frost waves at the opponents. The frozen waves struck weak and strong alike, freezing what wasn't destroyed in the two blasts of magic.
All three began to pant, while they all were doing their finest towards the foes, what they would destroy would only come back doubled. "What the hell do these guys want anyway...!" Qazie yelled out as a large-bellied creature appeared behind him, arms outstretched to capture him in a bear-hug of death. The cat whipped around to catch a slight glimpse of its eyes showing from the helmet, only to see its entire head be crushed into its body. Black blood oozed from the fatal wound as it collapsed to the side, a familiar figure behind him. Rockman Special stood, a hammer as large as he was in his hands. It looked like it could barely be held by the three comrades together, yet he was holding it, be it two-handed, nonetheless.
"They're called Heartless..." He said, blunt and true, his eyes cold and hard as a crisp December morning. He was now wearing his recolored Rockman armor, helmet less as always. "And they're here to finish what they started!" He whipped around, tossing the large hammer out to plow another hole towards Sephi Kitsune, barely missing her as the Force Hammer cleared out a path through the Heartless horde. "Four years ago..." He muttered to himself, a brief flash of memories coming to him before he shook his head quickly. "Come on guys, let's give them some Brotherly Love!" He called out, nods coming from Darrak and Qazie alike. While Qazie moved to position himself, Rock took the time to clear the skies of many of the airborne Heartless, Level Two plasma shots lowering many of the Wynerns and Air Pirates enough for Sephi to shoot at and finish the job. Seeing that Qazie had positioned himself properly, Rockman whistled out, giving the men their signals. Each plunged their hands into the ground below them, and if one were to look from a higher angle, they could see that the three were placed in a delta-pattern around the largest group of Heartless. Groans and moans emerged from their lips as they struggled, Sephi performing as much cover-fire as possible. Finally, they succeeded in their endeavors, actually pulling the ground up under the monsters' feet. With a mighty heave-ho, they sent it flying in the air, and what happened next, would be what the four were to recall as spectacular.
Calling for his Force Hammer back to him with the power of Hammerspace, Rockman focused his muscles to give it another mighty throw as Darrak moved to pick up his discarded sword, already reciting the spell to enchant his blade with deadly fire. "Qazie, its all yours!" He yipped, quickly throwing the fighting cat his weapon. "Thanks, and now..." Qazie caught the mallet, never losing the momentum of the attack, and spinning around faster and faster. Darrak himself had finished his spell, wicked flames engulfing the blade. Already, it had reached the color of blue, and was quickly rising past one thousand degrees. "Finish it up, Darrak!" Qazie let loose with his part, sending the hammer flying up after the large platform with incredible velocity. Just as so, Darrak had reached the peak of flames, the blade's fire turning white-hot and tearing away most of his clothing. "Flare HAMMER!" He roared out, performing the Chaotic Hellfire attack. The duel-tech went into full-effect, a searing dragon of white-fire soaring high after the hammer. Engulfing it, the hammer seemed to get a charge boost, whistling at the platform and hitting home, the rock formation exploding and actually crumbling most of the rock that was left from the attack. Black vapors evaporated from the overwhelming heat, and though much of the shopping center was destroyed, things seemed to have calmed down.
"Hmph, that wasn't so hard..." Qazie laughed, brushing off black matter and dust from his fur. Darrak simply glared at him, angry enough at the chaos that had been wrought, but glad that they were still alive. "Are you mad! We just tore down an army, and you have the gall to say something like that...!" His feline partner simply nodded towards him, making Darrak sigh in agony. "And you... You have a lot to explain..." He jabbed a finger towards Rockman, who simply stood there without a word. Meanwhile, Sephi had wiped her furred brow, slipping the right gun to its place and knelled over to catch a breath before regrouping with her friends. Unfortunately, there was still light, which gave her a shadow, and hands to rise from those dark depths...
As she felt the hand grasp her ankle, she let out a yell. Half because something had grabbed her, and the other half because of the feeling it gave her, like it had traveled up her leg and sank cold and empty hands into her heart. The feeling drove her into a slight frenzy, her eyes wild as she let her free hand claw at the pool of darkness that was growing from her shadow, only to discover that it simply sucked both the attack and her hand in as well. The other three yelled out and ran to her side as she sank further into the darkness, her head quickly becoming bathed in inky black water. She could barely manage a small "Help..." before her mouth became filled with darkness, and she became fully engulfed by black ink.
Darrak was next to follow, the shadows around them actually traveling along the floor to surround him. They made their attack swiftly, multiples of the Shadow Heartless leaping out and latching onto him. Though he was able to toss many off, the Flare Mallet technique had drained too much of his stamina, and he was covered in inky black Heartless. "GET THE HELL OFF HIM!" Qazie yelled as both he and Rockman pawed at Darrak's body in a vain attempt to rip the darkness from his skin. They, of course, failed miserably, as he quickly sank into the dark pool nestled below his feet.
The worse came next, as two sword-wielding Invisibles rose up from the depths, swords already poised for the attack. Both reacted as expected, Qazie catching the weapon in a clap, and Rockman countered with a blast from his Special Buster. What they didn't expect, was for more to come from behind. They took them both by surprise, grasping their necks with their swords and pulling them close. They should have thanked their lucky stars that they were still alive, but then again, they both knew of things far worse than death. Rockman watched in horror as his last ally descended into the darkness, struggling in blind fury against the strong Invisible. "Noooo!" Rockman thrashed about in the demon's hold, the blade becoming ever-closer to spilling open his throat and ending his life.
"Doesn't I tell you before...?" A feminine voice called out, through the chaotic mess. The Invisible released its hold, backing away before Rock could lash out at it, disappearing into the darkness that was beginning to take great hold over the area. "Four years ago, our little family was torn apart by these things... Darkness ripped and swallowed our home whole..." Boots clacked along the broken ground, the sound of a blade scraping along erred floor filling his ears as the woman continued. "They took all that we cared for... All that we loved..." He could hear he holding back sobs as she stepped into mysterious indigo light, the color giving her midnight-blue costume a dark and alluring feel, revealing her slender shoulders and a small gap inbetween her breasts. The halo above her head was a new touch, pure black, and the wrappings around her left arm made him think of home. "Auroran..."
He rasped out, almost broken inside and out. One wouldn't be surprised, having relived the experience of pure nightmares and losing those one would cared for once again. He began to take slow, nerved steps towards her before she looked up, thunder clapping and drawing his attention as well. Throughout the chaos, the sky had been changing, he and his party having been so caught up in their melee that they hadn't even noticed the large ball of dark energy above their heads. It crackled with purple and black lightning, threatening to destroy them all in a single moment. "No... Not that..." He moaned, his eyes becoming wild, the moisture from earlier making his face ache. "Yeah... A Demi ball..." She droned, as the ground began to quake, small fragments of earth and broken debris floating into the slow gravity abnormality. "If that's here, then that means..." The ground shook once more as a familiar creature rose up from the ground. A mighty roar escaped its nonexistent mouth, long tendrilled hair flowing wildly, and its long black arms stretched out far as it peered down on its delicious prey with familiar yellow eyes. "A Darkside is here..." She finished, bringing her pendulum-scythe to her torso, holding it in her own ready-position. "Do you feel like a double-team, Sync...?" She crouched down to dash off as he stood looking at the creature for amoment, his fist visibly shaking. In an instant, his body flashed and with the power of his Soul Drive, he transformed into his Mausy Soul. A black skintight bodysuit covered him, hair long to the nape of his backside, and dark shades covering his eyes. As his night vision came on, he called for his other two hammers, the mighty Hellbreak in his left, and the lightweight Crystal Hope to his right.
"Just like old times..." He muttered bringing the weapons to ready. Both wasted no time in blasting foreward side-by-side, reveling in the moment. Auroran struck first, spiraling up with her massive weapon and spinning about, catching the beast in a flurry of staggering slashes. As she reached its head, she pulled her weapon across her chest, the blade becoming covered in light-blue water magic. With a mighty swipe, she lashed out and cut the Darkside's head with a powerful Aqua Cut, stunning the beast and making it bring its hands to its face. Rockman took that as his cue, bringing the Crystal Hope further back in order to launch it first. With a yell, he let loose with the Mausy Soul's special attack, the Hyper Mallet Raid, multiples of all four of his hammers flying out and catching the great beast in a stunning battalion of twelve. The Darkside gave out a frightening howl as it recoiled from the attack, staggering forward and smashing at Rockman with a large fist. Using the momentum to its advantage, it sweeped across the floor, grabbing Auroran and bringing her close to its face. A scream escaped her lips as, despite the pendulum cutting into its hand, it began to crush her with staggering might. Recovering from the stun attack, Rock looked up to see his last ally having the life crushed out of her.
"Nooo! Let her go NOW!" He screamed, dismissing the Mausy Soul and calling back his regular armor. Eyes ablaze with newfound power, he dashed foreward, his left arm shuddering with built-up rage. The right hand had transformed into the deadly Special Buster, but the charge looked different, the light turning shining cosmic white, almost blinding to the eyes. Taking to the sky, he let the boosters in his boots carry him further than average, landing on the Darkside's outstretched arm. As it brought its other hand to grab him, he brought his buster far back, and smashed it into its face, causing the beast to emit a howl of pain and fury. Though it released his female ally, he wouldn't stop in his attack, letting loose with a hyper-overcharge of pure plasma energy. "BUSTER STAR!" Black goo splattered everywhere, the Darkside's head literally exploding wide open. Rockman was sent flying back as the headless body collapsed to the ground. What little remained of his buster was still attatched to his arm, the hand inside nearly cooked to perfection, thankfully shielded enough by his plasma gloves. As he regained his senses, the purple Demi ball above him began to increase its pull, sending the defeated Heartless into the void. He was barely able to get ahold of some wreckage from a fixture, the pull becoming ever harder.
"Auroran... Help me!" He wailed, not wanting to be lost to the void for a second time. What surprised him then, was that his childhood friend wasn't even affected by the pull, walking towards him with slow, smooth strides. "Auroran... What... You, you're...!" She came up before him, placing her right hand to his face and her left to his chest, where his heart beat. "Its time we played alittle game..." She chuckled, laying a kiss to him and sliding her hand to the collar of his armor. Her smile turned dark as her hand began to course with dark energy. "But you can't cheat at this game!" He realized too little, too late what her goal was, and was little to resist as she pumped his body full of black power. His screams then were unmatched by any before, the betrayal of his friend the worse pain of them all. Falling unconscious, she let him loose into the void, his body like a ragdoll. "I'll be seeing you later, Sync..." She whispered after him, calling for a indigo portal to form behind her, disappearing into the darkness. The Demi ball disappeared as well, Rockman's body the last thing it sucked up before it vanished into nothingness, leaving a destroyed area in its wake.
-END CHAPTER ONE-