There was an eerie bleakness in the air, so thick that it could snuff the air right out of someone. Skeletons of once proud buildings laid in disrepair, reminders of a bygone age.
Gloomy grey clouds had blotted out the stars above, as well as the gleaming surface of the moon. Cars, which were hastily abandoned and left to rust were haphazardly lined up on the broken streets, the streetlights dead or fallen to the ground. It was a dull and lifeless scene.
This dreary atmosphere would soon be broken, as there was a faint rumbling that caused the small pieces of debris and rock strewn about to rattle on the scarred and cracked ground. It would become louder, the dull rumbling becoming clearer until it could be discerned as heavy thumps.
Then seemingly out of thin air, a creature of massive stature appeared on the outskirts of the abandoned town. Its transparent skin shimmered before it turned fully visible, revealing its grotesque appearance.
It was like a mix between a rattlesnake and a jackal, having a scaly head and tail with a body full of fur. Its eyes glowed a crimson red, the forked tongue occasionally flicking in and out of its maw as it scrutinised what would be perhaps its new home.
Ears perking up, it lowered its body to the ground, tail straightening out as it slowly prowled into the ghost town.
Though in its search for any potential prey, it fails to notice an intruder.
Crouched behind the remains of a restaurant, a teen no younger than sixteen was peeking out from what was left of a wall, watching as the creature passed by him. Clutched in his right hand was a B&T MP9, its sleek black body reflecting what little light was around.
The stock was folded, allowing for maneuverability as it did have a chance of getting caught on something if it were extended.
He was wearing a white leather jacket with black patterns etched onto the back, cuffs and hood, the hem loosely reaching a little down where his belt would be. It was unzipped, the hood covering his head.
The cuffs had white and black stripes going around them, folded accordingly. Underneath was a white V-neck T-shirt, black angled rectangles designed onto it with a grey collar. On his legs were a pair of navy blue jeans, with a chain linked around the left side. Accompanying the jeans were a pair of leather shoes, jet black with a greyer colour at the bottom.
His face was concealed, veiling his hair and eyes. It hid his youthful appearance, though one could tell of his age if they looked close enough.
Watching it turn to the left down the street, the young teen shifted the machine pistol to his left hand as he stood up, placing two fingers from his right hand on his right ear. Then with a quiet whisper, he said something into the earpiece.
"Have you got the traps ready?" The teen would wait for a response for a few seconds before a voice replied from his earpiece. It sounded young, too young. Like it came from a ten-year-old girl.
"Yes, they've been set." The softly spoken recipient would reply. Though she took on a worried tone for what she spoke next. "Those traps… Are you sure that they'll work? Those prototypes seem a bit…"
A faint sigh came out of the teen's lips, as he took slow and methodical steps towards the street the creature had headed down towards.
"Please… have a little faith. I trust the company enough that their designs should be effective enough. I've promised them that I'd test out their prototypes so that I can gain some favours, perhaps some more equipment. Besides… who am I to refuse an offer from one of my friends?"
The voice went silent for a short moment as if contemplating what the teen had said. "Well… you're right. I'm sorry for doubting you."
The hooded teen would crack a small grin at that, "It's alright. To be honest, I did have my doubts as well when I saw it at first, though I'm sure the design could be improved on later. Any dumb creature wouldn't detect them, even up close."
As he rounded the corner, the street coming into view along with the massive abomination, he crouched down low, clutching his gun tightly.
Moving down the mostly empty street, he ducked behind a piece of rubble that had fallen from what looked like an apartment building as he made himself as small as possible while the jackal-snake hybrid looked around.
As soon as it stopped looking at his general direction, the hooded teen quietly shuffled past the large piece of rubble and behind the building it had fallen from.
Walking a few paces up to the corner of the building, he peeked out over it before rounding it and moved as quickly and quietly as possible past the buildings, until he reached another street that connected with the one he had just been at before.
Slowing down to a walk, the teen placed his back against the wall of another apartment. He knew that around this general area was where one of the traps were set, and was also a good place to lay down an ambush that could quickly whittle down the gastrea he had been tracking. It wasn't any ordinary gastrea: it was a stage III, meaning that it wouldn't normally be handled by a team of two. Though with proper equipment and tactics, the chances against one would be manageable.
Placing two fingers on his earpiece again, he whispered into it as quietly as possible. "I'm in position. Are you ready?" He waited for a few seconds, though there wasn't a response.
Peeking past the wall, he saw that the hybrid was now standing up straight in the street as if it had just detected something. It would then snap its head down the street, which made the teen raise his eyebrow in curiosity, making him peek his head out a little more to see what it was.
Under the dimmed moonlight, standing on the cracked road and between some wrecked cars was a small girl, staring at the massive abomination of a creature. Her long, snowy white hair that had reached down her back flowed in the wind, bright blue eyes gazing into the gastrea's. The cream-coloured cardigan that had hugged her form and the brown pleated skirt with a tan line going around it fluttered in the breeze, her white shirt visible underneath the unbuttoned cardigan, a pair of black leather shoes along with white socks worn on her feet.
She stood still, despite the sight of the massive jackal-snake hybrid staring at her, which would otherwise make make any other person flee in terror. Her gaze was steadfast, her stance unwavering as silence permeated the air. While this was happening, the teen could only watch as the two engaged each other in a staring contest, still peeking out from the wall.
'Well, at least I don't need to ask…' He mused, sensing that things were about to get hectic from here. Hovering his free hand over his machine pistol, he flicked the safety off and chambered in a fresh cartridge.
The kind of rounds the gun had held weren't ordinary: the bullets were loaded with a black metal called varanium, a special type of substance that held properties no other metal had. Aside from being simple bullets, they held a function that made it different from the standard cartridge. It was specifically built for taking down gastrea, with a whole variety of other calibers bearing similarities with their black tips and brass casings.
They were dubbed black bullets, because of their appearance. The term was rather straightforward and to the point.
As the jackal-snake hybrid gastrea started turning its body around to face the girl, it let out a low, guttural growl while it also let out a faint hissing noise like a snake. Its belly was close to the ground, its forked tongue flickering in and out of its maw. With a bark, it started striding towards her, moving extremely quickly despite its large size.
As it rapidly approached the child, its red eyes shimmering menacingly in the dark, it failed to notice what was underfoot. There was a glint, then a faint distortion of air on the ground. Afterwards, there was a sudden explosion, giving way to earth-shaking force and a cloud of dust. The gastrea's sudden cry was dulled out by the noise, as it was enveloped by the effect of the mine underneath being triggered.
The girl's blue irises shifted into a crimson red that glowed like the gastrea's, the teen moving out of his cover and sprinting at the gastrea with his weapon primed. Both were combat-ready, and it was go time.
Slipping a hand into her cardigan, the white haired girl unsheathed a claw-like knife, twirling the karambit around before dashing into the dust cloud. The pressure of her momentum displaced the dust, making it seem like it was clearing the way for her as she leapt onto the now downed gastrea. Firmly planting her feet onto its nape and firmly grasping a handful of its fur, she started hacking away at where the general location of its brain was, purple blood splattering the creature's fur as well as the black blade of the knife.
While the jackal-snake hybrid thrashed around, trying to get its assailant off, the teen eventually stopped in his tracks, managing to get a fair distance close to it, though he still had kept his distance. As he lined up his sights, he realised that there was a problem: the gastrea was thrashing its head around too erratically to get a clear shot. He couldn't simply spend his entire magazine on it, as there was a chance of hitting his Initiator, and black bullets didn't come cheap. Sighing, the hooded teen flicked the select fire on his MP9 to semi-automatic, taking deep breaths as he took aim.
There was one thing Black bullets were also known for: it was their distinctive noise when they were fired.
As the teen pulled the trigger, a loud, ringing noise resembling a clang resounded throughout the open air, the black bullet whistling during its flight. The projectile would then pierce through the skull of the gastrea, causing it to howl out in agony as it redoubled its efforts to shake off the girl on its head.
A few more loud resounding clangs followed shortly after, all of the shots hitting their marks. Though before he could follow up with his seventh shot, his Initiator had suddenly lost her grip on the abomination, causing her to fly into the air towards the teen's direction.
Somersaulting a few times before positioning her body upright to the ground, she landed slightly unsteadily, her legs shaking a bit as a hand was placed on the ground. Standing up, the Promoter and Initiator pair watched the stage III gastrea get up, its red eyes filled with hate as it looked towards their direction. Then with a snarl that vaguely also sounded like a hiss, it sped towards the two with an alarmingly fast pace.
Seeing the large monster rapidly advance on them, the pair would quickly take to an alley between two buildings. The teen would perform a dive roll into it while the young girl had sped ahead of him, the gastrea pouncing at where the pair was previously at.
As the jackal-snake hybrid landed on nothing but thin air, it snapped its head to the pair, lunging at them without a second wasted. Constantly snarling and snapping as it tried to get its head to fit through the narrow space, it scratched against the bricks with a sharp hiss as it relentlessly tried to ram through.
The young girl and the teen moves backwards into the alley as the walls shook around them, avoiding the sharp claws of the monster as it tried to get them. With the duo far enough to avoid its paws, maw and spittle, the hooded teen flicks the fire selector to full auto on his machine pistol, immediately taking aim and firing off a burst towards the gastrea.
Instantaneously, it reeled back in pain as several more Varanium pieces had pierced through its scaly head and into its skull, causing it to let out a howling shriek as it began to stagger back and away from the entrance of the alleyway. It writhed in agony as the magnetic effects of the black metal lodged into its brain collectively rang, weakening it as time went on.
Throwing its head around violently, stumbling around as it tried to stand upright, its entire body would shimmer before growing transparent, the heavy footfalls of the hybrid soon being heard after it fled. Hearing the rumbling fade as the creature got farther away from them, the pair would immediately turn around and start sprinting towards the other end of the alley.
Entering another portion of the abandoned town, cracks lining the asphalt and cement of the streets, the two-person team would look in both directions of the enclosed space, both weapons raised and ready while watching each other's backs. Eyes and ears open and aware, they would stay still, trying to sense if the hybrid gastrea would come their way before the teen lowered his machine pistol, turning his head to his Initiator.
"I'll move into one of the buildings next to one of the nearby designated trap spots." The Promoter whispered, the young girl turning her head in attention to his words. "You'll go and distract the hybrid, though make sure you stick to the alleys and cars so that it won't catch you. From there I'll shoot it as much as possible."
Nodding, the white haired girl would exit the alley and start sprinting down the street, with the hooded boy following her immediately after. Having immense physical strength and agility despite her petite form, the girl would leap from car to car, lamp post to lamp post as she went on ahead. She couldn't jump as high as a rabbit model, though she could still leap well enough.
There were five particular spots in the town where they had set up their traps. One such spot was already set off, which meant the prototype mines were a success, despite the pair's concerns. Though that left two other kinds of prototypes to be tested, and one of them was nearby. One of them was a type of explosive, though the other would be… different.
Knowing that they had gotten close enough to where the traps were, the girl would stop as she had landed on a car that was upturned in the middle of the road, the heap of scrap barely creaking because of her abnormally light weight. After that, she would hop down onto the ground, huddling against the side of the car, waiting.
Meanwhile, the teen would barge open a door to one of the buildings nearby, the air thick with dust inside, the darkness giving it an eerie feeling. It was the lobby of a corporate building, judging from the front desk and the huge insignia behind it, though it was too faded to make out anything. Quickly locating a flight of steps, he would dash towards them, deftly stepping over scattered folders and papers.
Turning a few curves on the stairs, he would eventually reach the third floor. Various old desks and chairs were strewn about, some knocked to the floor in a panic. Some light was streaming in from the few windows that weren't covered with blinds, shards of glass spread across the floor from the broken windows.
Stepping up to one of the windows, glass crunching under his shoes, the teen crouches down as he brought up his machine pistol to bear on the darkened street. He acknowledges the fact that his partner that was currently hiding against a upturned car, remaining vigilant as he scanned the area below him, giving a occasional glance at the top of the buildings just in case.
The teen relaxed, as he peered at the scene in front of him. His weapon lowered and ready to be brought up, he took a moment to take a few deep breaths. He felt tense, waiting for a enemy that could pop out without warning and tear them to shreds. Any person would, taking on a dangerous assignment like this. Though the difference between most of them and the teen was that he was trained for this.
Putting a hand into his leather jacket, he brought out a small, detonator-like device. This was the trigger to set off the second trap, once the currently hidden gastrea had gotten into range. It didn't have any motion triggers or anything of the sort, so this particular trap needed a remote trigger. Hand clenched around the object, he stood watchful.
Then for a moment, he saw a faint distortion in the air above the buildings. To anyone else, it seemed like a trick of the light, but the hooded teen knew better than that.
"Now!" he shouted, ready to set off the trap as he raised the device.
Getting the signal, the young girl would jerk her head up, before jumping off the concrete and off to the side as a invisible force impacted the wrecked car.
There was a loud crunch as the useless heap of junk caved in from the weight of the gastrea. As the red eye girl turned, she immediately leaped away and started moving as fast as possible while the mutant let out a irritatingly loud hiss, its unseen open maw spraying spittle.
And at that moment, the hooded teen immediately squeezed the trigger.
From a few turret-like devices that were hidden behind the buildings, they began to jet out a almost transparent black substance onto the gastrea, just as the Initiator had gotten out of the way. There was a pained whine as the jackal-snake hybrid flailed around, a pungent smell reaching the teen's nostrils as he slipped the detonator back into his jacket. After a few seconds, the chemical shower would end, the devices shutting off.
The acid ate away at the mutant's hide, leaving behind a black ooze. The cloaking effects of the creature began to dissipate as its fur and scales were stripped down to its muscles, and even that began to melt away. As it revealed itself, the teen raised his MP9, firing at the gastrea's scaled head.
Brass casings bouncing on the carpet, the magazine in his machine pistol was already emptied halfway through as more varanium bullets pierced through the exposed stage three's head. A pungent and clear vapor coming off from the acid, the teen squinted his eyes and tried his best to bear the smell as he fired off burst after burst. Muzzle flashes lit up the area briefly, the cracks of the machine pistol echoing throughout the empty town.
Then after experiencing seconds of excruciating pain, the gastrea decided that enough was enough.
A disorienting, unnatural howl resounded throughout the air, immediately causing the teen to instinctively cover his ears as his head rang, the entire world around him suddenly going deaf. Pain pounding his skull like a jackhammer, he stumbled back from the window just before a paw attempted to claw at the window, the building trembling from the weight of the impact.
Hateful screeches continuing as it attempted to reach towards the teen through the window, said teen scrambled back before placing two fingers on his earpiece as he hastily reoriented himself to turn and run.
"Distract the stage three, bring it over to the post office! I'll set up there as soon as possible!" He ordered, taking the steps down three at a time, feeling his heart pound between his ears.
If he had remembered correctly, the spot near the post office was the fourth out of the five designated he had set down in the general area of the town. It was also the last of the prototype traps that needed to be tested, which was a type of tripmine that had a laser sensor. It was specifically designed to be placed on any surface, the explosion that would occur shooting in a concentrated jet of varanium shrapnel.
Theoretically, it could kill a stage II or III gastrea if it hit in the right spot, a serious injury if less. Either way, it was potentially a viable type of explosive if it worked, while requiring minimal amounts of precious varanium.
After taking the last flight of steps, the hooded Promoter would peer at the ajar door as he jogged towards it. Straining his ears, he could faintly hear the sound of the jackal-snake hybrid as it started running down the street.
Pulling open the door, he walked out and glanced down to the right, barely seeing the tail of the creature just disappear around the corner in the darkness. The teen sported a smirk; he was confident enough that his partner was able to successfully lead the gastrea to the location unharmed, and that wasn't just because of her abilities.
Unlike most other Initiator and Promoter pairs, the two possessed a cohesion that made them able to depend on each other's abilities, much more than ones who had only stuck together for roughly a year. He knew that the white haired girl would be able to keep up ahead of the quadrupedal monster that had chased after her and he knew that she knew he would be there on time to finish it off.
Turning around, he started taking a shortcut between the ruined buildings to where he needed to go.
Panting heavily as she sped down the dim streets of the town, the young girl leapt over cars and evaded lampposts as she occasionally looked over her shoulder to see the disfigured, almost blinded gastrea stumble while attempting to chase after her from far behind. Though because of the acid severely damaging its eyes, it continued to bump into debris scattered on the road.
Earlier, she had to toss a rock at it to get the abomination's attention, as the varanium laced acid had crippled the gastrea's senses, to the point where it had almost no eyesight and hearing. That meant that it needed to rely on it's sense of smell and touch in order to track anything down.
But as a result of having to focus on scent, it had to slow down so that it couldn't lose it's footing on the uneven street and trip over the cars that were strewn about. So because of that, It wasn't nearly as fast as it was before.
Turning around a corner, she immediately saw the post office, a few hundred metres down the road. Though the building itself was nondescript, the large red box next to the sidewalk was enough to let her know where it was. And although it was barely visible, the red sign emblazoned 'Post Office' on the building punctuated that point, small as it was.
As she got closer to the post office, she slowed down upon seeing the glow of a red laser that was about a head higher than her. It was considerably easy to see under the night sky, the illumination contrasting from the dark road.
Shifting her gaze to the right, she immediately saw the unfinished workings of a two-storey building on the right side of the street. Chain-link fences and temporary wooden walls surrounded the incomplete construction, though they had shown signs of rust and rotting for being neglected for so long.
Crouching down as an extra precaution to not trigger the explosives, the child moved under the sensory lasers until she reached the fence, starting to hear that the gastrea wasn't too far behind. After that, she would slip into the ajar gate, stepping over various pieces of wood and bricks until she reached the ladder that carried her up the construction platform. She climbed as fast as her small body could, quickly grasping at each rung as she hastily stepped on another.
Finally managing to lift herself onto the platform, she snapped her head to the right as she saw the mutant turn the corner, unsteadily attempting to keep itself upright as it blindingly tried to search for her. It paused for a moment to get it's bearings before it let out a whining scream, rushing at her general position with reckless abandon.
Taking a deep breath, she shifted to her feet as she turned her entire body around to face the gastrea. She was far enough to be out of range of the explosives. At this point, the gastrea would be dead as soon as it triggered the tripmines, most likely destroying what was left of its brain or at least a vital part of its body. Watching as it neared the laser sensors, she watched as it went right into them…
Only for nothing to happen, the creature blundering past the lasers without realising they were there in the first place.
Eyes widening in shock as took a involuntary step back, she barely had time to process what happened before the hybrid crashed through the fences and into the side of the abandoned, unfinished building.
Letting out a yelp as the platform underneath her feet began to teeter, she instinctively tried to balance herself in panic before jumping off the platform as it started to tip over.
And as the ground started rapidly coming up towards her face, she attempted to shift her body into a position where she could land unharmed, though she ended up landing awkwardly, falling over onto her side with the air knocked out of her lungs.
Groaning in pain as she lifted her body up with her elbow, she quickly turned her head to see the enraged gastrea wildly barking and growling as it clawed and broke down the structure, quickly starting to turn it into a pile of rubble. Not wanting to be caught by it as it blindly attacked her last known position, she scrambled onto her feet before running as fast her legs could take her.
Mentally, she was panicking. She had made sure the traps were properly set up and everything, even having her partner check for her; why of all times did it fail? Now she was sure that her unease from earlier was something she shouldn't have put off…
Turning to the right on the street and pulling up her right hand to place a finger on her earpiece, she twisted her head to look behind her.
There was nothing but the empty street behind her, but she knew that the huge abomination would appear around the corner soon, springing down the street after her when it realised that the building it was attacking didn't contain her presence anymore.
"It didn't work!" She shouted, alarm evident in her voice as her eyes darted from building to building, searching for a escape route. "What should I do?!"
"Hold on, calm down, just…" The recipient on the other end paused, making her tense up a bit. Worry filled her features as time passed by, nervously glancing over her shoulder as she felt her heart hammering in her chest. Her partner would come up with something. She knew he would...
"Alright…" She felt a sense of relief as the voice of her partner came through her earpiece, though she quickly brought herself to attention as she listened to his words. "Make sure you distract it, bring it over to a place far from my location. I'll check what's wrong with the tripmines. Come back here immediately once you've lost it, okay?"
"Got it!"
Just as she lifted her hand off the earpiece, she took one final glance behind her as she saw the malformed and crippled gastrea stumble around the corner.
It then paused for a moment, sniffing the air before lowering its body, letting out a low growl. Then it lunged forward in a burst of blind speed, letting out enraged barks and hisses.
Seeing that it was now on her trail, she quickly looked around to find a rusted car and a streetlight to the left of the road. Point of elevation located, she moved towards it, hopping on top of the car before making a huge leap, landing on the horizontal pole with it barely making a creak. Then after stabilising herself, she jumped at one of the buildings, touching down on the rooftop.
As if in contrast to the girl's graceful movements, the mutant coyote barrels through cars, streetlights and collapsed debris with the tireless wrath of a bulldozer.
Not wasting any time, the girl leaps off the opposite end of the building, just as she feels something shake behind her with a howl of fury. Landing with a roll, she took off to the right, vaguely remembering the position of another trap that was nearby.
Soon she feels the footfalls of the creature behind her again, increasing her pace as she hops over rubble and weaves between cars. Before long, she came across a intersection that was wide and empty. Stopping, she turned around.
She purposefully stands still and watches as the gastrea bounds its way towards her, a hateful gaze in its blinded eyes. As it gets close enough, it lets out another amalgamation of a hiss and a growl as it pounces towards her.
Spreading her feet apart, she leapt towards her left, completely avoiding the creature's attack. And in anticipation of a follow up, the girl ran towards the building, and with her momentum, began to run up the wall before leaping off it.
As the gastrea crashed into the wall, the girl landed behind it before she took off in the opposite direction, leaving the creature to stumble about.
Seeing that she was nearing the next trap spot, she looked for a point of elevation again. Sighting a collapsed building, she quickly climbed above it with a few jumps, before proceeding to leap over a few buildings. Getting far enough and out of range of the minefield, she hopped down and onto the street to watch the gastrea.
After a moment, the abomination managed to get its bearings and face towards the girl's direction, growling and making a move towards her again. The girl kept her tense stance, waiting for the gastrea to step on a mine at any moment, so she can continue the chase.
Though suddenly, it stopped in its tracks.
Turning its head around and sniffing the air, much to the girl's shocked confusion, it slowly began to back off as it seemed to realise that it was being led into another trap again. It wasn't so stupid as to be played again, not for the third time.
As the gastrea ran off in a entirely different direction, the girl began to panic. She immediately knew that it was going for her partner now, since it sees no point in chasing after her anymore.
'I have to warn him!' Hastily placing a hand up to her earpiece, she began to run.
'Right… that should do it.' The teen thought, as he deactivated the final tripmine, prying it off the wall.
Looking at them now, it appeared that the infrared setting was working as intended, in that it didn't sense the gastrea's cold-blooded body. He didn't think that it would carry the blood of a reptile instead of one of a typical coyote's, considering that its body looked like it was mostly made up of fur rather than scales.
A rather weird combination that usually isn't permitted by mother nature, though the gastrea virus worked in mysterious ways. There were much more gruesome and horrifying creatures out there…
Though as he placed the tripmine down, a voice in his ear shouted at him, making him flinch at the suddenness of it.
"Watch out! It's coming towards you!"
'What?' The urgency in her voice made him alert.
Turning around, the teen snapped his head left and right. 'Damn, I don't have time to set up one of those mines. It could be here at any moment, plus those things are a pain to set up.'
Looking down at his machine pistol, he picked it up. 'Let's hope this thing is weakened enough, as I haven't got any choice.'
Standing up, the teen strained his ears as he raised his machine pistol. He heard the sounds of the gastrea in the distance, which he knew was getting gradually closer. Stock pressed tightly against his shoulder, he glanced left and right and occasionally up, just in case.
He felt the impulse to wipe his sweaty hands on the hem of his jacket, though he resisted the urge, keeping his grip firm on his weapon. Any slip-up could kill him, even if it was small. Taking a few deep breaths, he kept a vigilant watch…
Eventually, he saw it round the corner of the street, stopping as soon as it got into sight of him. It seemed to stare at him before it howled, immediately running towards him as soon as the gastrea confirmed his scent.
Knowing that it was sluggish and blind, the teen stood in place, crouching as he flicked the fire selector to semi-auto. Aiming down the sights, he waited until it got closer and closer until it got within a few metre. Then after he got used to how the gastrea flailed its crippled head about, he snapped his aim onto its head and fired.
The shot drilled into its brain, causing it to recoil again from the pain and lash out. As it slashed with one of its claws, the teen ducked to the side just as the swipe managed to hit where his head would have been.
Whipping around and backpedalling, he fired off three more shots which completely blew its eyes out, causing the gastrea to cry out in agony. With that, the teen turned around again and ran, vaulting over a car as he did so.
After gaining some distance between himself and the abomination, he turned around only to see that the gastrea has turned and flung a car in his direction in its rage.
'Oh shit!' Falling over backwards, he managed to evade the car, the wreck impacting the building behind him and making it crumple. Caught completely off guard, he scrambled backwards as the gastrea hissed at him and began to pounce.
Then, he briefly remembered that he had something that could help him. Reaching into his jacket, he pulled out a grenade launcher that was shortened and attached with a pistol grip, and fired.
The resounding thump was quickly drowned out by a sudden explosion as the gastrea was sent stumbling back by the grenade, the teen covering his eyes. Wasting no time, he slipped the launcher back into his jacket and hastily started to run, scooping up his machine pistol as he did so.
The grenade, by no means was made out of varanium. It was meant to be used in a panic, if the teen needed to get away and had no other options. Of course, it would mean that it would only stagger the gastrea, rather than completely blowing off a part of it.
Heart leaping to his throat, he looked over his shoulder to see that the abomination had recovered and was on his tail again. With his gun, he started firing wildly behind him, some of the projectiles going wide completely as a result of having no time to aim.
Then his gun clicked empty as he tried to pull the trigger again, causing the teen to widen his eyes in shock.
'Fuck!' Facing the direction he was running, he focused every ounce of his energy to sprint madly, his legs taking him across the road as fast as he could. He started panting frantically, eyes darting around for somewhere to escape to. He-
From somewhere behind him, a explosion ran out. Something wet splashed onto his back, causing him to fall over with a startled shout.
Quickly getting up and turning around, he discovered that the gastrea, which was once chasing him had now fallen, its head completely blown off the neck. Purple blood spurted out, beginning to pool quickly on the road. Its limbs thrashed out a few times in its death throes, before they went limp completely.
The teen sighed, lifting his arm to wipe his forehead, before realising that it was stained with gastrea blood. So he instead chose to just catch his breath as he pulled back his hood, lifting his machine pistol to eject the magazine.
The teen sighed as he looked down at it. Completely empty. It was a miracle that whatever happened before had saved him…
"H-hey…" Looking over, the teen noticed the girl had poked her head out, between some cars. Lifting herself up and over the cars, she ran over. "Are you okay?"
"Yeah… I'm fine." The teen shakily smiled, trying to make it look reassuring. Freeing up one of his hands and wiping it on his pants, he placed it on the girl's head, gently patting her. "That was you who set up the tripmine, right?"
"Hey, your hands are dirty!" She pouted, causing the teen to retract his hand as she pulled away from him.
"Oops, sorry. Kind of a second nature for me..." He chuckled, which promptly also made the little girl let out a small giggle of her own.
"Anyways... Yeah, I managed to set it to set it to a different setting! Turns out we needed to set it to motion-triggered…"
'Yeah… kinda unlucky that the other trap spot with the tripmines was what we should have led it to. Would've saved us some trouble that way…' The teen sighed. 'Well, I think it's about time we call it in.'
Pulling out his phone, the teen started scrolling down his contacts, picking out the number for his company. Pressing the phone up to his ear, he let it buzz for a moment before it stopped.
"This is Masaya Hirano, IP rank 4918. Operation Nightstalker is a success. Requesting security teams to bring in the neutralised triple factor."
"Acknowledged." The female, automated voice at the other end monotoned. "Success of operation has been confirmed, and request for security teams has been permitted."
With a nod, the teen ended the call. Running a hand through his slightly unkempt silverish-grey hair, he let out a satisfied sigh. 'Another job well done…'
The teen stared up at the sky for a moment, watching as some of the clouds had parted and made way for the stars. Taking in a deep breath, he turned to his partner, who was looking up at him. "Well then, let's pack up and go home, shall we?"
"Mmm-hmm!" The girl hummed enthusiastically.
Finally, after several months of procrastination and having no motivation… I HAVE DONE IT.
The beginning looks like crap to me, but I don't care. I just wanted to get this out by the time I was done with it, punctuation, grammar and general spelling mistakes be damned. It's shorter than what I used to write, but hey, it's just a starter.
This was a little something that I had floating in my head for a while now, as the world of Black Bullet interests me. There are many things that have managed to get me hooked, as well as how the story represents itself. The anime only made me interested in the light novels, which had details the anime omitted and a continuation of what happened after the third kanto war.
Of course, it isn't perfect. With this starter of a chapter, I hope to make my own path in this world with my own characters. Plot points will be changed, but not too much to deviate from the main story as I currently don't have the experience for that. That is… if I could motivate myself to.
I don't know how long I'll be continuing this, or if I'll even continue at all. No guarantees here. Don't expect too much out of this, but hopefully you'll still enjoy it as is.
It'll be a bit tricky, gaining views in a archive that is basically near dead, though I'll consider it a bit of a achievement if I somehow manage to make this popular. But one can dream, eh?
Also, for those who expected me to continue my other story, I apologise, but maybe someday I'll actually consider reworking it so that it's less bad. Consider it on a indefinite hiatus for now, though hopefully you'll stick around with me for this one, if I do want to continue working on this.
Maybe a few chapters down, I'll outline a little about what I plan on taking this. But we'll see.
See you next chapter, if it ever exists.