Fred MacManus woke with a groan and looked around. He was on a bluff overlooking a large expanse of meadow, with ruins poking up through the green here and there.

"Gah...Edgar, where are we this time?" Fred groaned as he rubbed his head. Huh. Don't remember letting my hair get like that. And something's on my left arm. Wonder what … looks like a primitive forearm computer. How'd I get that? "Edgar? Where are we?"

After a few moments of silence, Fred pushed himself to his feet and looked around, trying to get his bearings. There, on a lower bluff ahead of him, was a young woman with a rifle under one arm and a forearm computer like his own on her left arm. When she turned to look at him, he saw she was wearing a visor over her eyes. Fred automatically attempted to shift his frequency response to see what her eyes looked like under the visor, and let out an annoyed curse when nothing happened.

What the hell? Well, maybe she'll have some idea of what's going on. Fred tried lifting off, so he could fly down to meet her, and let out another annoyed curse when nothing happened. Finding a trail down from the bluff he was on, Fred started down to meet her.

"Hurry up!" the woman yelled as he got close to her. "Central wants us to investigate what happened in Home II."

"Right, right," Fred said, rushing to join her. "What the fuck is going on?"

"Aren't you a polite one?" the woman asked, then laughed. "Don't worry about it. Us Demon Busters don't usually have time for politeness. I'm Kuroe. So how new are you to this, anyway?"
"Given that I don't know what you're talking about," Fred said, "I'd say you'd better put me down as 'totally clueless'. I'm Fred, by the way."

"At least you're honest about it," Kuroe said, then laughed. "Look, we're the only ones close enough to handle this job, so I'm going to need your help. Since you're new to being a Demon Buster, why don't you hang back and follow my lead?"

"Sounds like a plan to me," Fred said. "So what are we doing?"

"All contact with Home II was lost about an hour ago," Kuroe said. "Central wants us to investigate and find out why."

"Two of us," Fred said. "You with a rifle, and me with what's not even a proper war hammer. We'd better have a secret weapon up our sleeves, or we're screwed."

"You don't have any demons yet?" Kuroe asked.

"Have any demons?" Fred asked, giving her a confused look. "In my experience, you don't 'have' demons. For the most part, the best thing to do with them is kill them."

"How'd you get a comp, then?" Kuroe asked. "Only Demon Busters have a comp like that."

"I wish I knew," Fred said. "We can figure that out later, though. For now, let's just deal with this investigation."

"Right," Kuroe said, while giving Fred a curious look. "Follow me."

Fred nodded, hoisted his 'war hammer' and rested it over his shoulder, and followed Kuroe down the road into Home II.

Hmm. Underground shelter, entrance implies that it's large enough for a small city or a large village, big enough to drive heavy equipment in. It's awfully damned quiet, though. Too quiet. There should be guards, at least, if not shops around the entrance for people going in or out.

"Fred!" Kuroe snapped. "Pay attention! I need you to go check out the elevator, while I examine the home point to see if it's still working."

"Sorry," Fred said. "Which way to the elevator?"

"That way,' Kuroe said, giving Fred a curious look. "Are you all right?"

"Just confused," Fred said. "Don't worry, I'll get over it. I always do."

Kuroe shook her head, then tapped on her forearm computer, and a creature materialized in front of her, causing Fred to step back, surprised. The creature looked like a white-furred lion with a snake for a tail. Fred approached it and gave it a curious examination.

"You don't know what I am, do you?" the creature asked, its voice loud and clear in Fred's mind.

"No, I don't," Fred said. "I"ve never seen anything like you before. What are you? And what's your name?"

"I'm Cerberus," the creature said. "I'm Kuroe's Cerberus."

"Kuroe's … Baroo?" Fred said, confused. "You don't look anything like Cerbie!"

"Cerbie?" the creature asked. "What do you mean, Cerbie?"

"I know Cerberus," Fred said. "He's not exactly a friend of mine, but he's definitely not you."

"Are you thinking of the Great Beast?" the creature asked. "That form is supposed to be the iconic form of Cerberus. I'm just a lesser form."

"Are you back from the elevator yet?" Kuroe asked.

"Sorry," Fred said. "Be right back."

Fred jogged in the direction Kuroe had indicated, and discovered the wreckage of an open-platform freight elevator, scattered around the end of the hallway, where it disappeared into a dark open pit. He knelt to examine the edge of the hole.

"Damn, Edgar," Fred muttered as he studied the wreckage. "I wish you were answering. I could really use access to David's data right now. The wreckage looks like it was cut by something sharp. I don't know of anything that can leave this kind of edge on an object this big."

Fred shook his head and turned back toward Kuroe. As odd as her companion was, he was friendly, at least. And she was cute. No complaints about her. Could she be the one who would help him with whatever he had to deal with in order to get home? That would be just fine, if it turned out to be the case.

"So, what did you find?" Kuroe asked, as soon as Fred was within conversational distance.

"Elevator's trashed," Fred said. "Looked like something sliced it up with a sword. Never saw a sword big enough to slice something like that up, though."

"Hmm," Kuroe said. "That's not good. So if we want to get into the main part of the shelter, we'll have to go through the industrial sector. At least that has stairs we can use. Think you're up to it?"

"I'd be more up to it if I had my favorite rifle," Fred said, "but I'm ready whenever you are."

"All right," Kuroe said. "You take that hallway, and I'll take this one over here. Keep your eyes open, and don't let anything get through your guard. I'll monitor you through your comp, so if you run into trouble, I can tell you what to do."

"Got it," Fred said, looked at the creature, and added, "Keep her safe, eh?"

"That's what I do," the creature said. "You be careful. You don't have a demon to protect you the way I protect her."

"Eh ... yeah," Fred said. "I'll be careful."

Fred and Kuroe stared down their respective hallways. It wasn't long before Fred ran into things that looked like ambulatory piles of slime.

"Those are easy," Kuroe's voice said from his forearm computer. "Just hit them until they break. Don't hold back."

"Right," Fred muttered, as he took a swing at the nearest slime. The slime flattened under the hammer, then bounced back, as if it were made of Silly Putty. "Damn it. All right, let's see what happens now …."

Fred leaned into the swing, put all his strength into it, and the hammer sank into the slime, splashing it across the hallway. Pulling back, he swung into the next slime, adjusting the force of his swing to account for the unbalanced weight of the hammer. Another solid hit, and a second slime splattered under the impact. Not sure why they didn't fight back, or at least try to engulf him, Fred moved as quickly as he could to finish off every slime, so he could move on down the hallway. Moments after defeat, the slimes began to vanish, like demons in sunlight, leaving behind crystals of a form Fred didn't recognize.

Not sure what these are. I'll take them with me and check them out later. For now, where are the people? I'm not even seeing bodies, which is really weird.

"Good job," Kuroe said. "Keep moving. Something's not right."

"You're telling me?" Fred shot back. "I haven't seen anyone – alive or dead – since we started into this place."

"That's what I mean," Kuroe said. "If they were attacked, the way the wreckage at the entrance implies, we should at least see bodies. I don't like this at all."

"Welcome to my world," Fred muttered, then spoke up. "Neither do I. Hopefully there are answers further in."

"I agree," Kuroe said. "Be careful."

"You, too," Fred said. "I'd hate to get all the way in and find you in trouble."

"My Cerberus will keep me safe," Kuroe said. "You don't have any demon to protect you."

"Hey, I'll be careful if you are," Fred said. "Promise you'll meet me at the other side."

"All right, all right," Kuroe said. "Sheesh, you'd think you were trying to protect me."

"And if I am?" Fred asked, laughing."What are you going to do about that?"

"You'll see," Kuroe said, laughing in reply. "After we're done here. Back in Shinjuku."

"It's a date," Fred said. "The hell? These look like will-o-wisps."

"Oh, those," Kuroe said. "They're vulnerable to a charge attack. You just need to move fast enough to get through their defenses."

"Fast, I can do," Fred said. He eyed one of the will-o-wisps, raised the hammer, and dug in to dash for it.

"See? That wasn't so bad," Kuroe said, as Fred examined the remains of the will-o-wisps for more of those strange crystals. "The door to the factory area should be straight ahead of you."

"Would that be the one that looks as if it's been locked down?" Fred asked. "Any idea where I can find a security terminal?"

"Is there a side door anywhere?" Kuroe asked. "If you see one, give it a try. There should be a security station."

"Found it," Fred said, as he left the main hallway through a side door. "I found a body! You hear me, Kuroe? I found a body!"

"Dead, I take it?" Kuroe asked. "Damn!"

"Not only that," Fred said, as he crouched and examined the body, "he's been killed by a sword. Or a bunch of swords. Katana, if I'm reading these cuts right."

"Not good," Kuroe said. "Not good at all. Keep alert."

"Got it," Fred said. "Found the terminal, too. Gimme a minute."

Fred reached out for the terminal, stopped, and looked down at his hand. "Damn it! What's going wrong?"

"What's taking so long?" Kuroe asked.

"Nothing, nothing," Fred muttered, as he began typing. "I'm on it. I'll have the door open any time now."

The terminal flashed, and the sound of a door opening echoed from the main hall.

"About damned time," Fred muttered, as he turned away from the terminal. He barely made it ten feet from the terminal, when a gang of monkey demons appeared around him. "Oh, you have got to be kidding me!"

Fred heard Kuroe's voice from the comp, but was too busy smashing the monkeys to pay attention. With one spinning swing of the hammer, he knocked the monkeys away. As they hit the floor, each monkey winked out, leaving behind more of the strange crystals.

Fred started back down the hallway, toward the locked door, and a trio of what looked like zombies appeared. For the first time since he'd started into the shelter, a demon moved to attack before Fred was within reach. Fred raised the hammer and caught the zombie's attack on it, then spun and brought the hammer down on the zombie's head. The zombie collapsed like a marionette with cut strings.

Two more zombies down, and Fred moved toward the door. As he approached it, the door opened, revealing Kuroe and her creature, waiting on the other side, in front of a larger door.

"Good to see you," Kuroe said.

"Just stay back and let us handle things," the creature said.

"So this leads into the factory section?" Fred asked.

"It does," Kuroe said. "I talked to a surviving guard, and found out that they were invaded by something that was too strong for them to stop. They had to fall back when they were overwhelmed."

"Shit," Fred muttered, then spoke to Kuroe. "So we're all that's left to protect this place, huh?"
"That's about the size of it," Kuroe said. "So, knowing what we're up against, what do you want to do?"

"Like there's a choice?" Fred asked rhetorically. "So what's the plan?"

"You know," Kuroe said, her gaze lost in the distance, "I knew someone like you once. He could have been the best Demon Buster in Tokyo, but he sacrificed himself to save a little girl."

"Of course," Fred said.

"Just remember, if you die for nothing, you leave people behind who hurt because you're gone," Kuroe said.

"You're the only one in this dimension who even knows I'm here," Fred said. "So let's agree that I won't die as long as you don't."

"I'm the only one in this dimension?" Kuroe asked, giving Fred a worried look. "Are you sure you didn't hit your head on the way in here?"

"Not as far as I know," Fred said. "Tell you what: once we're done here, let's find somewhere to grab a meal, and I'll tell you everything I can about what I'm doing here. Deal?"

"Deal," Kuroe said, giving Fred a warm smile. "Now let's see what's going on. Just remember to let us go first, and if it starts to go bad, get yourself out. OK?"

"Got it," Fred said. "You be sure to do the same, right?"

"I have no desire to get killed today," Kuroe said, then grinned and patted her creature's shoulder. "Let's go!"

Fred worked the controls on the panel beside the door. As soon as it had raised enough to let her through, Kuroe and her creature ducked under it and into the next area. Fred followed, after locking down the controls, and saw a scene that reminded him of why he had formed the Knights in the first place.

Scattered around the space, which was easily the size of a small warehouse, were dead bodies, mixed with the bodies of beings of all descriptions. Mostly, though, the beings looked like creatures from Hindu mythology. In the middle of the room, standing a good twelve feet tall, was a creature that looked vaguely like Kali, except not nearly as beautiful, or as graceful. The creature was moving around the room in mincing steps that looked like a parody of dance.

Kuroe's creature leaped for the being, only to catch a sword in the side and be thrown across the room, where it lay, whimpering with pain. Kuroe let out a yell and began shooting at the being, her bullets chipping at its skull jewelry, but doing no apparent damage to the creature. Fred stopped just inside the door and hefted his hammer while quickly scanning the bodies for a more effective weapon: rocket launcher, grenade launcher, M2, even a decent sword or mace, for that matter, and so didn't notice the creature turn its attention toward him until he heard Kuroe shout, "No!" and dash across the room to put herself between him and the creature. He looked up from his scan of the bodies, just in time to see one of the creature's swords strike Kuroe, knocking her visor off.

"R … run …," Kuroe managed to gasp out, as she fell to her knees, then onto her face.

"No!" Fred yelled, hoisting his hammer and charging the creature. "Kuroe!"

The creature met Fred's charge with four swords, all of them swinging to meet him in mid-leap. As he fell to the floor, Fred looked down at the gash in his chest with confusion. Blood? But how can there be blood? My body is artificial!