Greetings!

I am SeekerMeeker, and for anyone who is curious, this is a standalone sequel to "Girls Dead Rise: War of California"!


This means that you DO NOT have to read my previous story, in order to understand what's going on; the first few chapters will give enough details to cover most of my previous story. Consider that story as a PREQUEL to this one! However, if you are curious, feel free to read it.

So, I have been a fan of "Girls und Panzer" for quite a while. Strangely, it was partly due to this that I got into writing, and here I am...doing this!

A fantasy version of "Girls und Panzer," which most other writers don't do, so expect the unexpected!


Plus, at the end of this chapter, I have a TABLE OF CONTENTS, detailing which chapters compose specific "story arcs."

(This is for anyone who wants to know more about what's going on.)

So, let's go, panzer vor!


Girls Wild Rise

Endangered Warfare

By SeekerMeeker


Chapter 1: Crossing the Ocean

San Sanderson Pier

Santa Barbara County, CA, USA

7:00 AM; October 8, 20XX


"After that...apocalypse...ended, we thought we'd be back to our homes, our families, our old lives...But, we were wrong. Now we are on the run, trying to keep the last glimmer of hope and freedom we have left."


The golden sun blazed over the bluish-black cliffs, towering over the silver-white waves that clawed at its metallic edges. The azure-blue sky stayed still, as the vermilion-red flowers on the coast waved in the warming wind, the golden sand glittering on the serene beach below.

A tall, slim girl sighed, despite smiling at the sun rising above the morning horizon. Her old seifuku uniform shone a dull green and white, stained with dirt and residue from living in the wild for days on end. She inspected and sniffed her clothing, giggled, and then sighed.

"Ah," she noted. "It seems that we need new clothing, again."

However, she smiled, gazing at the beautiful sun. Its warm, golden rays of light radiated on her face, giving her a sense of calm...and courage.

"At least we're still alive," she said out loud, as the waves crashed into the shore, and the October wind blew cool and fresh. "And free...but for how long? It's been days, maybe 40? But why are we-"

"Miporin!"

"Miho-san!"

"Nishizumi-dono!"

"Miho..."

Four voices called out all at once from a distance, snapping her out of her trance. Nishizumi Miho turned around in the direction of the calls.

"Coming!" she replied, running towards her friends, the golden sand flicking from behind her.

Rip!

"Oh..." she noted, giggling a little as she stopped to unbutton her uniform. "Oh well, we need to get new clothing. Even our powers cannot fix this for long."

She continued to run, and in only a few seconds reached her friends, as they were struggling to launch a boat, with an extra-heavy cargo onboard.

"Man!" an orange-haired girl groaned. "It's one thing to lift a boat, but one with a tank?!"

Miho giggled, but understood her words. They were not only trying to launch a boat, but also launching their favorite tank.

"You know," a tall, elegant girl said calmly, although she grunted a little as she helped with pushing the boat. "This is all to save something precious to us."

"Of course!" a tomboyish girl with a fluffy mass of hair squealed. "After parting from it for so long, we don't wanna lose it again! Especially not since the apocalypse ended!"

The others nodded in silent agreement, except the shortest girl.

"But yeah," the short girl grunted nonchalantly, weakly helping. "I agree, but saving our prized tank...is it worth it?"

The others then looked at Miho, who giggled.

"Yes," she replied, as she lent her hands. She and her four friends-her four teammates-all were trying to push their boat unto the waters.

"Heave ho!" all five cried out and, after a few pushes, successfully launched the boat unto the sea, except anchored with a rope to a lonely wooden pole nearby. The shortest girl sat down, panting, while the others wiped their sweats from their foreheads.

"Good!" Miho said. "How are the ropes and the binds?"

"They are great!" the fluffy-haired girl cried out, as she and the redhead both jumped unto the boat. Both proceeded to check the binds...well, just the redhead.

"This is so great!" the fluffy-haired girl yelled, rubbing her left cheek against their tank. "Our Panzer IV ausf. H., but now more advanced!"

"And bigger!" the redhead grunted, struggling with one rope. "And will you stop that, Yukarin? Yes, it still looks like our old tank, but it's way bigger, and way HEAVIER!"

She stopped at her own words, then looked down at her own body.

"Miporin," she blurted out. "Am I fat?"


Miho shook her head and giggled awkwardly, but she understood what she was talking about. Miho and all four of her friends were now part of something called the "Chosen Ones." A strange group of people who appeared since the so-called "Fall of California" about three months ago, the Chosen Ones were a popular term referring to these superhero-like mutant humans, who somehow gained unusual powers that allowed them to defeat the zombies. However, since the apocalypse abated, the Chosen Ones were branded more as "fugitives" who were rounded up like criminals.


Miho then looked down at herself, then at others.

The redhead was Takebe Saori, who complained about feeling "fat," which to her was basically a little too buxom and too muscular. The fluffy-haired girl, who apparently loved tanks, was Akiyama Yukari. The tallest of them was Isuzu Hana, who maintained a calm, ladylike demeanor. The laziest of them, and the shortest, was Reizei Mako, who had a habit of either sleeping, or yawning.

"You mean more robust," said Mako nonchalantly.

"I prefer slim!" Saori pouted.

"Maybe between that?" suggested Hana.

"How about robust-slim?" Yukari joined in.

"Girls," Miho said, giggling awkwardly at the girls' antics. "We know that we're different, now that we're Chosen. But let's worry about what being 'Chosen' is really later; our tank is now a little bigger than the M1 Abrams tank, which is why it took us a while to even find a boat that can carry one."

"Plus, its guns are bigger!" Yukari squealed, as she caressed the tank.

Miho giggled, nervous at her words.

"And heavier!" Saori grunted. "What is this, a Maus?"

"No," Miho corrected her. "It feels like it's about the same weight as the Abrams."

"So, our tank has the appearance of Panzer, but is really an Abrams?" suggested Saori.

"It's just a bigger version of Panzer!" Yukari replied, gawking at her friend's suggestion.

"No, it has the soul of Abrams, and the body of Panzer," Saori said.

Yukari pouted.

"It's still a tank," Miho said, stopping the girls' conversation altogether. "We'll think about that later; what we need to do now..."

She looked around, her enhanced senses on full alert. The others looked at her, and understood.

"Saori-san, Hana-san, Yukari-san, and Mako-san," she said with a serious, clear voice. "Get ready."

She stretched out her right arm to her side, her hand's fingers moving as if playing with something. Sparks of golden and light magenta light started to flicker, then appear rapidly en masse. The lights then fused together, solidifying into a single, giant weapon. Miho then swung it around, as if it was an antique, valuable sword, which it was.

"A chainsaw, shaped like one giant sword," Yukari squealed with delight. "Awesome!"

"Get your weapon ready, Yukarin!" Saori admonished her, as she flicked both of her hands, instead of just one (unlike the others, she liked to give nicknames. She often called Yukari "Yukarin," while she labeled Miho as "Miporin"). Two clouds of vermilion-red lights appeared, and like Miho's, formed into weapons. Two glittering, brilliant-red fans made of sharp blades flicked in her hands.

"The beauty of Saori," Saori said to herself dreamily, flapping the fans to her face as she turned to look at the tall girl. "How are they, Hana-san?"

"Do not be distracted, please," Hana said calmly, as she waved her right hand. An elongated cloud of shiny-blue lights appeared, and soon formed into a long naginata, complete with vines surrounding the blade and pole.

"It sure is good to be Chosen," Yukari noted, clenching her fists. Clouds of silver-white lights appeared, turning into plate-like projections that soon formed into a pair of gigantic, robotic gauntlets, which looked more fit on a fighting robot than on a human girl. She then flexed them, grinning at them.

The shortest girl, however, did nothing and yawned.

"Mako!" Saori admonished her firmly. "Summon your weapon; you're Chosen, just like us!"

"Oh boy," Mako groaned. "I wish that we're back to normal."

Stretching, she then flicked both of her hands. Two bluish-black clouds formed on her hands, but appeared differently. On her right, it lengthened and solidified into a whip-like sword, which wrapped around her hand like a bandage. On her left, the cloud expanded and formed into a giant, tortoiseshell-like shield, complete with spikes all around the edges like that of an ankylosaur.

"Me too," Miho answered, sighing. "However, when the apocalypse ended for good, we still retained our powers. And that's why we're launching our boat; our only choice now is to go to that island."

"Yes," Mako moaned. "And let's hope that we can get our normal lives back there..."

Now, all five girls were armed, and made a half-circle around their boat. Miho pulled a string from her chainsaw.

Bzz...

Whirl-whirl-whirl-bzzzzzzz!

The sword-shaped chainsaw blared with energy, sparks of golden and light magenta light flying around. Saori posed with her fans, like a dancer. Hana calmly raised her naginata, while Yukari posed like a boxer with her giant gauntlets. Mako, however, hid behind her giant shield, with her urumi snaking around like a cobra ready to strike.

Since the apocalypse, the Chosen Ones were also distinct from human beings in their special tools and weapons. Known as the Hands of God, because they were thought to be from God or Heaven, the weapons were another visible mark of distinction. Each Chosen One had a distinct type of weapon, or a set of tools.

"Boy!" Saori suddenly pouted.

"Hmm?" Miho reacted with a start.

"Have to admit," she sighed, lowering her fans and loosening her pose a little. "Mako is right; look, we've been through not one, but FOUR crazy things! First, against all odds, we won the 63rd National High School Senshadou Tournament, in order to secure our school. Then, against all odds once again, we won the annihilation match against the Selection University. Next, we survived the zombie apocalypse, which struck our Senshadou Parade just as we were about to showcase our teams to the American audience. And now, we destroyed the source of that freaky apocalypse, the Orb!"

Miho nodded. She and her team were the ones who recovered their tank, and renovated it into a bigger, stronger version of itself. Indeed, Chosen Ones also not only seemed to have the power to destroy, but also the power to heal and repair. Plus, they used their tank to fire a specially charged shell, and long story short, helped to stop the apocalypse once and for all.

"And now," Hana chimed in. "We are on the run. Not only the US government, but multiple foreign forces are now cooperating with native forces to track down and capture us Chosen Ones."

"For what crimes?" Yukari retorted, messing with her fluffy hair, as her gloves covered her scalp. "The crime of being Chosen?!"

All five girls sighed in unison. She was semi-right; they spent their days in California sort of like fugitives. Mostly living in the wildernesses, the girls resorted to hunting and gathering, and moonlighted as "random helpers," who assisted sympathetic Americans. In return for helping them, such as cleaning the lawns or delivering something valuable, the girls got food and supplies, which they gathered into crates, chests, and anything they could salvage. Pretty much, the girls spent 40 days or maybe longer, just to prepare for this one boat launch.

"Senshadou," Miho said. "That was the whole reason we came, and then this happened. We lost Senshadou, when we lost our tanks."

She then jumped up to the bridge, still on alert. She touched the tank, and smiled.

"Now, we have it back, our tank and all," she said, jumping back onto shore. The others nodded.

"Can't we just leave this tank?" Saori suggested, but gulped. "Well, to be honest, this tank holds too many memories..."

"Which is why we're not parting with it!" Yukari roared with glee, jumping onboard and rubbing her left cheek to the former Panzer. Although it looked like their original tank, it now had a shinier, more magenta cover, complete with a few sharp spike-like projections and a more modern appearance. Despite its recovery and restoration, the Panzer looked more like a slightly modern, perhaps even futuristic, version of the WWII-era tank that it formerly was. As mentioned previously by Miho, the tank's dimensions, size, weight, and everything resembled more of the M1 Abrams tank, but bulkier and with the cute, pink emblem of an anglerfish on its sides.

"This tank!" Yukari said with a positive sigh. "The tank that won the battles against Kuromorimine, against Alice Shimada-dono, and finally against the Orb! We fired the shot that won all three victories!"

The others admitted in silence. Miho smiled, as she looked at the tank.

"Panzer X," Miho replied.

They now named it the "Panzer X," because it was still a Panzer tank, but now was different enough to warrant a new "classification." The Panzer still looked like a WWII-era Panzer tank, the type used by the Nazi Germans. However, its cannon was a little oversized for its size, and it had extra miniguns all around on the turret.

"You are right, Yukari-san," Miho replied. "That's why it also took us a while to even find a boat. Although we could have just taken off, this tank is valuable to us. Sure, the government sees no use for it, since it is a WWII-era tank, but we belong to Senshadou, a distinct type of Japanese sport where girls of our age drive them."

That was why the girls were willing to keep their tank. Senshadou was a distinct type of sport, in which high school girls (not boys, for some unknown reason) drove WWII-era tanks for sport. Miho was a scion of the most famous family; the Nishizumis, whose legacy spanned since the WWII. However, the sport and its variants appeared to be dying in other parts of the world, and the President of the US invited her and her friends from other schools to showcase it to the American audience, just to reinvigorate its image and worth.

"And now..." Saori sighed. "We are Chosen, the zombies are gone, and our tank is in danger."

Miho grimly nodded.

"Say," Saori said. "Where is danger?"

The others looked around. A while ago, they sensed something...which was now gone.

Miho scanned the horizon, then blinked.

"Oh," she realized. "False alarm; a few birds were flying overhead."

The others sighed in big relief.

"We've been running away for so long!" Saori said, collapsing unto the sandy shore. "Like criminals, that even the movement of a bird puts us on edge!"

"Or like zombies," Hana chimed in, causing everybody else to shiver a little.

"Do they think that we are infected?" Saori asked.

"There is no way," Mako said. "That a zombie virus would give some humans superpowers, like us. Plus, we have never been bitten."

"Except you," Miho corrected her.

"Ah," Mako said. "I almost forgot; that moment was...yeah."

An awkward but serious silence followed, as they remembered before. Mako almost became a zombie, when a zombified scientist almost killed her with his...experimental bite or something. Fortunately, she became Chosen just in time, saving her from certain death.

"Good thing," Mako mumbled. "That Chosen Ones are apparently immune to zombification. Still..."

She sighed, lowering her head a little.

"I understand," Miho said, hugging her. "We almost lost you there."

"Th-thanks," Mako said, almost crying.

"And don't die on us like that next time!" Saori chimed in, almost teasing her.

"You and Hana almost died too," Mako snickered. "Chopping off your own leg or something to save Miho in time? That was almost stupid, as you two were weak, but you did that to free your legs, in order to save Miho from certain death."

Saori giggled nervously. She and Hana did seem foolish, but in the heat of the moment, chose to try and protect Miho, who was incapacitated at one point, from being crushed by a strange zombie. Fortunately, being Chosen required that one did something noble; for some unknown reason, the same Orb that caused the apocalypse also blessed some individuals with the power to defeat the zombies.

"And Yukari saved yours," Hana said. "Mako-san, Yukari almost got crushed by a monster that looked like a walking pig, just to save you."

Yukari giggled and smiled awkwardly. She remembered that moment when she and Mako were hiding from a few mutant monsters. However, one of them got down to their hideout, and Yukari almost lost her life.

"And all that began," Mako said, turning to face Miho. "Because our leader chose to save Liuyang, a Chinese girl, from certain death."

"And here we are," Miho concluded. "But now...I sense something."

They all turned around, weapons raised and ready. The waves continued to crash unto the shore, an eerie calm seeping all around the coastline. The cliffs echoed with the distant roars of the waves, slamming into its jagged edges. Yet, one thing was missing...

"No sound of animals," Saori said the obvious. "Strange..."

"You are right," Miho began. "We have-wow!"

Four silhouettes flew overhead, then one of them circled rapidly around the five girls. Saori concentrated, her fans together as they gradually created a fireball.

"Hold your fire," Miho commanded, and Saori reciprocated. "That is just a...something."

The four silhouettes of avian figures circled around them for a while, before three of them beelined for something in the distance.

"That's the direction we're going to take," Mako noted.

Miho nodded, as she and the others looked up. The lone flying figure then gradually flew down, until it was on the ground.

Mako gulped, then sidestepped behind Saori.

"Mako!" Saori groaned. "You have a shield; don't use me as one!"

"I hate scary things," Mako mumbled.

"But condors are not scary!" Saori moaned, as she and others stared at the giant bird walking towards them. Its huge, black-clad body shone brilliantly in the sunlight, in sharp contrast to its bald head, which was a splash of gray, yellow, and pink colors.

"Well," she added. "Maybe 'ugly' is a better word than 'scary.'"

"Eww..." Mako groaned. "Gymnogyps californianus, not my favorite type of animal. A common symbol during Halloween."

"Ah, really?" Saori asked. "Well, vultures are associated with symbols of death. And Gymno-what?"

"Its scientific name," Mako replied. "The rarest of the condors, the California condor was almost extinct, but was saved in the nick of time. Now, it soars as a protected species, looking for carcasses to eat."

"But we have no meat here!" Yukari said. "Except for some cans of meat, which I am not sure."

"Condors do not smell meat," Mako corrected her. "They find food by sight, but it is weird for a condor to just come down and walk towards us."

The California condor stared at them, its black eyes staring nobly up towards the girls. It continued to stare at them, as if wanting to beg, but not wanting to.

"Does it want meat?" Saori pouted. "Man! It took us a while just to gather up supplies!"

Miho looked at the bird, then jumped onto the boat. In the middle of the giant boat was the tank, situated precariously in the middle as the waves crashed into the front of the boat, the ropes groaning as if about to snap apart. Around the tank were a variety of boxes and crates. Miho beelined for one with a label "fresh meat," and opened it.

"Miporin!" Saori called out. "That's the wrong box!"

"No," Miho replied back, coming back with a piece of ribeye steak. "From what I remember back in elementary school, my old teacher said that vultures prefer fresh meat."

"She's right," Mako said, defending her. "Despite their reputation, vultures actually prefer fresh meat."

"And that's one way you can tell whether a dead animal is safe to eat!" Yukari chimed in. "In survival videos I watched, that's one way you know whether meat is fresh: find vultures."

Saori made a face at that.

"I prefer not," she concluded, as she and others watched Miho approach the condor. It backed out at first, then craned its neck up at her. She opened the packet, and let the steak drop down to the sand.

"Here you go," Miho said, watching the condor while kneeling on her knees.

The condor looked at the hunk of red-and-white flesh closely, its ivory-billed beak clenched tight. Then, it reached its neck out, and grabbed the whole hunk of flesh. Dangling from its mouth, the meat bore a few specks of sand from the shore. The bird then dropped it and, holding it with its left foot, commenced ripping it into smaller morsels to swallow.

"Where there is no way," Mako said nonchalantly. "Make a way."

The condor looked up, and grunted. Miho smiled in response, and she almost thought that the condor smiled back.

"The California condor has no vocal cord," explained Mako. "Which is why it does not talk. I don't think it could, even if it's a talking animal."

"Talking animal..." Saori moaned, shaking her head. "The apocalypse sure brought some weird stuff! We dealt with zombies, which were nothing like the types we expect! Then, the talking animals..."

Miho nodded in silence.

In addition to the Chosen Ones and the zombies, the apocalypse also brought another "incident": the rise of talking animals. Throughout California, reports rang about strange, gigantic versions of animals that somehow could understand human speech. They were more interested in minding their own business, than in attacking humans, although a few casualties resulted from conflicts with them. Still, even though the apocalypse abated, these animals still appeared to still roam about.

"The Orb," she replied. "The Orb strangely did this. Even after we destroyed it, we still retain our...strange attributes. We adapt and move on. Until we can return back to normal, we will do with what we can."

"That's Nishizumi-dono!" Yukari said out loud, waving her fists excitedly. "We will stay with you, and hopefully be back to normal!"

"That's why we're going to that island," Mako chimed in lazily. "To find the Orb if we can, learn about it, and why it still does its-"

Ring...riiiinngggg...weeeee...weweweweee...

A distant but distinct sound echoed in the distance.

"Let's go!" Miho roared, and everybody jumped into the boat. "Get the barge going! Go-go-go! Yukari-san!"

She nodded, and clapped her fists together. Then, she put them at the end of the boat. They rapidly transformed into a giant, makeshift motor, its propellers pushing the boat further away from shore. From their time living in the wild, Miho and her friends learned that being Chosen also granted them a new ability: changing their Hands of God into useful tools, although this ability was still new to them.

Saori then concentrated, creating balls of fire between her fans. Hana waved her naginata carefully, causing some bamboo-like spikes to project out from the boat's wooden floor. Mako yawned, but readied her shield, sitting on the tank's rear. Miho stood on the very top of the turret, her sword raised in hand. The chains whirled and buzzed intensely.

The condor, seeing that they were leaving, took off flying, its silhouette rising up majestically in the air. Miho looked at, made a quick motion of gratitude, and then refocused.

"Girls, get ready!" Miho called out, eyeing the convoy in the distance.

The highway snaked through the cliffs, but that did not deter a large, long line of vehicles. The convoy of black, SWAT-like military jeeps and armored cars roared through the highway. Above, three airplanes flew overhead, the cameras eyeing the girls.

"Reaper drones!" Yukari cried out, her eyes wide open. "Man, even as Chosen, I am scared of those things! They almost killed us back when we're normal!"

Although only one of the cars was using a police siren, the girls knew who they were.

"Some kind of a secret anti-Chosen military group," Mako grunted, expressing mild annoyance. "They looks like SWAT, but more advanced."

Whoever they were, a secret faction of the US military appeared to be responsible for "containing" the surviving Chosen Ones in California. This faction also ensured that it got anonymous tips, and made efforts to keep everyone else from learning about who the Chosen Ones really were. However, that was apparently a failure, as the news of both the apocalypse and the "Chosen Ones" spread from around the world.

"Concentrate!" Miho yelled out, snapping her back into focus. "Hit it!"

Yukari made a face, and forced her motor to rev up into high gear. The propellers roared in the waters, driving the boat further and further away from shore. The first three vehicles parked in the lot not far away, and a number of armed personnel then rushed towards the boat.

"Hana-san!" Miho yelled. "Spikes!"

Nodding, Hana waved her naginata, muttering something. A row of green spikes rose up, blocking the men's movement.

Pop! Pop! Boom!

"Take cover," Mako lazily said. She hid behind her shield, the bullets ricocheting off of its solid surface. Miho, Saori, and Hana all deflected the bullets with their weapons, silently glad that their Chosen status granted them resistance against bullets.

"Ouch!"

They still could get hurt, though.

"My apology," Hana replied, blocking bullets that were flying at Yukari. Her hands still tied to her motor, Yukari was wide open. A few bullets hit her, but she shrugged them off. The one good thing about being Chosen...was that they were resistant to bullet fire.

"Hold your fire," Miho said to Saori, who concentrated to create balls of fire. "We have company."

A few military vehicles parked, and a few men came out with missile launchers.

"Try and see if you can disarm them!" Miho yelled. "But try and avoid detonating them!"

"Oh please!" Saori groaned. "Then I will just shoot them with embers!"

She danced around, then snapped her fans shut. Bolts of fire shot out, and deliberately missed the men, hitting the asphalt. As expected, the men docked and moved their vulnerable but powerful weapons away. Miho also helped, by cutting the spikes on the boat with her sword, then took out an atlatl, bought from a sympathetic person.

"Good to have these," Miho muttered, as she placed a spike on her atlatl, aimed, and threw it. The lone spike wedged right into one of the launchers' tubes, forcing the man holding it to drop it to the ground. A launcher with its tube blocked was useless, after all.

Then, it happened.

"Get them!" Miho roared, as the girls struggled to block a volley of missiles. They came from the Reaper drones, which flew far away, too far for the girls to strike with their spikes. Knowing this, Miho then jumped into the tank, and took out a sniper rifle. Turning around and checking to see that it had ammo, she aimed at one of the drones, and fired.

BOOM!

The single bullet struck the leading drone, causing it to detonate, as Miho shot its engine. Despite that, the other two continued to fire their missiles, and flew away to avoid the range of fire.

"Incoming!" Saori roared, as she continued to rain down harmless embers on the growing mass of soldiers on the shore. Volleys of bullets and rockets bombarded the girls, as the men cut down the spikes.

"Can't concentrate!" Yukari roared, as a few bullets continued to pummel her. "Ouch! They still hurt!"

"These men attack well," Hana said with a gasp. She then summoned more spikes, with which she and Miho cut down and threw them like javelins, trying to distract the men. They were NOT in the mood of killing anyone right now; they just wanted to escape.

"Reaper drones and now a whole missile launcher force-thingy!" Saori cried out, panicking. Miho then jumped down, and held her friend firmly with both of her hands on her shoulders. She calmed down almost instantly.

"We will try what we can," Miho began. "And-wow!"

Something large and black swooped down past the girls, then straight towards the men, who also were taken by surprise. In the distance, three silhouettes that looked like condors flew right into the remaining drones, forcing them to dodge, their missiles missing.

"The condor!" Miho yelled, eyeing the black, majesty body soar in and out, its white triangular patches visible underneath the wings.

"Oh boy!" Saori squealed, clapping her hands and fans together. "It must have called for help or something!"

"Condors have no vocal cords," Mako corrected her, but Saori ignored that, as she had to concentrate on blocking more attacks.

"Get that bird out of the way!" one of the men roared, aiming a gun at it. Another pushed the rifle down.

"That's an endangered species!" he roared. "Plus, it has a tag on it!"

Miho looked. Sure enough, a yellow tag with a black number "5" etched on it was on the left wing. It kept soaring up and down, diving into the men.

"Thanks for your help!" Miho called out, a single tear coming out of her right eye.

As if hearing her, the condor made even braver moves, swooping close enough to peck at the men with its bloodstained mouth. Men after men screamed in horror, as they did NOT expect a vulture to suddenly attack, not to mention that it was a condor with blood on its mouth.

"Quite a strong, agile flier," Mako said nonchalantly, eyeing the condor. "To be honest, I find it a little funny, that a single bird is enough to distract a whole regiment of armed men."

"Go-go-go!" Miho called out, as Yukari managed to rev up her motor into maximum power. The barge then rapidly gained speed, until the shore looked more like a line than a shore. Bullets and rockets started to miss, as they managed to flee from the maximum distance of the volley of fire. The other two drones tried to intercept the barge, but the three condors kept flying into them, forcing them to back off.


After a few tense minutes, the barge was soon far away enough, so that the girls noted that the men onshore stopped firing. Even the drones stopped flying, as they left for their base. Then, the girls collapsed, exhausted but content.

"Gone!" Saori gasped, panting on the wooden floor.

Miho sighed, but smiled, glad to be out of the situation.

"Girls," she said. "I know that we have finally made it out."

The others responded with a sigh of relief. Indeed, after all those days of hiding, fleeing, and gathering up resources, they were finally out of California.

"We finally managed to obtain an old barge," said Yukari, still concentrating on her motor. "That still works, even after all these years."

"It's only because we somehow fixed it," said Mako. "Our powers allow us to do that."

She was right. The Chosen Ones were gifted with some type of power, known colloquially as "magic." However, unlike the scientific laws of the universe, magic seemed to be unpredictable; the girls had yet to fully comprehend what it could do...and what it could not.

"Yukari-san," Miho said. "You can stop the motor; we're safe. I can use my chainsaw."

Yukari shook her head.

"Save your energy," she replied. "You're our leader, Nishizumi-dono."

Miho blinked, then nodded in silence. Then, on impulse, she raised her right fist straight. The others smiled, and approached her to put their hands together in a hand stack. Even Yukari turned her motor back into her fists, took them off, and joined in the hand stack.

"Oh," Miho began, but the others nodded in reply. She smiled, and cleared her throat.

"We may not know what will happen," Miho said. "We finally have escaped from two nightmares: the apocalypse, and now the authorities, who have been capturing and rounding up other Chosen Ones. Now, we are finally going there."

She turned around, and the others followed suit.

In the distant horizon, despite being invisible to the naked eye, something glimmered. A glimmer that only magic could create.

"The island," Miho said. "All we know that it was created not long after the apocalypse ended. Known as the New Cal, because it was alleged to be created from a fragment of California, it now is said to be a safe have to any Chosen One. And I have a feeling that our answers, and our way to become normal, are all there."

The others nodded in anticipation, staring at the same island. Despite being far away, they all sensed it, growing closer and closer to them, as the barge continued to drive forward, even without a motor.

"Let us go," she said. "And find our answers there."

"We're in," Saori replied.

"We are with you," Hana said.

"Let's go!" Yukari yelled out loud.

"And be normal again," Mako nonchalantly answered. "Once we arrive there, this is it."

Miho nodded, then looked at the direction. Above, the condor flew around the barge; apparently, it followed them.

"Thank you!" Miho called out to the condor.

It swooped down, grunting audibly as it soared up again, and flapped its wings to beeline towards the island.

"Panzer vor," Miho said.


So then, welcome to my brand-new story! This is inspired by many things, such as my old story "Girls Dead Rise" and some inspirational words from many supporters on FanFiction.

I give a shoutout to my old friends and supporters on FanFiction:

-aGuestfromGreece45 for his continuous support

-Trex98 for his continuous support

-der Jagdexperte for his major words of advice, in order to render the story more realistic. With his help, I was able to fix some major scenes.

-Anime Psychologist, for his crucial words of advice about the characters' psychological mindset.

-Phantomwa1ker, Inceptor57, NETGamer99, DarthFii, NuclearAlchmist, and all of the at least 24 favorite and follow members from my previous story for their support!


Update: the first ten chapters are going to be revised (I don't know how long), in order to hone them further. That way, I am proud of the current project. Please re-read if you can, and thank you!

Here is the TABLE OF CONTENTS:

Chapters 1-7: Gathering up the old Ooarai Girls

Chapters 8-10: Nurok arc

Chapters 11-12: some trivia about the world of New Cal

Chapters 13: transition

Chapters 14-currently in the making: St. Gloriana arc


Thank you so much for taking your time to read my brand-new potential story. Please review, like, follow etc.

And happy 2018!