"So what now?" Ryo asked, they were stood in a gathered group, just waiting around for something else peculiar to happen. Just as Nishi had suspected one of their group members began to disappear. It was Jiro to go first. Gasping in panic the rest of the group tensed until they heard a shout from the disappearing body.

"I'm outside!"

"Really!?" Yoko shouted, then she watched as Ryo soon began to vanish from the room.

Ryo grasped at his head, unable to touch it as it faded from the room. One after the other they started to vanish; Yoko was next, then the dog, then Sora then Nishi. After the initial panic of being sent somewhere else wore off, they sighed in relief at the recognition that they were indeed outside. Night had descended, but the streets were brightly illuminated by rows of lights that stood among the pathways. The members had initially been spread out around a large car park, having no idea where their location actually was. "Do we just like, go home now?"

Nishi snorted, he hardly believed it would be that simple; as much as he feared what was going to happen if they really did have fight aliens. He wasn't stupid enough to try and escape, they were brought to that room for this very reason. "Why give us weapons and suits if we could just go home once outside" he finally voice aloud.

"Nishi's right" Jiro said "I don't think it's going to be that easy. Besides, there were many times while in the trenches, soldiers wanted to just up and go home. They couldn't, they didn't have much of a choice, I think the same can only be said for this situation"

Nishi was grateful, that despite how the old man died-making him out to be nothing but a bumbling old fool-he had a lot of experience in combat and his past military training more then made up for his senile appearance. He looked at the others, not much hope of teaming up with them. Ashi was the type of person that was way too much of a realist. While Nishi would have admired that in other circumstances, it wasn't going to help if those aliens came after them and Ashi merely stood there spewing denial facts at them. Then there was Sora, he couldn't really figure out just how the man was really fairing with what had happened; since he didn't say much on his opinions. Despite this, Nishi didn't trust him regardless, his instincts told him there was just something uncouth about him. Nishi looked over at the girl, she was hardly the athletic type, he doubted very much that she had any kind of willingness to kill something if she really had to; shot by her ex boyfriend told him that. Honestly if you were being mistreated like that, leave the fuck or do one better and kill him before it happens to you. Then there was the dog, who knew where the fuck he had gone already. Nishi looked around the immediate area, the mutt was no where to be found. He sighed, so these were suppose to be his team mates? He was so screwed.

"So where are these aliens at then? I don't see them anywhere" Ashi said, they had been standing around for the past five minutes and there was no sign of any kind of hostile creature.

"What about that device thing, the one that looks like a GPS?" Sora asked

"Oh, right- I didn't really-take one"

"I was sort of hoping you did" Sora looked at Yoko and Jiro, they shook their heads. "Oh"

Nishi sighed, was he the only one taking this fully seriously? He was surprised at the old man, he figured he would have at least taken one. Ah Gramps, you let me down he got out the device from his pocket, having been the only one to place his clothes over his suit also. As he clicked the first button on the device, a map showed up on the small screen. Well what do you know, it really is a GPS he noticed the rest gather around him, staring over his shoulder. Nishi pressed another button and the screen zoomed out

"It looks like there's a barrier around the perimeter" Yoko said

"I think we're suppose to avoid crossing that very line" Jiro stated

"What makes you so sure? Maybe that's just the block for the aliens" Ryo said

"It also appears that there's a time limit" Nishi said, pointing to the digital clock in the corner.

"W-what happens when the time runs out?" Sora asked

"Who knows"

"Those yellow points on the map, is that us?" Yoko asked

"It would appear so, those red dots then, must be the aliens" Jiro said

"What!?" Ryo shrieked as he stepped back "So then, this is for real? No bullshitting, we've really gotta fight aliens"

"They're not that far away, I guess we should go then?" Yoko said slowly, she looked at Nishi and he shrugged at her but began to walk in the direction the device was telling him. Since he was the only one that had the GPS, they started to follow his lead.

Nishi thought it was a strange thing for them to do, he was the youngest among them and they were following him like lost sheep. Just what did that say about them? Relying on a teenager for the sake of being safe? So much for team mates Then again, he did have the only device. They should have been smart enough to fucking grab one then.

The group continued to make their way down the street following Nishi as he trailed the signal. Soon enough, two middle aged women were heading toward them. The group froze, what must they look like? Sora bowed his head slightly "Good evening" he said. The two women didn't bat an eye to them, the group moved aside when it appeared they were going to make no attempt at moving themselves.

"What the hell? That's kind of rude" Ryo said, he jumped back and waved a hand in front of them. "Hey, hello, didn't you hear him?" they watched as the two just carried on walking. "Oh shit. They couldn't see us, they couldn't see us! Fuck, we're really dead aren't we?"

"Why couldn't they see us?" Yoko said "It was like we were invisible"

"It does make sense though" Nishi said

Ryo turned to the boy, his voice hysterical "How? Exactly how does that make sense to you!? You know for a kid, you're pretty calm"

"I was sent to that room the same as you, how I feel about the situation is really only what you're basing your opinions on. I'm trying to figure things out, just like you; except I'm not pissing my pants"

"Are you fucking kidding me? Are you telling me that everything that has happened so far, you're not the least bit scared?"

Not that I would tell you, I'm just not whining about it like a little kid

"Why do you think they couldn't see us?" Yoko asked

"Think of it this way, if nobody has seen any of these so called aliens for how ever long they've been here; they obviously can't be seen. So what makes you think they would see us?"

What does that even mean? This kid's logic is pretty bang on but- he kind of freaks me out Ryo thought

"It's just a theory really, I know as much as you do"

They started forward again, the clock counting down the minutes. Nishi soon stopped in front of a large building. It looked abandoned. Burnt from the inside out, it was surprising that it was even still standing.

"Didn't this used to be a food factory?" Sora said as they looked up at the building.

"Yeah, I delivered goods here once or twice; apparently due to an electrical fault. There was a fire in the middle of the night, whole place was set ablaze; took three hours to put the damn thing out" Ryo explained

"And now it looks like a home for those Goblins" Nishi said as he looked at the screen.

Yoko peered over his shoulder "They're-inside?"

"Appears so"

"I'll go in first" Jiro said, hoisting his gun at the correct position

"You don't have to" Yoko said, grabbing his arm

"The elders protect the young miss Shin" Jiro said with a smile

"Wait-" they turn their attention to Ryo "I'll, I'll go with you"

"Are you sure?"

"Someone has to watch your back"

"All right then"

Jiro and Ryo left to investigate the inside of the old factory, leaving Nishi, Sora and Yoko standing outside.

"This is really nerve racking, I feel a little vulnerable standing out in the open like this" Sora said

"Then why don't you go in? I thought it was Ashi that was the wimp of the group. I guess I was wrong" Nishi said

What's with this kid? Sora thought "I- I just, I thought my place was out here; making sure nothing bad happens to you two. I protect kids"

"Of course you do"

"Well I do, I help troubled kids get back on their feet; I've even helped them to become better citizens"

Nishi let out a short laugh, Sora frowned, it was as if the boy branded him a complete liar; just what was it he really thought that he did?

"It's pretty quiet, do you think they've- found anything?" Yoko said. Just as the words left her mouth they heard a short scream followed by a loud explosion which caused a hole to blow open in the bottom wall. Yoko's scream was immediately drowned out by another hole being blown open on the opposite side.

"What's happening!?" Sora shouted

As they stared at the building, silence descended for a moment. The suspense was practically killing them, considering they were literally wondering whether they'd soon be killed by the aliens. It seemed like a likely scenario that would happen judging by the screams that they had just heard. Nishi's hand shook lightly as it hovered over the gun at his holster. He didn't see fit in taking the larger weapon that had been provided by the ball. It would seem that carrying the rifle gun might have had it's downside. Whether he thought it would slow him down or some other reason entirely.

"Oh god look!" Yoko shouted, snapping them out of whatever it was they had all been currently thinking. It was then they saw it, in all it's terrifying glory. It looked exactly like what the black sphere had shown them. "It's coming toward us!" the goblin ran and jumped, ricocheting off of the walls along side the factory.

"What do we do!?" Sora shouted, his hands white knuckled as he gripped the rifle.

Nishi's breathing became heavier, the closer it got to them, the more he was becoming frantic. While he couldn't argue with the logic that he had to kill the ascending creature before it could kill him. It was the actual concept of the killing that had him hesitating. As much as he often thought about killing many of the students in his class or the many people he had come across in his life. The fact was he had never killed someone before, or shot them, or delivered any kind of fatal blow. In the one moment, it was then he realised something; he wanted to live. He didn't want to die, at least, not like this. His fate was his alone to chose, not some giant black ball. Either way, the fact was that he didn't want to die.

The goblin was just inches from them now, and while Nishi and Yoko had the sense to at least move out of the way of it's path-at least until they had a better opportunity to shoot it- Sora had not. He was frozen on his feet, despite the gun still held tightly in his grip.

"Shoot it!" Nishi shouted

"Sora! Move out of the way!" Yoko yelled after as she ran toward the alien.

There's no point, you're too far away, he's practically a dead man Nishi thought

Sora clenched his eyes shut, waiting for the initial impact. The next moment was something neither of them expected. The alien swelled and it's body suddenly split in half, blood gushed out from every angle of its torso. Splattering the grey ground of the parking area with blue. The blood splashed up against Sora's suit, his eyes almost bugging out. "What...happened?"

Yoko shook at the sight, blood, there was so much blood. She was positive she never saw Sora even raise the gun that by now had clattered to the ground. He was so appalled by the scene that all determination had completely left him. He dropped to his knees, slicking in the pool of blood on the ground that had gathered around the two halves of the alien. Yoko turned round, her initial forethought was to immediately assume the shot had come from Nishi. As she stared at him, that clearly wasn't the case, he seemed just as surprised as the rest of them. There was no indication that he had even attempted to shoot. To confirm her second thought, she looked down, his gun was still in his holster.

Nishi let out an exhale of breath, his body shaking, though he felt no fear from the horrific scene that had played out before them. Wasn't there something very wrong with that? He was slightly annoyed with himself that he hadn't been able to gather the courage to shoot the alien when it had first been coming for him. The next question was who exactly did shoot it? He spun around. Just a few feet away from where they stood, Jiro was stood there, rifle gun poised in his hands.

Shit

he genuinely hadn't really expected it to be the old man, but he figured his way of thinking was similar to his own. Though whereas Nishi's initial thinking was either kill the alien or be killed, Jiro seemed to contempt with the idea that it was kill the alien to protect others. Did that make him a bad person? And why wouldn't you think of yourself first in a situation-as strange as it was-like this? It wasn't as if he owed this people anything, he didn't know them and nobody in the real world ever did anything for him.

"Everyone all right!?" Jiro said, he looked unharmed. "The guns, have some kind of time lag" his breath catching in his throat as he ran toward them. Though he looked unharmed, there was blood matting the little hair he had left. They knew it couldn't be the alien's, considering the color that was sprayed across the ground and part of Sora's suit.

"W-where's...Ashi?" Yoko asked. Jiro's eyes betrayed his blank and calm features, Yoko didn't need any kind of confirmation. She covered her mouth with one hand. "No"

"It just- the strength and-it was too fast, he was" Though Jiro didn't finish his sentence, he didn't need to.

Nishi had no attachment to the man-that they seemed to be mourning, then again, neither did they. So he wondered why the hell they were even doing so. His attention was more on the fact that the alien was now dead, so what was suppose to happen now?

"You killed it. You killed the alien that the ball told us about; what's suppose to happen now?" Sora shuffled over to them, still in a daze over what had transpired.

Nishi removed the device once again from his pocket, Yoko looked over at him, his expression told her it wasn't over yet. She didn't quite know how she could tell that, but judging by the way his face contorted with a thoughtful frown-yet his eyes were wide with what might be fear- something told her there was more. "There's another" he said bluntly, Yoko admired his bravery, considering everything that was happening; he made no protests of anguish nor did he display any kind of emotional evidence that he may break down.

"I- but that ball only showed one alien!" Yoko said

"This wasn't the only alien in the factory I'm afraid; there were three" Jiro gestured to the split goblin on the ground "This was the third"

Jesus, the old man was just as calm as Nishi was. Then again, he had been faced with possible death for a long period of time while in the army; no matter how long it had been. It seemed like you didn't forget, like Jiro just wormed his way back in the fray of war, like it was second nature; a natural instinct. She suddenly felt safe.

"There it is!" Sora suddenly bellowed. They looked up, there first thought was how much different the alien looked compared to that of the one they'd just seen blow up. It jumped from the wall it had been standing on; the ground rumbled as he impacted the pavement with his feet. Given how much larger it was, the alien was incredibly fast. He raced toward them with no hesitation on his part.

"Fuck!" Nishi's calm demeanour failed, he'd been relatively placid up until now, at least what he had shown to the rest of the group. The larger alien seemed to have startled him out of his former emotionless attitude.

It jumped up into the air and they watched with fear as it soon landed in front of them. Nishi didn't hesitate to pull his gun from it's holder this time. There was no time think about his would be conscience, if he even had one, which he supposed he did; to a certain degree at least. "We have to shoot! We have to!" Yoko shouted. Nishi didn't need to be told twice, and he knew that the old man had no qualms in shooting to kill; whether it was meant to be as protection for them or not. Yoko and Nishi raised their guns toward the alien towering over them. Nishi looked at the small screen that was in front of him, just at the butt of the gun. What it displayed puzzled him for a moment. It was as if he could see the whole of the insides of the alien. An x-ray to be more accurate, like it was showing him all the pinpoints of where to shoot. He wondered whether the old man had seen something similar on his weapon. "It's not working!" Yoko's voice tore his attention away from the gun.

The sound of the sudden scream of the alien caused them to momentarily cover their ears. Once it had stopped Jiro aimed his rifle, he wanted this to end, he needed this to end. His wife, he couldn't leave her. "Mine had two triggers" he shouted to the others.

Nishi then noticed that there was indeed two triggers on his own weapon. Before he could try to use his weapon, Yoko let out a scream as the large goblin's arm made a grab for them. While his, Yoko's and Jiro's immediate reaction was to jump away from it, again Sora did nothing to save himself. He let out a pierced scream as the alien wrapped both of it's arms around Sora's body. "No!" Yoko yelled. Sora continued to scream when the sound of the first lot of bones began to crack.

"Tadashi!" Jiro shouted, gun raised to fire; he stilled his movements though.

Nishi knew the reason behind Jiro's hesitation, it was obvious to anyone. He didn't understand it though, the guy was going to die anyway, regardless of whether they got the thing off him. They'd all heard it, the sound of those bones crunching the moment that alien had grabbed him. Nishi raised his own weapon, in theory, he was probably doing the man a favour. No way he would last much longer after the first attack was done, if he survived that to begin with.

Yoko turned to Nishi, clearly noting what he was thinking and what he intended to do. "You can't shoot now! Tadashi is-"

"Already dead, I know it, you know it. Come on! We're all thinking it!"

"Somebody get him off me!" Sora managed to scream, his body constricted; giving way as more of his bones crunched from the tightness.

"If we don't shoot now, that's going to be us!" Nishi shouted before pulling both triggers.

"No don't!" Yoko said, it was too late, Nishi had already fired the weapon. They waited for the time lag that Jiro had told them about to finish. The alien suddenly cried out as his arm swelled and exploded. Though he had missed his intended target, which had been the torso. He had unintentionally gotten Sora out of the alien's grip. Sora collapsed in a heap on the ground, twitching and writhing in agony. Even though it's arm was completely blown off from it's body, the alien soon turned his attention to the others. Losing interest in the crumpled body on the ground.

"Shit" Nishi muttered, he had thought that by shooting without regard for Sora's well being, he could end the alien in one hit. His aim however was a little off, and it was obvious that blowing up just his arm wasn't going to slow him down; whether it had been his intended target or not. He also noticed that the alien was looking right at him, like it knew who had shot him. Jiro and Yoko moved so that they were standing just in front of Nishi. Their guns aimed. "I won't die" Nishi said quietly, turning his gaze to the ground for a second. He then looked up as the alien bounded over, having knocked both Jiro and Yoko off their feet. Eyes wide as it drew near to him, he could end it right now or he could just move out of the way. He'd already dealt a massive blow to the alien's arm, causing it to completely tear off. He also hadn't much concern when he was willing to kill another person to save them. Or himself, he still was unclear about that part. But right now, if he didn't finish this alien off, it was him that was going to die. "I won't die!" he repeated more loudly. His gun raised, determination slamming him full force, he pulled the trigger not once, but four times.

"Nishi!" Yoko shouted as they watched the alien use his only other arm to throw Nishi off his feet. The boy skidded to ground with a thwack, his gun slipped from his hand in the process. Yoko and Jiro ran toward the alien that was still heading for Nishi. "Nishi we're coming!"

Nishi felt around behind him for his gun, he could have sworn that he had hit the alien. He had to have done damage, no way he had fired four shots and missed every single time. He wasn't a skilled guns-man, in fact, he had never fired a real gun until now, or even held one for that matter. "Come on...explode already" he willed. The goblin raised it's arm.

"Nishi!" Jiro called, they were still a few paces away

Within inches from Nishi the goblin stopped and its head blew up, as well as his other arm. Blood splattered across the ground and sprayed up the boy's body and across his face; coating his blazer in the blue blood of the alien. The rest of it's body fell with a squelch to the ground in the puddle of fluid. Yoko stared in horror, frozen in place; she had never seen so much death in real life. She thought this type of horror only existed in the movies that she actually secretly loved to watch. She looked down at Nishi, at least happy to see he was as shocked as the rest of them. Though she couldn't tell whether it was because he just killed someone-or something- or because he had nearly just died, again.

Jiro walked forward, extending his hand toward Nishi. "Well done lad. Are you all right?"

Nishi tried to take control of his rapid breathing, he shakily reached his hand for Jiro's. Jiro grasped it and pulled him to his feet.

Well done? Yoko thought as she finally registered what the old man had just said. It was true what she had assumed, Jiro was already back in that military mind set. But military or not, you don't encourage that kind of thing, it wasn't a congratulations moment; Nishi wasn't one of his damn soldiers. He was a fourteen year old kid. She suddenly felt her legs buckle, just what had they done? What was going on? She collapsed on her knees.

Jiro and Nishi look her way, the kind expression was back on Jiro's face as he made his way toward her. She shook as she held back her tears, looking up at him through blurred vision. "A-Ashi..." she then looked to the other body of their group, he didn't appear to be moving any more "And-and Sora..."

As Yoko continued to sob, casting her head down, tears finally falling from her face; Jiro's eyes glanced up as he felt his head tingle and then begin to disappear. She heard a small gasp and looked up in time to see the rest of his legs disappear. "We're being sent somewhere else" Nishi said as he picked off a small piece of the alien's skin from his shoulder. Yoko grimaced at that, Nishi gave her a small amused smile. While he didn't seem fazed about the amount of blood he was coated in, his eyes told her he was-scared? Maybe. In an instant he too began to disappear, she grabbed for his hand and then it was her turn.

When she opened her eyes again, she recognised her surroundings. "We're back" she saw Nishi and Jiro standing beside her . They were back, in the very room they had started in. She noticed all the blood from Nishi's blazer had completely gone. "We made it, we- we did it"

"Not all of us made it" Jiro then stated sadly

Yoko looked at the wooden floor, realizing that Jiro was right. It was then they watched as four paws began to appear before them.

Nishi rolled his eyes, just where the hell was he in all of that?

Soon enough, another person began to appear in the room. "Someone else made it!" Yoko shouted in excitement.

Ryo blinked as he realised he was back in the room. He shakily inspected his body, feeling around for any injuries, he was sure that one of his legs was missing. "I'm alive?"

"Ashi! You made it!" Jiro said happily "I- thought you were-"

"Me too, whoa..."

"Seems like whatever happens during the course of the mission, those who remain alive are transferred back to this room" Nishi stated as a matter of fact; like he already figured everything out.

"Mission?" Yoko said

Nishi shrugged "Seemed like a good name for whatever just happened"

"Well shit..." Ryo breathed a sigh of relief. "I'm not going to complain"

"Any sign of Sora?" Yoko said, they waited a moment, sure that he would be next to appear.

"He's not coming?" Ryo said

Like that's a big loss, it probably did everyone a favour. Nishi turned to the ball "Hey! What now? We killed them, we killed those aliens"

The timer that showed in large green digital numbers reached zero and it pinged. Writing soon appeared in place of the clock. They stared in confusion at what was displayed next.

0k h3r3 ar3 y0ur skor35

old man: 6 points

94 mor3 and you'r3

I'm surpris3d to s33 you aliv3, und3r3stimation on my part

"It's giving us scores? Does that mean we have to do it again?" Ryo said

"Old man? Guess that's me" Jiro said with a chuckle

horny dog: 0 points

wand3rs 0ff a l0t, d0 som3thing alr3ady

"Just how is a dog meant to kill anyway" Yoko said

Nishi grinned at her "Ever seen Cujo?"

Yoko looked at him blankly and then she remembered that she had in fact, seen that film and realised what he meant. They looked back at the ball.

Nishi-kun: 10 points

90 mor3 and you'r3 don3

swears a lot, likes too much gore

"What the hell does that mean?" Nishi said with agitation

flat ch3st: 0 points –

scr3ams too loudly, sp3nds way too much time r3lying on p3opl3 and looking at Nishi-kun- ha ha p3rv

"Flat chest!?" Yoko cried and then clocked onto the other name "Perv? I don't...stare, I'm not like that" Nishi glared at her, while he had laid claim that Sora was the paedophile among them; it turned out to be the girl. It didn't bother him almost as much though, he wondered if it was because there was less of an age gap and that she was- a female.

Ryo suddenly burst out laughing "Flat chest!" his laugh was hysterical "That's awesome!"

"I'm so embarrassed" Yoko was more then grateful that Ryo decided to comment on her chest remark, rather then the latter.

Hippy: 4 points –

96 mor3 and You'r3 don3

Zones out, whin3s too much

"Hippy? Just because of the way I talk?"

"So do you think we can go home now?" Yoko asked as the ball's information faded.