A/N: Here's the next chapter full of action and new info for you all ;) Just remember the Nervola beings can regenerate, it wasn't something I've majorly highlighted before but it's coming up in this chapter!

[Disclaimer] I do not own KnB characters. Plot is all mine of this.

((13)) The Different Kinds

The GoM couldn't help but feel relieved with Kuroko there with them, offering the utmost support and guidance along the way toward their goal.

They had to go through a district to get to the Ueno section of Tokyo, and they moved quietly. Kuroko somewhat spanned beside them, moving so soundlessly that every once in a while they had to look over to see if he was still there with them.

It was bitter cold, but they were able to tough it out and keep moving forward. The dimension's withering effect caused the vehicles broken down on the road to become nothing more than large fossils in their way.

They were now on a road leading past tall office-like buildings that would lead them toward Ueno, or according to the map Midorima had anyway.

"Akashi-kun, stop!" Kuroko alerted the leader suddenly who stopped instantly before turning around the corner of a building. Kuroko was on a ledge above them and had seen them before the others.

But they all heard the growls and stopped dead in their tracks. Around the corner were five mutated dogs of different sizes and breeds. Their stench was potent in the air and caused the teens to gag a bit. The sight was horrible to see, with the dogs having twisted-up features and mangled fur of harsh quality.

Akashi made a signal for them to go around and find a different route, but then the nearest mutation creature picked up on their scent and could hear their loud heartbeats.

"The AniNervos are already aware of our presence." Kuroko stated as he watched the one let out a mangled barking noise to alert the others like it.

"Ani—what?" Aomine asked loudly, and suddenly the viscous dogs were running toward them.

"Atsushi, stun them!" Akashi ordered and Murasakibara stepped ahead of the group to throw the small bombs that instantly went off in front of the pack of creatures.

"Aka-chin, it didn't work as much..." Murasakibara said as a few were able to shake off the stunning light to keep charging for them.

"Shit, forget this!" Aomine pulled out a gun that looked strangely altered and of a new kind and Kuroko noticed it instantly.

Aomine fired it, and the blow made to the head of the creature was exceptionally large as it took off all of it and the dog mutation fell to the cracked pavement.

"Man, Aominecchi! That's some gun firing!" Kise was excited and Aomine looked at the gun in complete shock. He didn't know it had that much firing power!

Midorima noticed writing on the side of the slick black pistol-like gun that read "PN." "It appears to be enhanced weaponry from Project Nervola. We haven't tested those yet."

Murasakibara used his brass knuckles to quickly punch at the dog mutation that jumped at him, sending the creature a few feet away where it recovered. Kise grew excited and brought out strange twin daggers that he used to slice at the other dog mutation that came at them. He was surprised, though, when the cut sliced the creature in half through the front back and out through the belly.

The blond sputtered and hastily stumbled back when the liquid ooze gushed out as well as dark intestines and what used to be life-blood.

"What... the hell?" Kise questioned as he looked at the gross image of the mutated dog laying around its spilled guts and then to the two yellow tinted daggers.

"Idiot, that's also a product from Project Nervola! I told you both not to snoop around the weapon crates in the back until we tested the weaponry!" Midorima was furious with both Aomine and Kise.

"Well isn't that what we're doing? Testing them out?" Aomine drawled, not paying attention to the headless mutated dog rising in front of him.

"I meant outside of missions! You could have very well endangered us all with the stunt you two pulled!" Midorima was furious, and it showed in his red-tinged cheeks.

Suddenly, the head of the mutated dog formed back in a nasty, incomplete fashion and it jumped to lunge for the dark-skinned teen's throat. Before that could happen, Kuroko quickly sliced the entire creature in half, destroying the Nexi embodying its heart.

As it disintegrated, Kuroko saw that the one Kise had struck was already regenerating its lost content and gradually dragging its unformed body toward the nearest human. A cannon-like gun formed from the energy around the bluenette and it took up the space around his right arm. He aimed the large weapon directly where the Nexi was located on the once living canine, and shot it.

The GoM watched as the dog creature started disintegrating like the one before it and turned as the other three came toward him. Akashi pulled out his pistol and shot for the nearest one in between the indentation of the front legs on its chest, where he saw Kuroko aim for earlier. He had to sink three bullets into it before it went down, its mass disintegrating into a white mist.

"Damn, it's hard to hit the cores of these guys." Aomine grunted as he already wasted ammo just wounding one of the dog creatures. The beast regenerated its wounds too fast for Aomine to put it down properly.

"AniNervos are the worst to fight in combat, unless the human that became a Nervo had exceptional fighting prowess." Kuroko said, watching as Midorima was the one to help Aomine get rid of the dog AniNervo. Murasakibara finished off the last one, his shirt was slightly coated in long dead blood that spurted up from the creature with every hit.

"AniNervo? So animals turned into Nervos, that's their classified name?" Midorima questioned once the place grew quiet once more. The air was heavy with disintegrating particles of the fallen creatures.

Kuroko nodded. "Yes. Like I said before, the scientists liked to classify everything by name, and any sort of life on Earth was possessed by the beings from Nervola. Plant life possessed are BioNervo. Insects would be ArmorNervo."

Kise shivered at the insect one. "I don't think we've ever seen the last two... So wait, there's actual killer plants waiting to kill us too?!"

Kuroko nodded. "Yes, most likely. Although, I will be protecting your lives from being taken."

There was a calm assurance in the way he spoke that honestly wanted to make the group of teens believe him.

Just maybe give into that hope for a better future.

"We should move on. It's dangerous to stay in one place for too long." Akashi mentioned, and that got the others moving.

They remained on course toward the new district. Nervos were the only thing they spotted, and those were easily dealt with with Kuroko's watchful senses.

"There should be a way of crossing into the Ueno district this way." Midorima told them as he scouted ahead every now and then through his sniper lens.

Kuroko stayed aware and near the group as he looked out for trouble. He noticed when Akashi directed them toward a shop still in tact, and Kuroko figured they were going to look through it and loot anything salvageable.

The light bluenette stayed on guard outside, observing the four-way traffic lanes. The pavement was cracked under pressure due to the deteriorating effect caused by the other dimension. That caused erosion on everything, it majorly hitting the tall buildings, which most had toppled over due to the supporting beams holding it together withering away. Kuroko knew it was dangerous to go in the extremely tall buildings, but the group of teens must already know that...

Suddenly, a shrill ringing sound surprised and alerted him as he quickly turned around to look behind him at where the alarm was coming from. He practically ripped the door off to the shop in his haste to look inside. Kise and Aomine were around the shrilling alarm and they all looked panicked by it.

Kuroko wasn't sure who pulled it or why such a loud alarm was in the shop, but he was thankful when Murasakibara was the one to hastily destroy it and stop the ringing.

He wasn't thankful for long, though.

Instantly he could feel the dread of danger rile up within him and turned back around to see that the alarm alerted both AniNervos and Nervos alike and now the creatures were running toward the shop.

"All of you need to exit the shop now and run. You have attracted a mass." Kuroko told them, his voice was rising urgently.

The GoM came out of the store to turn incredibly alarmed at the sight of so many mutations heading straight for them.

"I'll hold them off while you run farther away." Kuroko told them, taking a few steps toward the mass running toward them. There had to be at least ten Nervos and seven AniNervos — with those ranging from cats and dogs of different sizes.

"What? But we can't just leave you behind!" Kise spouted, looking very unsure.

"Kise's right! No man gets left behind!" Aomine gritted out defiantly.

Kuroko tried to form a look of reassurance as he looked back at them. "Do not worry about me. I will join you all shortly once I take care of this. Please go now and trust that I can do this for you."

That stopped them, and Midorima narrowed his look and turned to Akashi for his decision.

The redhead thought heavily on it briefly before he nodded with a tight look in his face. "Trust is the first step toward friendship, it's something we can all attest to." When he said that, they all shared a look of understanding. "Very well, we will leave this to you and continue on to Ueno."

"You better meet up with us soon!" Aomine told him, still fierce.

Kuroko nodded, and the GoM left, though most of them hesitated a bit still.

The phantom breathed in deep and let it go. He opened his glowing eyes to stare ahead before rushing to meet the crowd of possessed monsters.

A/N: And into the fray we go! Please let me know your thoughts on this chapter please! And about the AniNervos and like ;)