DAY 3
Arbiter
My legs stretched along the bed, trying to find a place to rest all four of my knees, plus my hooves. The Sangheili usually slept in soft sacks filled with soft beads. Laying in one caused it to form around your body, making spots for all the knees and feet.
I could understand why humanity didn't take to it though; Prolonged use deformed the back, creating a hunch. Sangheili culture had gotten used to the deformities, even welcomed it, but human culture apparently hadn't.
Legs unable to lay still, I got up and walked out of the room, and found myself leaning on the railings on the second floor of the living area. The area had many of its rooms empty with only a couple occupied by those of us who escaped that accursed room.
Screaming that covered all of the emotional spectrum escaped the door. I could swear I also heard gagging. A couple hours ago, something had started banging on the door. People peeked out of their rooms, but the Chief and I directed them back inside. Minutes had gone by, before banging stopped.
A voice rang behind me, "Hey."
I turned around, taking in the view of the blue haired woman. The skin around her eyes were a bit red and moist, her arms were crossed and her hands clenched into fists, as she stood outside the door of what I can assume to be her quarters. I could also make out that her fingernails had been chewed on, and she couldn't help but rub her arms. She maintained strong eye contact with me, although her head inched towards the ground. "H-how's it going?" She stammered.
"I'm finding it hard to sleep," I admitted, careful not to complain.
"Yeah, same." She looked up and down Arbiter. Her arms uncrossed themselves and her head tilted upwards more. "I'm thinking about going to the garden so…."
"I will join you then."
Her eyes widen a little. "I didn't grab a light though," She stammers.
I tapped my left shoulder. A white light poked out of it.
"...Oh"
Light poured over the pitch black garden. We picked a spot underneath a pine tree. I sat against it on my knees, Chloe cross legged opposite to me.
She held to block the beam hitting her eyes, "Can you maybe dim that a little?"
I rolled a finger counter clockwise on my shoulder, and the light waned and spread to cover my entire body.
"That's amazing," She said, eyes wide with a childlike wonder. "Why does it do that?"
"My armor?" I looked down, watching the glow reach from shoulders to legs. "It's meant to rally my allies."
"...right." Heavy breaths came out of her as she surveyed the room. "Oh wow, it's really, really dark in here."
I decided to cut her off before she could panic, "Where are you from?"
"Ummm….." She looked down at the ground. She eventually produced an answer, "Arcadia bay. Oregon. The United States of America. Earth."
She looked up at me, "You know what that is?"
"Yes I do, but I'm not sure about the rest," I shifted forward a bit to hear her better, "Could you explain them to me a bit more?"
"Uh sure. Well…." She looked to the side a bit, "The united states of america is a country on the planet earth. Oregon is a state of...well the united states. Arcadia Bay is a town in Oregon."
"Interesting." I shifted to a more relaxed position, "And is the United States of America a member of the UEG?"
"What?" Her eyebrows furrowed, "I don't even know what that is. Do you mean the UN? United Nations?"
"The United Earth Government."
"What? No, we don't even have that..." She seemed to play with her tongue in her mouth, in thought, "Where... what year is it there? The earth you know? It's 2013, where I'm from."
I pondered this. In memory of the fallen in the defense of earth and her colonies March 3rd...my eyes widen."2553."
Her mouth dropped.
"Okay..." She spun her hands as if trying to pull the words out of her mouth like a string, "So you're from the future?"
"And you're from the past." The word danced off my tongue and along my mandibles.
"Holy shit." A different voice chimed in.
I looked behind me, and the Ellie woman stood at the door to the cell block. "2013 is exactly when it started ...hold on, I'm gonna get Joel!"
Joel
No one noticed me when I pocketed that hammer the japanese woman had on her. The massive mattress didn't even creak under my weight, as I turned over in my hand. I knew it was pointless.
I took it with me because I'm terrified, like I've never been before. Clickers, bloaters, hunters, the military...None of that is what's happening here. This situation is unbelievably...fucked.
Monsters, weapons and people I've never seen before. And Ellie says I died. I died and I came back.
...I didn't know what to do. It's been a long time since that feeling has hit me, since the first time my entire world changed.
Knocks striked my door and I quickly hid the hammer in the corner of the mattress. Pointless, stupid.
I walked to the door and found Ellie standing on the other side, staring at me. I spoke with a concerned tone, "What is it?"
"I think we're figuring some stuff out," She looked behind my shoulder, "Can I come in?"
"...sure." I moved to the side and she zoomed past me, and I closed the door quietly. I turned to her fidgeting with her fingers. "Who's figuring out what stuff?"
She turned and looked me in the eyes. "When did the outbreak start?"
The question caught me off guard. "Well that's... a bit complicated."
"How about when things went to shit?"
A memory flashed in my mind, I crossed my arms and looked down in thought. Broken birthday watch … Sarah…
I've done my crying long ago. "...2013," I looked up at Ellie, "In september."
Ellie eyes stayed lock with mine. "...The blue haired chick just said she's from 2013."
What? "Ellie, what do you mean?"
"I mean," She started moving towards me, "that wherever she came from, the year was still 2013."
My eyes widened. Those clothes she wears...boots, dyed hair, jewelry, all the clothes you wouldn't find or need after the outbreak… "When did she say this?"
"She was with that Arbiter dude. In the garden." Ellie crossed her arms. "He said he was from the year 2552."
My eyebrows almost flew off my forehead. "What?"
"Yeah. I'm thinking we get in on this conversation."
I thought it over a bit. Everyone we've met so far, especially the ones in that awful room, don't seem very...familiar. The clothes they wore, and the tools they wielded were nothing I had ever seen before. A conversation would help us understand everything…
I kept my arms crossed. "We are going to need to learn everything we can. We should stick to the history of the place we come from, but keep us out of it."
She furrowed her eyes, "Why?"
"We don't need them knowing our history," I made for the door, "What we've done..."
"Oh." I could hear her deflate, as the memories rolled by.
I walked outside my room, and I peered at the door to that...place.
Screaming used to climb out of that door. Now it's all quiet, and I don't particularly know how to feel about that.
As we moved for the garden, the tall armoured man, sitting in a chair outside of his room, staying on guard, saw us. He didn't say anything, but he quietly got up and walked to another room, closing the door behind him.
"...Never heard of it." We had approached the flashlight campfire, finding Franklin had also joined them. Chloe's eyes were scrunched up in confusion, "Do you mean los angeles?"
"Nah nah what the fuck is a los angeles?" Franklin sat cross legged opposite of Arbiter and Chloe, "It's los SANTOS. Home to Vinewood?"
Arbiter sat against a pine tree, a silver emitting from his armor, acting as a living campfire.
"Vinewood?"
"You know, like-films and shit."
Chloe paused, her scrunched up face tightening even more. "...Do you mean hollywood?"
"What the fuck?" Franklin looked absolutely confused.
"I'm just as confused as you are." I took a seat between Arbiter and franklin, "I remember hollywood, but I've never heard of vinewood."
Ellie scootched between franklin and I. I look to the blue haired girl, "Ellie here tells me that it was 2013 before you came here."
"Yeah it was. What was it when you left?"
"Well," I shifted my legs to make myself comfortable, "we don't rightly know, but we were definitely somewhere...around 2030, right after the zero."
"So you're like from the future too?" Chloe shifted herself to face me, "Why don't you know the exact year?"
"Most of us stopped keeping calendars."
"Who is us?" Arbiter inquired calmly.
His eyes were very far apart, but I kept gaze fixed on them nonetheless as I spoke. "Survivors."
Confusion filled the 'campfire'. Franklin and Chloe glanced at each other.
Another voice chimed in, "What did you survive?"
The armoured man approached through the darkness from behind me, the japanese woman in tow.
I sensed Ellie tense right next to me. "Ellie…" I quietly warned. She looked at me, and sighed. She nodded back to me.
"Is everything going to be okay?" The armoured man demanded, putting an arm in front of the woman.
"Everything is gonna be just fine," I replied.
The group shifted to let the massive man and the small woman take a seat between Arbiter and Franklin. "What did you survive?" He repeated himself.
"An outbreak" I said, scanning the faces of everyone present. "Some sort of fungus. Cordyceps. It infected the entire world. Lot of people died, and a lot of people suffered worse."
Chloe hesitated to ask. "Worse?"
"The cordyceps...it drove those infected mad. Controlled them." Memories flashed before my eyes. "It spread through bites..."
"Jimmy just stay back!" My neighbour, Jimmy Cooper, crawling on broken glass screaming, my heart pounding, gun in hand, Sarah behind me. "Jimmy I'm warning you!"
"Don't-!" I could almost hear gun ring in my ears.
"Why does it sound like zombies?" Franklin's rose me from my thoughts. I barely noticed the awkward silence I caused.
"...Guess that's a pretty accurate description." I looked to Ellie. She mouthed 'Zombies?'. I shook my head at her, "Later."
"Sounds similar to an enemy me and the Chief were facing back in our world…" Arbiter and the 'Chief' looked at each other.
"What's your world like?" Chloe asked.
"I'm curious about that too," I faced Arbiter, "You two also seem to know each other."
"I'm from the planet earth," The chief explained, "I'm a spartan, a soldier."
"Spartan?" I echoed, "like the ancient greeks?"
"Exactly that. My name is John 117, but people prefer to call me by my rank, the Master Chief."
"117?" Ellie scrunched her nose, "That's a weird last name."
"I'm not like most people," He explained.
"Is that why you're so damn big and strong?" I asked, remembering how he casually ripped open a crate with his arms.
"I was raised in a super soldier program." He took out one hand and squeezed it tight. "I possess enhanced reflexes and strength, as well as specialized combat training."
"You're a super soldier?" Ellie points at the chief, mouth agape and eyes lighting up.
"That's so badass!" she pumps her fists in excitement.
Chief didn't respond to Ellie's outburst.
I ignored her too, "What were they training you for?"
"To crush insurrections," He said casually.
"Oh," Ellie looked as if she had heard a hero announce they're a serial killer, "You sound like the military."
"I am the military," He turned to Arbiter, "but then we all got caught in a war with his people."
"So wait," Franklin held a hand up and pointed at Arbiter, "Is he an alien?"
One hour later (morning of the third day)
The conversation continued. The Chief explained that Arbiter and him were both fighting a war, with each on the opposing side, at least until a civil war on Arbiter's side occurred and arbiter joined forces with the chief's team.
"So hang on," Franklin spoke up, "If I'm reading you all correctly, we're definitely from different worlds? Like...Alternate realities?"
I had uncrossed my legs and pulled them in front of me, leaning back with my arms supporting me, "Best theory I've heard so far."
"So wait," Chloe pointed her finger at me, "A world where a zombie apocalypse sorta happens," She moved it to franklin, " A gangster who does crazy ass heists in a city I've never heard of," She looks between the Chief and Arbiter, "and an alien and a super soldier soldier from the far future?"
"Yeah, I'm starting to see the pattern too," Franklin chirped up.
"Pattern?" I shifted back into a crossed position.
"Everyone here...we're kinda interesting as fuck." Franklin stood up, and started pacing back forth. "We all have lives that someone would love watching, or even playing," He pointed to Chief, eyes lighting up with realization, "You! You look like something out of one of those shooter games!" he looked down, rubbing his lower face, "Something Jimmy would play…"
"Except me," Chloe scowled, "My life's not exactly interesting."
"My point is, someone found us interesting enough to bring us all here…"
Everyone was silent at the theory proposed. What would someone need of people like us? What would their goals be?
I thrust my index finger up, "A room that resurrects the dead," I started extending my others digits as I began to make my list, "A room full of quarters for living in, an indoor garden, and a warehouse full of supplies, and some places we still haven't checked…Someone either wanted to live here, or wants us to live here."
"But what. Is. Here?" Franklin grew impatient.
"Underground, maybe?" Ellie added.
"Perhaps on a space station?" Arbiter contributed his theory.
"Doesn't matter." The Chief got up, and all of a sudden I felt an obligation to get up with him. So did everyone else. "What does matter is what is our next move?"
"Vents?" Ellie put forth, "I think I saw some vents in this place…"
"If this place is built like a prison," I cut her off, "Then the vents would be a closed system, funneling air through here."
"Are we sure there's no way to pry the door open?" Arbiter wondered to everyone.
"Maybe not pry, but depending on what we find in the warehouse, we can whip up something to blow it open," I explored.
"Can you do that?" The Chief inquired.
"Sure can. Picked up quite a few skills in my day…"
"We're also going to need weapons. All four of you should go and check the warehouse." He patted Arbiters shoulder. "Me and Arbiter will barricade the door on the other side of the quarters."
"I thought we just locked the thing?" Franklin commented.
"You really wanna bet that none of the others can break through it?" The chief crossed his arms.
Franklin's nostrils flared. "Aw fuck."
"Any questions?" The Chief looked between the silent. "Good."
"C'mon," I grabbed Ellie's shoulder, "let's get to work."
I pulled out my flashlight and aimed it at the door to the warehouse, my feet beginning to carry me towards it, with Ellie, Franklin, and Chloe trailing behind.
Arbiter
I ripped the mattress off its frame, and threw the frame out the door. The Chief caught it and placed it on the pile of bed frames covering the front of the door.
"More," he ordered.
"Is this not enough?" The door had disappeared under the massive pile of bed frames and desks.
"We need more," he demanded.
"Anymore rooms and we won't have a place to rest!" I pleaded.
"We can keep the mattresses, we just need the frames." He jumped the railings and ran into his own room, throwing out his own bed frame.
I growled, and leaped over the railing, landing on the ground and jumping the next railing, finding myself face to face with the man.
"What has gotten into you?" I poked his chest, "this coward is not the demon I used to know!"
He smacked my hand away, "I'm not a demon. I'm not a warrior. I'm a soldier. I fight battles others can't." He leaped across the rail, landing next to his bed frame, and added it to the pile. "I'm not sure if this is a battle I can fight."
I leaped across the railing- and landed a hoof into the back of his head.
He staggered, ripped a leg off a bed frame, and swung at me.
I blocked it with my arm and striked his chest with my other hand. I gripped his arm and swung his whole body onto the floor behind me, and downed a hoof on his chest.
"Don't tell me what you can't do!" I shouted down at him, "there are many things that a man like you can't do, but you do them anyway!"
He slammed an arm into my leg, disconnecting it from his chest.
He rolled and got to his feet, "I was trained to never fail. Never give up. To win, even if I die-"
"Spartans never die!"
"But I did!" He pointed at me, "And you saw it! Dying in that room, not knowing what the hell is going on!"
"In case you aren't aware," I thrusted a thumb into my chest, "I died too! And I'm still here, so are you."
I heard a squeak, and I turned to see the human woman I couldn't understand standing at her doorway, staring at the mess we had cause.
I turned back to the chief, "and besides, we aren't dead now. We have a second chance."
"And if we fail again?" He pointed to the barricade, "behind that door is a variety of hostiles that have abilities and skills I've never seen before. We can't keep back all of them. The fact that it has gone completely silent terrifies me!"
"And you think tearing everything from our rooms, building a mountain in front of the door is going to solve that?" I shook my head. "I'm heading to meditate on our next move."
I turned around and walked off, "And please, leave my room alone."
Ellie
The duct tape screeched as I pulled it and bit, tasting the adhesive in my mouth. I wrapped the duct tape around the kitchen knives and the hammer, and my hands gripped it to make sure it was sturdy. I picked it up and gave it a couple swings at the air for good measure. The blades held in place, no wiggling. Perfect.
"How we going with those hammers, Ellie?" Joel called.
His work sat on top of an unopened crate, repurposed into a table. Several cans emptied of their contents had blades and nails sticking out of them. "Got ten finished!"
"Franklin?"
"Got five broomstick Spears here!" Franklin was holding a broomstick with the brush removed and a kitchen knife duct taped to the end.
I smirked at him, "only five? How long was that lunch you had?"
"Fuck you too," he growled, but I could see the grin infecting half his face.
I heard the door swing open behind me, and I turned to see the cyborg stroll through, making a beeline towards Joel.
"What do we have so far?" He asked, picking up one of the explosive cans Joel improvised.
"Careful." Joel carefully grabbed the can from the Chief's hand. I couldn't help but notice that while the can had to fit in Joel's entire hand, it only had to fit between three fingers in the Chief's hand…
"Nail bomb. Nasty." The Chief sounded impressed.
Joel grabbed his work and showed it to the Chief, presenting the same cans as the nail bombs, but without the blades and nails jutting out.
"These are for the door," he explained, "I'm thinking we gather as many cans and explosive ingredients as we can, and we blow the door wide open."
He lined up five of the same cans.
"Gonna need a lot more than that," the chief commented, picking up one and examining it. "Where did you get the explosive material?"
Joel wasn't paying attention to the chief, his eyes and hands were searching a nearby shelf for something.
"I'm missing one," he said, alarmed.
My eyes widen. I look around the room.
So does the Chief, "The Japanese woman might not have been the only one. I'll search the section we missed, you keep working." He barged out through the door.
But I got a feeling I know where it went. I calmly walked away, past the rows and rows of crates, in the section labeled beverage. The place was stocked in all sorts of things: sodas, soup cans, and liquor.
I found her soaking rags and stuffing them into bottles of liquor.
"I know you took it," I calmly announced.
Chloe jumped where she was standing, turning to face me, "Jesus fucking Christ!"
I extend my hand, showing my palm, "Give it."
"I don't know what you're talking about," She stammered.
"I know you took the bomb." I motioned my fingers for her to give it to me.
She stared at me for a moment, then her eyes darted to the side. She sighed, and reached from behind the crate in the little corner she was working in.
She pulled out the bomb Joel had made for the door. "Why would you do that?" I lectured her, as I took it from her hand, "We need this stuff."
"I just wanted something to have fun with," she rubbed her arm, "To take the edge off."
I scoffed, "You think this is a toy? It's a fucking bomb!"
"I can see that-"
"Can you?" I ran right up to her, staring straight into her eyes. She was slightly taller than me, my forehead lining up with her mouth and nose.
She held my glare defiantly. "Think you're hot shit, don't you?"
"I think I just saw my friend blow up like a water balloon." I start moving closer, and she starts backing up. "I think I've gone through way too much shit to die a second fucking time!"
She loses her footing and trips backwards, landing on her bottom.
"Asshole! Back off!" She cried.
"What's going on?" Joel's voice shot through.
I turned and saw him standing by the shelf, staring at us.
I walked up to him and handed him the bomb, "You must have dropped it over here."
I marched off to continue working on my hammers.
Chloe
Fucking tight ass bitch.
I stomped angrily past franklin, busy trying to duct tape a kitchen knife to a broomstick, a ball of used duct tape stuck on top of a crate.
She wasn't the only one who died.
Ellie worked in front of the door, ignoring my presence and focusing on stuffing an emptied soup can with... something I know nothing about, but I'm pretty sure it helps make it go boom.
I walked out the door, and roamed the hallway to the garden, a shoulder strapped pack I had collected from one of the crates slung over my arm. I peeked inside, checking on the three molotovs I had smuggled. Too busy shunning me to notice.
I didn't intend to use them; just drink them. I needed some way to calm the fuck the down, and I already have a reputation of being completely useless with everyone, so why the fuck not?
I pulled out a bottle and took a look at it. It had absolutely no labels, just a brown bottle with its contents sloshing around inside it, and the only evidence that this was alcohol and not cyanide was that the touchscreen computer labelled it as part of the Alcohol subsection under Beverages.
I popped the rag out and took a swig. It burned down my throat as I thought of punching Ellie in the face.
I pushed the door open and covered my eyes as rays of electric sunlight bore into them. "Good morning to you too, Mister Sunbulb."
The view of the garden was now clear, and I couldn't wrap my head around how huge this place was. It was like someone emptied blackwell academy of its walls and rooms, filled it with dirt, grass and dotted it with trees. The door to...whatever we woke up from was a couple feet in front of me on the opposite wall, and to my left another door on the same wall I just exited the warehouse from. The door with the exit sign still stood at the far right, on an adjacent wall, taunting me. I scanned the rest of the room.
Those four doors were all there was. The Dirt Biker should be checking where the other door led.
I hopped over the tiny river that had split the entire room in half, and made my way to the living area, intent on getting drunk alone in my room.
I took another swig as I pulled the door open, stepping into the cold hallway.
Dirt biker is gonna be pissed.
I giggled at the thought. I wish max were here. She'd back me up…
My thoughts were interrupted at the sound of muffled yelling behind the metal door at the end of the hallway.
I stopped in my tracks, staring at the door. The yelling rose in aggression, words coming out distorted and unintelligible.
I slowly stepped towards the door, turned my head and placed an ear on it.
There were two voices. None of them speaking English.
...I think it was Japanese.
The woman from before was definitely among them. The other voice was a man. And he sounded angry.
BANG
I fell to the floor, the bottle I held fell out of my grip and shattered, shards sliding under my bum, and my hands instinctively clutching my ear. Something had hit the door. Hard. My legs were shaking.
I grabbed a molotov out of the pack and pulled my lighter out of my pocket.
Blood covered hands, my own hands, came into view, shards of glass jutting out of my skin.
"Fucking shit," I whispered.
I finally got the lighter going, and I held the tip of the rag atop the flame, spreading it along the rag.
I waved the lighter, extinguishing the small flame, and placed my hand on the door.
"please let's remain calm," Arbiter's voice sounded on the other side. The fear in his voice infected me; I have to do this.
I squeezed my eyes shut, "one…"
I gritted my teeth, "two…"
I opened my eyes, "three!"
I thrust the door open. Bed frames had been barricaded around the door to that awful room, but now there was a big hole through them, separating them down the middle.
The Chief was on my right, Arbiter and the Japanese woman standing behind him on my left.
In the middle...oh my God…that face…
The first time I woke up here, people started screaming and fighting each other. Bullets had been flying everywhere. This white haired freak, wearing this gimp mask with an eye patch and teeth that was constantly bare as if he didn't have any lips, had sprout these red tentacles out his back.
His tentacles had whipped at my neck, slashing my entire throat open. The first time I died, I was choking on my own blood.
"...YOU FUCKER!" I pulled the bottle and heaved it right at him.
"AAAAAAAAAAAH" He wailed in pain, as the bottle shattered, spraying fire all over him.
Several hours earlier, Kaneki Ken
I whipped a tendril into the chest of the bald, tattoo covered, english speaking woman. She panicked and started flinging this...glowing blue smoke everywhere. The smoke wasn't harmless though, as it packed a punch and flung me around several times before.
I stood over her, and pinned her arms with two of my other tendrils. She started shouting, and though I couldn't understand a word she was saying, I'm sure it wasn't anything pleasant.
She started bawling as she began coughing up blood. I could feel her heart rate increasing through my kagune tendrils, as it's beating only served to pump blood outside the body and onto the floor.
It grew more and more rapid, until it finally stopped suddenly, and the life ran from her face.
I pondered how strange this was. Heart beats usually don't go rapid and instantly stop when I kill someone, they slow down and come to a stop. They grow calm right before they die. The fear and terror was etched on her face still.
In the hours since the fighting began, I had fought various monsters, armored people, and people who had these...abilities a ghoul wouldn't even have. I'm not sure if it was real, but I thought I had died when a monster with a hideous maw had struck a beam of light into my chest.
I pulled my tendrils out, and inspected myself. Holes had been made in my clothes, where chunks of my flesh had been recently ripped and blasted off. Dry blood still surrounded those spots, but the skin had already grown back.
I placed a hand over my growling stomach. I needed to replenish myself, and rest.
I scanned the room. Most of the people here were dead. I looked to the body of the woman before me.
I unzipped the mouthpiece on my mask, and I began the deed.
Crunch. Crunch.
I wiped the blood off my face, zipped my mask back up, laid on the ground, receded my kagune tendrils, closed my eyes, and drifted off…
White Sky, White Floor, White Horizon, White Everywhere. A Chair. A Man In The Chair, Tied to It. A Woman With Long Purple Hair And Glasses.
Centipedes.
Grey Sky, Grey Floor, Grey Horizon, Grey Everywhere. Cold Concrete On My Feet. No More Chair. Woman Is Still Here.
She's Coughing Blood.
I wake up gasping for breath.
I place my hands on the floor to push myself up, finding I had plant them in a puddle of blood. I was covered in blood.
I get to my knees and quickly inspect myself, but I find no wounds. No one took advantage of my dormant state.
I realize it's not my blood, but the combined blood of many of the corpses around me, pooling together.
I scan the room, and find a single door...Or where a door would be.
I move towards it. My tendrils pop out, when a coughing grabs my attention. It wasn't human, or ghoul. It's legs bended and had extra knees at the back between the first knees and the feet. It had three fingers that ended in points, and it was covered in red armor. It had a large hump on it's on back, almost like a hood. The upper head was covered in red, hard, armor-like plates. The lower part of the head, the face, was smoother and of a yellow hue, and it reminded me of a turtle. A scar ran down from the top plate to softer face.
It was clutching a wound that was leaking orange blood out from where the heart be in a human, and it was walking towards me, carrying a blade in it's other hand.
It took one good look at me, and made a noise that sounded exactly like a chuckle.
It spoke, it's voice a deep growl, but I could not understand it, though I understood it was definitely speaking english. Most of everything in this room spoke english.
"I don't understand you," I explained.
It stopped talking. Then it raised its arm, which lit up.
I slammed my kagune straight into its chest, causing orange blood to burst out. It stared down in shock, and fell to its knees.
I got a closer look at its arm. It was an orange… menu? Like a computer menu?
"A hologram?" I observed, raising an eyebrow.
It looked up at me, and I swear I could see a smile on that face.
It spoke again, but this time I heard it."Translator…"
"...Oh." I raised its body with my tendrils, and flung it away, where it flopped against a wall and onto the floor.
I walked out the opening, finding the door on the ground, blown from its hinges. I followed the hallway, finding trails of blood, until I came upon a door.
There was a body with its throat slashed, curled up in the corner besides the door. A black haired woman wearing a blue dress.
I grab the door hinge, turning it with no success. Locked.
I extend my kagune again, and strike the edges of the door. It barely shakes.
Again. I can see it shift a little bit.
Again. I can hear shouting on the other side.
I strike for the fourth and final time. It breaks free, but there's some obstruction behind it, so I use my kagune to pull out the door.
I send my tendrils straight down the middle, and began striking it to make an open down the middle.
That's when I saw it. The monster with the hideous maw. The one that had killed me.
it stood past the barricade, a short haired asian woman in a black suit and skirt standing behind it. It was shielding her with its arm.
It held a four fingered hand up to me. It was speaking english too.
I sneered, "Didn't I kill you already?"
A door behind them opens, and out came the green armored giant that had fought me alongside the monster.
"W-wait!" A word that I could understand struck through. "Wait!"
The woman was now waving around to all of us, shouting in japanese. "Stop fighting!"
The armored giant looked between us and stared at her, grasping an understanding of what she's trying to say, and stayed where he stood.
She turned and stared at me, her eyes locked in clear determination. "I understand you."
"You speak japanese?" I thrust a finger out, pointing at her. "Then can you tell me where am I? What is this place? What is that thing?" I pointed at the monster.
She shook her head, "I do not know."
I slammed all of my kagune on the ground, puncturing the concrete floor, "That's not good enough!"
The monster moved to protect the woman. She shoved him to keep eye contact with me.
"Please, we do not need to fight!" She pleaded, "We just came here exactly like you did!"
I chuckle. "We do not need to fight? Are you human, or ghoul?"
She was silent at the question, and we stood there for a moment, silence dominating the room.
Finally, she speaks. But it's another question. "W-what's a ghoul?"
My eyes widen, as rage courses through me. "Don't mess with me!" My tendrils grasped an object from the pile that was obstructing the door, and I flung it at the door opposite.
The giant moves closer towards me, gearing for a fight while the monster stands fully in front of the woman. It speaks a couple words.
"H-human!" She stammers out, "I'm a human!"
I burst out laughing. They just stand there staring at me, still ready for a fight.
I stop laughing, and stare straight at the woman. "A ghoul is a monster that eats humans. And that is why we must fight. Because I must eat, and you must not be eaten."
Just then, a blue haired woman, caucasian, bursts through the door. She sees me, shouts, and throws something. Fire erupts in my vision, and I scream, but not out of pain. I scream out of anger.
One tendril sends the armored man flying at the wall, and I sink all of them into the monster. It roars, and I pull out the tendrils, whipping one across the japanese woman and the blue haired woman's throats.
My tendrils plant their tips into the neck of the giant, who was just at an arm length away from me. The giant gripped the tendrils, falling to his knees.
I slid the tendrils out myself. His body collapsed on the floor.
I opened the door, and found myself standing in a crude facsimile of a forest with a river running through it. I strike at some of the lights, partially darkening the artificial skies and causing a rain of glass.
A door opposite to me springs open, and a dark skinned man carrying a pile of spears fashioned from duct tape and kitchen knives in his arms steps out.
He sees me and shouts with wide eyes, and so I rush up to him and slash his throat. He falls to the ground clutching it.
I move through the next hallway, finding a room with shelves packed with crates. A bearded man and a young woman were at a crate that was being used for a table, an assortment of strange items I didn't care for were sitting atop it.
They noticed me, and before they could do anything, I drove my kagune into both of their heads.
After exploring my prison and confirming that all the threats were removed and picked apart, silence reigned supreme, save for the sound of tearing flesh and grinding teeth, when I felt myself hungry again from all the fighting.
Todd
...Jesus fuck.
I pushed away the plate of stuffed chicken breast and salad away from me.
Ping. I pull up my notifications on my computer. A message from klein:
Goddamn. Just saw the video you sent me. You've got a lot of work cut out for you…
I pull up my keyboard and respond:
Tell me about it. I just lost all of them again, except for a crazy ass tentacle cannibal. Appetite, ruined.
A response:
Yum. Is he still alive?
A tap of the keyboard:
Yes. I'm gonna have to purge now.
Kaneki ken
A hiss sound emitted all around, and a yellow gas from an unknown source surrounded me. The scent of...garlic, invaded my nostrils.
And then, everything started to blister with pain. The sound of my own slurping and swallowing that had prevailed the room was replaced by hack coughing. Every breath sent a burning sensation down my throat and into my lungs.
I began to truly panic when I could no longer see. I could feel my kagune lashing out, futilely fraying at hard surfaces.
Then I fell to the floor, spasming and coughing, trying to beg for help.
Then I saw her, in the room with a blue sky dotted with clouds, being reflected off the ground. She stood there, with her short purple hair and blue eyes, wearing her waitress uniform and smiling at me.
I try to call out her name, but all I could hear was my hacking cough, and the growing sound of pinprick footsteps...