Disclaimer: See previous chapter

Chap. 19

It came like a sudden storm, overtaking everything around them. Nagi and Shin faltered on a lamppost and held on as the shakings of the earthquake increased. People panicked and screams could barely be heard from around them. Objects fell off from places high up and car began bounced, many ringing due to the alarms. But the quaking continued and the ground began to tear and rip in several places. Smaller buildings trembled violently and parts of them fell to the ground. The two teens crouched low, still holding the post until the earthquake finally ceased. When they arose, they found the entire place in shambles. Numerous cracks on the ground were sinkholes for various vehicles and power was cut off, leaving everything in near darkness. Stray fires burned around the area and debris littered the streets. One by one, people exited out of damaged buildings to check if it was safe.

"Are you alright?" Shin asked Nagi after surveying the damage.

The cinnamon-haired girl nodded, "Yeah. I think so."

"Ahh!!!!!"

"Uriko, calm down. It's over."

In the Ohgami house, the place was a mess. Though it was fine on the outside, inside was another story. Dishes, glasses and other ornaments were littered on the floor in the kitchen. Kenji guessed that the rest of the house was pretty much the same.

"Kenji. You can get up now."

The boy blinked. He had forgotten that he was standing over Uriko to protect her from the falling debris and that he was still in that position, with Uriko looking up at him. Shyly, he lifted himself up and helped her to her feet at the same time. But at he stood up straight, he winced in pain and reached back. Bringing his hand forward, he saw spots of blood on them that came from his back. It was only natural that his act wouldn't leave him unscathed, but he didn't care. But Uriko was another matter and when she saw the blood, she gasped.

"Oh my…Turn around."

Kenji quietly obeyed and turned around, revealing his wounded back to her. Pieces of glass were still stuck in back as she examined him. Moving over to the sink, she grabbed a cloth, wet it, lifted his shirt off and began cleaning his back, pulling out the glass all the while. Kenji endured the pain, but only because of the occasional caresses Uriko gave him through the cloth. Fortunately for both of them, they couldn't see each other's face or they would have noticed the light blushes on both of them.

"Thank you."

Uriko nodded and looked around the destroyed kitchen, "What is going on with all of these earthquakes?"

"I don't know."He frowned, deep in thought,"But I know…something is wrong. Very wrong."

The entire block as far as they could see was wrecked from the earthquake. Sirens were heard blaring in the distance and the few remaining lampposts were flickering to life.

"Wow." Nagi commented. "I bet it's like this all over town."

"Yeah." Shin whispered before his mind suddenly raced and his eyes widened. 'Oh no! Rei!' He almost broke out into a run, but his mind stopped him from doing so. He couldn't just leave Nagi here by herself. And there were bound to be other people now who were hurt. But despite this, he desperately needed to go and hope that Rei wasn't one of those people.

'I'm going to hate this.' "Nagi…"

The girl began to turn to him, but she suddenly snapped back when a loud cry came from down the street. Shin's gaze followed and they looked down to see a massive frame tearing through the fallen cars and debris. The people nearby ran away in terror as the figure came into the light. Shin blinked. It was a man, or at least partially. His shirt was torn, revealing a thick hide of skin and his head was enlarged and a long horn was growing from the edge of his face.

'A zoanthrope!'

The partially transformed rhinoceros zoanthrope bellowed allowed and rammed into another car. Unfortunately, there was a woman with a child still inside the vehicle. The beastman continued to bash on the vehicle while the woman screamed and held her child tight. Shin began to move toward the car.

"Get them out." he called to Nagi as he ran. "I'll handle him."

He didn't have time to see her response. He just hoped that she would be able to do it. He would have enough problems as it is. Dashing across the street, he jumped on the hood of one of the cars and swooped through the air. The zoanthrope saw his approach too late as Shin tackled him and pulled him back away from the vehicle. Shin hit the ground and rolled to his feet. Given the beastman's size, he couldn't have pulled him to the ground with him. But it worked in gaining his attention, which was both good news and bad news. Looking over the side, he saw Nagi opening the car from the other side and getting the woman and child out. 'Well that one problem out of the way' he thought.

"Nnnggghhhhhhhaaaahhhhhh!!!!!!!!!"

Shin's attention snapped toward the rhino, who had fully completed his transformation and was now barreling toward him. Shin bent his knees and flipped nimbly up into the air and over the stampeding beast. The rhino zoanthrope continued on and hit the wall. But that didn't faze him at all and he simply pulled himself out and looked around for his target.

"Stop this! Calm down!"

But the rhino focused his gaze on him and charged again and again Shin dodged, although not as nimbly as before. As he continued on, Shin examined his 'opponent'. So far, he couldn't really fight him in his transformed state. The thick skin provided armor-like protection and his strength would be difficult to get through. There were no areas to use pressure points on him so that option was out the window. And he had to get him down quickly before the police got there. If they did, they would not hesitate to shoot him down. Either that or the rhino zoanthrope would mow them down. Either option was unacceptable.

'Only one thing to do then.'

His honey-yellow eyes intensified and feathers grew rapidly from his arm. The rhinoceros zoanthrope turned to him just as Shin's hair began to change. Ignoring the change, the rhino charged again but suddenly stopped and bellowed. Shin stopped in his transformation and looked in surprise as the rhino was being held back by an equally massive body. A blue figure was holding the rhino tight and he suddenly lifted the rhino up and hurled him back. Shin looked in amazement as his savior turned to him, revealing a strange blue insect/human face, beady golden eyes and clawed hand. Shin blinked. 'Hey…I remember him…'

Stun turned back to the rhino whom had arisen from the ground and bellowed at him. Stun didn't waste any time in transforming himself, sprouting his wings and growing into a bulky beetle-like creature. The rhino charge and Stun did likewise. The two met together and bashed into each other, trying to overwhelm each other. Stun then released on of his arms and placed it on the horn of the rhino. Then he released several shocks of energy into him, causing the rhino to bellow again, this time in pain and the rhino was hurled back against the wall. Stun moved in to prepare for another attack, but the rhino lay still and began to revert back into his human form. Shin moved up beside Stun as the bug-man reverted back to his previous form.

"You're Stun…aren't you?"

Stun nodded to him, "And you're Shin. The young one that was kidnapped some time ago."

"Do you know what is going on?"

"Only as much as you know, I bet. I'm just here to make sure things don't get out of hand. You better go. Your girl friend is waiting." He said, nodding over to Nagi. Looking back at the fallen zoanthrope, "I'll handle this."

Shin flushed at the statement, but it did bring his thoughts back to Rei. He still had to get to her and find out if she was okay. Stun lifted the man on his shoulder and leaped up to the fire escape, eventually disappearing into the rooftops while Shin made his way back to Nagi, who was still with the woman and the child. The police and firefighters soon arrived on the scene and a few of the officers came over to them. While they came, Shin looked over at Nagi.

"Nagi, I'm sorry. But I have to go."

Nagi looked over at him in brief surprise and then smiled, "Go. I'll be okay here. Find her."

Shin blinked. 'How did she…?' Shaking his head, he dashed off down the street, heading toward his apartment home. He continued to run and again, the feathers sprouted from his body. But before he changed fully, his body vanished and reappeared in the rooftops. But he didn't remain there as his transformation completed and he soared into the air on eagle wings. His only thought was to get there as fast as possible. But just in case, his eyes searched around looking for her below. He was able to see the damage and though most of it was structural, there was a lot of chaos below. He soon reached the apartment and landed down, not caring if anyone saw him or not. The apartment wasn't damaged as bad as most of the buildings in the area, but that didn't matter. He bashed through the door and peered in.

"Srrrhaaaa!!!!!"

Forgetting that he could speak in his beast form, Shin reverted back to his human form and was about to repeat himself when the person in question came out of the bathroom.

"Shin!"

The two ran to each other and Shin enveloped her in a fierce hug, one that Rei returned equally.

"Are you alright?" Shin replied, still holding her. He then pulled away, "Are you injured?"

The girl shook her head, "I'm fine. I was so worried."

"Don't worry." he reassured. "It's over."

Rei shook her head, "No. I was worried…about you."

"So was I. I mean, I was worried about you."

They simply stared into each other's eyes, not saying a word, relieved that each other was safe. Except…maybe they were staring at each other abit too long…