Outside the hotel, Don had finished his maddening assault on the army of ninjas, and now was sitting on a slab of concrete from one of the flattened structures. Sweat was pouring off his brow in waves, as he looked up across the barren fields of cement and mortar. Kathryn and Sarah were walking about the piles of rubble, searching for any life among the destruction. Nick was happy to see that they were still looking for survivors but he knew in his heart, that the possibility was virtually none existent.
He was soon eclipsed by the shadow of the Stone Soldier, who soon sat down and hung his arms to his sides.
"How you holding up?" He asked.
"About as much as could be expected after a day like this," Don said solemnly, "But at least they stopped coming."
"You know as well as I do, that what ever started here today hasn't finished yet." Dan spoke.
"That's a reassuring thought." Nick spat, looking at the massive devastation, "If they can do this again, we'll be in it deep."
"I don't think it was them that did it."
Nick looked over to the monolith; his face was indistinguishable so he couldn't see what he was on his mind, but the way Dan said it, he sounded like he knew what had just happened.
"Dan, do you know what happened here?"
Time appeared to pause; Dan remained silent and motionless, but was apparently hesitant under Nick's question. After what seemed like an eternity, Dan finally said, "Allow your Duel Brace to accept this file."
Nick, inside the spectral void of the Spirit Merge, reached for his duel brace and accessed the higher functions, and allowed for incoming data.
Suddenly a file came up, the heading said "Amazon, 1200 B.C.". He opened the file, and a hologram appeared in front of him. It was that of a rainforest, but there was a large void in the mass of trees, all of them had been reduced to splinters, but in the center was a stone pyramid, it was scorched and smoldering like it had been on fire.
"Around the second tournament, a Daikai scout had discovered the ruins of ancient tribe's civilization in the Amazon. The scout had no idea at the time, but the tribe was at the peak of its existence, and should have survived another millennium, but something had leveled it into nothing." Dan said, apparently knowing what was contained in the file.
"Any clue what did it?" Nick asked.
"Upon approval from the Horseman of the time, the Daikai began their search. After 12 years of study, they believed that the tribe had attempted a dangerous ritual. A ritual that involved human sacrifices to fuel the creation of something that was supposed to give them the edge in a war they were having with a neighboring tribe. Whether or not the ritual was a success was undeterminable, but the Daikai of the time knew that such a ritual was bound to appear again, so to this day we have watched for something like this to happen again."
Nick looked at the devastated jungle, and then at the destruction that surrounded them, they had both suffered under this unbelievable power. "So what are you going to do about it?"
"I don't know, the Saparity no doubt committed the crime, but the level of destruction had to have come from the bringing of such a force to this world, so it's up to us to keep the Saparity from either trying again if it was a failure or keep whatever caused this destruction from falling into their hands." Dan said, as he dissolved the Spirit Merge and returned to being a human.
Nick followed suit and said, "Looks like Amy has found something."
Coming out of the hotel was Kristin and Amy, and the young infant in tow. Kathryn and Sarah were both on the far edge of the ruins and were a good five minutes away at running speed, so it was only the two guys to meet the young child.
"Was he the only survivor?" Nick asked.
"Yes, I don't know how, but he survived what the bastards did to his mother. The room was a wreck so I don't think we'll be getting thing else out of it." Kristin answered, wiping her hair back and looked at the peaceful boy.
"So what are we going to do with him? I can't be sure, but I think the city's hospital is buried under this mess." Dan pointed out, looking at the remnants of the district; something looking like a cross was poking out on the eastern side.
"More trouble." Nick groaned, as he shook his head in disbelief.
"Well look on the brighter side of this, the city is still standing, and that means we still have survivors." Amy said, the baby stirring a little.
"But with a blow this bad, it will be a miracle if the infrastructure is still capable of supporting itself." Kristin added, feeling slightly bad for bring it up.
"Our first priority is to evacuate the remaining populous. If we go into battle again, there's a good chance the rest of the city will crumble and take the remaining survivors with it." Dan stated.
"I'll speak with Kathryn; she's got a way with getting people to run." Kristin smirked as she headed towards her leader and Sarah.
Dan smiled slightly, but then looked at the baby, who slightly opened his eyes, the color of his pupils was hard to see, but he could have sworn it was crimson.
Dan could feel his heart stop for a second, Oh dear God, so that's what happened.
Quick flashes of memory shot through his mind, a baby in the hands of a young mother in a hospital, the corpse of a boy in his late teens with a gun shot through his face, and a younger Dan crying at a funeral.
Dan shook it off and turned to Nick, "Nick, whatever happens, promise me you will defend this child with your life."
"Wha?" Nick exclaimed, Sure I protect the kid, but what's with the promise?
"I can't say now, but this child's safety is more important than any of us. So I need someone if I should fail to defend him, so will you?" Dan asked again, stone cold.
Nick took in a deep breath and said, "I'll do it. You have my word."
Dan turned about face and headed away, but saying as he left, "Thank you."
Nick and Amy exchanged glances, "You have any idea what's got him so concerned? I've never seen Dan act like this." Nick asked.
"Well what do we really know about him? The only real records we have on him were his tournament victories. All other personal data was erased when he became a member of the Daikai, and any other records that were kept of him are under lockdown from the Senvas." Amy said, wiggling her finger in front of the baby.
"We'll were not going to learn anything with out digging for it. I'll see if I can get anything out of him."
"Why the all the interest in Dan? Before all this began you were totally against him being here."
"If I'm going to fight with him by my side, I'm not going to be short any information that could put either of us in danger." Nick explained, and headed off after him.
Amy sat down among the rubble and looked at the little boy, he couldn't have weighted more than 5 pounds, but he didn't seem much like a new born. He may have had a small body, but he wasn't crying like a baby and so far had remained quite peaceful.
"Alright now, what are we going to call you? Jeremy? Eric? Tommy? Or maybe Yugi?" She giggled a little, but suddenly she heard a beep on her duel brace, and a hologram of Dan appeared.
"His name is Oscar." He said briefly before the holo shut down.
Amy looked down, and saw a big grin on the baby's face, despite the fact he had no teeth. "Oscar huh? Well you're not the right color so I don't suppose you'll turn into a Grouch."
The baby simply giggled.
Back inside the Soul Stone Chamber, Aaron was slowly stirring from the disastrous beating he had received from the Wall of Dueling. His head was hurting like his skull had been split open and someone was stabbing his brain with red hot spikes. But Aaron quickly threw out that as a possibility for the headaches, the brain lacked pain receptors.
He lifted his eyelids, they were sore, but the bruises that were covering them before he had been bashed in the face had subsided. But his vision was still clouded, he was missing his glasses so he couldn't make out far away images clearly but in front of him was the gray haze of steam.
"Where am I?" He wondered, but then realized he felt his bare legs were cooking in water!
What the? He looked and saw he was lying against a rock, and was sitting in a hot spring.
How did I end up in here? I hate water! I bathe like everyone else, but a hot spring? And where are my clothes? I distinctly remember not wearing just my birthday suit when that drawer hit me in the face.
He continued to wonder about what had happened to him, why he was naked in hot spring in particular, a silhouette was present in the fog, and was watching him.
Aaron's spine tingled and his skin twitched, his extrasensory power was picking up the form in the fog, and was directly behind him.
Uh oh, I'm in trouble. I'm alone, naked, and half blind. I'm a goner. He swiftly surmised.
He could feel the form behind him treading through the murky water and come straight for him, and the unnerving feeling of potential death was washing over him faster than the boiling water.
This wasn't how I expected to die. Sure I figured water, but not quite like this. He quirked, despite the figure was less than 3 feet away.
Aaron clenched his teeth together, Well if I'm gonna die, at least I'm gonna face the Grim Reaper head on!
He spun around to see who it was; the combination of steam, mist, fog and his poor eye sight cut away all his visibility, all he could make out was a dark shadow that seemingly looked humongous. But then, he could hear a little chuckle or giggle among the cool breezes that blew through the spring.
Am I missing something? Aaron wondered and was slightly unnerved. I don't think anything's funny here. Well, maybe my lack of chest hair is, but not something to laugh about.
Aaron, amidst the confusion and embarrassment, stepped forward towards the shadow, not noticing that the ground beneath his feet was very slick. And in an impressive display of stupidity, the boy flipped into the air and landed on his already sore back, causing water to fly into the air.
"Ow." He moaned, as he rubbed his wet backside, as he heard the giggle again, but much louder.
He looked up, the fog had been cleared by the flash flood, and his face was as red as a tomato.
Standing above him was Erin, who had a boyishly cheerful look on her face. She was as naked as he was, the only thing she wore other than her smile was the rays that shone from the moon in the night's sky. Her arms were crossed as she raised her left eye brow, "Like what you see?"
Aaron's brain pretty much shutdown; he was frozen at the sight of his naked mentor, and the embarrassment of being naked in front of her. His brain rebooted with the following words running through his head. Ashley is going to kill me. Kuro is going to butcher me. Sarah is going smash my head in with a boulder. Jordan's going to give me a job well done. I'm as good as dead!
Erin looked down and said, "I guess you do."
Aaron snapped out of his standstill and tried to cover himself with his arms. Erin chuckled and bent down on her knee and looked into his eyes and said, "I hope you don't act like this in front of all the naked girls you've see."
Aaron tried to respond but he was so embarrassed he couldn't open his mouth. In the entirety of his life so far, the only naked women he had seen was his sister when she was a newborn, and the near blinding time he had seen his mother. The mere memory of it caused him to shake his head violently, "I've…never…" He stammered, but felt the tip of Erin's finger on his lips.
"Aaron you don't have to say anything. I've seen everything you've seen since the day you were born, the good and the bad. So don't worry about anything, I'm sure Ashley will be willing to forgive you for this." She said calmly, but her cheerful expression hadn't changed in the slightest.
Aaron stammered as he asked, "You're…not…going to kill me?"
"No. Geez Aaron, has all the time you spent with Kuro and Sarah warped your understanding of a woman's tolerance?" She sighed, but saw Aaron's gaze was focused on the water. It suddenly dawned on her that her bare chest was perfectly visible and he was purposely avoiding it.
A gentleman to the end eh? I'm surprised he's still holding on to his morals instead of his loins. She thought to herself, the first time he's seen a naked girl his own age and he's staring at water.
She looked down at what he was staring at, and saw him holding a cut on his hand, the wound was old but still present enough to be a sore he felt everyday. She had been wondering about that cut for a while now, it had been on his hand since the day he began his training. It wasn't a deep cut, but the line it resembled looked like a blade had done it.
She paused a second for reflection, but then smiled at her conclusion. "You're still worried about her, aren't you?"
Aaron simply nodded his head.
"Aaron, give yourself a little more credit than that. She's been your friend since you met her; she gave up her boyfriend for you. She likes you, so why do you fret so much?"
Aaron's gaze softened, but the beginning of tears formed in his eyes. Erin could sense what was troubling him, he may have seen her today in his appearance before he began his journey to the Wall, but he was scared of something else.
"Are you worried you're forgetting her?" She asked.
Tears began to dip from his eyes, as he nodded, "I…remember her face…but everyday it grows fainter. It's only been a few hours but it seems it's been a life time since I saw her last. If I stay here too much longer, I'm afraid I'll lose all my memories with her."
"That cut on your hand, you made it with the card I gave you. It was to remember what you were fighting for." Erin stated, "A testament to your goals."
Aaron remained silent, but Erin knew she had guessed right. She closed her eyes and reached out and grabbed a hold of his shoulders. Aaron looked up as he found himself being pulled towards her. She pressed him against herself in a tentative hug, he was both nervous and confused, but she held him firm.
"Aaron, life is a constant clash of duty and obligations. You may not have come here of your own free will, but you have made it you duty to survive and leave here. I know you have your doubts, and they must have become more difficult with the Wall, but I know you too well. When you feel it is the most important thing you must do, you forsake everything else to get it done, even at the cost of your own life." She said, as Aaron pulled away to look into her eyes.
"So have faith in yourself. You can succeed." She smiled.
Aaron lowered his gaze back to the water, but said in a single breath, "Thank you."
She knew that she had dispelled most of his doubt, but she felt she had one last thing to teach him. She pulled him close, but spun him around, until he had his back to her, and the back of his head was lying on her chest. Aaron's face was blushing to his ears, "Uh, what are you doing?" He asked, his voice riddled with unease.
"If you expect to get anywhere with Ashley, you've got to loosen up. Your middle school years may have been rough, but you need to get rid of some of this apprehension you have so much of." She said, as she looked up at the starry sky.
"But but…" He stammered.
He was silenced as Erin put her chin on his head, "Just sit back and watch the stars with me, ok?"
Aaron panicked for a moment, but soon realized he wasn't going to get anywhere with her, so he took in a deep breath, laid back, and watched the stars twinkle in the black veil.
Back in the real world, the Assault ship Dominance was traveling at top speed under the eastern seaboard of the U.S., all aboard the military vessel were busily working in their assigned work areas. The only exceptions were the 3 DDL members that were stuck in their quarters, and the Horseman of Strife who was snoring away in the brig.
Josh was resting in the darkness of his quarters; they had been traveling at top speed since they had boarded, but so far Bryan had not called them in for a mission briefing.
He felt worried, I know Bryan has it in for me, but to keep us out of the loop for this long is a sign that even he doesn't know what's happening. If I didn't know any better I'd say that the Dominance is sorely in need of information.
He also started to wonder what happened to Jacob and Dalin, he hadn't seen either of them since he was thrown into his room, and hadn't received any word from his Duel Brace.
"I hope they're alright." He whispered to himself.
Suddenly he heard a knocking on his door, and Eva's voice at the door, "Bryan wants to speak with you on the bridge."
Josh hesitantly got off the bedand headed for the door, and Eva waited for him outside. "Uh, I do remember how to get there on my own."
"I want to talk." She said stubbornly.
Josh gave a sigh and said, "Alright, but were going to be late and I remember how well Bryan held tardiness in his contempt."
As the two headed down the tight corridors Eva asked, "So why did you do it?"
"I can ask you the same question, I left because of what I saw, and you however decided to stay with them."
"We lost a lot of our people that day, and to see one of us desert us didn't make the situation any better."
"Bryan wouldn't have given me any other choice if valued my life, I saw some really horrible stuff while I worked here."
"Like what? What was so horrible that you had no choice but to run away in the middle of the night and hide for 5 months before shacking up with the DDL?"
"If I told you, and you didn't agree with what Bryan's doing, you'd be in the same boat as I am. No pun intended."
Eva snickered, but Josh remembered how tough she liked to her persona, so he paid it no mind.
They past a large steel door and were onboard the ship's bridge. It was quite spacious, it was split into 8 manned stations that lined the sides of the room, a captain's chair sat in the center, a large window that showed the immediate outside but was over a foot thick, and in the back of the room was a table that had numerous view screens and maps. Bryan was standing beside the table with Jacob and Dalin, and looked rather smug.
"Finally decided to show up I see."
"Well considering you were blind to begin with I'd be glad to see me too." Josh cracked, but knew Bryan wasn't going to let it get to him.
Bryan continued and said, "Well now that you're all here, let's get on with the briefing."
The table suddenly lit up with an eerie green light, and a hologram of a sea side landscape appeared, though surprisingly out of focus. There appeared to a fisherman's village, it looked like it was still a veteran of the 1970's in terms of the buildings present in the image, and it had a large enough port for the Dominance to lay anchor.
"This is an image of Sherbury, a small town on the east coast, it's barely ever noticed and as such it is all most completely isolated from the rest of the world. As of 800 yesterday, there has been no sign of life present in the town, which had a population of about a thousand. We've received reports from both the SDL and the HDL involving similar strange activity today, so we may have just stumbled into the Saparity's third active zone."
"So what are we going to do?" Dalin asked.
"We've opted to send in a small search party to enter town and go on grid sweep, try and see if we can find either the hostiles or any potential survivors. The team will consist of the 3 of you, Eva and two other of my men. Each of you will be assigned a search vector in town, your goals are to find out what happened, save what you can, and destroy anything that looks like its going to eat you."
Josh peered at Bryan for a few moments, something wasn't right at all, but Jacob broke the cycle by asking, "What about Tobias?"
"He'll be waiting here for you to return. As much as I would like his help, he's a Daikai and a horseman at that, we can't have someone like that threaten the mission. We'll be at the port within the hour, so gear up, and have your wills filled out, you'll never know what you're going to find out there." Bryan said, as he proceeded out of the bridge.
Eva soon followed behind her superior officer, but Jacob turned to his teammates. "I think we better check up on Tobias, as much of a pain he's been in the past, I don't think he'd jeopardize our mission."
"Are you sure? Tobias hasn't exactly seen eye to eye with us." Dalin pointed out.
"I agree with Jacob, Bryan is more worried about Tobias than us, so I say we pay a visit." Josh chimed.
"Josh, you know this place the best, you think you can pay Tobias a house call and get ready for the search party?" Jacob asked.
"Without a sweat." Josh said, as he headed out and down towards the brig.
When he arrived, he saw that the door to the brig was being flanked by two guards and could hear the distinct tone of Bryan's over bearing voice coming from the other side.
He reached for his duel brace, but heard the click of a gun at the back of his head. "Nice to see you Josh."
Josh recognized the voice as Kerry, Bryan's loyalist stooge. Josh quickly pressed a button on his duel brace and turned around.
"So Kerry, still licking the bastard's boots I see."
"Oh Josh you wound me, after all the grief I went through to find you, you still don't like me."
"It's kind of hard to like a cold blooded murderer." Josh spat.
"Well I can't say I really like you either. Now hand over your Duel Brace."
Josh grumbled and cursed as he took off his brace and tossed it over to Kerry. He picked it up and motioned Josh to head towards the Brig door, the guards stepped aside as they entered.
Tobias was in a cell, but lacked a door. Apparently only a force field was required to keep prisoners inside. His Duel Brace and the Gauntlet he carried were on a table on the far end of the brig.
"So what if I'm a Horseman, you know I'm better than anyone else in that search party so why am I stuck on this tub?" He growled.
"I don't doubt that you are, Strife, but I'm not taking any chances that you will screw up everything I have planned." Bryan snickered.
"And what are you planning?" Josh demanded.
"Oh, you're here too." He sneered; his face was twisted with malcontent.
"Tobias, any idea what the hell is going on?" Josh asked.
"To be honest I was hoping you had a clue." He responded with disappointment.
Josh felt a strong kick in the back as he was thrown forth, and landed in a cell. Heard the low drumming come from the emitters as a force field covered the entrance.
"I hope you two will enjoy your stay here." Kerry waved as the two EDL members left them locked up.
Josh glanced behind him; his Black Skull Brace was on the table next to Tobias' Crescent Dragon Brace. "At least they haven't the time for an execution."
"Josh, these were your people once right? What the hell is going on?" Tobias demanded.
"Bryan is on his own little parade of glory and it's up to everyone else to make it happen. At least that was the impression I was under when I worked here. But now, I don't know what to think."
"Well it looks like were going to have plenty of time to think it over. Does Jacob know about this?"
"I sent a quick message before getting grabbed, Jacob and Dalin will have to go on this mission alone, and it's up to the two of us to get out of here before the crap hits the fan."
"Any clue how?"
"I have one, but I'll have to wait until the right moment." He said calmly.
"And that will be?"
"A long time from now."
"I was afraid of that."
As the two began there lamenting session, the Dominance soon came to a halt, they rose to the surface and were in plain view of the town.
The town itself was blanketed in a thick field of fog, so much so that you could only see the beach and port, but not the town's buildings.
Meanwhile, Jacob and Dalin had risen to the deck of the submarine and were waiting with Eva, Kerry, and another flunky who only went by the name of Brice.
"You worried about Josh?" Dalin asked.
"Of course I am, but I know as long as we don't screw around anymore than we have to, Josh will be able to get out of this by himself." Jacob growled.
"You sure about that?"
"Am I ever wrong?"
"Frequently."
"Now that's cold coming from you."
The two stopped their conversation as the ship ground to a halt; the ship's bow was scraping alongside a pier.
"All passengers its time to disembark." Eva called out as she and her fellow EDLs headed down the slick metal down to the pier.
"This is going to end badly." Dalin pointed out.
"What was your first guess?" Jacob quipped.
The two soon followed the others into the fog, but then split up as they spread to cover their search grids. The town was barren, no sign of life anywhere, nothing but the hollow infrastructure of a civilization was there. The place was haunting because for all the signs that life was simply snuffed out, cars with the doors still open and keys in their ignitions, meals at restaurants half eaten, school buses in the middle of the streets with the kids backpacks on the seats.
Jacob had finished searching the North West section of town, mostly the homes of the fishermen, an eerie place since it looked like what ever happened had struck with such speed that it looked like some of them had been nabbed in their own showers.
He looked around, and saw no signs of struggle or disturbance in any of the houses to show that the bodies had been moved or they had fought back. But something was definitely wrong; the air was pungent with a fowl and awful stench.
"Dalin, I'm all done here, nothing but empty houses and the smell of a ruptured septic tank."
"I'm almost done too, head back to the ship, and try and see if you can find out what happened to Tobias and Josh." Dalin responded.
He was stationed in the south eastern corner, the second closest party towards the docks. Nothing more to it than streets and empty cars, however the smell was a hell of a lot more pungent than anywhere else he had been in town.
"Jacob, have any idea what's that smell?"
"No clue, but its everywhere, it's not toxic according to the Duel Brace, but it's bad enough to knock out a horse!"
"No kidding. I need a fricken air freshener or I'm going to passout!" Dalin whined as he covered his nose.
Suddenly, he heard a low groaning noise, steadily growing louder and louder. He hopped on to a bench and looked over a railing, what he saw shocked the hell out of him.
Proceeding down the street was the town's inhabitance; hundreds of people were marching through town. However there was one problem.
They were all dead.
The Elderly, children, everyone. The entire population of Sherbury was deceased, and they were decomposing rapidly. Their skin looked ragged like cloth and many had gapping holes through their limbs and craniums. They were all groaning and moaning indistinct noises and agony seemingly flowed from them. Their legs were suffering from rigger but through some unbelievable feat, they continued their march down the street. Their eyes were glazed, most of whom were bloodshot, but none appeared to glare up at Dalin.
The entire town has been turned into Zombies? How? I don't see any Necromancers or Zombie Monsters around to do this, and where the hell they going? The only thing in that direction is the water.
Suddenly it dawned on him, "Oh shit." He cursed as he made a mad dash towards the pier.
"Jacob! We got Zombies!" He shouted into his duel brace.
"Say what?" Jacob called back.
"The entire town is undead, and they're trying to cut us off from the Dominance!" Dalin shouted.
"Get to the ship, I'm willing to bet by the time we get there the EDs will already to go." Jacob said, as his duel brace cut off.
Dalin reached into his deck and drew a card, "SPIRIT MERGE!"
He was swallowed up in a ball of light and split into 3 smaller balls, each of whom became one of the Cat's Ear Tribe. The 3 kittens wasted no time, making descent time against the vast, but slow zombies.
Meanwhile Jacob had already changed into Reflect Bounder and was floating towards the docks. Already he could see the mass of corpses that managed to stand on their own and were blocking off the Dominance but not trying to board it surprisingly.
"Bring out your dead!" He shouted as he aimed both of his hand mirrors at the crowd.
"PRISM FOCUS!" He shouted as twin blots of energy fired out, and lanced through a portion of the crowd.
He glanced inward, and saw that although he made a clear shot, the zombies were still standing, now with perfectly round holes steaming through their abdomen.
"Well this isn't good." He grumbled.
Dalin had finally gotten to the docks as well, and found roughly half of the entire population cutting him off. The 3 cats stared at the army of death and wondered what to do. The simple fact of the matter was that it was a war of attrition and so far Jacob and Dalin were simply out numbered.
The cats and soon the Reflect Bounder parked themselves roughly a quarter of a mile from the vast mob of rotting flesh.
"I don't suppose charging through this mess is the way out." The blue kitten asked Jacob.
"Not a chance, I can't put out enough energy to reduce them all to dust and the 3 of you can't chop through them all. What we need is a plan, I could fly over them, but once I get to the water my lift will be gone and I'll sink right to the bottom."
"What about the EDs, where are they?" asked the orange furball.
"I can only guess behind us. The ship hasn't unmoored itself yet, so we can at least assume that they aren't leaving without them."
"And what's that say about us?" The White kitten asked.
While the cats sulked, Jacob noticed the movements of the 3 ED members, each of them had with them shotguns, and were charging head first into the corpses.
"What the hell?" The white kitten gasped.
"Looks like a suicide run." The blue kitten piped in.
"So what are we gonna do?" The orange kitten asked.
"Give them a hand." Reflect Bounder said, his eyes flashing.
Eva pumped her shotgun, and fired a spray into the mass of the undead, however instead of lead pellets fired from the rounds, hundreds of light blue blobs of liquid flew loose and sprayed into the zombies.
All most like it was acid, the blue liquid landed on them and started to spread and scorch them. But it started to glow brighter, and soon the zombies that were hit were falling like rag dolls!
Jacob couldn't believe the sight, Whatever that stuff is, it's incredible!
The 3 EDL members were firing into the mass, going in a straight line, heading straight for the sub.
Jacob and Dalin were charging as fast as they could go to try and reach them, but still a fair distance away.
Suddenly, the anchors onboard the Dominance was withdrawing into the ship! Its massive bulk was pulling itself free from the pier!
"What the fuck?" Kerry shouted, as the Ship was already clearing the wooden planks and into the open waters!
"Dalin! We got to get them out of there!" Jacob shouted.
"I know! We're on it!" The cats shouted as they dove into the fray, slicing and dicing there way into the mass of rotting flesh.
Soon the EDLs were simply surrounded; the zombies outnumbered them 100 to 1, and were closing in quickly as the ED's were running out of shells.
Eva was soon seized by several hands that were tugging her in several directions at once, and she struggled in their grip. Kerry and Brice failed to notice her predicament in time, and with her lack of firepower, their flanks were wide open as the two of them were sucked into the sea of flesh eating zombies!
"EVA!" The cats shouted as they flung themselves into the abyss, but strangely glowing in a fiery Rema!
The 3 separate lights fused together and grew to an even bigger size than Dalin was originally. The sudden change in size caused a low level shock wave that cleared out a small portion around him. The light sizzled away, leaving a large and lean figure standing in them mass.
He stood 7 feet tall, his muscles were in prime condition and a rich brown tan. He wore Egyptian clothes that draped his torso, they were light icy blue, slim plating on his shoulders and covering his upper chest, similar color armor covered his hands in the form of gauntlets. He had a dark blue cloak on his back, and an Egyptian head dress covering his head, which was a match to that of the God Anubis. In his hands were powerful looking weapons, they resembled sharp spear points that could cleave through armor, they were made with a golden mineral and added even more ferocity to his form.
"MYSTICAL KNIGHT OF JACKEL!" The powerful monster roared as he cleaved through 4 corpses as he charged for Eva.
Jacob dove in hard and fast, as he opened his palms and let a pair of focused beams slice off the hands binding her. He out reached a hand to grab her, but a sudden a violent pain over took him and he over shot her.
"What the hell was that?" He wondered, as he turned around for another run.
However the Mystical Knight had beaten him to her, cleaving a chunk of them from around her.
"Run!" He barked, quite literally.
She got on her feet and ran down the path he had made, which was quickly filling up with more Zombies.
"JACKEL JAVELIN STRIKE!" He roared as he pulled back both of his arms and swung with all his strength. A powerful thrust of incredible magnitude flew from the arc, and leveled all the zombies in her path.
"Time to run for it flea taxi!" Jacob shouted as he dove in and gave the beast warrior a strong shove in the right direction.
"Take it easy!" Jackal growled as he was treated like a cow catcher!
As Eva cleared the horde, so did the two DDL members as they plowed through the last of them.
"Keep Running!" Eva shouted, as the undead began to chase them.
The horde of the Undead weren't exactly running due to extreme arthritis, but the threat they posed wasn't exactly changing either. The blood of Kerry and Brice was clear enough prove of it.
Back on board the Boat, Josh could feel a strange pull and at the same time Tobias felt it as well.
"Hey you feel that?" Tobias asked.
"Yeah, What was it?" Josh wondered.
"The pull of the Dead," Tobias murmured, "We've been betrayed."
To be continued…
Next Time on the DDL:
An image of Dalin looking at a scratch on Eva's leg appears.
"You're a tough cookie you know that."
"Oh please." She scoffs, in the back ground Jacob is chuckling.
An image of Aaron and Erin standing before the cave again.
"I'm breaking that wall, or I'll die trying." He vows.
"Aaron, follow your instincts." She says, as she puts her hand on his shoulder, "And you'll do fine."
Scene changes to a Campfire, Ashley is being protected by a Tyrant Dragon, while Kuro stands beside a strange woman.
"Go. We shall handle it from here." The Stranger says.
DDL Chapter 39: Ashes of the Tsubasa Duelist