Unlikely Heroes
Chapter 8: Beginnings
It didn't take long for the group of eight to get back to the mansion. But none of the guys were answering the female's questions; just hell bent on getting them to safety. They took them right to the area where Liru had begun to train. This surprised Uma, Pachira, and Aiko as they hadn't suspected that one would be here. "Napoleon?" asked the female vampire to him. "Why are we here?"
"Because I think it's time we showed you the truth," he answered. "You know about Nicholas here and saw that he's a werewolf. But not the remaining three."
"Why? Are you werewolves as well?"
"No, but I'm the same as you."
"As I am as Aiko," commented Logan.
"And I'm in the same category as Uma," stated Logan. This got all the female's attention.
"It can't be…" Liru whispered.
"It is," said Nicholas. The remaining three guys began to morph and change. Ones that changed their appearance drastically, but nothing too big. Napoleon's teeth got even whiter and sharpened into points. At the same time his cloths became black and gothic in design with a cape. Cosmo's arms morphed into metal ones along with the legs. The wand Logan had came out but so did gloves and the pants changed to more of that that belonged to a magician. The werewolf spoke up again. "Like with your group each of us is the same in terms of monster type. Napoleon; our vampire. Cosmo; an android who's light on his feet but strong. Logan; our powerful wizard. And I; I'm the werewolf which Liru here already knows."
They all looked on at the guys in shock. "I don't believe it," the female werewolf stated after a bit.
"But it is," Nicholas answered. "We've kept this hidden so long until something like being kidnapping came up. Even if it hadn't we were going to tell you any day now."
Uma and Pachira walked forward towards their male monster counter part while blushing slightly. Here were those that could work for them as boyfriends. Uma, since she didn't have an ideal guy, just looked onto Logan with a smile. "So I guess they'll train with me now?" asked Liru.
"Yes," the male werewolf answered. "They'll need to be for what is coming. Everyone, follow me." He led them to the training room and explained what was going to happen. This had already been discussed with the girl's invisible chaperone so it was fine. And so it began with the training and getting the other three up to where Liru was. And this would bring out quite the results. And leading up to beginning of finding the enemy.
"You see like you four us guys when it comes to out there in the dangerous world have our strengths and weakness. Now I'm not going to down play it by saying none of them can't fight, but it's at different levels. And by combining these together enables us to handle any situation. In other words, team work."
"But Logan doesn't look like the kind to fight," Uma stated.
"Well yes, I tend to be the more magic support, but that doesn't mean I can't lend a hand to say Nicholas or Napoleon," the said guy stated.
"And the same goes for me," Cosmo commented.
"This is going to apply to you four as well," Nicholas continued. "Liru here is definitely I would say the most athletic like me. Pachira on the other hand could get to her level. Uma on the other hand would be more supportive with her magic, and Uma is definitely not the type to help in a fight by physical means but other ways. I know because I heard her talk about how she's good with machines. So Uma can act as a hacker since there are many computers and things like that out there. Meanwhile Uma, you will be with Logan to increase your magical abilities. As they are now, you'll only get killed. And Pachira will join the rest of us."
And so things began with their training. Although it was challenging, it kept the four females busy. And there were parts they actually loved. Uma for example since she had trouble with spells was always pleased and happy when one actually worked instead of backfiring. Plus she was impressed and stunned by how much Logan really knew. His knowledge was so deep of magical spells it was like looking down a bottomless pit, or a huge library with thousands of books. There were spells that the female witch learned that she hadn't thought were possible before. And Uma was impressed by Cosmo's knowledge of machines.
Pachira on the other hand did her best to keep up with Liru. She wasn't going to let Liru show her up. But that suited the others just fine so the female vampire could catch up. But it was during this that something would pop up. One that nobody saw coming. It all started one day and the guys were looking on while the females finished up with their exercises. "You think they'll be ready?" asked Cosmo to Nicholas.
"I'd say for what we have planed."
"Hey Logan, you hear the song Peace Maker by Sonata Arctica?" Napoleon asked. "It totally rocks."
"No, but have you read the latest funniest manga?" the wizard managed to ask between his laughing while reading such a thing.
"How can I? You allow no one to read it before you do."
As soon as that was said, the four females finished up. "Well seems like that's it for today," stated Nicholas. "We'll continue with this tomorrow."
"So what now?" asked Pachira. "There's still time in the day."
"Honestly since you've been making such good progress, you can do whatever you want. Go out and get something, take a nightly stroll, I don't care. Just be on guard in case K-Ko and her assistant come back. Or something else. Remember, there are dangers out there, even for us."
Pachira and Napoleon decided to head out together since it would be a nice night and a excuse to get closer. The two vampires left the house with the sun slowly beginning to descend. The male took the female around to a few places that he liked to hang out as well as showing her his ability to defy gravity and walk up walls. This would be learned in time and Pachira would be able to do it. However their walk was cut a bit short when while heading down the street, the two couldn't help but notice some kind of fog in front of them. Something about it seemed off. "What is that?" the female whispered.
"I don't know, but we'd better keep our distance." No sooner was that said when the fog suddenly got closer. Before the two vampires could shout, it had engulfed them. Napoleon grabbed Pachira's hand and she blushed despite what was going on. The female wrapped her arms tightly around him. After what seemed like forever, both could see again. But seemed to be in a foggy version of the place they were familiar with. But something was off; like it was a ghost town or something.
"What could have caused this?" asked Napoleon. "No human, not even K-Ko could have created this. Stick very close to me Pachira."
They noticed strange white stuff floating down. It wasn't snow at all. "Can't we just go back the way we came?" asked the female.
"I don't think it's possible. It's not like we went through a door. It's quite possible we're in another realm or dimension. There should be a way out. The trouble will be finding it."
The two started to head forward until they reached a building. "Maybe in there?" Pachira suggested.
"Let's make it quick." The vampires went in. Instantly for some strange reason it got dark. So dark in fact that even they couldn't see. But the two could still feel each other since they were holding hands.
"Wait a moment," stated the male. Suddenly a light of fire began to shine. From his right hand hung another rune on a necklace. But one more interestingly designed than the one Nicholas had. "It's better than nothing."
They continued but had hardly gone far when somehow the walls began to twist a bit and suddenly blood could be seen on the floor. A sense of dread and fear was quickly rising up in the female. The male felt it as well. Then the vampires saw something that made them stop cold. They saw pinned to the wall a corpse in a rough human like shape, with no face, but bloody bandages, and the inner parts of the body exposed. "What the hell is this?!" Napoleon whispered. Pachira shrank behind him. "What the fuck is going on here?!"
The two then turned and saw something that made the female scream. Two corpses of humans; horrible ones were coming towards them. Before the vampires could move, they sat up, the female one still screaming while Napoleon shook off the arms of Logan. Everyone else was here. Pachira after seeing she was back in the real world found the male vampire and sobbed into his shoulder. His arms went around her in comfort. "What happened?" asked Nicholas. "We saw both of you in this state that we couldn't get you out of."
"I've confirmed it," Napoleon answered in a voice that spelled dread. The other guy's eyes went wide with shock, but the rest of the females couldn't make any sense of this.
"Here, let's get back before it shows up again," commented the male werewolf. It didn't take long to do so. Pachira was able to mostly calm down upon this, but refused to leave Napoleon's side.
"So what happened?" asked Liru. "I've never seen Pachira act like that." The male vampire quickly told the tale.
"That doesn't make any sense," said Uma. "You went to another dimension of some kind?"
"That's right," Napoleon answered. "And it's the first time I've encountered it. Up till now all we've heard is stories about it."
"And that's not all," stated Logan. "They say that people who go into there almost never come out. Many have just disappeared. Consider yourselves lucky."
"What can we do against such a thing?" asked Aiko who shivered.
"Well the problem is we can't figure out when it appears," said Cosmo. "It just randomly pops up. But if you see any fog that doesn't look normal run the hell away from it. Until then you must do that. And don't go wondering around at night."
"At least we won't be totally helpless," Nicholas stated. "I have a plan for how to deal with it a bit, but it will have to wait till tomorrow. It's late and I think it would be best if you four stayed here. In fact probably from now on."
Everything was set up but Pachira was so scared that she didn't want to leave Napoleon's side at all. The male allowed her to stay the night with him. Although this didn't lead to a hook up, the two became even closer. In his mind, he made it up to tell the female just how he felt about her. She in turn felt warm and safe by Napoleon's side. None of the other females of course needed this yet. They hadn't experienced what their friend had. But the rest of the guys couldn't help but worry for them if something like this came up again. But things were going to get even more interesting.
The next day showed the two vampires were pretty much back to normal. But it found Nicholas and Logan just looking through books that appeared to be ancient. Cosmo was also doing research on his computer. The other females did whatever they wanted for the most part during the morning and early afternoon. They were then called to meet with the males. "Now then after doing some research, I think we might have a better chance if we get caught in that realm again," stated Nicholas.
"What is it even?" asked Uma.
"It's called the Otherworld, an evil one where physical law often doesn't apply. In addition it has the power of causing delusions and creating tangible symbols of elements from the unconscious mind, mental states, and innermost thoughts when present it, manifest in that realm. In other words it has the ability to materialize one's thoughts. And this takes the form of monsters that wouldn't exist in the real world. Often ones of fear and regret."
The females shivered. "Sounds scary," whispered Aiko.
"There have been reports about this before in the past. The farthest one goes back nearly 2,000 years ago. Originally this malevolent power was non-evil, but as the centuries went by it became corrupt. Namely by others who sought to use it for themselves. But it's something that's beyond human understanding; nobody can control it. And it can strike anywhere outside at any time, but night times are the most frequent."
"So… what do we do?" asked Uma.
"We'll start by giving everyone here more protection." The male werewolf brought out the other necklace Liru had seen before. "This one is a ruin that's known as the Angelic Power or Enkeli ruin. It's one of the best tools to fight demons and evil forces. These have existed since ancient times; in order to help fight evil like this. Now we're going to create more charms, a few for everyone so the next time you step into the Otherworld, you'll have a chance."
He and Logan turned and brought out lumps of black colored metal onto a table. The two males held their hands out in front of these and began to chant and speak in an ancient dialect. The girls at first thought it was something creepy, until they saw the metal began to glow with a warm, holy looking light. They began to change form into different shapes. It only took a minute or so before the glowing stopped, and what lay there were a few different ruins; enough for everyone to have. Pachira recognized the one Napoleon had and picked one up. "So pretty," she commented.
"How did you do that?" asked Uma with excitement. "That's amazing!"
"Anyone can if they have the right kind of training," the wizard explained. "We've embodied these with the power they need to help us. The heat one you've seen in action. But there are also the Fearless one which will help with your courage, Deflect or Block Ruin to help with your defense, Equilibrium for balance, and the Insight or Foresight Ruin to help with sight even in the dark."
"Wear these at all times except for things like sleep and such," said Nicholas. "These could save your life. And before this is over, I feel every ruin will be needed for whatever is out there."
Everyone took these and it was well they did. For a couple of nights latter found the two androids out for a stroll. Although the two talked, they kept their eyes out for any suspicious fog. There wasn't any, but they would fine something else. The walk took them towards the edge of the city. "Seems safe tonight," said the female with a bit of relief.
"Come on, you have a ruin that helps with courage," Cosmo commented with a teasing grin.
"I'm not scared thanks to it. I can feel its power working. I just wanted to avoid a fight is all. Or even killing."
"You'll never have to worry about that. Just leave it to me. And if you should find yourself in a fight, you've been taught on how to get out of it quicker than you got into it."
Suddenly the female stopped as she heard something. The male did as well. And the fact they were located near the edge of the city. "When in the hell did we get this far out?" he wondered. The sound happened again. One that was like the sound of paws hitting the ground. And more than one heading towards the androids. Both turned and saw the shape of four dogs; Dobermans. But the two with their eyes could see there was something wrong with these canines. Their skin was off color. The body had bloody marks on it.
"Get behind," Cosmo told Aiko. "Be on guard; something's not right with these animals."
"What is it?"
"Could be rabies. It's a disease humans and animals can get. But… I don't see any foaming at the mouth. That's a big sign." Suddenly one of the dogs lunged at the two with a loud growl that sounded unnatural. As though this animal was possessed.
Cosmo moved himself and Aiko out of harms way. A blade from his wrist emerged and stabbed the dog in the head; killing it instantly. The other three roared and their heads split to reveal gapping mouths with teeth. These were not normal. The female couldn't help but scream out loud. The remaining enemy began to circle around, looking for an opening. "These aren't normal at all," the male android stated. "Something has gotten to these canines."
"But what?" asked Aiko as her eyes darted from one enemy to the next.
"We'll need a sample. Here's the plan; if one lunges at you, send it flying to me. I'll take care of the messy part and the rest. Okay?" He saw her nod. "Get ready…"
The enemy then lunged at the two. The female was ready, her strength and resolve set. When one got within range, Aiko whirled, her right foot at the ready. There was the sound of a crack, showing some ribs had broken. The mutated canine was thrown towards Cosmo. With a strong thrust, he stopped the enemies' heart. The other two were quickly shot down. Just like that, the fight was over. The two androids step towards the body of the one still together. Cosmo placed it over his shoulders. "You're… taking it?" asked the female.
"For analysis purpose one," said the male. "I think Nicholas will want to see this." It wasn't long before they made it back. It was too late to do anything about the creature, so it was tossed into a freezer.
The next day everyone was in a room that had the dead enemy on a table. Nicholas, Logan, and Cosmo were doing most of the work while everyone else watched. It wasn't until a sample taken from the creature was placed under a microscope did the three examining exchange worry looks. "Uh… everything alright?" asked Liru.
"Well it depends on your point of view," stated the male werewolf. "We've found out what's inside of this thing that made it act like it did. A virus that shouldn't be in there. While we don't know what yet, it's mutated this dog into this thing. The good news is that it can only affect animals and humans but not monsters. And we know this because we can tell the virus is structure to affect those things. The bad news is that if we're not careful, too many of these things can still kill us."
"Is there anything we can do?" asked Uma with a bit of a worried look.
"For now we need to just keep out ears open for any news," Logan answered. "And to warn the right people while there's time."
A few days latter a report came in of creatures very much like the ones encountered appearing in a campus to the north. And other things as well. The group made their way out there immediately. While the females weren't sure about this, the guys were ready to start and help those out there that couldn't defend themselves. What's more the moon was half full but it shined brightly. It didn't take long to arrive at the destination. As they got out of the vehicle, Napoleon looked up and saw the moon.
"How beautiful," he stated. "Nights like this make we want to have a bite to drink. Yes… I can't imagine a more… perfect evening." Pachira just stared at the male; this sounded a bit dark for him.
"Well I forbid you to attack anyone innocent," commented Nicholas with a slight growl. "And I doubt if we find any creatures like the one examined I doubt it will agree with your system. However… if there are any enemies you might be able to gain some information from them." The werewolf, who didn't need blood could think more clearly around his hunger.
"How will that help?" asked Liru.
"Blood carries memories just like your brain," Logan explained. "Napoleon here can tap into those, but since he never goes after humans like Pachira, he's never had to use it. This is a first time. I guess since she's never attacked humans your friend didn't know this."
"Regardless I'm still in the mood for something," the male vampire commented. "I trust you'll have something when this is over."
"I'll get the best tomato juice or blood substance you can find latter," Cosmo replied. "Now let's see what's going on."
The main building of the campus was nearby and was the first to be checked out. The guys had their guns at the ready while the girls kept their eyes open. Nobody needed flashlights because Logan had casted a spell for those who needed to see in the dark while the others could on their own. The banquet hall was first and from the looks of it, a dinner was to be held here. "You think anyone survived?" Uma asked.
"Let's hope," Nicholas answered.
The small group went through the building, noticing how quiet it was. That is until they had to go down some stairs to the basement area to check things out. Napoleon held up his hand. "You guys here that?" he whispered. The rest listened hard. It sounded like the sound of moaning and ripping of flesh and bones. Liru then looked to her right and gasped, grabbing Nicholas's arm. They saw a crouched figure, bloody and feeding on a corpse.
"What the fuck…?" Logan whispered. The creature suddenly stopped and slowly rose up, facing the group. What they saw was horrid; a person, but bloody with deathly pale skin and blank staring eyes. Suddenly more came from the shadows. Without thinking the guys all shot at the enemy with their guns in the head. One shot blew these things apart, spraying blood and gore. A few seconds latter after the bodies fell, they melted away into nothing. Cosmo went over to one of the puddles and placed a swab into it, getting a sample. The android put it away safely.
"Seems we may have found the people here," stated Nicholas. "But not themselves."
"Were those really…?" asked Uma, but couldn't finish. She and the other females were scared.
"They acted like zombies, but zombies don't dissolve like that. I don't know what these are, but if I had to guess there are more nearby. Probably infected like these from bites or something else."
Everyone continued to move, taking out more of these kinds of creatures. Well the males did, but the female just hung back and only acted if needed. They still weren't there yet when it came to combat. After taking out the basement area, it was onto the second floor. Here something would be found that wasn't expected. The gang got into an office like space and Liru closed the door behind them. Suddenly a rumbling shook the room. Then a massive zombie like human crashed through the door with a moan. "Damn it!" shouted Logan and went on the offensive with his magic. "Just when I thought we could get a breather!"
"These thing come in extra large now?" Nicholas asked and transformed into his werewolf form with a roar. The male rushed forward, hacking at the huge enemy with his katana.
"We need to move out of here!" Napoleon stated. "It's too small to fight in here!"
Everyone moved out and there were other zombie like enemies but of normal size here. The small fry were quickly taken care of before the big one was able to be focused on. This enemy could take a lot of bullets and punishment. To the point that the females actually began to help out. It was only after two minutes of attacking and dodging that the zombie was beaten. It fell to the ground with a crash. "Is it… dead?" asked Aiko.
"Yeah, it won't be back anytime soon," Napoleon commented. He then stiffened and turned his head sharply. Out of the corner of this male's eye he spotted someone moving. And running away. "There's someone here." The guy took off after them to the surprise of the others. The figure seemed hell-bent on getting out of the area. But Napoleon was too fast for this person and managed to stop right in front of them. "And where are you in going in such a hurry?"
The new one just let out a roar, showing pointed teeth like a vampire. In one hand a broken vital was held. "Did you unleash this hell here?! Answer me!" Napoleon ordered. The rest caught up to him. This enemy whipped out a machine gun and fired. But Napoleon was too quick and moved to dodge the bullets. He was right on top of the enemy and knocked the gun out of their hands and get them on the ground. "Spill it maggot!" he growled.
In the light the person pinned appeared to be a male with glowing red eyes and dirty white hair wearing a hoodie. The enemy let out a snarl at Napoleon. "It doesn't seem like this one will talk," said Nicholas. "But it's a vampire; I can tell. Strange that this one doesn't look like any I've seen before. However…." He bent down and grabbed the enemies' jaw. "There are ways of making even this one talk."
Suddenly the guy being pinned down burst into blue flames. Napoleon and Nicholas backed away in shock. The others felt the same feeling. Within seconds nothing but ashes of the enemy were left. "What the hell…?" the male vampire whispered.
"That's it?" asked Uma in a scared voice.
"Like I said, not one I've seen before," said Nicholas. He then noticed something in the ashes. It looked to be some kind of microchip. The guy held it up. "Some evidence. We'll have to look into this later. If this burnt enemy really did this, it's up to us to clean this mess. Let's move."
The group did so and were able to clean up the rest of the village. But no more answers were found until they got back to their house. Everyone gathered around the thing that had been found in the enemy vampire that was on a table. "It looks like a transmitter," stated Logan. "Perhaps much more. This one seems to relay information regarding this creature's physical and mental state, movements, and altercations."
"How can you tell?" asked Pachira.
"It looks similar to what Cosmo uses for his machines."
"But nothing for evil," the male android commented.
"What now?" asked Liru.
"For now just keep our eyes open," Nicholas stated. And it was a good thing they did. For within the next few days attacks like the ones before happened, keeping the group busy. While these weren't any problem, they also found werewolves in the mix. Ones that were different like the vampires. They also had chips in them. At the end of the week Nicholas just went onto his computer to look up the information that had been obtained and any reports of things like this.
"These attacks aren't random. Someone is creating these vampires and other creatures. Moving towards some unknown purpose. There's too many… Far too many. Suddenly we have far too many vampires, werewolves, and other creatures causing trouble. It's as if someone were churning these things of a factory line."
However this would only be just the beginning.