Re:Build World

by Stone-Man85

In a ruined world, one boy is left for dead, but is given a chance by finding an ally of the Old World. With them, he will achieve to survive in this hostile world from enemies, whether human or inhuman. But his growing rise and luck will not be overlooked as some will try and take what he has and made it his own.

5. Gang and Teammates

Rebuild World

---

Chapter 4: The Green Siblings and the Gang; Potential Teammates and... Rivals?

---

BLAM!

The hunter slumped to the ground with a hole in his head, as Max holstered his gun. And then sighed, "Please tell me this was the last one."

Emmy looked at him dumbfounded and said, "This was the supposed leader, I'm sure we got them all."

Max whined, "I just wanna soak in a bath, not be target practice like this." and then the trio proceeded to walk away.

With that, the girl hunter was by herself as she kept her cover. She was a newbie brought in recently and was barely shown the ropes. Now she was left behind by her supposed comrades in a fight with the odds stacked against her.

However, moments passed as remaining gang members had swarmed the corpse of the leader, as an afro Hispanic Hunter cringed, "Oh crap. They got Sibea?"

Another big fellah blinked in a panic, as he gulped, "They took down our leader like that? These guys aren't human."

"The boy must be the one from the rumors! About a kid that found an A.I. and has been killing any gang that goes against him," the Afro Hunter shouted, "It's the only way that little runt could be that strong!"

"Than how the hell do you explain the girl," the Big Hunter shouted back.

"Backup hunter, maybe," Another scraggily hunger cringed.

Though all that time, the green-haired girl walked in slowly as the gang members argued. Another one freaked out, "Ugh, what's gonna happen to our gang now?!"

"Are you stupid," A black-haired gang member said, "This isn't the time to think about that. What if those hunters come back down to get the rest of us?"

"But he only went after the armored ones," a blonde hunter freaked out. "What do we do?"

The same black-haired guy said, "I have some connections with the other gangs. We could join them instead."

At that moment the girl paled at this as she ran to the boy, "Wait, Billy." She then held his arm as she said, "You can take me and my brother. We can..."

But she was shoved off and pushed to the ground harshly, as Billy seethed out, "Are you stupid?! You're Sibea's favorite. If we take you or your brother, we'll all end up dead with those targets on your back." Everyone decided to bolt, as the girl slowly recovered to perch herself up by her arms, as Billy's voice shouted, "Just crawl somewhere and die, Estelle!"

Estelle felt as though her world had ended with that comment. Here she was being abandoned just because of her connection with Sibea. Now she was left to take care of her brother again against two teens that had turned her group of hunters into scared rookies.

---

Late that Night

Slums

The weather was nippy and cold, while someone was looking through the fog. He was a man of sixteen, Caucasian, slim but small muscle build like Max, but had green hair that was big and spikey up front in bangs, with green eyes as well. He wore a tattered black and green hoodie t-shirt with a white long sleeved dirty shirt underneath. He had tattered but dirty blue jean overalls with the top dangling on his hips on, broken but useable brown sneakers, and a black sweat jacket tied around his waist. He was Anton, Estelle's brother figure. He looked through the weathered place and spotted the bodies of the gang members. It had been too long since Sibea came up with the dumb idea to go after a Hunter who had found some sweet and pricy relics. And to make matters worse, Estelle went with them and didn't come back all day.

"Dammit, Estelle," Anton cursed himself, "I know you're trying to fortify a place to be safe in, but Sibea's an idiot who doesn't even think things ahead." He sighed, "why did I agree with this...?"

But then stopped as he almost tripped over a foot, as he stumbled a bit. But when he wrote himself back on his feet, he paled as he saw what... or who... he tripped on. It was Sibea's body, as he paled. "Oh crap," Anton realized the seriousness, and gulped, "If he's dead then..." He looked around in a panic, as he cried out, "Estelle! Are you out there? Where are you?! Estelle!"

A loud sound made Anton jump as he turned in the direction of the sound out of panic.

He looked to see Estelle, huddled with a cloth over her, as she looked worse for wear. Anton rushed over to her as he knelt down, "Estelle? I'm glad you're..." But then he got kicked up comically as he crashed on his backside, groaning, "I guess I deserved that."

"I told you not to come out here alone, Anton," Estelle said in a harsh tone, "It's too dangerous coming out here by yourself!"

"I'm sorry, sis," Anton said in a sad tone for making his sister angry, "But what happened here? Was in a gang war?"

After explaining it, and escorting her out of the alleyway, Anton blinked, "What? Two hunters took down Sibea and the gang? All by themselves? What are these guys, High ranking hunters?"

"I don't know about the girl, but the boy could be the one from the rumors," Estelle said to him, "About a boy who fell into the pit and found a female A.I. from the past. One that made him invincible."

Anton then thought on it as he said, "Now that I think about it, it would explain why the other gang members were all freaked out and bailed."

Estelle paled, "Wait. They all bailed at the hideout?"

Anton nodded, "Yeah, they kept saying they were out, and bolted out of there. They even took most of the equipment. The only things they didn't take was what was bolted down."

Estelle groaned as she looked at the ground in anger. "Which means they took all the food and money as well," she said having come to that conclusion, "This is worse than I thought."

Anton sighed, as he asked, "so what now?" Estelle looked hardened as she thought aloud, "Now that we have no choice, it's come to that. It's teh only choice."

---

The Next Few Days

Max was about in his casual, but with his Hand Cannon, Baton, and GRP on hand, as he strode through town. Though he wasn't alone as Allison floated next to him. Emmy had to deal at the shop, but she was confident today due to the cash flow, she had an eye out for a body for Allison. Max looked to Allison who seemed giddy as ever at this news, as he asked, "Guess Emmy's good news to you is making you happy, eh?"

Of course! She may have actually found a body for me, Allison replied with a wide smile, Now I can interact with the world. It won't be on the same level as you but at least I won't require a radio to do so.

Max smirked, "Yeah, and Emmy's super excited to see you in the flesh. So to speak."

Allison thought on it, as she blushed when Emmy explained it to them.

---

Flashback

Allison blinked as she asked on the voice comm, "A Synthetic body?"

Emmy nodded, "Yeah, due to the ruin relics, the companies have been exploring on combining a few details. One of them was a synthetic android. It's artificially grown like a human but with all the form and functions of a human. They're used for manual labor or pleasure districts. It's similar to a human being's body, and best part, like a game avatar, you can shape it to look like however you want. You can even add a male's thing to it..." Emmy smirked, "If you feel like it."

Eh no, Allison said not wanting that feature, So how much does this synthetic body costs and how realistic is this body?

"Well, seeing as any store bought one, it can range to 10 to 200 or a thousand," Emmy said as she typed in an estimate, and then showed, "But this is a custom made model for Allison, so... this."

,000

Both Max and Allison winched as the shouted, "WHAT!?"

---

Present

Allison looked in downright distraught. She had the chance now to physically interact with the world. But it would cost way more than she or anyone else would have thought.

'Don't worry, Allison,' Max said trying to cheer her up, 'So it costs more than any hunter could make in their lifetime. We'll find a way to make that much somehow. Besides, there are some pros to being an A.I. instead of a human. You don't get sick, get injured, have hang overs, grow old, become fat, lose limbs, or anything else a human has to worry about.'

Allison sighed, I know. Though she thought for a moment when that day would come.

Allison busted into the room, as she had a blanket from shoulder to feet, as she smiled, "Max, look." She then dropped the blanket, showing her naked body, as she smiled, "I have an actual physical body."

Max smiled, "that's great, Ally. And you look amazing."

The two were now suddenly in arms, with Max's shirt off, as she smiled, "Allow me to support you... in another way."

"Teach me, Allison," Max smiled, as the two leaned in for a kiss... But then Allison snapped back to normal, as she freaked out.

No wait! That would be a distraction from training, Allison thought to herself while cupping her blushing cheeks, Relationships in a professional setting rarely work out!

Max blinked as he looked to her, as she seemed to be fretting, as he asked, "Eh, Allison, you okay?"

Allison snapped out of her daydream and composed herself. Yes, of course, she said in a proper tone, Sorry about that. Now onto today's training. We'll be training against some Battle Hound projections.

Max winced at the memory of something like that. When Allison began training, she did some surprise attacks with projections. That didn't freak him out. What freaked him out was that there were image projections of him dead. She wanted to show the consequences of this kind of thing happening if he screwed up. The very images kept haunting him at this point, and felt queasy on it just remembering. But he kept it down, as he noticed Allison looking at him in concern, but he smiled it off.

"Hey, don't freak out about it. It's because of you, I'm getting better and stronger every day," Max said, but then winced, "Though taking down something like that Mutant Battle Hound is something in the works." He then wondered aloud, "I wonder if most hunters could beat something like that."

It's based on your skill and equipment level, Allison said to him, For instance, the two girls you saved before might've been able to handle a pack of Battle Hounds easily. Max looked at her in surprise, 'Those two are that strong?!' As I said, with the right level of skill and equipment, it's actually easy, Allison explained to him, Let's just focus on your training for today.

Max nodded, as he walked, "well, that's a good comparison. Though I doubt that I'll see those two again."

But at the moment, as he stepped to a corner... he whipped to his right and glared at the same green-haired girl from before, as she jumped, as he asked, "Why are you stalking me?"

Estelle jumped almost frozen, as Anton was far from sight. She had actually ditched him yet again to try and spy on the blue-haired boy that she recognized. But she didn't expect him to find her. And neither did a stunned Allison. Max then stated, rather calmly, "Don't bother to deny it. I felt someone was following me some time ago. If you wanna pick a fight.."

Estelle managed to shake in fright but started to speak, "Ta-Ta-Talk..."

Max blinked, "Talk? About what?"

Max reached for his hand cannon, as his GRP activated as he glared at her, "If you're out for revenge, or that your gang leader's death wasn't a clue..." His glare intensified, almost glowing, as he snarled, "... then you'll end up like him as well."

Estelle fell onto her knees as she cried out and tears poured from her eyes. She had never been this scared before and now she was being threatened by the same guy that destroyed her gang. She realized she was in over her head and was about to lose control of her bladder if this continued.

"WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"

Though Max was confused on this action, as this was not what he expected to go through. Let alone be prepared for. He looked confused and concerned as he tried to talk sense, as he looked to Allison, who was equally surprised, 'Eh, Ally? What's going on?'

It would seem you have intimidated her, Allison said to him, Now that I can blame her. Let's try to calm her down but stay on your guard. This may be a trick of some sorts.

Max looked back and forth between girls as he said, "Okay, okay, no problem." he then nervously said to Estelle, who still cried. "Um, don't worry. I'm not gonna attack; I was just.. um concerned. You're not planning to kill me right? So, let's calm ourselves and have a chit chat? Kay? You wanted to talk to me about something right?"

But Estelle wouldn't stop crying, as Max paled as he thought, 'I really freaked her out.' He then looked around and saw the crowd looking at the scene in concern, as he gulped, 'I can't do this here.' Suddenly, he picked her up while she still wept in a panic, holding her bridal style, and bolted, "Come on."

And as he did, Anton rushed from the alley, as he heard Estelle's crying, looking around as he called out, "Sis! Where are you?"

Though one of the inhabitance pointed out, "Your sister was crying as a guy carried her off. That direction. I think he had blue hair."

Anton paled at this, as he gulped, 'Oh crap. That hunter that killed Sibea. HE'S GONNA GET HIS REVENGE ON MY SISTER! WHAT'S HE GONNA DO TO HER?!'

---

Later On

Max's Apartment

Max was sitting on the couch, his weapons all on the coffee table, as he looked down, paling in distraught. Though Allison 'sat' on the couch's rim, as she looked down at Max in thought. though at the time, the shower was on inside and the bathroom door was locked. Though Max's face was contorted in fear as he thought grimily, "What am I gonna do? I just panicked back here and let that girl use the shower."

It's faster if you ask her yourself, Allison said to him, Besides, people were beginning to stare and everyone probably knows where you live by now thanks to the rumors.

'Thanks for that pleasant thought,' Max said as this made him feel like he would be attacked while sleeping. Max then grumbled, 'Seriously though, I can take down hunters, prepare to fight Bi-Beasts, but when it comes to a girl, I'm defeated.'

Allison sweatdropped at that, as she chuckled, Yeah, females do seem to be a weakness you can't build strength on. It's just something you gradually get better at.

---

In the Bathroom

Estelle's clothes were being washed, while she stood in the shower. Her figure was truly lovely and seductive; a rare beauty among the slums. Her hair matted to her body, as her head looked down in thought, feeling both embarrassed and relieved, 'I really did bawl my eyes out... I honestly thought he was going to kill me.' She sighed as she groaned, 'That was a real big blunder before I could even negotiate.' but then she blinked as she realized something, 'Wait. he.. He brought me... to his home, letting me use the shower.' She blushed crimson as she held her cheeks in fear, 'Does that mean.. He wants to do me?' She shook her head as he freaked out, 'th-this is too soon. Not even Sibea would go near me. I'm umprepared for this! I'm still a virgin. he probably has tons of experience with women.'

Max groaned, "I have zero experience with women."

Estelle emerged from the room fully dressed in her clean clothes looking shy. She looked at Max, "Uhm... Thank you for-"

Max was there on the couth eating from a microwave meal as though nothing was happening while Allison continued to stare and smile at Max. 'He's... He's just sitting there eating like nothing is going on,' Estelle thought to herself, 'Does this mean he's not going to relish me?! Am I not his type?!' Then, her stomach growled getting her and Max's attention much to Estelle's embarrassment. She grabbed her stomach as her cheeks glowed red.

Max gestured to one of the chairs, as she sat down, and shared in the meal as he broke the silence, "So... what exactly or why were you following me? You said you wanted to talk but from what happened and from rumors, Sibea's gang, the guy with the dreadlocks, they all scattered." He then arched an eyebrow as he then concluded, "And you don't have any concealed weaponry on you, and were left behind by the gang, so I doubt you're here for revenge. So.. what's up?"

After a moment of silence, Estelle found the courage she needed to start speaking. "To start, my name is Estelle, and yes, I was part of Sibea's gang until that day," Estelle said to him, "After you defeated Sibea, the other members ran off for fear of being attacked by you next. They took everything from the base that wasn't hammered down. My brother and I are the only ones left."

"I see," Max said, but then arched an eyebrow, "Wait, Brother? Where is he?"

At that moment, furious knocking was on the door, as someone shouted, "HEY, YOU HUNTER SCUMBAG! GIMME BACK MY SISTER!"

Though at the moment, Emmy's voice cried out, "Max, help. This guy is a maniac on the rampage!"

"Don't call me a maniac! He's got my sister," Anton shot out, "When I asked for a blue-haired guy, you mentioned someone named Max, and I pressured you to tell me."

Max, Allison, and even Estelle sweatdropped as Max turned to her and asked, "That him?"

Estelle looked down in embarrassment at her brother's outburst, "Yes... I'm sorry..." Estelle stood up, "It's alright, Anton. I'm Max's guest at the moment."

---

Moments Later

(And a lot of calming down)

Anton was sitting next to his sister, while Max, Emmy, and Allison sat on the other end. though nobody could see Allison, she was eyeing up Anton's stats on Max's behalf... for a future reason to go on. Though at the moment, they were eating while gazing at a holographic map, as Max was getting the gist of what had happened when he took down Sibea. He then pointed at the map, showing the territory that Max and Emmy took down as he went, "So this territory, minus Emmy's shop and this hotel, they were all Sibea's territory?"

"And when you took it down, it kind of caused a power vacuum," Estelle explained. "But it's not like rival gangs can take the place by force. It'll invite a war and needless death."

"Sibea coming after us was needless," Max droned, while Emmy nudged him to behave.

But then Emmy stated, "So with Sibea gone, it's now neutral territory, I guess."

Though Max then asked, "But if that's true, why come to talk to me?"

"Max, I'd like you to take over Sibea's former territory. Please, be our new boss," Estelle said dropping a massive bomb of a request. Emmy stared in shock at this. Here was a girl asking Max to become the new boss of the gang that had just tried to kill him.

"Hard pass," Max said in an uninterested tone of voice.

Anton shot out as he stood up, shouting, "What the hell?! You're just gonna let the whole territory go into full-blown chaos without someone to be in charge?! You took down the boss, that means you gotta bone up the responsibility and take charge! Don't you get it?!"

Max said calmly to him, "I don't. I'm just a Hunter. I take down Bi-Beasts, go exploring ruins for relics, and yes, I do the occasional... or frequent, fighting of other Hunters that seem more scavengers. I have no intention of being a Gang boss." He then sighed, "If you want someone that can do that, there's a hunter named Davis. He and his gang could help."

Max suddenly felt a sharp nudge to his side. It was Emmy who was shooting him a glare. "You did not just volunteer that scum bag to become the owner of that amount of territory," Emmy said in a furious tone, "Do you really want him getting that much power?!"

Anton then shook his head, "Lately... he's not a good fit. The guy's kind of a bully with delusions of power and womanizing. He even eyed my sister once, and I got beat up just to scare him off."

Max then argued, "Honestly, I just pushed Davis out as an idea. Not the solution. I'm pretty sure someone better can do the job."

And pointed to Estelle, "What about your sister? She could run the area."

"They won't accept me as the boss," Estelle said to him, "Due to my connection with Sibea, the other members of the gang don't view me as a leader. If that wans't the case, I would've taken the position. They respect strength above all else. That's why after you defeated Sibea, they ran away."

Max thought on it, as he came up with an idea. And then looked to Emmy and Allison, as he said, "Emmy. You free right now?"

"I can't run a gang! I have a shop to run and there's my work as a hunter," Emmy said to him, "I think you'll make a great gang leader."

Max still wasn't sure if they would respect him due to the rumor about the A.I. he found. Wouldn't they see him as a guy who got lucky and found a cheat. "If you do this, you'll have access to more resources, weapons, and even a cut of the rewards from any artifacts found by the other members under your protection," Estelle said trying to get Max to agree anyway she could. Max still wasn't sure though due to him still being in training.

Max... I think you should do it. Max looked towards Allison only to raise an eyebrow at what he saw. Allison now had money symbols for eyes while smiling. More money means better weapons and a synthetic body, Allison said explaining her reasoning, Not to mention, the gang members could help find the ruins we're looking for. Not to mention money for the synthetic body. Plus, we'd have more candidates for the party that enters the ruins. And did I mention funds for the synthetic body?

'Yes, you did. Three time snow,' Max said rather unenthusiastically. He wasn't exactly the best for a leader type, but in the long run, they did have sound arguments. But the last thing he wanted was this. But sighed, "Where's Sibea's place?"

Estelle's eyes shined as it seemed Max was not considering taking the position.

---

Later On

Factory District aka Sibea's old Gang HQ

The Factory District was quite abandoned, with water ways dried up and old building cranes standing about left alone. the building were pretty ratty but some still seemed to be up and in one piece. After all, one building was still in one piece and big enough to have a whole gang in it. Inside it appeared to be an old Vehicle Repair and Building depot. There was a long empty assembly line with robots long powered down and vehicles half unfinished, as Max, Emmy, Anton, Estelle, and Allison came in.

Max looked around, in full armor and fully armed, as he asked, "Was is this place?"

"It's not much, but it works as a base," Estelle said to him, "Sibea found this years ago and used it as a base for group assembles and storing equipment. None of the old machines work here in."

Max looked to Allison and asked, 'Allison. What was this place originally?'

From what I can gather from the database in this building, it used to be a vehicle depot, she answered. They were responsible for making vehicles.

Max arched an eyebrow, as they reached an elevator, as he thought, 'Think we might be able to get a vehicle made out for the future?'

Perhaps. We could use the area to build one if we had the materials for it, Allison said to him, As for if the machines in here can assemble it, I'm not sure. A great deal of maintenance work is needed to make this place usable again for vehicle production.

'Well, then after this, we'll go searching on what we need,' Max thought as they reached the level to where the chamber was. As they walked in, it was an art department-like place with iron I-beam pillars, but near the windows, was a platform, with a gaudy throne chair. They walked to it as even Allison felt cringy, as Max pointed to it, "Um... is that what I think it is? Sibea's?"

Anton nodded, "Yeah, it's his throne?"

Max sweatdropped, "Was he really full of it to have a throne? What happened with a regular desk?"

"He said a throne commands respect and shows one's power," Estelle said.

"Sounds more like he was compensating for something considering how easily Max beat him," Emmy said with a sly grin earning a laugh from Allison.

But Max looked at it as he sweatdropped, "Still though..."

Though at the moment, the train of thoughts were interrupted, as they heard the elevator coming up. Estelle seemed to stiffen up at this, as Max took notice of this. He remembered back at his apartment, Estelle mentioned the leftover gang members, if they saw her walking here, would definitely come here to put an end to whatever she had in mind here. Which now clearly stated on why she needed him to be the leader. She wasn't exactly a combat person, as he and Allison deduced, and sighed, as the gang members had arrived. The elevator opened as they all came in, looking like they had murder on their minds, glaring daggers at one target specifically: Sibea's woman, Estelle.

But as the gang members entered.. Max pulled Estelle to him, in a protective embrace with his left arm around her, and her leaning against him, as he looked to them. "Hey, fellahs. You here to join up?"

"We're here to take over," one of them said while glaring at Estelle, "I guess it makes sense that you would go crawling to however is the strongest. Not even a week later and you went to the guy who killed you guy!" Then he looked at Anton, "It must suck for your brother to know his sister is a cheater who goes from one man to another!"

Max arched an eyebrow, as he taunted, "Says the gang who took everything and left them to die." He then gently let go of the blushing Estelle as he stated, "And anyway, I'm here to co-lead. Estelle and I are both the Leaders of this new gang. Everything Sibea's territory has, is ours. From today onwards, I'll protect them and Estelle can handle finances." He then smirked, "Besides, Estelle's way smarter to come look for me and ask me to lead, while you guys just took everything and ran away." He then crossed his arms, doing his best to look intimidating and confident, when in actuality, he was a bit wary on what would happen, "So... you guys here to join up with us? Or are you here for something else?" He pointed to the back of him and theorized, "If you're here for that, take it. I think I'll trade it up for a nice desk anyway."

Allison floated to him and responded, Yeah, it is really gaudy, and I'll lose all respect if you do sit in it.

The Afro Hispanic from before was seething with rage at this cocky asshole, as he shouted, "YOU EXPECT US... TO FOLLOW A HUNTER?! YOU'RE OUTTA YOUR MIND, PUTA!"

The Big brawler guy then said, "Yeah, why the hell should we be afraid of you? You're probably not all that tough without your gear!"

The others seemed to cheer on the action, while those standing at the throne looked to Max in worry. He took down his baton, GRP, and guns on the floor as he deactivated his Augmented Suit's functions, making it only just a suit.

And walked down there to face them, "Okay then."

Emmy stared in shock at what Max was doing but was stopped by Allison. Estelle said they follow the strong, Allison said to her, Max has to prove he's strong to them.

Max then looked to them, and said, "So... any takers?"

The first to walk up was the Afro Hispanic member with a confident grin on his face. "This will be done in a second," he said as he cracked his knuckles. "Yeah! That punk looks like he'll go down in one punch," another gang member shouted.

Estelle walked over to Emmy and asked, whispering, "Please tell me he can do it."

Emmy looked nervous as she had only seen Max in combat with his gear. Not in unarmed combat. "I want to say yes, but be prepared for the worst," Emmy replied in a nervous tone.

Max just stood there, as the guy did impressive bob and weaving as he seemed to act like he was a professional boxer. But Max just seemed unimpressed as he stood there, seeing the guy just make a show of this.

He my look like he's just for show, but don't underestimate him, Allison said to him, He could be acting like that to make you underestimate him. Go at him with everything you have.

The Hispanic smirked as he taunted, "Come on, Hunter. Fight me!" but Max just stood there as the guy kept on taunting, as he continued to goad him, "Come on, Fight me you weakling."

"Is that how you fight? Taunting? No wonder you ran that day when Sibea was taken down," Max said. "I was right. You guys really are a bunch of big talkers like him. You won't be able to touch me."

The Hispanic's became enraged as he lunged forward, "BIG TALK COMING FROM YOU," he shouted in rage. Just as his fist was about to collide with Max, Max ducked moved forward, and delivered a quick uppercut to the Hispanic's jaw sending up a few feet in the air.

It wasn't enough to knock the guy out but it was enough to make him falter back. He regained his composure as Max stood like nothing happened though, which only taunted the Hispanic even more.

Estelle blinked at this, even Anton as Emmy was smiling as she screamed in glee in her head, 'Eeeee, he's remembering our combat training.'

Even though Emmy and Max only fought together with weapons, she offered Max some pointers for close quarters combat Such as aiming for the jaw. If enough force is delivered to the jaw, it shakes the brain causing the victim to pass out instantly.

The Hispanic managed to regain himself, and then charged at Max, screaming, "YOU'RE GONNA DIE... AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!" But the last second Max rushed up and managed to put the guy in a painful arm hold, hence why he was screaming at the end.

"I can keep this up all day," Max asked him, "Can you?"

The Hispanic didn't answer as he glared at Max while attempting to break free from his grip. Though Max pulled him up, and grappled him in a chokehold, as the Hispanic tried to break free from the kid. However, Max's strength seemed. naturally strong, as he was easily beating the guy. Most of the others looked shocked at this, as this happened. The older gang members were freaking out about this, while Anton was in amazement. When Estelle said this guy took down Sibea and the others, he was skeptic, but now seeing proof, he could understand. Estelle though... was a bit surprised seeing Max not killing anyone. Instead he was trying to get them to submit at this point.

"I don't understand. Why isn't Max just killing him," Estelle asked out loud, "He could easily snap his neck in that position. So why doesn't he?"

"It's because Max honors life," Emmy said getting her and Anton's attention, "He was almost killed by Davis. To him, taking someone's life is the one thing he wants to avoid at all costs. That's why he's trying to get him to surrender rather than just kill him."

Anton grimaced, "Didn't bother him when he killed all those others. Why now?"

"It's because Max didn't have a choice. He was backed into a corner and he wasn't strong enough to win the fight without killing his opponent. And it did bother him. When I found him afterwards, he was on the verge of a mental breakdown," Emmy continued, "That and the girls he was fighting for would've died as well. That's why he works so hard to be strong. So he won't have to resort to killing anyone in battle again."

Max tightened his grip as he snarled, "Alright, just give up, already. this is embarrassing."

"Shows... what you... know..." the Hispanic groaned, starting to blacken out as he grunted, "You gorilla..." and then passed out in the hold.

Max dropped him as he looked to the gang members that all wanted Max beaten, but looked shocked at this. And then Max asked, almost asking if anyone would step up, "So... any other takers?"

Most just stood there in silent shock at what just happened. The boy they saw as weak took down one of their own easily and without getting hit. They were now wondering if Sibea would've been able to win against Max in hand to hand combat at all.

However, the Hispanic was weakishly getting up as he groaned, glaring at Max, "S-Screw you. Because if it wasn't for you... Sibea... he'd be alive... and we wouldn't be in this mess." He staggered to get back up, unaccepting of this as he wheezed out, "Everything is your fault..."

"And yet, Sibea gathered his armored members to kill only me," Max said. "In the end, he didn't think things through and retreat. I would have just left you guys alone but you ended up pushing forward." He then picked up his GRP and activated it as he grabbed his Baton, as it sparked to life, "So what do you plan to do? Gonna make the same mistake as he did? Lead these guys to death? Make the same empty threat he did that got him killed?"

The Hispanic guy snarled, "Shut up. You're stupid to think any of us would follow you."

"I'm not asking anyone to follow me," Max stated as he stood between them, as he stated, "I'm just protecting Estelle. And if you want to get to her... then the dumbest thing you've ever done... was taking her on... knowing the guy who took down your strong boss... is protecting his girl."

Though Max seemed calm... inside he screamed, 'WHAT THE HELL?! DID I SAY ESTELLE'S MY GIRL? THAT MAKES IT SOUND LIKE WE'RE LOVERS!' But then calmed down as he thought, 'Well, it's not that I dislike her, I'm just a bit worried that.. well, she might not like me back. I mean I made her cry and freak out, and I broke her gang up, and...' but calmed himself as he sighed, 'Doesn't matter. Still have a job to do.'

But Hispanic shouted, "Why the hell would you go that far for a skank and her idiot twin brother?!"

Max then sighed, as he answered, "Because the three of us crawled out of the same Pit. And whether we have to eat girl, kill, cough up blood, we're gonna survive anything guys like you throw at us."

Hispanic and the other goons huffed, and then all started to leave the room, almost emptying it. Max seeing that they were all leaving, walked over to the others as he looked exhausted.

"Are the members of Sibea's gang like this," Max asked in an exhausted tone, "Because I do not want to go through that again without a break."

Though he blinked as he saw Estelle looking at him, blushing furiously, while Anton pointed behind him, "Hey uum... I don't think they all left."

Max turned around and Estelle stole her glance to there, seeing a total of 10 teens their age still around.

One of them was a sixteen-year-old brunette boy of slim build, brown eyes, a cute face, and wearing tattered jeans, a white t-shirt and yellow jacked tied around his waist, with bandages around his feet as makeshift shoes. His name was Amerigo.

The next one was a fourteen-year-old brown-haired boy standing next to him of a slim build, wearing blue jeans, a black baggy hoodie, black combat boots held around his ankles with tape, and tape around some tears on his pants. This was Reed, Amerigo's brother.

The third teen was a female, sixteen, pale skin almost dealthy and had a slender figure with a B cup chest, slender legs, a cute face with pale periwinkle colored hair in a bob cut that make her seem boyish but with a bang covering her left eye, her right eye being purple. She wore a tattered white button up shirt, black torn skirt with a black jacket died around her waist, and black sneakers. Her name was Riquelle.

The fourth girl was an Asian petite girl with a flat chest, but strong legs and waist, and hips, with brown shoulder length hair in a bowl cut, brown eyes, pale skin in some degree, and wore thigh high black stocking legs with white sneakers, blue short short jeans, a baggy pink sweatshirt and an ascot around her neck. This was Elfriede.

The Fifth teen was a sixteen-year-old girl with dark tan skin, blood red hair that went down to her lower back, and had a bang that almost covered her right eye, with her eyes being pinkish red. She had a slender figure with a C cup chest, tight waist, slender legs, and pretty scuffed up in corners. She wore a tattered sleeveless red hoodie, worn out blue jeans, red sneakers and had a white shirt underneath. This was Gamila.

The Sixth teen was male, sixteen or seventeen, with messy but straight blonde hair, a similar build to Anton and Max, but his hair was combed to the right. He wore a white but filthy jacket, tattered blue shirt and jeans, and barely holding together grey sneakers. This was Neville.

The Seventh teen was male, Hispanic with olive tan skin, semi-curly brown hair, sixteen, with a slim build, and wore a black tattered T-shirt, jeans, and sneakers. This was Gilberto.

The Eight and Ninth teens were girls, both Caucasian but one thing that set them apart was that they were showing muscle. Well, the latter was. The first one was slender with a D cup chest, athletic figure for a gymnast, blonde hair that reached down her mid-back by a ponytail on top, with a bang dangling in front, and blue eyes. the other girl was a redhead with green eyes, with her hair down to her upper back, muscled in a pretty way, DD breasts, and looked rather pretty. The redhead was wearing a tight black t-shirt with blue jeans, and combat boots, while the blonde wore a tattered pink press and worn out slip on shoes. The blonde's name was Zana and the redhead was named Debbi.

And the last teenager was a strong looking athletic girl with a C cup chest, light waist with a six pack tummy, strong slender legs, and had auburn orange hair that was down to her back, but done in a ponytail, with green eyes. She was dressed in a dirty purple hoodie, black jeans, a yellow jacket tied around her waist, and purple sneakers. the last one was Michelle. And she walked up to speak with him, asking, "Max, was it? You're... a Hunter, right?"

Max arched an eyebrow, and asked, "yeah?"

She nodded, "Okay. I wanna be a Hunter too."

Estelle then asked, "Meaning...?"

Neville stepped up as he stated, "That means we wanna join your gang."

Estelle calmed herself as she took a deep breath and looked calm as she asked, "So that means you accept Max and I as your bosses, right?"

The ten teens nodded, "Yeah... you're our boss," Michelle nodded.

For a moment, Estelle and Max were silent, until Estelle smiled, "Okay, in that case, you're all in."

Max then nodded, "You guys should go home if you can."

The others looked around to one another, as Gilberto meekishly waved, "Um... we don't really have homes. It's the reason why we're here."

Anton then recognized them as he said, "Wait, you guys are the Runts."

Emmy blinked, "The runts?"

"Basically those that Sibea didn't think were worth anything and just used them to do small-time errands and not even bothering to see any strength in them at all." Max figured on that as he said, "So in other words, they're the Unwanted. Not even by those that went to other gangs, eh?"

This hit home for Max having gone through that as well through his life. Now thanks to a stroke of luck, he had people who wanted to close to him, help him, and spend time with. Now he has the opportunity to give those going through life alone a place where they can all belong to.

He looked at Allison who gave a nod of approval. She didn't want him to be alone either. "Alright, I changed my mind," he said, "Welcome aboard."

The ten felt as if they had how finally place to belong as they cheered on this. But then Allison spoke to Max as she whispered That was pretty bold of you to do, Max. Max blinked, 'Huh?'

You said to that guy, Don't you dare hurt or touch my girl, Allison teased. Guess she's your type, eh?

Max then remembered what he said, and then turned to Estelle, as he blushed 'Ohhh crap, I did say that.'

Allison continued to glare at him, I hope you aren't using our contract to create a harem because that's not what the skills I taught you are for.

Max blinked, 'What? What makes you think I have a snowball's chance of girls liking me?!'

Allison stared at him for a moment with piercing eyes. No reason, she said while turning her back to him. What he didn't know was her cheeks were puffed up in jealousy.

---

Later that Night

Max, Emmy and Allison had gone back. Estelle was looking out the window as she pondered aloud, "That was really dangerous." she was certain on that. If Max wasn't around... if things didn't go right, she and Anton would have died. But through it all, it turned out well. "Although I have Max's support and he's the co-leader of this gang, it's not like he's beside me 24/7... I just need to keep doing this to make a safe place. This is a gamble to do that." She slipped down, almost exhausted, as she blushed, but then remembered...

Don't you dare touch my girl!

Estelle blushed, remembering what Max had said at that moment. Sure it was on a whim, and he wasn't sure on what he said. But still.. She smiled as she faded almost to sleep, "It was... sweet... and warm..."

Looking from afar though in the next room, Anton looked at his sister finally falling to sleep. He hten huffed, as he rubbed his hair, "This is crazy. We can't just keep relying on a total stranger who doesn't show up all the time."

He then walked down the stairs, but didn't go unnoticed. Once he was down stairs, he heard footsteps behind him as he stopped to turn around. He saw Neville, Riquelle, Elfrieda, Michelle and Amerigo there. Anton asked, "Shouldn't you guys be sleeping?

Michelle walked down and asked, "Shouldn't you be? You're the boss's brother." She then pushed further and asked, "Seriously, where are you going?"

He sighed as he rubbed his face, "If you must know, I'm going to register as a Hunter. I know Max can't be around all the time; he's a guy who goes in Ruins, fighting monsters, ranking up, getting relics..."

"So you figured you'd register as well then," Michelle theorized.

Anton shrugged, and nodded, "Pretty much." but then looked confused as he asked, "Wait. As well?"

Michelle then said, "We talked about it, and the five of us wanna register as Hunters to earn cash and protect the base."

Anton blinked as he looked at them, "And you all wanna be Hunters?"

Elfriede smirked as she pumped her fists, "After seeing Max do that, Heck yeah!" She punched the air forward, as she smiled, "I'll punch those beasts with bullets and my fists ablazing!"

Neville arched an eyebrow, as he said, "And Most likely you guys need someone to run point or be a Scout. I can watch and play bait if you need that."

Amerigo then crossed his arms as he stated, "And honestly I should keep an eye out for you. You're doing this all by yourself."

Though Riquelle stated, "Though simply put, after watching Max, we can't all help but reach that level of strength. If we keep letting him do that, all we'll be doing is riding his coat tails."

Elfriede looked to Anton and asked, "Why do you wanna be one?"

Anton thought on it, but turned around as he said, "I'm wasting time, I need to register." And then walked off. But the others blinked as he was avoiding the question and followed after him for answers.

---

The Following Day

LA Ruins

Near the border to where the ruins of LA ended, now was the ruins of Long Beach. There, Allison had guided Max to a location with relics there. And they scored big while fending off monsters. Though as they were slowly heading back... Max was currently feeling the burdening weight of this. Literally. He had taken way too many relics. Or rather, Allison had led him and said to get twice as many. At the moment, he was carrying two heavy filled bags on his back, ready to fall over.

"Are you sure I needed to carry all of them at once," Max asked Allison as he could feel his arms were ready to fall off.

Of course, Allison said while walking next to him, Due to the rumors about her, everyone is watching you like a hawk. If you had left the artifacts behind and did a round trip, the second half of them would be gone before you even returned.

"I guess I can understand the logic behind that," Max thought as he recalled how quickly the rumor about finding Allison had spread.

Plus, this is good physical training for you, Allison added.

However, Max groaned, "My back says otherwise. Even with the Augmented Suit, I'm at my limit, and I need a serious upgrade." Max then thought on it, and then asked, "Allison, I've been meaning to ask. Why'd you okay with me leading that gang?"

As I said, we need a powerful party to handle the ruins that I'm looking for, Allison said to him, If you're the leader of this gang, we'll meet more people who are trustworthy and powerful enough to work in the dungeon. This is especially now after the rumor put a target on your back.

"Well, yeah, but I doubt any of those guys would join up," Max said as he managed to get to a hill, as he leaned on it, "They only saw me take one guy, and I doubt anybody would wanna team up with me."

If that were true, than why did Emmy join up with you, Allison asked him making Max look at her in surprise, I'm not saying everyone who joined the gang is qualified, but we're bound to find someone like Emmy again who matches what we're looking for in a teammate.

"Might be a while," Max said, as he wheezed out, "So where are you talking me? It used to be called Fort... MacArthur?"

That's right, Allison said to him, We should find more artifacts there.

"Well, when you say fort, you mean like, Military," Max asked, leaning on the wall, "Think there could be something there I could add to my arsenal?"

It depends what the monsters in there have done or if anyone else has went in and survived it, Allison replied, With luck, we may even find a working vehicle there.

Max sighed, "I hope so. Honestly, if we find any more, I'll end up carrying 4 bags, and this might slow me down." However, Max and Allison were alerted by a high pitch scream followed by male yells and screams.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!"

"THIS SUCKS!"

"DON'T COMPLAIN JUST RUNAWAY!"

Max blinked as he wasn't aware of their voices, but he was clear on the last one, "Was that Anton?"

Despite the weight of the artifacts, Max quickly made his way to the ridge where the sound of screaming came from. There he saw what was going on. There was Anton armed with a gun and with others being chased by what looked like a mutated Battle Hound, but more reptilian.

With him were Neville, Elfriede, Amerigo, Michelle, and Riquelle. Though it seemed Elfriede was a bit hurt with Michelle carrying her on back, while holding her. Though Elfriede had both guns.

Amerigo paled, as he said, "How the heck did we run into a Bi-Beast this fast? We weren't even in one of the ruins!"

Neville just turned around for a few quick shots... of which missed, as he bolted, "How do those hunters manage to survive with just a gun?!"

Even Anton was screaming in his head, but more aloud, "What the heck was I thinking?!" Chasing after them looked like a wrinkled rhino-sized lizard beast. It didn't have any weapons, but it did seem rather fierce... and the fact that it was spitting out streams of some chemical that corroded iron but left land alone was kind of a huge upsight to run.

Anton and the others did their best to run, but all they could think of what had happened. As soon as they got registered, they would have to find weapons, and sadly... they were broke. Luckily they managed to find a few dead Hunters, but all they had were pistols, and limited ammo. NO sooner did they enter near to go to Long Beach Ruins to scavenge something they suddenly got spotted by gang hunters and almost injured, with Elfriede getting shot in her legs and bleeding from them. But as luck would have it, the gunshots alerted a reptile Bi-Beast gong after them, but not before it killed the gang hunters. And it seemed persistent to go after them.

Anton was paling, as he freaked out, "Dangit, that Max makes this seem easy!" He turned around and fired at the beast, making sure that it didn't hit the others. But the bullets bounced off the hide, as he freaked, "Dangit, are we gonna die out here?"

Not far though, they were spotted through binoculars by Max, with Allison floating at his side, "That's definitely Anton. But who are the others with him?"

There members of the gang that joined yesterday, Allison said to him, The ones you were against until I suggested giving them a chance.

"Oh right, them. The ones you asked me to hire so we had more money for your synthetic body," Max said with a grin while Allison looked away with a nervous smile.

Max then looked back, as he noticed the situation, "Hmmm, coming to this place with only single pistols, eh? Kinda reckless. Kinda like how I first started."

If it wasn't for that desperation, we never would've met, Allison said to him while smiling at him.

Max nodded, as he smiled, "yeah, we wouldn't have met otherwise." But then looked at them as he sweatdropped, "Though I don't think any of them will meet you and that might be a problem."

It would be a shame if the new members of the gang were to die right away, Allison said to him.

"Even though you said before that I can't go and help everyone person I saw," Max said to her reminding her of the conversation they had after the Chainsaw Man fight.

I think this is one of those times where we can forget about that little talk, Allison replied with a grin.

Max smiled, as he pulled out his AAH rifle, "Well, at least this way we've got extra help with this stuff..." But then stopped, and thought of something, as he put the Rifle back.

Allison blinked, Max?

"I just had an idea," Max said as he crouched down in a running position, while his GRP activated. He looked in front of him as he saw how far he and the Beast were. And then in a shot, he bolted with super speed thanks to the Augmented suit as his left forearm began to charge up.

"Max," Allison screamed out looking worried.

The others were attempted to climb up with Neville and Amerigo up the highest, while Riquelle was helping Anton shoot at the Beast. The only one that had trouble climbing up was Michelle who still held a still bleeding and weakening Elfriede. Michelle realized the situation was dire as the beast was getting close, as she hoisted up Elfriede to Anton, as he blinked, "Michelle?"

"Get out of here! I can at least buy time," Michelle cried out.

Anton blinked as he hoisted Elfriede to him and paled, "What? You don't mean...!"

"If it's got a full belly, it'll slow down enough for you to get away," Michelle said, as the beast was coming at her.

Anton stared in horror at what Michelle was saying. She was sacrificing herself for them. She was dying to save them. 'If only I was stronger,' Anton thought to himself as the feeling of guilt began to consume his entire being, 'This wouldn't be happening! Someone help her! Anyone!'

Elfriede, weakened, but managed to aim her two pistols, fired at the beast as she screamed out, "DAMN YOU, YOU COCK-SUCKING, SHRIVELED MUCHAFUCKA... STAY AWAY FROM MICHELLE! STAYWAYYY!"

The bullets continued to bounce off of the beast's scaley armored hide, as it inched closer to Michelle, as its mouth began to drool with saliva that dissolved the metal underneath it. Even Michelle's brave front, despite everyone screaming for her, she was starting to become afraid now. 'Dammit, I'm gonna die...' she tearfully choked at this, as she was about to scream, 'dangit...'

But suddenly, as everyone shouted, a black and blue figure ran passed them and downward to the beast. And then, as if time stopped, Michelle saw Max rush up to the beast, as it became aware of it. But not enough to see what Max did. His left forearm charging and brimming with blue energy, a possible overload of holding back too much, shot at the beast. And then suddenly, a large soundwave barrier broke between them, as the beast was sent roaring back like a bullet, smashing through debris and crashing into a building, which then collapsed atop it, either killing or trapping it. As the rubble subsided and the dust settled, Max stood there a bit huffing from a bit of exertion to keep up with the suit, and his left forearm powered down for a cool off, while his calves shot out steam from a good stride. All while everyone blinked to see who it was.

It was Max who was staring at them with a stoic expression. Everyone was shocked by the sight of Max. "No way! Max, our new boss?! Took down that Bi-Beast like it was nothing," Elfriede exclaimed as she stared at him, "But he's just a kid, like us!"

Neville blinked, "What the heck just happened?"

Anton blinked, as he was also a bit shocked as to what happened. But Max ignored that as he looked to Michelle, not knowing what her name was, waved, "Hey, um... I didn't get your name yet, but How are you?"

Michelle was a bit weakened at the knees, as she faltered a bit, but not before Max rushed over to catch her, as she blinked, "Eh what?"

"How are you? You were almost Bi-Beast chow," Max asked.

She managed to weakly reply, "Oh... I'm... I'm fine. A bit shaken but okay," she replied. "And it's Michelle."

Max then helped up Michelle as she smiled, "Cool. Glad what I did worked, but we should get going."

Michelle just nodded nervously in agreement with Max's command.

Anton managed to slide down with a still weekend but relieved Elfriede, as she glomped on Michelle, bawling her eyes out as she wept for her friend, but Anton asked, "Just what the heck did you even do? Was that some kind of gauntlet shot?"

Max thought on it, as he tried to explain it as best he could, "Well, when I found my Augment Suit and GRP gauntlet, I was training to get used to the heft and strength of it. I also found out for a short time, I could boost the speed up to almost be similar to a bullet. So I trained in secret to get used to and regulate that." He then held up his GRP, "This is like a Kinesis module but I haven't gotten enough upgrades on it. But I found if I activated and held back, the blast could be pretty powerful. Takes a bit of time to recharge though."

Riquelle then slid down as she deduced, "So you charged in with superhuman speed and using the speed of your mobility and the power gathering up in that gauntlet, you created a Force Cannon effect."

Max nodded, "Yeah, this girl gets it."

Riquelle then asked, "And that killed it?"

"Doubtful," Max said. "I think it pretty much just threw it far enough. Might come back after us, so we gotta motor to the Ruin I'm going." And then strode to reach up, but then stopped, as he smirked, as he turned around and asked, "Say... who here's good at heavy lifting?"

---

Moments Later

Max was up front carrying a weakened but embarrassed Elfriede, while Michelle and Anton were lifting the heavy gear, as the others guarded the rear.

"So heavy," Michelle said in a strained voice, "And he was carrying this and the other bag by himself?!"

"Why are we carrying all of this," Anton asked out as he continued to carry the equipment that put a strain on his back.

Max turned around as he said, "Think of it as strength Training. And I was only able to carry that stuff with an Augmented Suit. but it was still heavy."

Anton sweated like crazy, as he groaned, "I am never gonna talk shit about you behind your back again."

Max blinked as he asked, "He talked shit about me behind my back? Huh, must have done it before we met, thinking I kidnapped Estelle that day." He looked down and saw the sleeping Elfriede; he had managed to treat the Nano-Meds to her wounds but if they didn't find some kind of healing chamber like in Allison's old base, well.. But at the moment, he sweatdropped as he looked at Allison, floating before him as he walked. She was fuming and puffing at the cheeks, possibly due to the fact he did training when she did her little power down moments. He sighed as he thought, 'Sorry, Ally. I know you're gonna blow up on me for doing off training and what I did, but I'll have you know that I thought of times when I wouldn't have bullets. So I did experimenting with my suit and GRP. So bite my ear all you like, it was not easy with what I did back there. I had to time the whole thing off, be aware of where I was stepping in, everything you taught me I had to do in seconds.'

Well, at least it shows your training is paying off, Allison said while glaring at him, But for now on, you are to inform me of any new techniques you plan to use in battle. As your partner and trainer, I must know all of your moves and techniques for when I strategize while we are fighting the same opponent.

Max sighed as he knew that she wasn't all that happy, 'yeah yeah.'

"Hey, boss..." Anton started.

"Max," Max said. Everyone blinked at that, as he stopped and turned to face them, "Look, I get that you guys want me to lead, but Estelle's the real boss. I'm just a hunter. So... just call me Max, and I'll call you by your names. Which are..." Max then shook his head, "I'm sorry, aside from Anton and Michelle, I don't know yours."

Anton sighed at that, as he pointed out to everyone, "The blonde's Neville, the brown haired guy is Amerigo, he's got a younger brother named Reed." He then pointed to Riquelle, "Miss Periwinkle here is Riquelle."

"Nice to meet you accordingly, Bo..." Riquelle said as she corrected herself, "Max."

Michelle then pointed to Elfriede, "And that's Elfriede."

Max nodded, "Okay. And what's your question, Anton?"

"Where are we going," Anton asked as they continued to trek as Max explained. "Well, my supporter says that not too far, a place called Fort MacArthur isn't too far," Max replied. "Apparently, in the Old World, it used to be a monument of some battle, but it was later converted into a Military Corporation Testing front and Supply Station. It was also a Help Center during whatever ended the Old World." Allison nodded at that info, as Max continued, "She says that the place might have some relics in there, and possibly an untouched armory, as it's a supply station, it might actually have been a Weapon's Depot."

Neville was the only one to arch an eyebrow at Max, and seeing him look to his right at times, like someone was there. And then this supporter... something was going on. Though he had suspicions, he'd have to confirm it when they got there.

---

Ruins of Fort MacArthur

aka Militech Bldg 678

The fortress base/military technology building was surrounded by a wall that was worn and broken. Watch towers were up and bout, with only one down. Along the wall were downed military drone turrets that seemed to still be powered. Although the building seemed trashed, there was no reason why unlike the others were disappointed, didn't seem phased by this. Anton though walked up to Max, who still held Elfriede in his arms, as he calmly fumed in disappointment, "Hey, man. You said that this place would be loaded, but the top building looks long gone."

"Well, they wouldn't have it all on the surface," Max explained, "It's subterranean."

"So what the heck are we waiting for? We should go now," Anton said demandingly.

"I'm waiting for my partner to find a way in with the security down. She says Militech had a lot of nasty toys in their arsenal, including magnetic mines with laser sighting triggers," Max pointed out.

Neville walked up as he asked, "Your partner seems pretty knowledgeable about all this, and she's not anywhere seen." He then asked, "Will we get to see her?"

Even though they had a link, Max knew that Allison was busy trying to find a way in. And he also knew that if more people found out about her, it would put both at risk. But Neville seemed sharp enough to figure something out. He seemed too smart for his good; maybe intuitive at best, as he saw on his card his named was spelled NIvll which meant he couldn't read or write. Max though figured with these guys, he'd have to be truthful.

He looked around as he said, "When we get inside, and if there's a working system, you'll meet her sooner than you think."

Everyone remained silent from hearing this. 'Now we get to find out if it's true or not,' Anton thought to himself, 'If he really does have an A.I. from the Old World with him or not.'

Allison then popped up to Max as she smiled, Good news, I found a safe way in.

Max turned to everyone and smirked, "Okay, let's go."

---

Minutes Later

The group had managed to get inside via an emergency manhole leading in to the base. The door was easily accessible, as they entered inside. Once there, the area looked to be a vehicle bay of sorts, home to some heavy armored truck-like SWAT vehicles and a couple of armored jeeps. Though as they entered, and still holding onto a sleeping Elfriede, Max decided to make it official.

'Allison. Would you mind seeing if you can turn on the lights,' Max asked.

No problem, though...

'And... maybe if there's a projector system here...' Max said as he smiled to her, 'I think... we need to make an introduction to them. If this team is gonna work together, no secrets.'

Normally, I would say it's too soon for that, Allison replied back, However, that rumor isn't going away. So they might as well know. Just don't make a habit out of this. We don't need another attack from those with more power than we have coming after us as well.

Suddenly, the light shined on, as they all freaked out, with Michelle, holding her two pistols up, as she gulped, "Oh crap, did we set off a security system?" Amerigo looked around in worry, as he said, "Oh carp!"

Anton though paled, as he gulped, "Max, what the hell, man? I thought these ruins were abandoned or at the very least, the security was lax?!"

"It's alright, my partner managed to get the lights on," Max said to them, "She managed to access the systems in here."

"She can access the systems here," Michelle asked him, "But aren't they really ancient? I can't believe they actually work."

"Seriously, who is this partner you have," Riquelle asked.

Suddenly, the holo systems activated, as Allison began to form herself in the center of them, as they almost panicked. But then she did a curtsy bow to them, as she smiled warmly, "Pleasure to meet you all now. My designation is LSN-1986. But Max calls me Allison... his Supporter/Partner."

Everyone was stunned by the sight of Allison as the room fell silent.

"So it's true," Michelle said in amazement, "You do have an A.I. with you."

"And she's a girl," Anton said while grinding his teeth, "Even though he's after my sister..."

Max blinked at that, "Wha...?"

While Amerigo and Riquelle were stunned to say the least, Neville circled Allison around, looking at her. It was kind of unnerving and embarrassing for her, as she gulped, "Um... could you not do that, please?"

"Sorry, had to get an idea," Neville replied, as he confirmed his suspicions, "So you're from the Old World, then." He then looked to Max as he asked, "And somehow you can connect with her, right?"

Max nodded, "Pretty much."

But then a moan escaped from Elfriede's mouth, as he realized, "Oh crap, I forgot. Allison, is there a medbay like the one we met in here?"

Allison smiled, "Yes there is."

---

Moments Later

Med Bay

Elfriede was currently in a tank lf liquid, naked and the robot arms were working to fix her as well as to replenish her with blood using what Allison described as Psudo Plasma, an artificial blood used to replicate a patient's blood to avoid any blood-borne diseases infecting the patient. Though at the moment, everyone were treating their own injuries, while Neville sat with Max to answer some questions. "So you're able to connect with the ... I mean, Allison," Neville asked again, but also corrected himself from calling Allison an A.I.

He nodded, "Again, yes."

"And you're not suffering any symptoms? Headaches, loss of visual or auditory functions," Neville asked.

Max blinked at that, while Allison was silently freaking at this, "Not really. Why?"

"Well, now this is just a rumor, but it's kinda dangerous when connecting to A.I.s like that, unless you're descended from Old World Connectors," Neville stated, as Allison looked freaked out. "If you couldn't handle the date downloaded to you, your brain would have overloaded from all the information and data, cooking your brain, and you would have been turned into a vegetable."

Max shot up, as he freaked out, "I COULD HAVE DIED?!"

"Hmm, sounds like whoever found the equipment to connect people with A.I.s didn't know what they were doing," Allison said, "As an A.I. myself, I know how to connect with someone without risk of such things happening."

But then Max shot out, "That still doesn't exclude the fact I could have died!"

But then Allison waved her arms around, comically and anime style, "I'm sorry! I didn't think it would happen this time, and you're still alive!"

Anton then looked at Neville as he said, "You sure do know a whole lot... for a slum kid like the rest of us."

"Well, believe it or not, I was used by Hunters to get into small areas and left for dead. I was lucky enough to find a way out in time," Neville answered. "And I heard rumors coming from them when they talked about hunting down people like that."

Michelle asked, "They were hunting Old World connectors?"

Neville nodded, "Apparently corporations behind the Walled City have a huge bounty on people like that. I heard rumors that they worked those who they did have to death, and those that cooperated are given a life of luxury but little freedom." to which he turned to Max and said, "Which is why I won't turn you in. I know what that's like, so I won't rat you or your partner out. And you did save us back there."

"If that's what it's like in the Walled City, then I'd rather out here with my freedom than in there," Michelle said not liking the sound of that place anymore if that was how people were treated.

"I agree. I'd rather trust the person that saved my life rather than the ones who treat people like that," Riquelle added.

Amerigo stated as he crossed his arms, "I'm only in this to gain a future for my brother. Whatever happens happens, but I'll do my best to watch your backs."

Anton groaned, ""Uggh! Okay, I'll work with you, but I still am not sold by this."

The pod pinged, as it began to drain, as a wet and naked Elfriede was released, as she came to, sitting up as she looked to them all, and saw the purple girl, "Who's the purple hottie chick?

---

Later On

Armory

After picking up speed for Elfriede to know the whole story, they had made their way to the Armory. though she was recovered, Elfriede was still weakened, so Max had to carry the petite Asian girl, much to her embarrassment as she had lost her clothes to the drones. Allison was a bit jealous too, but had managed to get to the Armory. There, they had found a locker station which was almost petrified, but also found stations for Augment Suits, weapon lockers with 3D printers for upgrades, and other stuff. But what caught Max's attention... was a wash room, as he smiled, "Aaaaah, A bathroom."

Elfriede blinked, "Bathroom?"

He looked to Allison, and asked, "Allison, is the plumbing here still on?"

Allison's eyes flashed for a moment as she accessed the systems to check. "Surprisingly, yes it is," she replied, "Despite the decades of no maintenance."

"Awesome," Max said with a smile as he eyed the bathtub.

---

Moments Later

Everyone was in the bathroom, clothes off and enjoying the hot running water on them. But none as happy about this as Max, as he had needed a major cleaning due to what he and Allison had been doing the entire time. He only ever had that one bath, but the shower was something he was feeling relaxed, "Aaaaah, now this is something. I needed this from all the crazy."

Anton was equally happy about this, as he smiled relaxed, "Dang, I was wondering what you were talking about, but dang, Makes me wish we didn't have to leave this place."

Neville, although seemingly calm, was enjoying the shower next to theirs, as he nodded, "Feels nice to say the least."

Though surprising all three boys, Amerigo just melted on his knees, as he smiled, "Aaaaaah." Everyone looked at Amerigo who was enjoying the shower. "It feels like all my problems are being washed away," he said in bliss, "If everyone in the slums could have this, everything in the world would be perfect."

Meanwhile, the girls were enjoying their shower. Though the room was unisex, they didn't care they were showing off the goods to the guys, as a more energetic Elfriede smiled, legs spread and front to the boys smiled, "Oooo yeah! We better have a setup like this in our base!"

Riquelle, a bit more reserved, covered her chest and crossed her legs, stated, "Elfriede, don't be so shameful."

"Oh, Rique, what can I say, if you got it flaunt it," she smirked at her.

Michelle arched an eyebrow, as her back was to the boys, "What do you have? Pubic hair and a surfboard chest?"

Elfriede smirked, "Ah, don't hate it, Michelle. Most guys actually find this bod super sexy." "Each person has their own preference for a partner I suppose," Elfriede said as she enjoyed the shower, "Hey, do you think we could somehow bring this base back or move into it?"

Allison popped up with the girls, as she looked like she was showering with them, "It's an interesting idea, but the automated defenses could prove a problem. Nobody here is registered as a user to this area, and it would take me a while. Luckily, it could be done later on with the proper equipment necessary. That would have to be found near a Link Sys Corporation. Which one of the areas is located North beyond the city." And then Allison looked to them, showing off her sexy body, "Sadly, that can only be done by an Air-based vehicle, as during the Big Quake 300 years ago, it shattered a massive chasm separating the state known as California from the state formerly known as Oregon."

Michelle, not caring about Allison's body or the nudity around them, looked to her and said, "So in other words, we need to find an Air ship, and currently none are here?"

"Yes, as this place is a Land vehicle and Weapons Depot," Allison said. "Though there are a few hover unit ships, they're not of the equivalent of an airship."

"Aw damn," Elfriede said, "Then how are we going to make sure no one tries to steal this base from us?! What if someone comes and takes it behind our backs?!"

Riquelle then spotted that notion, as she and Anton spoke together, "Because we're the only ones with knowledge about the back door."

Max smirked, as he kept his back to the girls, while Elfriede was scoping him out, with a half-smirk, "Exactly. But by then, we'll have what we need and get on out of here." He then turned to Allison, and asked, "Ally. Were you able to see if any of the vehicles were able?"

"Just one, but I was only able to start its engine. The rest of the vehicle is beyond repair," Allison said, "But there are other vehicles with parts that are in far better shape. We could salvage those parts with the working vehicle though."

Max then looked to everyone, not caring about nudity, and stated, "Okay then. We'll finish cleaning up, get you guys your suits, and gear up, as well as scrounge up any relics we've got and get to the vehicle at choice. Once there, anyone with mechanic skills we'll help to rebuild the vehicle and head out. Sound fair?"

"YEAH," the others shouted with motivation in the voices as they continued to enjoy the warm water against their skin.

---

Moments Later

As Max walked out suited up, the others ran out naked to find the Augmented Suit station and began to find usable suits. though among the stuff, Elfriede noticed an odd medical area with different cybernetic implants and limbs, and called out, "Hey, Purple Girl!"

"My name is Allison," Allison answered with closed eyes and a stress mark on her forehead, "What can I do for your, Elfriede?"

The petite nude girl pointed at the place, "What the heck is that?"

"It's a Cyber Ripper Doc post," Allison answered, equally surprised by this.

But Elfriede asked, "Cyber Ripper Doc? What is that?"

"It's basically a Black Market Cybernetic surgeon station," Allison answered. "They're used for cybernetic reconstructive surgery or implant jobs. usually they're needed to help soldiers that get too injured or lose a limb, or want to get enhanced."

Elfriede then asked, "This thing still operational? It got a menu to choose from?

"Let me see," Allison said as she accessed the system, "Yes, it is still operational." With that, a holographic menu appeared before Elfriede and Allison showing the options that were available.

Elfriede smirked as she browsed through, "Thermal armor skin, Multi-vision optics, Sandavistan Nerve Speed enhancer.." Elfriede smirked, "Dang, there's a whole list of... Oooh," She then reached a small selection as it showed a spine implant for strength augmentation as well as a kind of collapsible arm armor strength enhancer, "The Gorilla Sleeves. Upper Body strength to smash through any barrier or opponent, as well as an added leg feature to boost up lifting. Compatible with Augment Suit of choice."

"Sadly, there aren't any pain killers to add, but..." Allison advised.

"Get the table ready, I'm upgrading," Elfriede said as she tapped the holographic OK button, as the table turned into a massage mode to allow her to lay top down and work on her back.

"I must warn you that without pain killers, you will feel every nerve being cut and connected to your new prosthetics," Allison said in protest against Elfrid's hasty decision, "Also, this will be permanent. I feel you should give this a bit more thought."

Elfriede was about to back out, but then laid flat on her chest, as she looked determined, "Just give me something to bite down on. I might not look it, but I'll take the pain."

Allison sighed as she saw this girl had made up her mind, "Well, I would, but I can't interact with this world," Allison said as she reached for the table, only for her hand to go through it, "So, I'll ask someone else," she finished while halting the procedure.

Max was standing by as everyone was rummaging through the suits, finding one that could work. Anton was currently putting one together at the moment, excited for the Augmented suit, when Allison popped up next to the blue haired boy, as he looked to ask, "Allison?"

"I need your help, please," Allison said to him, "Elfriede wishes to be augmented but the pain killer function isn't working and she requests something to bite on. Could you help me give her one."

Max looked at her with wide eyes, "And she's okay with that?!"

"I told her the cons of doing this but her mind is set," Allison said, "All I can do is honor her request at this point. You can try if you'd like but I doubt you'll get through to her either."

Max nodded, "okay."

---

Minutes Later

The surgery had finished, while the small petite body was being washed on her back, of all the unwanted blood. Once done, it released her as her bare backside showed the implants. On her upper back showed a small metal spine implant with a green lens showing a power gauge, with her upper nape next had two small metal markings, while her tail bone on her butt crevice had two petite marks as well. Though noticeable changes were the silver rings around her biceps, as she finally got strength to sit up looking rather pretty due to her build, and no signs of surgical marks. Meaning the surgery was not only successful, but no scarring was made.

Max then looked to her hand asked, not mind her nude form, "By the way, why did you want the surgery? Augment suits could work just as well."

"Because I wanted to get strong like you, for you, Max." Max and Allison arched an eyebrow, as she explained, "This is as much development as I'll get. I'm petite, flat chested, and not even taken seriously. All guys see is a tiny princess that needs saving." But then smiled as she remembered, "But then this Blue haired weirdo shows up, and takes down one of the dumbasses that looked down on me. And I thought... maybe I can get as strong as this guy did. And I can return the favor."

Max was a bit taken back by this girl's resolve as he smirked, "Look at you, Miss tough-as-nails, eh?"

Elfriede smirked, as she looked to Max, "Say, Max..." she had a small blush on her face accompanied with a small smile, as she asked the question, rather hoping on his immediate answer, "…what kinda girls you like?"

Max's face blushed as he looked at her for a moment, glanced at Allison, and then looked away, "I've been so busy that I haven't thought about it."

Elfriede smiled, as she hopped off the table, and walked passed him, "Well, let me know. I'll find out if I fit the list." Max turned around, but then blushed as he realized Elfriede was showing her backside as she rounded the corner, winking at him.

A moment later, Max asked, "Allison... I think I might have a weakness or severe bad luck case around women."

"I'm beginning to realize that as well," Allison said in a stoic tone, "We should resume our work. We have a great deal left to do."

---

Moments Later

Everyone was now suited up with their own Augmented Suit and gear.

Michelle's was a full-body black suit from neck to toe like standard suits were. She had small purple gauntlets on with her black gloved fingers showing, with each one having a lens on top, purple bicep bands and elbow guards, with her upper arms having outer slim outer arms and shoulder guards, with a purple chest plate on top and back, tight but nicely fit with the sides exposed, and a black and purple hoodie attackmen. Her thighs were outer purple with cartridge clip holders, and black holsters on both thighs, pouches on her hips and backside, with purple side protectors. On the back of her calves were purple armor with boosters, black and purple knee pads, and purple and black armor boots that ended up above her ankles with boosters on them, and a purple backpack on.

Neville's was a full-body black suit with yellow armor. Most of his legs were covered in exo-skeletal yellow armor plating, with the inner thighs exposed, and his boots having ninja toes. On the joints were armored robotic muscle augmenters, and the calves had boosters on them too, with the thighs having black pouch holsters, and his belt having cartridge pouches and a holster for an unknown pair of weapons behind him. His arms had little to no armor, while his gloves had yellow armor on them, with yellow elbow guards, and his chest and abs having yellow armor, with neck armor making a collar, and small shoulder yellow armor, while he had a backpack on.

Riquelle had a similar model armor as Michelle's only it was periwinkle like her hair. Her hips and thighs were in periwinkle armor for mobility, while her knees only had black kneepads, and her feet had periwinkle ninja-shoe guards, with the calves having periwinkle colored calve booster armor. On the thighs were black holsters and cartridges. Her entire left arm was armored in slim periwinkle armor with a kind of odd forearm-mounted harpoon device, and her right arm was fully exposed, with a periwinkle hand guard. she had a V neckline armor going from shoulder to pelvis, with her ribs having cartridges there, and a backpack behind her, but fitting her ensemble, she had a dark purple cloak on her with a hood.

Amerigo's full body black suit was dawned with dark brown armor for military grade. His thighs had thick dark brown armor on them, with a utility belt around for tools, while his thighs had black pouches for weapon holsters. His lower legs were armored in dark brown and back armor with weapon pouches on the calves, and boosters behind them, with thick dark brown armor on the toes and heels. His upper torso had an armored vest side of armor connected to the black, with dark brown armor on his shoulders, elbow guards, and forearm guards with various protrusions of sorts, while his gauntlets had dark brown hand guards and the fingers on the gloves were missing the index and middle finger, while he had a dark brown backpack for equipment and storage.

And Elfriede's armor was just as skin-tight as the other, colored back too, but it seemed similar to that Hunter's outfit that Max had saved once. Skintight with little to no armor, except for an Ice bleu attachments. She had Ice bleu bands on her thighs with Ice blue holsters and weapon clip cartridges on her ribcage part with two blue lines underneath the armpits and shoulders. She had Ice blue elbow and knee guards, with small ice blue gauntlets around her wrists, with the sleeves stopping at her biceps to where her shoulders and bands were exposed, ice blue markings on her ankles and butt on her backside, while to top it all off, she wore an oversized black jacket with the collar and cuffs, and trim ice blue as well, with two impressive submachine guns on her hips, and strapped to the jacket's back were two impressive looking shotguns.

Max was a bit proud to see them all suited up, as he smiled at the situation. But then looked confused as he had one question, "Hey, where's Anton?"

"HEY, YOU GUYS! CHECK THIS OUT," Anton's voice screamed out, prompting everyone to run over to him.

As they rounded up, they spotted Anton in his Augment Suit. Like the others, from neck to toe, he was in a black suit, but he had military green armor on him. He had green armor boots going up to his mid thighs, with black knee guards, and black ankle guards, as well as black toes and heels, with boosters on the back of his calves. Strapped to his left thigh was a brown weapon holster with around his belt, a brown utility pouch and cartridge belt. His left arm was in Grey and Green armor, with a green armor shoulder, a green forearm guard thick around the waist and mid section, with a curved grey armor elbow guard. On his right forearm was a green and brown forearm guard with a grey wrist band and grey back hand guard with grey knuckles on it, with his right shoulder and collar armored up with a device hooked up to his brown and green backpack, and had a hoodie collar colored green around his neck section, and a weapon cartridge belt going down from his right shoulder to left hip.

When everyone rounded the corner, they were confused on what he had found as Max asked, "Anton, what the..." But then went wide-eyed as he and the others saw what he saw, "... whoa..."

The others were a bit in awe too as to what they saw.

It was a ten-twelve foot military green heavy robot of sorts. It had two massive arms suspended on a cylinder-shaped dome upper body with no head, a powered back with two massive engines on it that folded into it to make space, and two powerful legs with four-pronged drill digits to maintain balance or anchor it to the ground, and with two boosters on the thighs. The Shoulders looked heavily armored with what could have been rocket launchers, and the forearms were powerful, with three fingered digits on both ends.

Allison blinked as she smiled, "It's an Iron Claw."

Anton and Max blinked as they asked, "A what now?/Iron Claw?"

Allison explained, "It's a heavily armored battle mech suit for Heavy War combat. To ensure it could maneuver properly, it's equipped with four booster engines to enable for fast moving and quick turns and dodges. Its primary onboard weapons are a Flamethrower, Machine Gun, powerful enhanced Strength and Durability, as well as shoulder mounted missile launchers with guided missiles. But its greatest advantage is that it has magnetic field generators, allowing the user to manipulate metal and magnetic forces, being able to pull firearms from the enemy's hands. It possesses three hands on each arm, which are used to wield six rifles simultaneously."

Anton and the others all took that in, as the green-haired boy smiled, "Okay, I like this. I'm taking it."

Michelle looked to him as she stated, "Are you kidding me? We've got a vehicle we're trying to put together, and you wanna bring something that can weigh us down? what if it runs out of fuel?"

"That's actually the beauty of this," Allison explained. "The Iron Claw is powered by a fusion pulse generator. It's power is equal to that of a Lithium cell. Meaning it can last forever, but the weapons need to cool down after prolonged use over 15 minutes without a break." She then said, "It also has a teleportation call service to be called on by its user, meaning that if you want it right then and there, you'd just push the button and it would be instantaneously teleported to you."

"But we're not registered to this building," Michelle said, "Don't we need to be registered users to use this like the defenses in this base?"

Allison then looked through the system, "The Building yes, but not the equipment and weapons. Apparently that is with the chain of command... of which there is none, so taking the suit might actually work."

Max smirked, "Talk about a relic find."

Anton argued, "You ain't trade that. I called dibs!"

Allison looked wary at him as she asked, "You certain about this, Anton? The Iron Claw is a rather unstoppable device, but piloting it is rather difficult. You would need heavy training for this."

"Then I'll take it then," Anton said, as he looked to Allison and Max as he hardened his resolve, "When you're not at base, I can stand guard with the Iron Claw.

"Well, he did find it, and that is the hunter's rule," Max said, "'The hunter that finds it claims ownership once it's in the city.' Hench why hunter teams attack others before they reach the city."

Anton smiles, "Yes." He then looked to ask, "So we got a vehicle to get out of here on?"

---

Back in the Main Hangar

Allison showed them the vehicle that they would get out on together, and carry their cargo. She was proud to say the least, as she introduced it to them. It was a rather large grey military truck, military made, big enough to be a cargo truck. It was massive enough to have its own zip code, and on 6 heavy large wheels. Its back was big enough for equipment and a team, as Allison explained, "Behold, Militech's Behemoth. It's used to transport a platoon or a tank without worrying about the occasional shelling. The entire vehicle is covered with a layer of armor 1.5 inches thick, and the windshield can withstand continuous fire from heavy machine guns." She then struck a pose as a sale's girl in a sexy suit, "If you're still not convinced, its all-wheel-drive system and beefy engine allows the Behemoth to navigate in even the most difficult conditions. Interested now? Well, not so fast - the Behemoth is not available to the public. Only government bodies and licensed corporations have the privilege of purchasing this military-grade wonder." She then smirked as she returned to normal, it even comes with an arsenal of Wyverns."

Michelle asked, "Wyverns?"

"Drones for surveillance and aerial reconnaissance with a computer system in the vehicles' back for surveillance for the team. This will add to the Support I'll give you."

"And it's big enough to carry a tank with it," Amerigo asked.

Allison nodded, " You bet."

"We're going home with a huge haul today," Anton exclaimed, "I can't wait to see Estelle's face when we get back!"

But then paled as he held his head, "Oh crap, I didn't tell Estelle this! She's gonna freak out!

---

Meanwhile

1 Hour Later

Slums Factory District

aka Max and Estelle's Gang HQ

Estelle was super freaking out at the time Emmy came over to check on Max, who didn't report back in.

"Where could he be," Estelle said as she paced back and forth in the room waiting for an answer. She wasn't able to focus on anything else so all she could do was pace and wait.

"The other girls and a few guys went with him, so I'm sure he's alright," Emmy said trying to calm Estelle down, "Maybe they just lost track of time."

"Ugh, if my idiot brother didn't wander off, I'd have an idea by now," Estelle sighed, and then looked to Gamila asking, "And where is Anton?" But then arched an eyebrow as she asked, "Then again... we're missing five others."

Reed ran up as he managed to find Estelle, "Estelle. Boss. I meant to tell you, my brother, yours, and four others went off to get registered as Hunters." The news shocked both Emmy and Estelle, as one of them knew that wasn't exactly a safe career.

"Anton?! A hunter," Estelle exclaimed in horror, "No! That's the last thing I wanted him to become!" Then, Estelle began to head for the door with a glare on her face.

"Where are you going," Gamila asked her.

"To the Hunter's Headquarters to have them revoke Anton's license," Estelle said in an angry tone, "And make sure he can never register again!"

Emmy paled, "You sure you're just not freaking over your twin brother getting eaten?"

"If he comes back alive, he'll wish he had been when I'm done," Estelle said while shooting Emmy a death glare than made the girl get a chill in her spine.

However, they heard a blaring horn that shook the whole place, prompting for them all to rush out to a window to see. There, driving down to the main garage was a 50,000 lbs grey six-wheeled truck with heavy suspension, armored hide, and on top of it something else. It looked like another vehicle docked on top of it, as big as the truck, but equipped to be mounted on it, with having four cylinder-shaped engines; two in front two in the back, colored jet black. As it stopped, the two truck doors opened with Max and Anton stepping out, but with Anton in an Augmented suit and brandishing an AAH rifle.

Emmy, Estelle, and Gamila were left dumbstruck by what they saw appearing outside their headquarters. Here were two off the largest Lost World equipment they had ever seen and they appeared to be owned by their new boss and one of the youngest members of their inner circle. Their jaws had dropped to the floor.

At the moment, the top part opened a swing door mount as Elfriede, Amerigo, Neville, Michelle, and Riquelle all came down via grapnel lines as they were hoisted down, to the ground, as Max waved to them, "Hey, guys."

"We're back." Anton exclaimed.

"And better than ever," Elfriede said while showing off her new enhancements.

Estelle ran out, as she was presumably going to run to Max... only to glomp on her brother as she was freaked out to see him alive.

"Oh thank goodness you're alright," Estelle said in a relieved voice as all her fear disappeared.

"I'm okay sis, really," Anton said as he could feel her crushing him.

"Good," Estelle said as she pulled away from him, "Because now I'm going to kill you! What where you thinking becoming a Hunter?!"

"He was thinking that since I'm not around as often, he could pick up the slack I leave," Max replied. And then he pointed to the others, "They all did."

Estelle glared at him, "When I asked you to become the new leader, it was to keep Anton from becoming a hunter," she spat at him, "Now he has this oversized artifact and that pretty much paints a target on him for every hunter in the city!"

Anton gently patted her on the head, as he half-smirked, "Sis. I can take care of myself, you know. And it's my job to look after you too."

"This is not what I wanted for you," Estelle argued back, "I don't want you out there everyday putting yourself at risk! That's why I joined Sibea in the first place! You're supposed to stay here and keep a low profile to avoid such dangers!"

"Well, who's gonna protect you always when Max isn't around? That's why we're here," Anton argued. "And honestly, Max and I... whether we agree on it or not, are kinda similar in that we don't like to sit at the sidelines."

"But that's not-"

"Estelle, I get it," Max said interrupting her, "You want to keep him safe, but keeping him cooped up isn't the answer. He's just going to go stir crazy by not letting him find his own path or he'll end up resenting you for always shielding him from the world. He has to learn how to stand on his own feet or he won't even know how to protect himself!"

Michelle walked up as she stated, "And believe it or not, a gang or clan, or whatever we'll call ourselves, are gonna work together to build this place up more."

Emmy though looked up ats she said with a whistle, "Dang, though. You guys found a Manticore? I heard stories of hover battle crafts."

"Well, it' can't fly," Amerigo answered, as eh walked up, looking at it, "The engines run perfectly and the weapon systems are all functional. But there seems to be a problem with a programming error. Max's supporter and I might be able to get it running... In about a month."

Anton turned to face it as he finished, "Until then, Max said we could use it for extra seating and front line weaponry."

"With these, exploring out in the ruins will be easy," Gamila said seeing these new pieces of equipment making traveling in the ruins and transporting artifacts much easier.

"But imagine the costs of maintaining these," Estelle exclaimed, "We could end up burning money just to keep these functional!"

Amerigo then answered, "Turns out that's the beauty of these vehicles. they're all powered by Lithium Generators. Apparently, they were meant to last forever so long as the electrical systems still work. So fueling them won't be a problem. It's getting the Behemoth's drone system linked to the Manticore when I get the latter airborne again."

Estelle was impressed by this but she was still furious at what her brother did. "Just because he has this new equipment doesn't mean he's a top rank hunter," Estelle argued back, "He has no experience and no one is certified to use that thing! I mean, does anyone here know how to make it work?!"

Max gave her a thumbs up as he said, "I wouldn't fret on that. I can train them, and I've got one heck of a Supporter to help Amerigo with the maintenance and tech."

Estelle felt herself backed into a corner. Every argument she made to keep her brother from becoming a hunter was being countered. But she still didn't want to risk the safety of the only family she had.

Anton looked to Max, as he noticed the state his siter was in, and head nudged Max to hug her. Taking the hint, Max walked up and hugged her, helping her to calm down. Though as he did it, he said, "Um, this is... well, it's how Emmy calmed me down when I was backed into a corner one time." He looked to her smiling, as she smiled back, as he went on, "I know that you want what's best for your brother and you: A safe place. But I don't think you can do it by yourself. Your bro went out to help to do that, and I'll watch his back too. So..."

For some reason, whether it was Max's words, him holding her, or just seeing Anton look happy. Whatever it was, it made her want to weep in Max's chest. But she kept a strong face for her brother as she pushed herself away. "Alright," Estelle said making everyone smile, "But until he's more experienced, he doesn't go out alone. I want someone with him while out doing Hunter work at all times! Understood?"

Max smirked, "Well, I am taking the whole team with me from now on," Max smirked to reassure her.

Michelle nodded at that, while Elfriede grumbled, "Do you have any idea how heavy that crap he's been carrying? I swear, I was gonna break my back from watching him."

With that, everyone went inside the factory and began to sort out the artifacts and equipment found in the base.

---

1 Week Later

The factory was now up and running inside. The now fully working robotic arms were working on updating the Behemoth while another set was working on the Manticore systems. The Iron Claw had a special station made up as Anton was checking on the systems on the open cockpit as he sat in the chair, checking out all the systems. At the moment, Michelle and Neville were coming back from a good relic run in the city, smirking at the job they pulled off as Elfriede was carrying in a crate or two with two massive four-fingered gauntlets; they were the Gorilla Sleeves: an armor that could be retracted and suck back in with nano-technology.

Upstairs

Gamila and the girls had fine clothing made up as Amerigo and Reed were working on the plumbing, as they heard a whirring sound as Reed shouted, "We got the plumbing working again! Showers and Baths for all!"

---

On the Third Floor

Max was finally backing up a bit as he looked at his new room. He decided to cancel the Inn and move to the Factory, as it would have been a hassle to walk to and back at times and put Estelle to ease. Emmy was a bit distraught, but she made it a nice attempt to come by every now and then.

"It would seem things are going very smoothly," Allison said as she appeared next to him.

"Agreed," Max said before looking at her, "When you first guided me to the Pit and saved me from Davis, did you imagine this is how things would turn out?"

Allison shrugged, but then joked, "The harem of girls after you is something I didn't imagine happening."

Max blinked, "huh?"

"Nothing," Allison said, "But Honestly, I thought it would be a while later before we starting recruiting more people. I imagine it would've just been us for at least two to three years."

Max smirked, as he looked at the new room, "Well, maybe things might be going our way."

---

Meanwhile

Outskirts of LA

The area outside the ruins of LA was a vast badlands of deserts, crossing from there to the next upper portion of California. Anyone traveling that way would need a hefty amount of armor to get through there. Which was what through, as an armored Behemoth truck with a roof mounted machine mini gun tore through.

The occupant on the roof was a nineteen-year-old male, tanned skin, medium muscled with short cut red hair and squinty eyes, pretty handsome to say. He was dressed in a full body black suit from neck to toe, minus sleeves, as his arms had outer metallic exo-skeleton armor with red markings, a red vest armor plating with a collar on it, a black ammo belt, red boots with armor and boosters, a red backpack with heavy weapons, and black-red armor gloves as he fired a barrage behind him.

He grumbled, "Seriously, Kay! Why the hell didn't you get more Hunters on this?! It was supposed to happen at the LA Walled City! Trip to the North and back!"

"C'mon Kurt, you know I couldn't afford it," a big brawler fellow in a black jump suit driving the vehicle answered.

As they drove faster to the city, only a few days away... nobody would know the trouble to come. over the horizon, a rumble from afar, with glowing red eyes, and roars over the horizon of a very dangerous problem overhead.

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Next Chapter: Battle in the Badland Ruins; Protect the Convoy