Whew, man starting a club as part of my Senior Project sure is tiresome. Just when I thought I might be able to get more members, the first two meetings didn't exactly yield favorable results so that was a disappointment. Can only imagine how long it'll be before my club actually lifts off. In the end though, things should be turning out relatively well and so I'm not complaining. At least until the next part of the fieldwork comes along.
I would also like to apologize for the long wait. School really came down kinda hard on me with the Senior Project stuff.
Here is the next chapter. Hope you enjoy.
Chapter 10
The Assault charged straight at Dante, its intention to take revenge completely obvious. Dante chuckled as he readied Rebellion. "Bring it!" He shouted almost happily. He executed his Drive move, the intense wave shooting out at an incredible speed. However, despite its size, the Assault is quite agile and leapt to the left to avoid the attack.
The demon then fired what looked like spikes at Dante, but he merely whipped out Ivory and shot the projectiles out of the air with complete ease. The Assault moved in, having used the split second in which Dante dealed with its attack, to get in close and try to smash Dante's head in with its shield.
Dante smirked and he took a step back to avoid it and then promptly kicked the Assault away, his boot making a heavy thud as it rammed into the demon's stomach. It roared in pain from the hit, but it made a quick recovery, flipping over in the air before it could crash. Before the Assault could once again charge at Dante though, the devil hunter unloaded a dozen rounds from his guns into its chest, forcing it back.
"If you want to see your buddy again, don't worry. You'll be with him in hell pretty soon," Dante said. True to his word, Dante did the demon in with his Stinger, Rebellion piercing the Assault's heart before it could even react. It cried out only for Dante to pull out the blade and bring it straight down, slicing the creature in two. Dante snickered as he watched the two halves fall to the ground, a sickeningly squishy sound being made when the pieces landed.
He sheathed Rebellion and let out a sigh. He's so used to taking on Assaults from when he was in Fortuna that nowadays he could easily take them down even when screwing around. "Sometimes, it sucks to be so damn strong; it takes the fun out of fights like this," he thought.
Kohta fired away at the approaching Scarecrows with the rifle, carefully aiming at their limbs as when they're shot there, it seems to knock them back a bit. He couldn't shot them all though and while the shots were doing damage to them, he was taking too long for each shot and he knew it. He was trying to conserve ammo by slowly chipping away at the limbs, but now he was reconsidering it as the Scarecrows with blades on their feet proved to be hard for even him to shoot as they jumped closer with surprising quickness.
One was far too close for his comfort and when he was about to take aim, Kohta watched in amazement as bullets suddenly peppered the Scarecrow's body, not a single shot missing. It staggered back several steps and the next thing it knew, a missile flew right at its face. Kohta had to shield his eyes as the missile struck the intended target, the resulting explosion rocking the area slightly.
Lady walked up next to Kohta with her machine gun in one hand and Kalina Ann slung over the shoulder of her other arm. She raised her machine gun up to the crowd of Scarecrows and opened fire. The volley of bullets she unleashed took out at least half of them, surprising Kohta as his rifle didn't seem to do much to them while Lady's weapon of choice was fairing far better. "Are you using custom rounds?" he had to ask.
Lady took out the empty clip and put in a new one. "Something like that," she replied.
She would've said more if the Mega Scarecrow didn't take that time to attack. It rolled straight at the two of them with startling speed, but Lady sidestepped it, pushing Kohta out of the way in the process. The Mega Scarecrow kept moving though, now aiming for the buggy. Shizuka and Alice froze at the sight of the massive demon, Saeko and Rei, who were remaining by the buggy in case any demons got past the others, gaped at it, not knowing of any way that they could slow it down or change its direction, let alone stop it.
Takashi, having just broke out of his slight stupor at how easily Dante took down the other Assault, reacted just in time to save them. Without thinking, he lunged right at the Mega Scarecrow, crashing hard into its side with everything he's got. The massive demon hadn't noticed the attack coming and as a result, was forced into changing direction. The Mega Scarecrow moved to the left and just missed the car, but slammed into and through a brick wall.
The sudden crash caused the Mega Scarecrow to flip into the air a bit, knocking Takashi off in the process. He fell to the ground headfirst. A cracking sound could be heard if one listened closely. However, Takashi got back up, letting out a groan as, just like in the end of his fight with Dante, he proved to be harder to kill than it seemed.
He felt his own skull seem to heal itself, hearing the cracked bones fall back into place. Takashi wobbled for a minute as he was still feeling the crash. Unfortunately, the Mega Scarecrow was perfectly fine. It got up and took a few lumbering steps towards Takashi and it was at this point he froze. He didn't know what to do in a situation like this. All of his more recent opponents may not have been normal, but at least Dante and the Scarecrows were human sized and not the size of a small house.
The Mega Scarecrow swiped at him with its huge arm, but Takashi was able to jump back, narrowly avoiding it. He cursed as he also took note of the demon's farther reach. As if its size alone wasn't bad enough.
"How the hell am I supposed to beat this thing?' Takashi muttered. He'd be lucky if it didn't just sit on him and kill him that way.
The Mega Scarecrow suddenly leapt high into the air, something that Takashi wouldn't have expected from something so large. It spun around, its blades sticking out ready to slice. Takashi rolled as far away from the demon's landing point to avoid actually being crushed to death. His opponent landed hard, causing a slight tremor that made Takashi lose some of his balance as he got up and the Mega Scarecrow reared back one of its arms and before Takashi knew it, it was merely inches away from his face.
He froze, knowing that there is no way he could get out of the way in time. He tried to bring up his arms, hoping that the blade wouldn't just cut them right off to get to his head. Takashi prepared for the hit, only to find the Mega Scarecrow's attack stopped by a sword. Dante's sword.
Dante stood right beside, casually holding Rebellion with one hand. He snickered at the demon. "Leave big, fat, and ugly to me kid. You still got a ways to go before you can rock with this guy," he said. He looked at Takashi to see his reaction.
The kid looked a little shocked and rightly so. Him and the others were still trying to get used to demons being around and the danger that they posed even in small groups. Dante honestly couldn't blame them for not believing that demons exist; it's not like demons go walking around in broad daylight all the time.
And he had wanted to see how Takashi would hold up against stronger demons, thus why he didn't finish off the first Assault from the get go. The brief tussle was all it took to tell him that the kid had quite a bit to learn if he wanted to protect the others. For now though, Dante decided that was something he would have to talk to Takashi about afterwards.
With a grunt, he forced the Mega Scarecrow back from Takashi. It roared and curled up into a ball and started spinning at high speed. It launched itself at Dante in an attempt to grind him into the ground, but Dante had other plans. He held Rebellion like a baseball bat and just as the Mega Scarecrow was about to hit him, Dante struck him with Rebellion.
Much to the shock of everyone except Lady, the massive demon went flying back, flailing its arms helplessly through the air. As it hit the ground, it could only look up as Dante appeared above it and pulled out his shotgun, Coyote-A. He took aim as he charged up the bullet and before the demon knew it, it was blasted right in the face with a charged shot.
The Mega Scarecrow screamed from the shot as it blew off a chunk of its face and the same black liquid found inside its smaller brethren seeped out. Dante wasn't finished though and struck the demon with his Helm Breaker. Everyone watched as Dante split the behemoth right in two, the black liquid now spurting out of the now dead demon like water out of a broken water fountain. One of the blades shot into the air and came straight back down, but Dante simply knocked it to the side with Rebellion.
"That could've been me," Takashi thought as he remembered Dante trying to do that on him. He was suddenly thankful that he had stopped the attack when they fought otherwise he probably wouldn't be here.
Lady had just disposed of the remaining Scarecrows, now making her way to the buggy along with Kohta, who had his head bowed. When the outbreak occurred, he had felt great despite all the chaos, having found something that he was better at than anyone else. His gun skills made him a big help to the group, but now with Dante and Lady around, he - and everyone else, he had noticed - had quickly become obsolete as the new duo showed off their skills and it was only their first real confrontation with them at their side.
He didn't voice his feelings though and so his gloomy look went unnoticed by the others. Dante had walked back to the group, sheathing Rebellion on his back. "Alright, that takes care of that," he said, ignoring the looks of amazement from them. "So what's the plan?"
"Plan?" Takashi repeated.
Dante rolled his eyes. "Yeah, you know, where the hell are we going to go from here? Because we sure can't go back to that mansion."
At that, Saya flinched. As Rei and Saeko got back in the buggy, Rei noticed her uneasiness. "Don't let your guard down," Kohta said sternly as he had just sat next to Saya.
Rei whirled around on Kohta and glared at him. "Hirano, you..."
"No, it's fine." Saya was looking away when she said that. "Really, it's fine. Hirano... Kohta is right."
Dante and Takashi had overheard the words and didn't say anything. Neither did Lady, she just looked down. She could relate to Saya's situation away a bit. Her mother being killed by her deranged, power hungry father was just as bad as having Saya leave her parents to fight off those zombies. Both situations had unnatural circumstances: Lady's mother was killed so that Arkham could gain some demonic power, and Saya's parents were fighting off creatures that up until recently only existed in science fiction.
Once everyone was aboard the buggy, Takashi took over the driving, forcing Shizuka into the back seat with everyone else. Given how many of them there were, they were all rather crammed together. Dante opted to just stand on the hood of the car, not wanting to be squished in the back with the others.
"So where to now?" Shizuka asked, oblivious to her breast nearly crushing Alice underneath.
"Sorry, but Rei and I have to find our parents. We need to check our houses, the police station, and Shintoko elementary school #3. At this rate, it shouldn't even take 2 hours," Takashi explained. "After that, we'll look for your friend, sensei."
"Hey, kid! There's the highway!" Dante yelled.
Making a sharp turn, Takashi rounded the corner, but quickly pulled to a stop. Rei and Saya broke out into a cold sweat. Shizuka and Alice looked like things were hopeless. The others simply took in the sight with a stern gaze. The highway that led into deep into the residential areas was littered with Them. Smoke could also be seen now rising from several houses.
"They're everywhere..." Alice said.
"Shit, why is it like this?" Takashi gripped the steering wheel tightly.
"It's obvious!" Saya said, getting back some of her haughtiness from earlier.
Dante raised an eyebrow. "Oh yeah? Care to explain kid?"
Saya smirked. "Your knowledge really must be limited to nothing but shooting and slashing," she said. She felt a little good at throwing a small jab at Dante. Him calling her a kid was really irking her. "They react to sound! And the e.m.p. blast blotted out any sounds coming from within the city! Plus, my parents were using dynamite."
"Yeah, kid, I already knew about the sound thing," Dante said.
Saya nearly fell back in complete surprise. "You did?" She wasn't really expecting him to figure it out. Hell, she doubted anyone else would've found that particular detail out since they wouldn't have bothered to observe Them.
"Oh ye of little faith." Dante chuckled at Saya's expression. "I've fought demons that relied on sound to go around and attack." He thought back to Fortuna, where he first encountered a Blitz. It was the only kind of demon around that could actually give him any kind of real challenge. The fucking thing sure knew how to move with that damn lightning speed. Good thing it only attacked based on sound since it led the demon to attack some of its own kind on occasion. "I know I don't look like the next Einstein or anything, but do I really look that dumb to you, kid?"
"Yes," Saya said with a straight face. This made Lady laugh a bit at Dante's expression.
"Anyway, the buggy's engine is making plenty of noise and echoing all around too. We probably have the only working engine on the whole highway!" she explained.
"So now the problem is how are we going to get through here," Saeko calmly stated.
Rei's eyes suddenly lit up. "The buggy can go in the water right? How about we go into the river? I don't think they will go in the water!"
"That's what Matsudo-san said, but with this many people, I'm not sure we'd be able to stay afloat," Takashi said.
"Then should we go through Them again?" Shizuka was really getting worried by the number of Them around.
"There's too many of Them to try that," Takashi answered.
"Why not just have these two go out and clear a path?" Kohta gestured to Lady and Dante, a hint of bitterness in his voice. "After all, it's not as if they'll die or something. They stand a way better chance than all of us."
Dante and Lady looked at Kohta. They realized that he didn't seem to like them very much, but it still pissed them off a bit to have to deal with some guy that was feeling jealous or inferior because of their skill.
"Hey I have an idea..." Lady said.
Before long, Takashi was driving the buggy as fast as he can. The only other person with him was Saeko while the others were left behind a turned over car to hide until they drew the attention of most of Them. Dante or even Lady at least should have been with them, but it was decided that they remain behind as well with the others.
Takashi rammed into some of the walking undead, getting the attention of those nearby and began to drive away. Rei and the rest of the group watched from their cover. "I don't like this. They're acting as bait."
"It's not like there's another choice," Lady said.
"I know, but that doesn't mean I have to like this," Rei replied.
"That's why that girl went with him. To cover his back in case they have to fight those things. And besides, that Takashi kid is strong. Anyone that could fight against Dante like he did for someone so inexperienced is strong in my book," Lady told Rei.
"I don't know this area very well, so how about we go to the meeting place?" Kohta said, snapping the two out of their thoughts. They began to move, with Rei reluctantly following along. Stronger or not, she hoped Takashi won't do anything stupid.
Takashi stifled a sneeze. He could've sworn someone was thinking something of him. Pulling the buggy to a stop, he turned to survey his efforts. Moving closer to them was a huge group of Them, easily enough to probably fill up a few houses. "Maybe I got too many," he commented.
"You always go overboard, Komuro-kun," Saeko said. Takashi chuckled sheepishly. "Should we go now?"
Takashi revved up the buggy. "Here we go!" He drove the buggy right over the side of the road, going down the slope to the river. The zombies followed suit, but started tumbling as soon as they stepped onto the slope. "So they can use stairs, but not slopes?"
"So it seems..." Saeko wasn't complaining about what the zombies can or can't do.
The ones that fell down slowly got back up, some of them staggering as their legs were badly damaged from the fall. The same could be said for their arms, which were bent at odd angles, bits of flesh falling off.
"They're still moving," Takashi said.
"It'd be too easy if they weren't," Saeko replied.
Takashi drove the buggy right into the river. He drove it into the river so fast that it caused a huge splash to almost completely envelope the buggy. Saeko nearly cried out as the water splashed onto her.
"Saeko-san, are you alrig-," Takashi asked as he whirled around in his seat only to freeze. Saeko sat there in the back, her clothes completely drenched. Since she was wearing her school uniform and the shirt was white, it was now see through and Takashi was given a rather nice view of her breasts, covered up by a black bra. Her breasts jiggled slightly from the force of the splash too. It didn't help that Takashi's eyesight was better than normal since his change.
Saeko was too busy trying to wipe the water off her face to pay attention to Takashi's reaction, but soon looked to see him staring. She quickly covered herself. "I'm a girl you know," she said with a blush.
"Y-yeah, sorry," Takashi replied back with a blush of his own. He drove down the river, letting the current help along the way. He and Saeko looked back to see Them still on land. They shared a brief smile. They rode in silence before Takashi sighed.
"It's not laudable for boys to sigh," Saeko whispered into his ear.
Takashi nearly jumped in surprise. "Oh, right. But, uh, Saeko-san, you keep getting closer..."
"You should try to keep your voice down, don't you think?" she said, ignoring his comment.
Takashi straightened up and drove onto a sandbar that they were approaching. As he pulled up onto it, Saeko nodded her head in seeming approval. "I see. So you planned to come to this sandbar from the beginning."
"I remember when I was a kid, people would always tell me that I shouldn't play here. The water's deeper than it looks and the current is strong," Takashi explained. He got down from the buggy and hefted a shotgun that Lady had given him before they carried out their plan. He shook his head. How does that woman manage to carry so many guns?
Saeko sat on the hood of the buggy. "Well then, everything seems to be going according to plan. We can rest for a bit."
"Yeah, let's take turns as lookout. You rest for now, Saeko-san." The second he said that, he heard Saeko sneeze.
"E-excuse me... I'm feeling pretty cold. I didn't have time to get any of my things so I don't have anything to change into." Saeko folded her arms under her breasts, unintentionally pushing them up.
Takashi quickly went over to a bag he had on the buggy, trying to fight the blush. "Here, you can wear this for now," he said, handing her a tank top and then turned around to give her some privacy.
About half a minute later, Saeko spoke. "You can turn around now."
Takashi complied and turned in time to see her tying up part of her hair into a bun. Once again, he couldn't help but take note of her breasts and how they slightly pushed against the front. He also noted that she wasn't wearing a bra anymore. "Do I look funny?" Saeko asked, noting his stare.
He backed away a bit and closed his eyes. His face turned a little red. "No! Not at all. I mean..."
Saeko giggled. "Do you always look at me as a girl, Komuro-kun?"
"Uh, I didn't mean-," he began.
"It's fine. I am a girl after all, right?"
Takashi looked away again, but after pondering something, he turned to face her again. "Uh, Saeko-san, was there ever anyone that you liked?"
"What brought that on?" she asked.
"Nothing really," Takashi said quickly, "it's just that being you, I figured..."
Saeko was silent for a while. "There was indeed a man that I liked."
She said nothing more and Takashi wasn't one to pry. They silently agreed to leave it at that. They just stared out towards the river, deciding that it was time to call it a day. They still had to prepare for tomorrow.
And done! Apologies for the somewhat cheesy ending, but I hope that you enjoyed it. Hopefully though, I should be able to get out the next chapter faster, but no guarantees. And thank you too for not complaining about the wait. I've seen that on some other fics and it was something that I hope wouldn't happen to me.
The next few chapters will be picking up the pace of the action so expect a lot of carnage to ensue then. And you may be in for a few surprises too...
Anyway, thanks for reading and please leave a review!