Chapter 2

[Shigeo Kubo]

' We have to do something,' he thought, stopping the blind creature's punch once more with the armor floating around his hands. ' We aren't getting anywhere here,' he added, barely having enough time to glance around. The weaker apparitions were pouring in from the hole in the wall, but his still unnamed friend was taking care of those, albeit struggling a bit.

He'd have helped, but he had his spirit armored hands a little busy trying not to let the hulking beast punch them into paste. Which meant that the situation was slowly but surely deteriorating. After all, they clearly couldn't just continue holding on forever. He had a lot of spirit to keep his gauntlets up, but it wasn't infinite and he imagined his partner was in a similar situation.

So, they needed to do something, or they'd just run out of energy and that'd be that.

What could they do though? If escaping was a possibility, then they'd have gone for it already. They were inside a building though and surrounded by apparitions. It closed off almost all options and the hulking beast did so with the rest of them. Shigeo just couldn't shake it off, at least not without risking the other guy getting its attention instead of him. Call him arrogant, but he somehow doubted his fellow spirit user could withstand a hit from the thing's fists.

They couldn't shake off the horde of apparitions, but maybe they could shake off the hulking beast? At least, that was what Shigeo was hoping for. Alas, his companion had his hands full, which left only him. The unfortunate part was that he just couldn't find an opening to at least get a hit in. Maybe they were there, but the only ones he could see felt like death traps. Shigeo's spirit armor might be tough, but his body was not, so if he tried to hit the thing with it, he'd leave himself wide open to get killed by the thing's fist.

' What can we do?' he wondered once more, gritting his teeth as he blocked yet another hit. There had to be something they could do, right? Even if it was a gamble. If they did nothing, then they were dead, and he refused to just wait for his death like that. Just taking hits over and over until one eventually got through. There had to be something.

' We need to take this thing out of the equation somehow,' he considered, pursuing his lips. His companion had a much more complex job by keeping the horde down. He probably didn't have much time to think about anything else. Shigeo's job was simpler, since he just had to keep blocking. So, he could think. It was on him to come up with a plan. ' Can't hit it, certainly not kill it. Can't even try and sneak past it, considering it's blind. It'd probably find us through its hearing. So, how do we shake it off? Come on, think!'

Nothing came to mind though. The thing looked too strong to just take a stray hit from his fellow survivor to at least buy them time. They could probably take it down if they could get a two versus one for a little bit, but that wasn't going to happen anytime soon. Its senses were strong too, despite – or maybe because – its lack of eyes. Every movement Shigeo did was followed with scary precision, so its hearing had to be crazy-

His eyes widened.

' That's it!'

With an idea in mind, his mind raced down that path, trying to find a way to make it happen. There had to be something around that they could use for that, right? Maybe his spirit armor? Maybe his companion's knife? How though? His eyes scanned the place for options. The idea sounded promising and if that didn't work… then they might be screwed, because that was the only thing he'd been able to come up with so far and he might not have enough time for some other idea.

' Come on, come on, there has to be something,' he prayed in his mind, his eyes scanning around the place whenever he had a second to spare. It didn't happen often, but there was nothing to do. If he had a lot of time to work with, then things wouldn't be as dire as they were. So, he'd have to make it wor-

' There!'

"The fire alarm!" he shouted, hoping against hope that his partner in survival still had it in him to hear him and pull it off. "Set off the fire alarm!" he clarified, blocking another hit and having to pull back quickly when the creature went for a grab. Then, surprisingly, the apparition seemed to try and turn away from him and move away. Following the direction it was heading towards, he saw the other spirit user. "Nuh uh, buddy," he growled, punching right at the hulking thing's side and stopping it on its tracks. "You are fighting me, remember?"

He'd been locked in a fight with it for too long for him to just let it go like it hadn't let him before. Especially when they seemed to be about to make an opening in the whole mess. Besides, if it was trying to stop them, then maybe it was smart enough to know that it was in trouble now, and that was all the confirmation Shigeo needed to know that they were on the right track.

Or so he hoped, at least.

' Work, please,' he thought to himself, blocking another attack as the thing focused on him once more. He had to do it with only one hand though, which was much harder than using both. After all, with his companion occupied, the horde had more room to get to him.

He really hoped the gambit worked.

"Take this!" Shigeo heard the other survivor shout, before the loud sound of a siren hit rang all over the building.

And, much to his relief, the hulking beast fell on its knees, clutching at its head.

' Take that, bitch,' he thought, smacking one of the lesser apparitions into non-existence.

Now they just needed to get the fuck out of there before something bad happened…

Again.

[}-o-{]

[Hajime Haga]

Hajime removed his hand from the alarm handle to push away at a shark-like midget monster that had far too many sets of eyes. The teeth of the creature tried to sink into his shoulder just before he reached the deformed head and pushed back. His other hand, meanwhile, lashed out with his knife and slit the creature's throat in one go.

He spared a second to stare at the big monster in the middle of the room who continued to clutch the membraned holes where ears were supposed to be. It lashed out blindly, thrashing around as if trying to stop the noise that way. It crashed against columns and the front desk of the hotel they found themselves in, making dust and wood go flying in a thunderous explosion. His fellow monster hunter, for his part, continued to rush away from it once he was sure the creature was "blinded".

Hajime's eyes moved to the front door, hoping for an exit. However, the tiny creatures were pouring from any crevices they could find. It was only the fact that they had to enter in limited numbers that stopped them from swarming Hajime and the other man. The place was slowly filling with them anyway though. To make things worse, the alarm didn't seem to affect them as much as the big white one.

"Let's get out of here. I saw stairs that way," he exclaimed when his companion reached him. He only waited long enough to get a nod before they rushed deeper into the building. Some of the dog-like creatures followed right behind them and bit at their heels.

Climbing the emergency stairs was sort of a blur of slashes and punches against the tide. They did manage to make it to the first floor though, before closing the door. Hajime placed his body against it as the monsters banged it with the force of a horde.

"Here!" the other guy said, pushing a heavy decorative piece of furniture from further down the hall. He made sure that the door was blocked before letting go and hastily rushing to get anything that could help them block it even more. Soon enough their work paid off. A stack of desks, chairs, and sofas – repurposed from the nearby rooms whose doors they broke – blocked the door tightly from their side as the monsters continued bashing against it.

"Well… that should stop them for a while," he said between pants while he leaned down resting his hands on his knees, trying to catch his breath. A bead of sweat trailed the ridge of his nose before falling to the floor. However, whatever relief he might have felt was stopped by the sound of the monsters on the other side hitting and clawing against the block they'd set up.

"Probably," the other man commented, leaning against the wall and trying to regain his breath himself. Then he turned towards Hajime. "Shigeo Kubo, nice to meet you," he said, finally giving a name to the face that had been with him through most of the mess so far with a weary chuckle.

"Hajime Haga," he replied, chuckling himself at the simple introduction. Who knew if they would have another chance tonight? Given that they were both surrounded and trapped there, he wouldn't bet on it. If anything, it was nice to at least know that he wasn't the only one with superpowers even if it was probably right before dying. "Nice to meet you too. I don't suppose your powers include something fancy like flying us out of here, right?"

"I wish," Kubo replied, his shoulders dropping. "Only armor here, I'm afraid."

"Only clones myself. I guess no easy way out for us, huh?" he shared while stretching. His breathing and heart rate started to slow down back to normal levels. He was still quite fatigued, but he was familiar enough with the feeling to know how to push it back to the back of his mind by this point.

He approached one of the windows on the first floor. The streets were clearer now, probably because most of the monsters were inside. He was sure the alarm would attract more though. He could already see some of them approaching from the side-alleys of the tightly packed buildings and slowly but surely surrounding the hotel.

Going back down was certainly not an option. They couldn't push even deeper into the chaos, their hands were full as they were. Not to mention that there was no guarantee that the humanoid monster was a one-off. He had never seen something as strong as that, but then again, he had never seen a horde of monsters either.

So, if the ground level wasn't an option, that only left one way out of this.

"Hey," he asked, calling for his impromptu companion's attention. "You know parkour?" he asked, looking at the roof of the buildings.

"Can't say that I do," Kubo answered, following his gaze. "But I can think of something."

It was at that moment that a rather loud bang resonated throughout the buildings. The light flickered and turned off just a moment later. Along with it, so did the alarms coming from the ground floor. For a second there was only silence before a rage-filled roar reached both of their ears.

"Well, we better get going."

[}-o-{]

The plan was rather simple.

Get to the rooftop.

That way, they could take advantage of the densely packed buildings around them by jumping from the one they were at to the next. Then they would repeat this while backtracking away from the chaos. If they managed, they would get out of there, if not… Well, it wasn't like they had that many options to begin with.

Luckily, the monsters from the ground floor hadn't managed to get to them yet. Most of them have followed them to the emergency exit stairs. If his guess was correct, they were still trying to tear down their barricade. Only a scant few of the monsters were smart enough to go around and take the main stairs or climb another floor to bypass it.

As such, their path forward was mostly unimpeded save for the occasional monster or, as his companion called them, apparitions. That didn't make the trip any more pleasant though.

They crossed hall after hall keeping their senses sharp and ready. This was the reason why, even through the darkness of the night, they could still spot the corpses of the hotel guests littering rooms and the halls alike, serving as a constant reminder of what these creatures could do. It was a gruesome sight, some of them having died quickly, while others had been torn apart or even half-eaten. Their last expressions were etched in some of their faces and it was not a pretty sight.

It seemed that not everyone had managed to get away in time.

Both Kubo and Hajime made sure to kill any monster that they found feeding on the corpses as a priority. Those things shouldn't be allowed to exist. Not with how much pain they could cause.

Floor after floor, they went up, slowly and methodically making sure not to spring any traps like they did with the white giant as they had gotten to call it. Their steps and voices kept as silent as possible now that they knew the creature was guided by sound.

"The stairs are not usable," Kubo said while coming back around the corner of the hallway they were using to take a slight break. Time was pressing especially with the white giant who both knew was following them. They were keenly aware of the occasional rumbling and the crash of destroyed furniture that came from below. Always a few floors behind.

It made their escape far more critical because Hajime wasn't sure they could take that thing on, even together. They barely managed to shake it off them, and that wasn't only because of the alarm. As Kubo had put it, he had pretty much dealt no damage to it and Hajime wasn't entirely sure his knife would cut it either. The hide and muscles of the hulking monster made it seem solid enough that he might tickle it with his blade at best.

Moreover, fighting off monster after monster was incredibly tiring and the stress of the situation was slowly but surely getting to them. Both of them needed a second to breathe, or else they might just drop.

"We saw that collapsed ceiling hole in one of the rooms. We can go through there," Hajime replied, removing the knife from a small chameleon-like monster's head. The little booger had tried to sneak up on him while he rested on the suite's sofa. Rude piece of shit.

"Let's get going, then. I'd rather avoid the emergency stairs if we can help it," Kubo remarked while leading the way forward. That had been their strategy so far, his companion as the vanguard, ready to defend against any ambush, while he killed them with his knife. It was how they had cleaned their way to the sixth floor so far.

His eyes went towards the old knife in his hand. It was a wretched thing, rusted and dulled. No matter what he did, it never seemed to recover its edge even a little or get any better at all. As it was, it looked like it would have a hard time cutting through butter and, even if it did, you would probably get some kind of disease from it.

However, it was the only tool he had that could harm the monsters. He had even tried guns before to no avail, leaving him with only his fists to do the job. That was until he found this knife as a temple relic in one of the villages he had helped. He guessed that he would already be dead if it wasn't for the tool helping him actually harm the monsters.

He was pulled out of his thoughts as the door opened quietly. The room was similar to the one he was taking a breather at. Just that a chunk of the roof had come crashing down on top of the bed, which was fortunately empty given that there were no blood splatters or other signs of someone being under it when it happened. As it was, it was a jump of a few meters. Nothing crazy, but not something you could reach without a ladder, or being some kind of Olympic athlete. Luckily for them, they had powers that helped them cheat.

"You can manage?" Kubo asked, looking up, rolling his shoulders and flexing his legs.

"Heh, I was about to ask you the same thing," Hajime replied, wanting to see what the tall man was up to. They had a general knowledge of what the other could do by then, but that was his first time seeing someone that had a superpower like him. He was still getting used to the notion.

"Okay then," the man nodded. Then he crouched slightly and the wispy armor that had so far created an armor around the man's hands now formed on his feet, pushing him off the ground just by existing. Then Kubo jumped, going much higher than a normal human should be able to. As soon as he got off the ground, the boots disappeared into thin air and the gauntlets came back just in time for him to grab onto the floor above them. With a grunt, the man pulled himself up and that was that.

"How much was that your power and how much how tall you are?" he asked, jesting. Hajime was already tall for a Japanese person, at almost 181cm tall. Kubo towered over him, by a lot. If he had to guess would say that the man was at least 2 meters tall. If it weren't for how lanky he was, Hajime would believe that he was one of those overseas basketball players or something.

"Fifty-fifty?" Kubo replied with a grin.

"Alright, my turn then," he said while walking right under the hole and crouching down. His arms firmly extended while his hands partially interlocked each other, as if he was making a scaffold with them. He counted the time inside his head before he pushed up with both his legs and hands, which extended all the way. Kubo, for his part, just looked with a raised eyebrow from above.

With that done, Hajime walked to one end of the room, before turning and rushing towards the hole once again. Once he gauged he was in the right position he jumped forward. A copy of him materialized crouching down right under the hole. It was only the second that his foot touched the interlocked hands of his clone that the latter pushed upwards, giving him a boost that allowed him to reach the floor above him.

"Cool points go to me," he said with a grin.

"I'll give you that, it was very coordinated," Kubo commented with an appreciative nod and a golf clap. "It'd be more impressive if you didn't look like you'll keel over anytime."

"Bah, everyone's a critic nowadays-" Hajime retorted only to shut up when Kubo raised a finger towards his mouth. With a silent signal, he focused on his hearing, trying to catch what he had missed. Was it the White Giant again? They hadn't been that loud.

It was muffled, almost imperceptible over the sounds of the chaos of the city and the occasional monsters on the floors below them, but it was there.

Both of them nodded to each other silently and walked in the direction of the sobbing ready for anything.

[}-o-{]

[Shigeo Kubo]

There'd been a scream.

Muffled by the distance and the obstacles in between them, but there. That meant that there could be other survivors besides them. If his experience was any indication, likely someone without powers like they had to help them survive.

So, the two of them moved through the hotel's halls trying to reach the place where they were coming from. His armor flickered around his hands, but he didn't let it fully form just yet. He had a feeling that he'd need every bit of energy that he could muster that day, so it was better not to have his spirit armor up unless he needed it.

Stopping in front of a door, he nodded towards it with a questioning expression. ' This the place?' he silently asked his companion, unsure. Receiving a nod from the other man, he sighed, going to open the door. As he did, the thing creaked, because of course it did. It was a low sound, all things considered, but to Shigeo? It might as well have been the second coming of the fire alarm.

Immediately afterward, however, as he went to take a step inside, another sound reached his ears. It came from inside, somewhat low and almost unnoticeable, but he heard it all the same. Someone whimpered from somewhere inside, which he guessed was confirmation that they were in the right place. The room appeared empty, but Shigeo's eyes darted straight to the bed.

"Hey, we aren't monsters," he said, keeping his voice soft and calm. "We can help. Are you injured?" he asked and the only response he got was more whimpering.

"There are monsters everywhere," he heard a voice squeak, a pitiful, almost inaudible whine. "They are here."

"They are outside," Shigeo said, taking a few more steps and hearing Haga following right behind him. "They are down the stairs. We have a plan to get out of here. Come on," he urged them, aware that the hulking creature would come after them soon enough. They needed to get out of there and soon.

"No, nonono," the whining voice said, panic clear in her – he was fairly sure it was a her – voice. "No, can't come out. Not outside," she muttered, sounding half mad.

"We can protect you and there aren't monsters here," Shigeo reassured, getting more and more anxious by the second. The sound of the voice was doing nothing for his already fraying nerves, quite honestly. "We have to leave now though."

"Monsters are here, can't leave," the woman wailed, even though her voice came out barely above a whisper, and Shigeo froze.

' Monsters are here?'

Then he heard it, soft, barely noticeable over the distant sounds of the apparitions breaking through their blockages. It was there though and he felt a chill run down his spine. Slowly, he turned up, towards where the light clicking sound came from.

"Watch out!" he called, although it was unnecessary. Haga had already followed his gaze, after all. However, that didn't help the other man avoid the swift action of the apparition that hung on the ceiling. With a sharp pull, his companion's foot was pulled from under him, to the side.

A swift roll to the side was the only thing that saved Haga from being crushed by the man-sized apparition who pounced on him. A grunt escaped his companion as he was kicked to the side by one of the many spear-like legs that trashed chaotically.

Shigeo, for his part, found the thing jumping straight at him while raising his guard, wispy spirit energy forming his gauntlets again. Sharp fangs clicked against the hard surface of his armor, as if trying to dig into his hands and arms anyway, while many pointy limbs stabbed at him and held him down. ' Why?' he asked himself, grimacing in the face of the apparition that was attacking him. ' Why did it have to be a fucking spider of all things?'

Because that's exactly what was attacking him. It stared at him with its eight eyes. Its many limbs stopped him from doing much of anything other than guarding himself. Its fangs dripped with venom too, which made a sickening hissing sound whenever it dropped on his armor and he felt it burn away at his energy.

Which was bad.

Really bad.

"Haga!" Shigeo called, because there was literally nothing he could do other than hold on. He needed a hand, or he was screwed. There were no other spiders though, right? He didn't see any, from what little of his vision wasn't blocked by the gigantic one on him. Surely the other man hadn't been taken out with whatever the apparition had done, right?

"On it!" he heard, much to his relief and sure enough, he saw the monster shift, parrying the dagger with the hard tip of one of its legs. That might not have done much, but it disturbed the apparition enough for Shigeo to be able to push back with his gauntlets.

"Get off of me," he growled, putting enough distance between himself and the arachnid. Now with some space, he pulled back one of his hands while holding the creature at arm's length with the other. Then he sent a straightforward punch right at the center of the eight-legged apparition. "Fucking hell," he muttered once the thing was off of him and crawling on the wall. "Not arachnophobic, are you?" he asked, standing up and cracking his neck.

"Not enough for me to not want payback against this bastard!" Haga said, but Shigeo saw, concerningly, how the man's arm was hanging limply, with blood trickling down. Evidently, whatever the spider had done had been very effective.

"Good to hear," he mumbled, grimacing. It seemed that he'd have to try and carry things himself for a bit. If Haga took more damage, then he'd be out. Shigeo needed him and his knife to do damage while he blocked, after all, especially if they had to face the blind beast from before.

' Today is just getting better and better,' he thought wryly.

[} Chapter End {]

Adrian: Only me here today, since Arc is busy being a productive member of society.

Now, it seems like our guys' luck is just getting better and better, huh? At least things can't get much worse, right? All in all, they are probably doing fairly well for untrained people in this very… particular situation. Or so I believe, at least.

Arc would probably have a better idea, since he's the one that actually knows JJK.

Anyway, hope you guys enjoyed the chapter!

Random Adrian Question: We used dice to decide if something happened and how good (or bad) it was in the next chapter. What do you think the result was? Based on your guess, what do you think happened?

Discord Link: discord .gg/UTDransjJZ