:Alive: First Warning [IC/Not Accepting] [Pg-16]

[Admiral_Stalfos19]

It had been a week since the party had defeated Baal. After that, Destiny was supposed to have taken the forgettable andro, who she found out was named Mia, with her fetch the SUV and bring it back with her. But instead, Des wound up trying to help Mia awaken the Fayth within, and she'd been doing that for days. She could never recall how much progress she made... and that was assuming she'd made any at all, which she had doubted. Des did remember that she killed a lot of Majins in the numerous attempts though, some of them even before Mia even had the chance to try and awaken this Fayth, never mind all the hesitations if any. She even tried deliberately seeking out Towering Executioners despite Yuel's umpteen pleads not to, but there were none to be found as far as she knew.

 

...

 

Eventually, Des and Mia returned to the others, SUV and all. Des still had her concerns with how Mia would hold up, but that wasn't really the matter at hand. The matter that was at hand was that the others were considering moving to another base. Yuel had mentioned that the Chrysler building would be ideal as the Majin rarely frequented there, but Des wasn't so sure that that was what she wanted. She was more of a fighter after all.

 

"Well... I guess we can go with Plan B, but..." Des breathed a heavy sigh before continuing, "...maybe we have a few of us purposefully hang back, just to keep these things at bay while everyone else makes a break for it. Either that or we all opt to just kill the ones that get in our way; whatever works."

 

However, Des was still unsure about the whole thing... even her own decision. One could tell by the gloom in her voice.

[a bad post]

In the days since Baal's defeat the others had several times attempted to help Mia awaken his Fayth. All attempts had failed, and the young man was still without a Fayth... or to them young woman. That was at least one thing Mia had to be happy about. They still hadn't discovered he was male, and he certainly wouldn't be dropping hints anytime soon either. 

 

On this particular day Mia found himself milling about the building where they had been hiding for the past few days. During those days the others had tried many times, at least most of them had, to try and interact with him all of these attempts having failed miserably. He had chosen to remain distant, and other than the few obligatory 'Hello's or 'Goodnight's had had very little interact with the others in the group. It seemed today, though, that their peace had finally been disturbed.

 

Mia walked into the room behind the others electing to lean against the hole in the wall that he assumed used to be the door when the building had been in better repair. Listening to Christina's plan Mia choose to remain quietly in his little door way, though once it appeared everyone had given their opinions Mia spoke up.

 

"I believe.... that perhaps," Mia hesitated unsure of whether to continue, "...I think we should stay and fight. I mean no matter where we go those things will always eventually find us, so why not... why not stay and fight. Plus we'll be losing all of our supplies anyway, and who knows how much more salvageable food and water we can find. Then again I haven't even awakened my Fayth so I can't even help in a fight. It's up to you all I suppose." 

[Dad]

Christina

 

Riku spoke next.  He too was prepared to abandon this place immediately.  It was a fantastic idea.  It would keep them out of harm for the most part, and if nothing else, the survivors could return here at a later date to retrieve whatever they would leave behind.  Next, Destiny got her piece out.  She too was interested in a leave option, albeit with a few stipulations.  She wanted to have someone else, or a few of someone else's, remain behind.  This was good on paper, but Christina was hesitant to leave anyone behind,  She was finally prepared to voice her own opinion when Mia stepped in the room.  She had been shy, quiet, resistant, stubborn.  But she spoke up this time.  It was a pleasant change of pace.  When she stepped forward, Mia hesitated initially, but she got it all out.  And Christina actually agreed.  Being the natural aggressive person she was, Christina wanted to fight.  But of course, it was majority rule.  Instead of sharing, Christina kept to herself, not willing to count her own vote.  With that in mind, all votes had now been accounted for, and it was time to get a plan underway.  Christina nodded, and stepped forward.

 

"Okay.  Since I don't count my own vote, we're currently at a landslide vote for leaving this place behind," she said taking a knee.  "Disregarding myself, it's a whopping five to one.  But before we just up and run off, let's look at something," she said now directing her eyes to Riku.  "Yuel mentioned the Chrysler building, right?  Granted, it's a bit out of the way, but she's right in that it's very ideal.  It's tall, with probably a lot more floors than this place.  What little I know about it, I think it's safe to say we can board it up tight, and fortify the place.  That will give us a more safe place to sleep, and with its placing in the city, we can monitor the Majin without giving ourselves away."  She looked to Destiny now, bringing up the left behind memo.

 

"I think that could work.  I'm very, very hesitant about it, but it is an idea.  The thing is, we could always retrieve our supplies later.  But with that in mind, it would be twice the hassle.  If we're gonna leave someone behind, they would have to serve as a distraction.  And I'm definitely concerned with leaving two or less people on their own.  If we do this, we have a three man distraction team, while the other four sneak away our supplies to the Chrysler building.  The distraction team loses the Majin in the confusion, and we reconvene on the middle floor of the Chrysler building."  Christina turned to Mia now, focusing on her lack of Fayth.

 

"You can't do much, but I like the way you think," she said suddenly.  "Everyone else has spent time with you trying to help you develop your Fayth, but I haven't.  So, since we're splitting up, you're coming with me," Christina said matter of factly.

 

"So we'll split our teams like this:  Leroy, Mia, and I will distract.  I would send Leroy with you guys, but in the event that Mia get's caught in a bad spot, he can swoop in and carry her off.  I can handle my own.  You four," she said pointing now to Riku, Luna, Destiny, and Amaris.  "Will head up extraction.  We leave the building at the most thin point of Majin forces.  We'll run out screaming, hollering, causing a ruckus.  Once you're in the clear, grab everything you can, dump it in the SUV, and get the hell out.  Chances are, if we blow up enough Majin and make enough noise, they won't even notice the SUV."

Christina stood up straight, and put an arm around Leroy.  "So, flyboy.  Think you can handle all of that?  You might have to save mine and Mia's lives," she said with a wink.  She stopped her joking and pat Leroy on the back.  "Meet me downstairs when you're ready.  I'm gonna kick the door down and heat things up when the two of you are within my sight."

 

Christina disappeared down the stairwell, and began walking towards the first floor.  

[Mr. Hyde]

Leroy was pretending to listen to everyone's explanations as to why they chose the plan they did, but he was too busy worrying about other things.  His head was stuck in the clouds, until his friend Riku brought him back down to Earth with a question.

 

"Leroy, how good at lifting other things would you say you are? Could you lift a car maybe? If so, what if we go with plan B, but Leroy and someone else make for the SUV as well. It's risky- Very risky- but it could work. Of course, the original plans sound better. It's just a thought."  Riku's question peaked a thought...how strong were they?  What were there physical limitations while their fayths were activated?  Leroy hadn't tested it...nor experimented.  He'd rather waste his time honing his flying skills.  

 

"A car!?  I know I ain't 60 or anything, but i'm pretty sure i'd throw my back out strainin' myself like that!  It was a tops idea though...maybe i'll work out a lil' more while we're on the road, then i'll get back to you on that friendo!"  His mind wandered off again whilst more discussion was thrown about.  When he stopped daydreaming, Christina had stood back on the soapbox.  The decision was a weighted 5 to 1.  "I'm sure you'd rather fight as well red, no need to bother tellin' me."  He rubbed up shoulders again egging on Christina, but it was only the truth.  The girl was a natural fighter, even opting to train the rest of the team how to use their new-found strength in case their weapons had failed them.

 

 I'm very, very hesitant about it, but it is an idea.  The thing is, we could always retrieve our supplies later.  But with that in mind, it would be twice the hassle.  If we're gonna leave someone behind, they would have to serve as a distraction.  And I'm definitely concerned with leaving two or less people on their own.  If we do this, we have a three man distraction team, while the other four sneak away our supplies to the Chrysler building.  The distraction team loses the Majin in the confusion, and we reconvene on the middle floor of the Chrysler building.  So we'll split our teams like this:  Leroy, Mia, and I will distract.  I would send Leroy with you guys, but in the event that Mia get's caught in a bad spot, he can swoop in and carry her off.  I can handle my own."  Christina had layed out the plan.  

 

"Distraction team ay?  I guess i'll have to distract 'em with my good looks and aussie charm!"  In the back of his mind, he pictured the scene of a female majin falling for his accent and good hearted humor.  A stream of barf almost breached his mouth, but it was held back through sheer will power!  He laughed it off.  

 

"So, flyboy.  Think you can handle all of that?  You might have to save mine and Mia's lives."  She ended the statement with a wink.  Leroy rubbed the back of his hair.  

 

"Flyboy...floaty....when will it end?!"  He cried out jokingly.  "It isn't anything i haven't done before Red!  I'm always saving one of you lot!  Hope you haven't put on weight deary, those gauntlets are harder to hold up with you in them!"  s*** this was happening now??  Leroy thought that this plan was a  three day waiting period, but they had opted for it as soon as possible!  He had to look after Red and the girl with no fayth as well?  He palmed his forehead...he'd have to be more watchful than usual.  He'd take the burden though...these beasts loved chasing the flyer.

 

"Meet me downstairs when you're ready.  I'm gonna kick the door down and heat things up when the two of you are within my sight."  And with that, Christina had taken her leave downstairs.  

 

"Ahhhh rats!  We're doing this now....well it was nice knowing ya fellows...get in that car and no matter what, don't come back for us!  We can handle ourselves...just get yourselves to the....what building are you headed for again?"  Yuel answered, "The Chrysler Building ya ding-dong!"  Leroy sighed.  "Go there, we'll meet up with you all soon!"  And with that he headed downstair, opting to walk instead of float.  He found his place beside Christina and nudged her.  "Oi, don't you get caught Red.  We gotta take the brunt of this shitstorm so the others make a sweet escape.  I'm not sure putting Mia on the distraction team was such a good idea, but i won't disagree with your judgement...i'll protect ya both.  I'll protect everyone."  With that, he took a deep breath, clearing his mind of all visions of grotesque outcomes, and focusing on the brightest outcome.  Success.

[Cosmo.]

"So we'll split our teams like this:  Leroy, Mia, and I will distract.  I would send Leroy with you guys, but in the event that Mia get's caught in a bad spot, he can swoop in and carry her off.  I can handle my own.  You four,""Will head up extraction.  We leave the building at the most thin point of Majin forces.  We'll run out screaming, hollering, causing a ruckus.  Once you're in the clear, grab everything you can, dump it in the SUV, and get the hell out.  Chances are, if we blow up enough Majin and make enough noise, they won't even notice the SUV."

Christina said pointing me, Riku, Amaris and Des.

"I think i can handle that, let's just hope everything will go alright! It may be better if i use my pistols this time, they're louder and faster, it will help. But what about you 3? How will you reach us once we get the SUV away? When we'll go, Maijins will be concentrated on you 3. But if you feel like doing so then i'm fine. If you need any help just shout my name and i can come back to you and heal you if necessary. Please stay safe!"

Luna went and sat down on a nearby armchair to think about the plan. She grabbed a pack of Pocky from the resources and started snacking nervously.

[Yosuke-kun]

Seemed the plan was to create a variation of the two plans now. Christina, Mia, and Leroy were going to stay behind and cover the escape while the rest of them made a break in the SUV with the supplies. It wasn't a perfect plan, but then nothing really was. Riku was uncomfortable leaving Mia on the diversion team too, but he could also see what it was that Christina was getting at. Both his and Christina's Fayths awakened when they were pushed into a corner and in mortal danger. From the sound of it, Des was the same as well. Maybe Mia would have her own awakened when she was pressed that way. Besides, Riku trusted Christina and Leroy to keep her safe. Still feeling apprehensive though, Riku picked up one of the walkie talkie's and followed Christina down the stairs and stopped her.

 

"If you're going to go without me at least take this with you. I'll have mine set to channel 11, so radio us if anything goes south okay?" Of course, this was less of a request and more Riku's way of giving Christina an emergency plan C; or maybe it was plan D.

 

Next up Riku looked to Leroy and gave him what he felt was a confident and reassuring grin. Of course this would be difficult, but Riku trusted Leroy, and hoped he'd gotten that across with this. Just in case though, Riku added something else.

 

"Make sure you come back in one piece. It'd really suck to have my best mate get put down under." Something of a taunt as well as Riku's own way of cheering for Leroy and hopefully boosting his spirits. 

 

His words to the others spoken, Riku made his way back up to the others to see Ameris taking up a watch position with his walkie talkie hooked to his belt and his eyes on the street where the Majin were gathered. In the one armchair left in... probably all of New York, Luna sat nervously eating Pocky trying to cool her nerves and calm down. Even though she kept a calm composure on her face, Riku could see that she was shaking. The entire group was nervous about this. Riku himself had been feeling uneasy about the entire thing, but had somehow been finding it easier to mask his fears since he was "killed" by Baal.

 

Riku closed his eyes and thought about their situation. What was the point of this anyways? Why were they sent here to live in a world where humans were already gone? Never mind that though, the group needed some kind of rally or something. What would Christina say to make the others raise their spirits? What would she do? Could Riku do the same here? Not like he had much of a choice now anyways. Taking a deep breath Riku looked to Luna as a focus, but addressed the entire group as he spoke.

 

"I umm... I know this isn't going to be easy or safe or... hell it's probably going to be terrifying the entire way through. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't scared out of my mind... But I'm more scared of what might happen if we do nothing... So... let's not let our friends down, okay?"

 

With that Riku made his way down to the SUV and began to pile in any of the supplies that had yet to be packed in. He hadn't said much, but he hoped that it was at least enough to make the uneasy tension that the others were feeling lessen even a little. Still, Riku knew he was no leader.

[Dad]

Christina

 

Leroy was here.  There was a good chance Mia was going to try to flake on her, but Christina was prepared for that.  Riku had begun to make his move now, and he was outside moving supplies to the SUV.  This meant he had already finished his job upstairs.  Now it was time to provide the opportunity  that the others had been waiting for.  Without hesitation, Christina took two steps back, and lunged forward, kicking off the building's front doors and slamming them into several Majin.  From the looks of it, it was primarily Lurking Gluttony.  There were at least six just in plain view.  Riku had said before, that there should have been a minimum of nine Gluttony roaming about.  This meant three were missing, and likely nearing Riku.  In order to prevent any of them from ignoring her, Christina made a bold, and stupid move.  She dashed into the street, and drew back both her fists as Ares formed on her hands.  She turned them to the air, and unleashed a pillar of flame easily visible from around their soon to be old hideout.  Surely, this display of arrogance and noise would draw the Majin in.  If not?

 

"HEY!  YOU BIG UGLY BASTARDS!" she shrieked.  "COME AND GET ME!!"  She shot a blast of fire at a nearby by Gluttony sending it flying into another nearby Majin.  "Let's go!  Let's go!" she said calling out Leroy and Mia.  And hopefully, just hopefully, this would be the distraction Riku and the others needed to get the hell out of dodge.

 

To ensure that chaos followed her, Christina began dodging past other cars, leaving a trail of flaming vehicles behind her.  Every few seconds, the vehicles she would light were sure to explode behind her, creating a loud, obnoxious explosion to draw in the Majin.  She began sprinting in a random direction away from the others, and away from the direction of the Chrysler Building.  She headed south, hoping to run into water if there was any left.  She could feel the Majin following her now, as several tongues lashed past her face and head.  But Christina kept running.  She leaped over cars, ducked under and behind buildings, ran into alleyways, and did anything she could to confuse and draw the Majin away, all while making as much of a ruckus as possible.  And then she saw something that could potentially buy the remaining four more time than they needed.  A smile crossed Christina's face as she continued running.  But before she could act, Christina was caught by a single stray tongue from a Lurking Gluttony, wrapped around her ankle.  It tripped her up, just as she ran over the trunk of a compact car. 

 

She fell, landing on her hands and rolling on her back atop the roof of the car.  The Gluttony pulled itself in, only to receive a swift kick to the jaw as Christina retaliated with quick reaction.  The Gluttony reeled, and toppled away.  Christina scrambled to her feet to keep running.  But as she turned to jump off the hood of the compact car, a giant axe crossed down in front of her, chopping the front end of the car off completely.  Christina looked up to be greeted by an Executioner now, who slowly turned its giant head to look her in the face.  Christina jumped down, and sprang off the Executioner's axe in style as she continued her spectacular getaway.  She made an effort to double back now, to the place that caused her eyes to light up.  Just moments ago, she had spotted a gas station.

 

If she was lucky, she could lure a number of the Majin towards it, and ignite it and kill them all in one swift go.  If she was unlucky, there wouldn't be any gas in the pumps to be set ablaze.  She would take her chances.  As the enemies closed in, Christina made a run for the gas station, and put her back to the pumps.  Oddly enough, running, dodging, slipping, sliding, and ducking, Christina was doing something she didn't think she would in this situation.  She was having fun.  As the Majin closed in, Christina formed a single gauntlet to form in her left hand.  Igniting it, with her back still to the gas pumps, Christina counted the Majin she had gathered.  There were quite a few now.  Including eight Gluttony, there were two Executioners, and one of something she had not encountered before.  Christina wasn't interested in identifying the creature at the time, so she allowed them to get closer.  The Gluttony, the Executioner, the unknown, they all began to sprint towards Christina as fast as they could.  But Christina only smiled.  "Gather round boys," she said softly.  "There's plenty to go around."

[Cosmo.]

Luna just finished her Pocky, almost everything was ready for the plan. Suddenly she saw a giant pillar of flames from the street. "What the heck is Christina doing?! Okay, it's time to go now guys!"

She said as she ran downstairs with Diana activated, this time though in form of golden pistols.

Christina already attracted away the Majins an she was doing movie-like stunts. "Kill them all, you fiery badass!" Luna shouted at Christina while getting in the Suv. Riku was there.

 

A few seconds later, a Lurking Gluttony that was left behind attacked Luna with his tongue "Oh not again!" She said as she jumped out of his grab and started shooting him golden bullets. "The trick is to confuse them, Lurking Gluttonies are dumb and if you're fast you'll annihilate them" Luna said to Riku as an advice.

The Majin was dead and Luna got back in the SUV waiting for the others.

[Yosuke-kun]

Several loud explosions from somewhere outside told Riku that the diversion team, or at least Christina, had begun their move. That meant he and the others had a short window of time to make their move before every Majin in the city was on top of them. Most likely they'd have 15 minutes, and that was assuming there were no Lord Class Majins to interfere like last time. A few flashes of the battle with Baal went through Riku's head causing a small feeling of fear to shoot through him, that he almost instantly suppressed by clenching his fists and digging his nails into his hand. It took all seven of them to bring Baal down last time, and if another Lord Majin appeared before them it would only be the three of them and himself against it, and Christina's group was in a far worse position. Fear was not something he could afford right now.

 

Another few noises, these ones closer to him, signaled that a few Majin had made it inside the building. This was accompanied by Yuel's warning about wha Riku had just pieced together himself.

 

"There's a few Majin moving towards your position Riku! Better get ready to fight."

 

No sooner had she said it than a massive mask wearing Humanoid Majin leaped over the SUV at Riku. The monster was not particularly fast, but the surprising entry of the beast caught Riku off guard, and he had only the time to summon Izanagi before the Majin smacked him across the room. As he pulled himself to his feet, the Majin bore down on Riku with his fists raised as it prepares to pummel Riku to death, but a before it could, several slashing sounds came from behind the Masked Brute. These were followed by a shower of blood spraying from the Majin, and the beast falling to the ground dead with Ameris standing behind it with Tsukuyomi drawn.

 

"That was a close one huh?" Ameris said as he held out his hand to Riku and pulled him to his feet. Riku was more than grateful for the assistance too, as he was still dazed from the Majin's initial strike when Ameris finished it off. 

 

A few minutes later and Luna threw herself into the fray as well, firing off several rounds at the other Majin's coming in. She was alright for a little while, but shortly after her entrance another Majin leaped towards her from behind, prompting Riku t spring into action. With a swift movement, Riku dashed in front of the Majin and decapitated it before it could land it's blow on Luna.

 

"Yeah, they are stupid. But still watch your back." Riku said with a somewhat teasing tone,

 

Once they had all gathered around, Riku and Ameris moved onto defense with Luna and Des piled the remainder of the supplies into the SUV. There were few Majin about, but the sentries were needed all the same to cover the two packing the supplies. Once the girls had finished, Riku and Ameris both hopped into the SUV and awaited for Des to speed away.

[Mr. Hyde]

Christina had sprung into action, kicking down the doors of their former base and slamming it into some lurking gluttony who were, for their namesake, lurking outside the base.  She bolted out with Ares in hand, and started a warpath that wouldn't end without the annihilation of every majin in the area.  Leroy gave himself a long drawn out sigh, taking in deep breaths.  He looked up the stairs...Mia was a no show.  What was she going to do?  Stay behind?  He heard Christina outside yelling for them to get a move on.  "That's right!  I gotta take this seriously...gotta put on a show for those majins ay?  Gotta make it so the others ain't noticed....Christina is sure good at that...and being loud!"  His fayth was activated now, wind gathering around him and circling his body.  He stuck his hand out to retrieve his staff from the strong air currents, as it materialized into the jade staff he had come to love.  "Let's go!  QUETZALCOATL!"

 

With that, he bursted into the sky, a sonic boom like burst had been left in his trail.  The noise gathered the remaining majin from the area that hadn't already been chasing Christina.  He was high enough in the air as to where the gluttony's tongues wouldn't be able to reach him.  "Oi!  YOU UGLY BLOKES CAN'T EVEN TOUCH M-" 

 

"LEROY WATCH OUT!!!"  

 

He felt an immense pressure on his back, as though it was being snapped in half.  He plummeted to the earth and made contact with the cold hard ground, causing a crater to form.  As he came to, an axe dug itself into the ground beside his head.  An executioner???  He heard stories from Christina about these Majin...they were bigger and more durable, but less agile than their tongue lashing friends.  This thing must've jumped from a building to get the jump on Leroy like that, emphasizing getting a jump on him.  Leroy was in trouble, as the Majin that he was so fearlessly taunting were closing in on him, their mouths dripping with disgusting Majin juices.  The Majin that was stomping on his back wasn't helping him escape either.  As the Executioner picked up his axe, Leroy filled his lungs with air, as much as they could be filled.  He expelled it at the ground forcefully, forcing the executioner to topple over as Leroy rose.  He continued forcing air out of his mouth, but he condensed the air as it was aimed at the charging gluttony.  The crowd was ripped to shreds as Leroy's gust had turned sharper.  

 

"Heh...i didn't think that little trick'd work in all honesty..."  He said taking in breaths.  "That sure did leave me breathless..."  He walked over to the toppled executioner, who was trying to force himself back up.  "These guys are kinda like tortoises ay....poor fella...too bad he almost broke my back...you're gonna have to pay for that one bucko!"  He placed his jaded staff high, and started beating the executioners head in.  He didn't stop until the monster stopped it's squirming.  Majin blood had spilled all over his face and clothes.  "Now look what you went and made me did...i'm all mucked up now!...filthy beasts."  He looked to the South.  Walls of fire and smoke could be seen in the distance.  "How'd that fiery girl getta head of me....Well best catch up to her, i believe this sector's clear!"  Leroy bolted back into the air, minding his surroundings this time.  Thankfully he did, as Lurking Gluttony had been stashed away in the same building the executioner jumped from.  He forced his hand out shooting a gust of sharp wind that sliced the beast in half.  "I ain't fallin' for the same trick twice!"  He headed South to see if he could meet up with Christina.   

[Dad]

Christina

 

The closer they got to her, the stronger she felt.  It was like a lamb to a slaughter.  "Stupid," she taunted.  With her gauntlets ablaze, Christina punched the gasoline tank, and felt the fire engulf her.  All around her, she felt a wave of calm.  The explosion was loud, and it deafened her because she was at its center.  The fire washed over her like a cool shower.  It wasn't hot like the flames of Ares.  This fire was nothing compared to what she could put out herself.  But with the combination of gasoline, it burned hot enough to eradicated a large portion of the Majin that had been tailing her.  She watched them burn through the haze of smoke and debris.  It felt good.  They were suffering, those damn monsters.  They were feeling what Christina had been keeping bottled up inside.  At least some of it, they were getting just a taste.  Realizing she had lost nearly everything, Christina was able to do things like this without remorse or concern.  She could let it all out without a care in the world, and free herself of misery and anguish and anxiety.  Christina inhaled deeply.  The sweet smell of gasoline combined with the heat of the flames sent a chill through her spine, causing her to shiver just a bit.  It was exhilarating.  She exhaled through her mouth, sighing deeply.  Strangely enough, Christina saw a tear drop from her eye in the midst of the chaos, and watched it boil before it hit the ground.

 

Wiping her face, stepping out of the smoke, Christina looked around to be sure it wasn't raining.  "Tch," she scoffed at herself.  "What am I crying for?"  She dashed away from the scene of the crime looking to cause more chaos.  The first thing she noticed was a flying Leroy dashing towards her.  She flagged him down, hoping he wouldn't notice the odd tear that had escaped her.  "I'm worried, Leroy," she called as he raced towards her.  "There weren't a lot of Majin to say we were being watched.  I expected a few hundred.  Maybe they're hid--" but Christina's words would be answered right away.  A powerful tug at her leg yanked her back into the billowing smoke, out of Leroy's view.

 

She looked down, trying to see what was dragging her.  Trying not to panic, she realized it was a Lurking Gluttony tongue.  She looked around for something to hold on to, but no luck.  She had been pulled by some surviving Gluttony into a trap of the Majin's own.  When she passed the smoke, she was being pulled rapidly through the back of the gas station, through rubble.  She covered her head, as she was suddenly flipped over and onto her chest.  The tongue snapped off, and Christina looked up to see a brutish looking Majin standing over her.  It wore a mask, covering a majority of its face, and there were spikes springing from its back.

 

"What the hell?" she said as she suddenly quivered.  This Majin was creeping her out.  Christina observed the Majin carefully as it seemed to only stare at her.  Then she noticed its hands.  She hadn't been pulled by a Lurking Gluttony.  This Majin had actually taken the tongue of a dead Lurking Gluttony, and used it to reel her in!  It was fishing for survivors!  She flipped the script, and blasted the Majin backwards with a harsh blast of fire, and scrambled to her feet.  She could hear the creature crash into a wall some few feet away.  And when the dust settled, it was wrenching itself free.  The Majin looked Christina dead in the eye, and roared, unafraid.  Once it was free of the stone wall, the Majin took its time to approach Christina, who remained still.  The creature observed her, before clashing its own fists together.  It was taunting her.

 

Christina frowned, snarling now.  "Alright you little sheet," she said clashing her own fists together.  "Let's do this."  But before Christina could destroy her foe, a large jagged axe crashed down in front of her, as an Executioner joined the fray. 

 

". .  .sheet."

[a bad post]

"Let's go!  Let's go!" Mia heard Christina shout from down stairs, but by the time he got down there the others had already left. 

 

"They didn't even wait for me..." Mia sighed under his breath, what else did he expect, he couldn't even fight anyways. He was just a drag. "It probably wouldn't be a good idea to abandon them though. If worse comes to worse I can distract the Majin so they can get away." 

 

With that final thought Mia took off down the road after his two companions. It wasn't long before he could begin to see them, and it appeared they were already engaging the Majins, and from the looks of it they were facing off some of the Executioner Majins... wait... how did he know that. Mia had never seen that type of Majin, yet information about suddenly flew through his head. Mia looked down at his hand, but rather than the phone he expected to see there was a small glowing ring of blue symbols.

 

"Wha-" Mia looked confused at it for a moment, and then a scowl crossed his face, "my phone! I must have left it at the base! What even is this thing anyway. Th- urk!" Mia was cut off as something wet and slimey wrapped around his waist and tossed him down onto the pavement. "Grk." Mia finally saw his attacker... or rather he felt him first wiping the drooling creature's saliva from his check. Mia felt panic rising in his chest as the creature reared back to deliver the death blow. At that moment Mia's hand found a rock, and acting quickly Mia shrieked bringing rock down hard on Gluttony's exposed grey matter. The creature stunned from the blow reeled back, and in that moment Mia bolted away from the creature.

 

Screaming at the top of his lungs Mia ran towards his comrades hoping to get their attention. Well he got it alright, and he also got the attention of one of the Executioner Majin who began it's lumbering walk towards Mia. From behind Mia also heard the sound of Lurking Gluttony now no longer disoriented chasing after him again. Hearing the slurping sound of its growl Mia was ready for the creature's attack this time and rolled out of the way dodging its tongue attack. Rock still in hand Mia tossed it at the Majin as it charged. A direct hit! The force of the impact as well as the Majin's own momentum knocked the creature on it's side with a whimper.

 

"Ha! Take that... you... bastard..." Mia trailed off as a large shadow came over him. Turning Mia stared in horror at the Towering Executioner above him. "H-Help..." Mia whimpered as the creature raised its axe. Mia looked at his allies occupied in their own fights, and knew they wouldn't make it time. This was it. Mia was going to die here. As the Majin prepared to bring it's axe arm down on the small boy in front of it Mia raised arms as if they could protect him from the creature's blow. He looked at the blue script on his wrist again and he could finally make out what it said. So, as the creature brought it's arm down Mia read it.

 

"Thoth."

 

Mia read the name just as the Executioner brought down its axe, but before it could slice Mia like some cold cuts his Fayth activated releasing a large burst of energy which vaporize the creature. 

 

Meanwhile Mia's eyes remained closed waiting for the blow to come. To finish him off. Yet it never did. Cautiously opening his eyes Mia looked at the blank space in front of him where the Majin should have been. Yet in it's place a leather bound book now lay. Crawling over to it Mia examined it cautiously running his hands over.

 

"Is this...?"

 

"Yup!" came Yuel's cheerful voice. "This your Fayth Thoth, Mia."

 

"Whaaa!" Mia screamed startled. "Yuel!? Where did you come from? I thought I left my phone at the hideout?"

 

"No you dunce, I'm your pocket." 

 

"Oh." Mia reached into his dress' pocket pulling out the phone, thankful he had worn a dress with pockets. 

 

"It took you long to awaken your Fayth. I mean jeez!" Yuel said rolling her eyes, "oh right. You should probs go help your friends, or they might y'know die. And that would be bad."

 

"Oh, right..." Mia nodded returning the phone to its place in his pocket Mia grabbed the book and started running towards his friends... strange... when had he started thinking of them as friends. Flipping through the pages of Thoth Mia stopped in his tracks as pages began to flip on their own. A white ring of light surrounded Mia and suddenly the pages of the book stopped. 

 

"Oh so these are my abilities." Mia said to himself. "Ok I can do this. The High Priestess!" As soon as Mia shouted the name of the spell the white ring surrounding him split one firing itself towards the unknown Majin. Information suddenly flooded Mia's head, and it took several moments to make sense of it all. "I see... so that's how it works."

 

Running to toward his allies Mia came to a stop behind Christina who appeared to be fighting the unknown Majin which he now identified as a Masked Brute. "Christina!" Mia called out to the red-head. "That thing is called a Masked Brute! It can attack with the spikes on it's back, watch out from them, and it's not gonna stop until you kill it! You should be able to out speed it though, it's not to fast." 

[Admiral_Stalfos19]

Des was happy to see that Christina had ultimately decided to go with her plan... although she wasn't too happy with who the young woman had decided to do what. More specifically, Des wasn't too happy that she wasn't chosen to be a part of the distraction team. However, now wasn't the time to request a change of formation. She hurriedly chucked the last few supplies in the trunk, and then rushed to the driver's side of the SUV.

 

"Right, that's as much time spent packing as I'd dare," said Des, "Let's just hope that we actually got everything..."

 

With that, the SUV was gone, and everyone that was inside with it.

 

...

 

Now that the coast was clear, Des was driving considerably more slowly, and everything that made noise and was not named a car engine was turned off. About the only thing that wasn't turned off was everyone's phones, so that Yuel could still give Des directions, which she followed to the tee. Thankfully, Yuel had also noted the locations of nearby Majin so that Des could avoid them, and had the courtesy to keep everything she was saying to a whisper. However...

 

"Don't you think you're being overly cautious?" Des rolled her eyes in response to this, having seen this coming from a mile away.

 

"Oh, don't mind me; I'm just making up for apparently being too reckless the whole of last week," she then replied in a sarcastic manner.

 

"I don't believe you!" Yuel would've exclaimed this, if not for the fact that Des wanted her to keep quiet, "All I've been doing is trying to keep you two safe, and you're still...!"

 

"How much further do we have to go anyway?" Des intervened with a question.

 

"...you're about halfway there..." nothing more was said between the two. The rest of the trip was mostly quiet, with Destiny still driving somewhat slowly. Of course, the idea was that she'd drive in a stealthy manner which, with the right amount of luck, would get Riku, Amaris, Luna and herself there in one piece. However, Des could've probably afforded to pick up the pace a while back, and why she neglected to do so was anyone's guess.

[Mr. Hyde]

A lone red was standing in the midst of what appeared to be the ashy remains of a gas station.  "Oi...that gal's got quite the head on her shoulders!"  A speck of light glimmered from the distance...now what could that have been?  She caught sight of him and waved her arms in the air, Leroy waving back.  It seemed as if she was trying to talk to him, but from how high up he was, it was hard for him to make out the exact words.  Before he could read her lips clearly enough, she was ripped from his view, and dragged into the smokey station.

 

But it seemed he wasn't the only one on his way.  "Mia has activated Hi-.....Her fayth!"

 

"Oi that's great!  Now she can join us in the fray!  Righteous!"  In the back of his mind he was screaming.  "What are you thinking Leroy?!  This ain't the time to get excited!  Christina just got snatched up!  Get in their and save her!"  He was on his way to do just that!  As he flew into the gas station, the smoke had cleared.  Giving Leroy a good look of his enemies, and Christina.  One of course was a Towering Executioner, the other a majin in a somewhat covered face, with spikes protruding from it's back.  He was glad to see Christina was in one piece though, a fire had lit in her eyes.  Mia had also entered the stage, with a bound book in hand.  She spoke out, which was weird seeing as how this was one of the only times Leroy had heard Mia speak.  She seemed different with her fayth in tow.  

 

"That thing is called a Masked Brute! It can attack with the spikes on it's back, watch out from them, and it's not gonna stop until you kill it! You should be able to out speed it though, it's not to fast." 

 

"Masked Brute ay?  Well he seems to wanna fight fair and square with you ay Red?  I'll let you two duke it out...as for this Executioner, leave the bloody bastard to me!"  The Executioner swung its axe high into the air, but Leroy was prepared for the strike.  He shoved his staff straight into the majin's stomach with a powerful strike.  He then angled his staff upwards to parry the oncoming axe blade, stopping it a couple of centimeters above his head.  "Watch the hair ya idiot!"  Leroy straightened out his palm, and shoved it into the end of his staff.  The staff glew from one end, progressively to the other.  When it reached the end that was jabbed into the monsters stomach, a giant wind blast was released, shooting the Towering Executioner out of the gas station straight through the wall.  He turned to Mia.  "Whaddya think of that attack?  I think i'm going to call it the windigeridoo!"  The Towering Executioner rose surprisingly fast, faster than the one that he had previously faced.  "Shout if you need help you two!"  With that, Leroy flew out of the gas station towards his unfinished foe.  

[Dad]

Christina

 

That was the key.  When she showed up out of nowhere, that was the key.  She didn't need to be forced.  She needed to be patient.  And luckily, Christina was patient.  When Mia showed up, it was perfect timing.  She had come into her own Fayth, at her own time.  And it was the most interesting Fayth so far.  Mia clearly announced the typing and abilities of the Masked Brute, signifying just what she could do.  Mia was essentially a walking database, but with great power lurking behind her.  Christina couldn't help but smile as her allies showed up.  She knew she could count on them.  Leroy whipped through the smoke as suddenly as Mia did, and it was now a two on three.

 

"Christina!  That thing is called a Masked Brute! It can attack with the spikes on it's back, watch out from them, and it's not gonna stop until you kill it! You should be able to out speed it though, it's not to fast."

 

Christina rolled her shoulder, signifying she was ready to brawl.  "Right," she said confidently.  And Leroy and the Executioner caught wind of that.  Launching the enemy outside, Leroy separated the Executioner from the Brute, making it a one against two.  With Mia behind her, nothing this Brute was packing was going to be a surprise.  Or, so Christina thought.  The Brute's eye twitched, as it made eye contact with Christina now.  It let out a frightening roar, as if it were very, very angry.  "Who pissed in your cereal?" she asked sarcastically, as the Brute lunged at her.  It raised a right fist, cocking back its arm and showing its strength.  The creature was muscle bound.  A punch from this guy was no laughing matter.  However, the Brute was slower than Christina.  She ducked the punch and flipped the Brute over onto its own spikes, shoving them further into the creature's back.  It rolled around sporadically on the ground, until it could stand straight up again.  And it continued to pour on the aggression.  Throwing powerful punches, kicks, headbutts, charging and diving at Christina causing her to roll around, dodge, and duck endlessly.  It was really tiring, and the Brute could tell she was being worn out.

 

Christina was not being given time to react, as the Brute tactfully used its stamina to its advantage.  It flipped and tossed rubble, kicked up dust and blinded Christina, and finally tackled her to the ground.  The Brute roared over Christina, before throwing two powerful punches simultaneously in an attempt to crush her head.  She managed to barely move her head out of the way, and deliver a quick right hook to the Majin's jaw.  The Brute was sent reeling, toppling into the remaining back wall of the Gas Station, with part of the roof falling on its head.  Christina scrambled to her feet, panting, as she heard the Brute shaking rubble away and getting to its feet.  "sheet!  This thing doesn't stop.  You weren't kidding!" she said out of breath.

 

"Christina!"

 

It was Yuel.

 

"What's up?" she said taking the phone from her pocket.  "You need to kill this Brute quickly!  Once it pulls spikes from its back, it could seriously injure you!"  Christina nodded.  "I get it, I get it.  He's relentless, but he's reckless.  Guess that's why its called a Brute, huh?"  Wiping the sweat from her forehead, Christina powered up Ares once more.  She got into a boxing stance, as she readied herself for the Brute's onslaught.  The creature appeared at last from the rubble, angrier than ever.  It quickly snapped a spike from its head, and launched it extremely quickly at Christina's face.  With her near death reaction timing, Christina caught the spike with her left hand, and snapped it in two.  "Hey!" she yelled.  "Fight me like a man!  Or a Majin!  Or whatever!" she taunted.  The Brute roared back at her, spitting and snarling as it drew another spike from its back and charged at Christina. 

 

Christina threw two powerful fireballs at the creature, but he barreled through them, being singed and lit ablaze.  Not wanting to be tackled by a spike wielding, flaming, masked psycho killer, Christina instead took the initiative, and threw her legs upwards.  She intercepted the Brute's charge with a powerful flip kick, stunning it and knocking the Brute onto its bottom.  The Brute's spikes were all but crushed now, proving to be useless.  Angry, it clawed to its feet, and began brawling with Christina.  But Christina knew how to box, and had been doing so since she was young.  A big mistake.

 

She could see the punches coming, almost in slow motion.  Right, left, left, right, left, right, right, right.  She countered with a blow to the stomach, and an uppercut from hell.  She could feel the Brute's jaw rattle and break, and Christina ended the uppercut with an extension from Ares, as her own spikes grew out.  They pierced the jaw, skull, and brain of the Brute, killing it in a nasty way.  Taking her gauntlets down, Christina kicked the Brute onto its back, and dusted her gauntlets free.  And turning to Mia, she gave the girl a thumbs up.  "Couldn't have done it without you, Mia."  Now she turned her attention to the way in which Leroy had vanished.  "Let's save our wonder from down under, shall we?"