"I had always known...that you would be the brightest star" Everything around me felt cold, the very opposite of the warmth I was in a moment ago. I could feel emotions swelling in me, anger, disgust, sorrow...all of it, reaching a boiling point. I jolted up, I had woken up from whatever nightmare that was, I didn't feel like myself during it...was that...a vision of someone else? I couldn't answer that question, I couldn't see my body when I saw the vision...I started looking at my surroundings after waking up, I was on the floor, and the TV was playing some show, I rubbed my eyes before looking at the couch, and like before, Sam was there peacefully sleeping with a fuzzy ponytail, though this time I noticed Nicholai leaning on the side of the couch, though she was very much awake.

"Mornin" She held out a book as always, reading it.

"Morning..."I held the top of my head with a few fingers, it wasn't hurting, but it felt off in a way. "What're you doing here?"

"I live here now"

"You know what I meant"

"You were audible in your sleep, though a majority of it was gibberish, so I've been here incase you said something that was important"

"Oh...aren't you the one talking about good sleep?"

"I was sleeping, I got enough sleep before I started observing, don't try being a smartass"

"Hey, at least admit I'm a charming one"

"If charm was being reckless, then yeah" I stood up, stretching my arms like every morning.

"Might as well make something for everyone before they wake up"

"I'll be fine" Nicholai never looked my way once, she only kept reading.

"I don't believe that, nothing has moved since yesterday, I find it unlikely you ate anything" She didn't respond "Figured, any suggestions?"

"French toooast" Sam raised her hand and arm sluggishly.

"There's your suggestion" It was difficult to notice, but I saw a faint smile from Nicholai.

"So be it then" I went over to the kitchen side, due to it being an open floor type of thing, I was still able to see and hear the other two.

"How long were you two up?" Nicholai finally closed the book.

"Not long, just fell asleep to some shows we wanted to finish"

"mh" Nicholai tapped Sam's leg multiple times until she sat up, letting Nicholai sit down. "How's your injuries doing?" Nicholai looked over to me.

"Love how they're plural" Like magic(It probably was), the stuff I needed was already on the counter. "I think I'm fine, I can walk and all that"

"That's good" Nicholai leaned on one of the armrests while watching whatever was left on the TV. "Why french toast?" I could hear Nicholai questioning Sam.

"Because, there was so much during the outbreak, I guess I just liked eating it"

"We had a lot of other foods during the outbreak too"

"Yeah, if it weren't for them and the noise they made, we'd be thriving" I inputted on the conversation while mostly focusing on whisking.

"Right! We were so close to being a beacon in the city! You want food, we have it, water? Games? We have it all!"

"We got lucky, that's for sure, like some divine intervention." Nicholai never slouched like Sam and I do, she kept up a posture. Our time during the outbreak...surprisingly peaceful, I surprisingly...miss it. I thought back to the past, we were set for life, we had each other, a power supply, a good connection with the good groups, and through that, we were defended from the bad ones. Moral Compass, Tech, Medicine, through Sam, Kenneth, and Nicholai we had everything needed to thrive, it even started making me feel bad. What...exactly did I do? Sure...I cook, but we made decisions as a team...we fought as one whenever conflict did arise... Eventually, I moved onto the next step, getting all these thoughts out of my head. I took a breath and refocused myself on the task at hand.

"Need help?" Kenneth leaned on the counter, once he spoke the other two turned to look over.

"Morning Ken!" Sam was the only one to give an audible response, Nicholai simply nodded.

"Morning you two" While Kenneth talked to them, Dave uncloaked and landed on the counter.

"You can really cloak now...neat" Dave made an audible noise before he talked.

"Thank you sir" The four lights that represented eyes shifted slightly. "My hover has complete noise mitigation as well now, I can be used as a stealth drone with this current state"

"Good to know, thanks for being handy Dave"

"Of course, would you desire a recipe?"

"Don't worry about it, even if I do mess up, it's nice to learn"

"Understood" Dave returned to his spot before, hovering near Kenneth.

"So, what's the next course of action?" Kenneth returned his gaze to me.

"Oh! We can try mimicking what Raymond did" Sam gave the first response.

"I feel we at least need to know where we're going to open up a portal" I started walking over to everyone.

"So let's just get a mission, see where it is, and try" I set things down at the table near the couch and paused.

"Well...You all eat, and I'll try"

"Thanks for the food!" While the three relaxed and got to eating, I opened my HUD and looked for anything that could give a location, it was difficult until I eventually noticed the mission section of the HUD. I pressed it, and a massive list appeared, some being greyed out with the reason being our Team's Rank wasn't high enough, that was fair. I eventually got to one about the Reunion, summarizing it got me the gist, it was a mission about sabotaging a Reunion outpost, it wasn't a complete loss if we got noticed or anything, it's not something we have to sabo without them knowing, simply something they need gone. There was one thing that caught my eye though 'Recommended Sniper overwatch: 2 meet standard' That would mean...I looked over to the crew, soon Kaz was also around, hopping onto the table before sitting down.

"Has any of you gotten a sniper? Except for Kaz"

"No?" Nicholai summoned her scythe, resting the blade on the floor before spinning it by the long handle.

"Not for me either" Kenneth didn't summon his spear to check, though it makes sense, he already had the bow...but then ...that leaves Sam...who already has two pistols, that was until I recalled the little parts on her blades that looked like they connect.

"Sam, can you do me a favor and summon your weapons?" Without missing a beat, she did so. "The little gaps, that look like they fit the blade, see em?" It took a second for her to notice.

"Yup"

"Try connecting the two"

"Huh?"

"Just give it a try...it doesn't look like the sickle could fit, but I feel it's for something...why else would it be there?" She shrugged slightly before moving the sickle close to the shortsword, when it got close enough, the sickle crackled slightly before forming into another shortsword, without a second to do anything, the once sickle part went into the gap and soon, the two short bladed weapons had turned into a sword. Nicholai coughed after almost choking.

"What the hell?"

"And now, try turning them into the ranged version" Ignoring Nicholai, we continued checking, the sword soon turned, the tip of both combined blades splitting open, the two triggers from the pistols were beside each other, making a dual trigger, when it was all finished, the sword, once two short weapons, had turned into a sniper rifle. The room was silent for a moment, until-

"Sniper buddies!" Kaz didn't sound surprised.

"It's...kinda heavy" Sam set the stock of the rifle on the ground

"We figured out the other sniper it seems" Nicholai stood up.

"Now that everything is settled, we ready to go?" Everyone nodded. I held Crescent, I had my HUD opened and looked at the picture given, and the name of the world, feeling I had everything right, I slashed downwards with purpose, and from it a portal opened, showing the world I tried to go to, though, it wasn't where i wanted to be in that world. "Let's get to it everyone"

"Let's go!" We all leapt into the portal, it was a grassland, trees, plants, and the noise of animals were all around.

"One more thing" I looked to everyone. "We don't exactly know the reason why we're against the Reunion, at least one we made ourselves, so let's try sticking to non lethal alright?" Once more, I was given a nod from my peers. I opened my map and saw a mission marker on an empty patch where the forest should still be going. I turned right and began to walk, with the others following, Kaz didn't go on anyone's shoulder this time, instead she walked along with us, a little pitter and patter here and there.

Halfway along the path, I saw a trail that began to lead upwards, it was practically a mountain.

"Sam, Kaz, think you can get a sightline from there?" I motioned my head to the trail.

"On it!" Without question, Sam began rushing towards the trail with Kaz shortly behind.

"I was gonna also say if you can't to come back down..."

"Heard ya!" Though I wasn't loud or even trying to get her to hear, she understood regardless.

"Alright then, the four of us will continue on then"

"Four, talking about the sword?" Kenneth looked confused until I tapped the hilt of my sword. "I guess that counts as someone."

"Lead the way then" As Nicholai requested, we continued the walk through the forest, annoying branches and twigs occasionally whacked my legs, yet, it's not as though I could burn the entire forest down and clear the path, soon, there it was, a base hiding in the woods with durable looking walls, in the distance, I could see guards. I almost slid across the ground to get behind a tree, with the others following.

"Non-Lethal right?" I nodded at Kenneth, in response, I noticed he was on his HUD, looking for something, a moment later, he summoned an arrow, the tip wasn't pointy, instead a ball with a thunderbolt on it.

"Let's look for another way first" I held my hand open, and close to the ground, signaling for Kenneth to wait. We started to circle the building, making sure we kept a distance just in case, when we got around to the back, there was a single door. We made sure to go slowly, not only to reduce the noise we made, but so we could be sure we didn't step on anything that made noise, the moment we could, we leaned against the wall, I was on the side where the handle to the door was, while Kenneth and Nicholai were on the other. Conflicting with the heavy walls, the door was metal bars, letting people look through it.

"I'll try picking the lock" Kenneth began rummaging through things before Nicholai spoke up.

"No offense, but on this one, I trust Lee to do"

"Pardon?" I looked away from the door and redirected my sight to her.

"Well, you survived by yourself somehow, you're telling me you never picked locks?"

"I...I never said thaaaat"

"So there we go, Ken" Kenneth finished rummaging through his bag, he then handed me a simple kit.

"I don't think skill really matters for this" I came to that conclusion after looking at the lock.

"How so?"

"Simple, it's a terrible lock" I grabbed just one part of the kit and with aggression, jabbing it into the slot, the door immediately opened after all four clicks went off. I did a short bow before heading in. The inside of the base had a few actual buildings, but it was mostly tents and crates. Guards wandered around, yet none looked over. Once Kenneth and Nicholai were in, I went back and made the door look like it was closed. I scanned the base for what we were looking for, and though difficult, I eventually saw it, a machine that was being repaired, its wires were exposed because of that. "Dave" I didn't know if he followed or not, yet it was worth a try. A minute later, he appeared, uncloaking. "Do you think you can go in the sky and keep a watch over everyone?"

"Understood, I'll do my best" Dave went into the sky while cloaking, a moment later, guards started to appear through the walls, letting us see them and where they were, I turned to the other two and noticed they were surrounded by a green effect. I raised my hand and was still able to see them.

"Dave, helpful as always, ay?" Though Kenneth sounded like he was actually asking, we all already knew the answer.

'I am unable to ping Kaz and Miss Sam from here, apologies'

-Dave

'Don't worry about it, thanks for the aid'

-Lee

There were two just around the corner, I tried thinking. We could kick the back of their legs...get them lowered, Kenneth can choke a guy out right?

"Kenneth" Like before I motioned my head towards the two guards around the corner.

"And?"

"Just follow my lead" I got to the edge of the wall and crouched down, Kenneth stood over me and Nicholai kept a distance. I held out three fingers, then went to two, then one. The moment my hand turned to a fist, we both quickly turned the corner, I went to the closest, kicking the back of his leg to get them close to the ground, before using the curved hilt on my sword to choke them, there was heavy reistance, they tried reaching behind them, when that didn't work they tried elbowing behind them. When their attempts got closer to working, I got away from them, before raising and pushing with my leg, that way I could keep going, it became much harder for them to reach, and when the restiance stopped, and I let go, they landed face first on the ground with a thud. I turned to Kenneth and saw him with his bow out, the person he dealt with was leaning against a wall. "Used your bow?"

"Well, I think using a bow is much more normal to choke someone than using a sword:"

"It's not normal either way" Nicholai started going ahead. "Well?"

"Right" After a pause we all continued, the device was across an open area, there weren't any other routes we could take.

TTS Active

"Hey Sam"-Lee

"Hmhm?"-Sam

"Quick question, does that thing have a suppressor?"-Lee

"We both know that won't nullify a shot"-Sam

"Yeah, yeah I know, we need a quick diversion to make sure no one looks our way, I was hoping you saw something you could shoot, something that could make noise, enough noise that it would silence out the rest of the noise coming from you"-Lee

"Oh, alright then"-Sam

TTS Deactive

It wasn't even a second later when a loud bell started going off to our right, we heard people rushing over, along with some talking.

"What the hell does she want this ti-" I could obviously tell what they were going to say afterwards, but audibly-wise, they eventually got too far for that.

"Let's go" The three of us seized the chance and rushed across the open field. I looked over towards the bell and saw a few dozen gathering at the front of the room. Once we made it, we hid behind the device. "Ken, you're good to go" Nicholai and I covered each side while Kenneth began to work on the wires.

"Dave, some light" A moment after Kenneth made the request, I saw a faint light in my peripheral vision, hopefully it was faint enough that anyone else couldn't see it. "Well, there's a few things this device can be...it's not a bomb though, but I wouldn't wanna trigger any alarms" Kenneth began to talk to himself, trying to debate what it could be. "Eh screw it, it's a station now" I heard a wire snap, which implies he cut one, there were no alarms, nor anyone coming over to check things. "Alright then" I did notice however that the device and the things atop it, had begun to slow down. "th th th" After a moment, another was cut, this time the entire thing shut down.

"Hey! The MEMPs not starting up anymore!" So it was something called a MEMP...It sounded familiar.

"Ken" I didn't look back at him, but he heard easily.

"I know" Another wire snapped before he stood up and aimed his bow at the inside, I joined Nicholai's side as Kenneth released the arrow, launching it into the MEMP and setting off an electric blast inside of the entire thing. The three of us began sprinting back to the door.

"Intruders! Back exit!" While we were forced to cross the open field again, I saw two guards aiming towards me. Oh come on, for one day can I get a break! Before they could fire though, two very faint shots rang through the forest, before those same two bullets hit the guards, instead of killing them however, it looked like they were paralyzed, as I could still see them breathing and slightly moving. We pushed through the door and ran into the forest. "Go get them!"

"Spread out" Kenneth and Nicholai both nodded before we all split off, going our separate ways. I could hear leaves and branches break and snap behind me, either the two didn't listen, we somehow regrouped, our I was being chased, the last one was most likely. I saw how low some of the branches were, and seeing as they weren't shooting at me, I must be out of sight. I brought Crescent back into my hand, but instead of the hilt, I grabbed near the end of the blade, after taking a turn I quickly used the curved edge to grab onto one of the more sturdy looking branches, when I began to lift myself though, the hilt broke, I hit the ground and ended up on my back. It took a while, but hearing the guards approaching, I couldn't sit here, I looked towards my sword and saw that the hilt didn't actually break, it was something more weird, the hilt instead had two hinges, the hilt was actually opened rather than broken, and two barrels were in the handle this entire time, waiting for the hilt to open. I grabbed onto the sword, trying to get it to change, but it didn't, instead, a trigger appeared on the handle. "No other choice" I mumbled to myself, I wanted to keep it non-lethal, and hopefully Crescent understood that.

"There!" The two guards approached, they saw the...'Broken' sword, and seemed amused, "Ain't so lucky now are ya?" I wrapped my finger around the trigger, if this did shoot one of the barrels, I wouldn't know what either did. The moment they lowered their weapons I raised Crescent and pulled the trigger, the force from it caused my arm to go up after firing it, the noise, while not very loud, still was loud enough to disturb things amongst the forest. After recovering from the surprise recoil, I saw the two guards being shocked before they fell down while I stood up.

"Good job Crescent" I would need some serious audacity to act like I did it all, maybe Crescent purposefully opened the hilt. While I was thinking, I flicked the sword up, hoping to use the momentum to reclose the hilt. It didn't work, the hilt went back to being open. "Something wrong?" I felt like Crescent was pulling downwards, as such, I flicked down instead, and a shotgun shell popped out steaming hot. The force from the opening sent it flying out and onto the floor. "Ah, course, I should reload it before closing the hilt right?" Crescent moved up and down. "Thanks for reminding me" I tried doing what Kenneth did, getting a normal shell, I reloaded the shotgun section, with the other section still not opening, when I put the shell in, it was marked with a thunderbolt. "Are you able to change what ammo can do?" Once more, up and down, giving me an answer the best way it could. "Thanks again then"

With no reason to keep standing there, Crescent and I began going back to the hill Sam and Kaz were on, Kenneth and Nicholai are probably going there as well, no reason for messaging. Once I reached the hill and started going up the trail, I heard a whistle, I looked up and saw two snipers aiming at me.

"It's Lee" After hearing my voice, and saying my name, the snipers lowered, and I could see Sam and Kaz. "Kenneth and Nicholai make it?"

"Yeah! They're a bit ahead on the trail" I nodded and continued, it hasn't been too long since I just climbed a mountain, in fact, it bothered me, climbing a mountain again so soon. At least it's not rock climbing...It took what felt like ages and days, but I eventually made it to the top.

"I'd say that was a success"

"I actually agree" Though slightly tired, I managed to answer Nicholai. "Good job everyone"

"Hip hip hooray!" Sam raised her open hand into the air. "Our first mission we picked was a win!" I raised Crescent like before and cut open a portal back to the base.

"Everyone in" As I asked, everyone one by one went in, with me being last. We were back at the cozy comfort of home, sadly I came to realize that...the portals don't close automatically. "Uh..." Luckily, no one was in our base, so they didn't find the other one. Crescent almost ripped out of my hand, only my thumb held on while my other fingers were opened, to my surprise, it actually caused the portals to close, I resheathed Crescent, adding the weight to my back.

The author's content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

"Handy Sword, handy drone" Sam purposefully fell back on the couch, laying down while stretching her arms out. "Wish there was more to do"

"Right, that mission was a pretty simple one" I sat on the arm rest while looking at the TV, as always it's playing something from a series we've seen before, yet never finished.

"And she had the boring job"

"It was nice" Kaz disagreed with Nicholai, considering how Kaz has been, being with Sam was probably enough for her.

"Hey Ken"

"Hm?" He turned his head towards me.

"Think you can find a way to make our weapons non-lethal?" Kenneth was going to answer till I recalled something "Oh, before you answer, you alright with getting modified a bit buddy?" I raised my arm over my shoulder and tapped Crescent. It moved forward and back. "Alright"

"I can modify them most likely, though, since the weapons are from us, and not exactly normal weapons, they may revert to how they were before"

"Fair point...it's still worth a try"

"Of course it is" Hearing that, Crescent got out from the sheath and flew over to Kenneth, floating beside him. "Nicholai, Sam, leave your weapons outside my door I'll handle them then"

"Alrighty!" Surprised it didn't become a thing sooner, but I had begun to only smell dry blood.

"Ugghhh...Is there a bath or something?" Immediately the four of them pointed in a direction "Was I really the only person who didn't know we had one?"

"Can't blame you, we only knew we had one because it was marked on the map" Nicholai, along with the others, lowered their hands, no longer pointing.

"Well, in I go then" I followed where they pointed before and found it relatively soon afterwards, the inside was unbelievably clean. "uh...don't really feel like a shower..." I turned the knob towards the hot water and started waiting for it to get to a certain point. "I guess I have the time to reflect on things..." The bathroom was made in a way I found interesting, once you enter, there's a stool and mirror to your left along with other things, then ahead more are two half walls on each side, with the center open...Thinking on this, the journal works in a weird way, I technically write things in it, but the blanks are filled by something else...which would include all this unnecessary stuff...maybe this is being written by that something else...or maybe the terrible scent was just actually getting to me. Should probably set a mat down... I did so, a mat with no design, simply just something that serves as a mat. After a minute or two of the tub filling, I finally got in and sat down. reflecting...reflecting... I didn't exactly know which part to reflect on, there was so much, and I could barely think. I closed my eyes and tried to relax, a deep breath in...and let the breath out...in...and out. When I opened my eyes, I wasn't where I was before, It felt like I was underwater, something compressing me. I was endlessly falling deeper into the ocean. What...is this place? As soon as I thought that, Roots from a rose appeared around my wrist before extending off into the water, a moment later, words appeared at the end of the root.

'What is this place?' Ah...Could this be...I wanted to try something. What are the Corrupted? Just like before Roots appeared, now around my ankle, extending off until words appeared 'What are the Corrupted' This place...It's for me to reflect on things isn't it? Soon, the roots connected to 'what is this place' had actual roses bloom from them, and more words appeared under it. 'This place lets me reflect on things I normally can't think about' Why only here? Nothing appeared, was this a question I was already meant to know the answer to? I guess this place can't cure oblivious people. Then, do the others have this?...Of course they do, right? Instead of another root wrapping around me, a new root stretched off from the one leading to 'What is this place' with a new one 'Can anyone else do this?' While the roots brightened slightly, no roses appeared. Is it because I'm not sure?...So I can't just guess things...This place knows if I have doubts...I might as well do this... I began to think of things i knew the answer to, just in case I forget one day... Some of them were simple, who is Sam, who is Kenneth, what's the name of my sword, ect, ect. I did review some important things.

'What is Eaxura? Eaxura is considered the homeworld of DTs, 500 million in fact. Eaxura has 4 districts, though I don't know what those are'

'What is Crescent? Crescent, is a sword from my soul, with rose engravings along with a moon amongst those roots'

What else was there...I looked up towards where the surface should be, yet, whether from me being under too long, or just being like this, I couldn't see the top. A few seconds after looking up, my sight went black before I actually felt as though I was drowning, I struggled, or at least tried to, I didn't know where to go, or even where I was. I eventually gave in, and took a breath even though I was under, instead of getting consumed by the water, I jolted up, my vision returned back to where I should be in a tub inside our base, I felt fine, no loss of breath, no damage to anything. So...just look up and drown to return back, good to know. I felt around my neck, nothing was wrong, yet I could still feel that sense of drowning. I sat back again Alright...no reflecting unless I need to...if it works like the HUD and other magic, maybe I can create some keyword for it to make it trigger...Mind Space...Reflection...I'll come up with something... I wasn't relaxed, I didn't know if I would go under again, but I wasn't exactly stressed either, merely sitting down and soaking in. Then my HUD appeared.

'You alive?'

-Ken

'Yeah, just entered some water space'

-Lee

'Pardon?'

-Ken

'Nothing, I'll be out soon'

-Lee

I rested my head on the back of the tub. There's always something new...always something...There wasn't anything eventful afterwards, I just looked towards the roof after actually using stuff to clean, dressed when I got out, and regrouped with the others.

"Your hair is so messy now" Sam was still laying down on the couch, resting her head on the armrest.

"Didn't feel like brushing or drying it" I noticed there were no weapons at Kenneth's door, yet Kenneth wasn't here, nor Crescent. Seems he's already putting himself to work. I also noticed that the scent of blood wasn't there anymore, instead a sweet smell you'd get from a field of flowers. How...unfitting...yet it's nice. I couldn't help but smile from it.

"What're you smiling at?" I hadn't even realized Nicholai reading a book on a chair, though, she had glasses on this time while reading.

"Nothing much...what's with the glasses?"

"I can see, it just helps so I don't strain my eyes"

"Never seen them before though..."

"Why would you? I didn't exactly read in school often"

"Guess you got a point" I didn't exactly know what we were going to do next. take on missions forever? That doesn't exactly seem right...I did want to get some magic under control, maybe understand that warping guy from before, it'd really suck if that was a trait but I don't find that likely. Our HUDs popped open like before.

New Mission

Recipients: Bravo Team

Sender: Kai

It read as such:

'Bravo Team, new mission for you all, simple too, there's a dimension where we have a train moving things, downside is it broke down midway, as such we need people to defend it while it's repaired, you don't have to worry about killing Reunion or other humanoid beings, it's purely creatures and beasts, I won't bother coming over and warping you all there, considering you already know how to open portals to places.(We see who completes missions, we have to pay them after all). I'll be in that world as well if you need me, though I find that unneeded.

A picture of a train was attached, along with surrounding areas.

Our HUDs closed once we finished reading.

"Well, we don't have a moment to wait" Like I summoned him, Kenneth walked out of his room, Dave was carrying Sam's weapons, while Kenneth held Nicholai's, Crescent of course, floating around.

"Couldn't finish them before we got that, but it's far enough in that it won't break when using the Lethal form"

"Thanks Ken" Crescent flew into my sheath, while the others got up and got theirs. "Where's Kaz?" Sam started turning and looking around her.

"Uh...Sleeping?" It was the only answer Sam could assume. "In my room probably"

"Well...no use waking her up then" As I did before, I cut open a portal to the train. "Everyone in" While everyone entered, Nicholai put her glasses in a case and gently closed the book in her hands, setting them on a table beside the chair.

'You're pushing yourself just so you know" Nicholai spoke up.

"Me?" She nodded.

"Even if I healed you, rest is a must, and no, a day is not enough" She already knew how I would respond. "We don't know how this fully works, and I'd rather not have your situation get worse...I will say though, Sam's situation may prove that we're stronger than normal...I don't see her coughing a storm up"

"For now... we know how it was before"

"And you say I'm the pessimistic one" With nothing else to say she headed in, and I followed shortly after. The world was darker than the picture, but I assumed it was just because time had passed, we ended up on the front of the train, even though I tried to get us off the train so that we could get a better look. I need to practice this more...It's inaccurate to where I want to go. This place looked familiar, the buildings, and structures far off...This...is earth isn't it? This...looks too similar to not be. I turned around to check the place out more, yet saw Kai leaning on the front railing, smoking.

"Friends are already inside, case you were wondering, they didn't bother to question things like you probably are." He blew out a puff of smoke.

"This place is earth, right?"

"What made you assume that?"

"Off in the distance, the buildings, those three skyscrapers, they look exactly like the ones in the city we were in"

"Well, maybe it is then"

"Why are you acting like you didn't know?"

"Why are you asking a ton of questions?"

"Because you chose us, you knew we died here, so why choose a bunch of rookies to protect something important? It seems to me the train's power is still on, unless it has some sorta infinite light bulb" Kai was silent, a few seconds passed before he let out another puff of smoke.

"There's no reason, but I will say, I have no qualms with you and your buddies heading back into the city for things, so long as you're back by midnight, where most of the creatures come."

"There were none when we were here"

"There was also no such thing as magic, DTs, and Corruptors when you were here" It was heavy sarcasm, clearly telling me 'You just didn't know'. It was true, We never really went outside during midnight. Seeing no reason to continue the conversation, I went inside. The inside of the train was fully lit and warm, seats, open spaces, it had sections you'd see in a normal train, and sections that you'd think it was a military base,

"We have an hour and half to get through before our mission actually begins" One of the soldiers spoke, the outfit they wore looks like a normal black suit with a white shirt under it, yet if I looked close enough, I could see the armor within it, a few people in the cart had this style. "What you all do in that time is of your own will, we'll regroup here when there's five minutes left." Like that, everyone split, while my crew came to me.

"So, what're we doing?" Nicholai had her arms crossed as she spoke. Upon asking the question, Sam smirked, reached into her pocket, and pulled out a deck of cards.

"The only option of course" She held the cards up, treating it like some priceless gem. "Ah! There's a table" Without even seeing our answers, she headed over to a table and got behind it.

"Might as well" Kenneth shrugged before we all joined her on the opposite side.

"Allllrighty! What's the game today?" She endlessly shuffled the cards while speaking.

"Blackjack" Nicholai was the first to respond.

"Isn't it twenty-one?" While taking a seat, I looked at Nicholai while awaiting an answer.

"Same game, name depends on the place most of the time"

"No other answers? Twenty-one it is" Getting an answer, Sam stopped shuffling "Left to right or right to left?" I was in the middle, thus, no real reason to answer.

"I'll take the first card" Kenneth being on my left, made it left to right.

"Okay!" And thus the cards started being dealt, one card facing up, and the other down. Sam didn't give any cards to herself, she was probably fine with just being the dealer. Looking at both the cards, it was a mix between disappointment and safety, a 2 and 7. Well...I can't exactly lose if I get another card, but there's a chance I get small numbers, and then a big one...Kenneth and Nicholai...they act in a certain way too...Breaking my line of thought, Sam put her hand in front of me, on the table.

"I'll take another." Another card was slid to the right of my cards, perfectly stopping when it got to where it should be, the card ended up being an 8. So a 17...I feel content with this... Sam went to Nicholai next, She shook her head, when Sam went to Kenneth, he already had a response.

"I'm good" Sam nodded, and went to me, I shook my head and she stepped back.

"Alright then, flip your cards over." Everyone, including me, grabbed our cards, flipped over the hidden ones, and put them near the middle. Kenneth went over 21 by 2, while Nicholai was at 14.

"Ah, felt that you two would go overkill" Nicholai rested her head on her arm which was on the table.

"You got one of us right" Sam grabbed the cards and began to shuffle them all again. Right when I was starting to relax, a hand went on the table, causing me to jump slightly.

"Got any room for more?" Some of the soldiers had gathered around the table.

"Always" Hearing an answer, they sat down. That's how the time went by, playing cards. By the near end, it somehow turned into a tournament.

"Oh shiiit!" The guards started hyping up the whole thing when it ended with me and another one of the guards.

"You got some wild luck man" The guard was at the other end of the table as the whole thing shifted people around.

"I simply call bluffs" There was no reason to lie and call it luck, I couldn't get a read on this guy through the entire thing. Our cards were given, two kings...a lovely sight, yet only a 20, not an instant win, and seeing how it's been for him, he's likely to somehow win regardless. Thinking on it...I haven't seen an ace all this time...there has to be a chance it's on the top, I can't really see what the guy's cards are...he's at a horrible angle for checking...yet the same goes for my cards too. The guard's face changed for a moment, into a bitter one. Is this a bluff? Or was there genuinely something wrong with the hand he had...Sam would already have an answer...Yet it's very clear she can't help here, It's up to me, and if I can't come up with an answer, I'll have to rely on luck alone. "I'll take another" With that, another card was placed, I had my fingers crossed as I looked over at it. 2...it's a 2. I let a sigh out after the other guard decided to keep the hand he had. We flipped our cards over, the guard has 14, while I was over with 22. Some of the guards cheered for my opponent, yet, I was surprised to hear that some of the guards were mad in my stead.

"Were there even any aces in there?" one of the guards questioned Sam, Sam set the cards down and took the one from the top, she raised the card and turned it, showing an ace. "Dammit! You did your best man" They patted my shoulder.

"Alright!" A soldier in different attire came through one of the carts. Instead of a black suit, it was more so a jacket, it looked even more sound and secure than the suits, along with having a CSF mark on the right shoulder(With the emblem too). "Five minutes until midnight, get ready" Sam quickly grabbed the four cards on the table, shuffled them and put them away, either in that inventory we have, or her pocket. The rest of us either stood up, or checked their gear. While I was checking for Crescent, Kenneth handed it to me, it seemed to have a new function to it, along with all of Bravo Team's weapons.

"I finished the non-lethal stuff while you were playing"

"Heh, thanks for that man, oh before I forget is Dave around?"

"He always is" Kenneth instantly responded to me, and like a summon, Dave appeared, uncloaking and floating beside us.

"Think you can provide us an overwatch, buddy?"

"Of course, I will provide aid from abov-"

"nhnh, Dave, try to not use any weapons yet, I dunno if they're really structurally sound."

"How the hell do you kids have so much shit?" One of the soldiers looked overwhelmed at us.

"We survived two years in an apocalypse, we didn't really have much else to do besides learn and make" Kenneth was the one who answered, though he didn't really mention the fact that all him and his sister did was study...and study.

"Guess that answers the question...heh, you should start making stuff for all the DTs and CSF, get paid that way instead of risking your necks" I could tell Kenneth actually put consideration into that.

"2 minutes!" The jacket CSF soldier reminded us. I looked out the front window to see Kai snuffing out whatever he was smoking.

"BT, let's head out!" I got Sam and Nicholai's attention, we all headed out onto the front and waited.

"First wave missions are always difficult, don't mess it up" Kai sounded like he was only referring to me, though it was difficult to tell, as he stared off into the forest. Soon the lights on the front of the train turned on, as the entire system began to let out a loud mechanical roar as it started up.

"Systems finally dried out, we'll start repairing the system, shouldn't take longer than a quarter hour, stay on guard!" Someone spoke on an unseeable intercom. Guess that's why we had to wait till midnight. The trees' leaves began to rustle, along with a few bushes. We all hopped over the railing, followed shortly by the other soldiers.

"Everyone ready!?" The jacket CSF soldier got to the front, wielding a flail. With the warning of rustling leaves, creatures that looked akin to dogs came rushing towards us, their heads cracking apart before splitting into three segments, they all started getting pinged along with ones we didn't see around us. I saw Sam perfectly fine with all this right...no blood came out from them...why though? I felt a rush of wind beside me, and throwing a wild guess, I summoned Crescent and slashed upwards towards my left, with the momentum, one of the dogs were launched over me as they were almost cut in half.

"Not this time fuckers" Though I just killed something, a small ounce of joy was within me, the joy you get for persevering.

"They're not the same robots!" Kenneth ran past me after making the, firing an arrow before changing and throwing his spear. The arrow shocked the dogs around, yet, without warning, and very much to everyone's surprise, when the spear hit one of the dogs, the shock from the arrow went over to the spear and had another shock blast of its own. "Guess that works?" He looked over to me while shrugging.

"Hey Ruben!" Kai spoke up to the jacket CSF "Co-op!" The jacket CSF's flail turned something similar to a mace, Kai ran over, leapt up onto the spikes of the mace, but instead of stabbing him, the spikes had some aura around it. "Go!" The mace turned back into a flail by launching the chain forward, causing Kai to also be sent into the air, the spikes were following, yet none were missing from the flail, he swung his legs down forcing all the spikes to be sent across the field closer to where the creatures were coming from, each time a spike managed to pierce one of the creatures, it pulled in more of them, and any survivors of the pull were soon killed when Kai slammed into the ground, breaking pieces of the ground but not anywhere near the tracks for the train.

"Cool!" I could hear Sam comment.

"Hey Kenneth, that gives me an idea!" A group of the creatures rushed towards me "Crescent, wall if you will!" Crescent left my hands and struck the fire wall similar to before. "Back to what I was saying"

"Go ahead" Kenneth fired an arrow at one behind us, yet the creature side-stepped out of the way and continued rushing towards us.

"I'll use my curved hilt to hook onto one, launch it into the air, you'll hit it with an arrow and redirect the charge with your spear"

"Ah, I get it, so we can have a more controllable electric attack"

"Spot on" One of the creatures became bold and leapt through the fire wall, though they were burned, they weren't killed, I whistled for Crescent, yet they didn't respond. Why did I think that would work without running it through Crescent first? I summoned Crescent to my hand instead, the moment the dog leapt at me, I crouched down before swinging the hilt at them, when i felt resistance I knew it hit, and so I stood and swung further up but the dog didn't come off. "Crescent, hilt!" The hilt opened like before, with the momentum it caused the beast to get off the curved, bladed, hilt. I pulled the trigger, causing the beast to be launched further into the air. "You're up!" I looked to Kenneth, He rushed over before sliding across the dirt ground, he hit the creature directly below it, before quickly turning and throwing his spear. Like before, the charge from the arrow redirected towards the beasts around his spear, however, before the shock went off, the beasts were blasted apart from each other, then, each one of them let off a shock-field.

"I think I get it, my spear redirects all effects, though, how does a shotgun have some blast effect?" He turned his head to his side, looking at me with one eye while his back was towards me.

"Figured it out earlier, Crescent changes the shell to what's best for the situation"

"Handy, let's keep this move in mind alright?"

"Alright" We bumped our fists together.

"They're heading to the back of the train!" One of the soldiers spoke out.

"CSF! Head to the back and get them off, we'll hold the front" Kai spoke for all of us, yet we all clearly became worried when we understood we would have to defend it by ourselves.

"Understood!" We watched as 80% of the defenses left.

"Kai!?" I shouted over to him.

"We'll be fine, just holler if you need something" His weapon changed to a two-handed hammer, he sprinted towards a group of the beasts, jumped up, twirled with immense speed, and slammed into the ground, forcing black specks to rise before exploding on the creatures.

"Sam! Idea"

"Hmhm?" Sam was mostly keeping her distance from the enemies, using the chains to either wrap around the enemies and slam them down, or throwing her weapons and piercing them before ripping them out.

"How much knockback is from the sniper?"

"Uh...I had a few stuff to choose from...There's one that's just pure knockback"

"So they wanted us to try this..."I mumbled to myself. "Here's the id-" I ducked under as one of the creatures leapt at me, I went to fire the shotgun but was met with a click "Goddamnit!" I flicked down and went to summon a shell. The beast recovered from the missed jump, it was priming another leap till a scythe slammed down on, impaling it.

"Seems someone else needs to be reminded to reload" Nicholai dug her scythe out before sprinting back to where she was before. Sam soon took her place near me.

"What was the plan?"

"What if I hook on you, you fire the knockback round, and I use that momentum like a launched blade?"

"You want me to send you flying?"

"Worth a shot no?" Seeing the dogs distracted by Kai's once more, new weapon and attacks, I latched the hilt onto Sam, ready to be launched.

"Ready?" I nodded, I expected a small spin, maybe a quick one, what I didn't expect, is for everything to instantly become a blur as I got hit with nausea, I went to go hold my mouth before I threw up, yet realized I had raised the wrong hand, sending me into a tree instead, the sudden impact caused a small cough, I felt completely ill, but not to the point where I wouldn't realize a few of the creatures coming for me. I took out my revolver and fired a few shots, none were exceptional shots, but good enough to put them down or send them running.

'You okay!?'

-Sam

Sam was clearly dazed, even from where I was that was noticeable, yet, she still managed to hold her own if not with a few attacks from the beasts connecting.

'Focus on your own health for now'

-Lee

I managed to stand

"Crescent!" I raised my hand into the air, and after a few seconds a small pull from the speed Crescent came at me with.

"They're pooling into the train!" The intercom person spoke, and from Kai's radio, we got a response.

"We're having issues at the back, we can't help"

"Kai, think you can manage?"

"Hell no!" Kai looked back at me with anger.

"Lee, you'll be fine if you go alone, we trust ya" I couldn't tell if it was Nicholai's sarcasm or not, but trusting her, I decided it wasn't. I started going back to the front of the train to get on, but I could tell I wouldn't be able to hop over the rail.

"I got ya!" Sam put her hands together and lowered herself

"Sorry!" I knew it would hurt her but I didn't exactly have a quicker option. With a small hop I landed on her hands where she promptly threw them up, giving me the height to hop over the railing.

"We really did get stronger" I heard Sam speak as I rushed up the stairs and into the train, the maintenance crew were holding off some of the creatures with rifles and other firearms.

"A DT is here!" I felt guilty for some reason, like I didn't exactly match the expectation they had. I took out my revolver and fired alongside the others. "DT to your left!" One of the beasts broke through the window and toppled over me. My revolver slid across the floor, Crescent was going to save me until another one leapt over the makeshift barricade and grabbed onto it, my arm started to get gnawed on, I tried reaching for my revolver but it was out of reach and soon taken by one of the creatures. I kept trying to summon them, yet whatever the beasts were doing prevented it

"Come on!" I then remembered, those two weren't all I had. I summoned the knife from the trails and stabbed it through the side of the beast's head, at first the gnawing got worse, but soon it released. I stood up and kicked the beast who grabbed the revolver, I picked it up and fired at the one holding Crescent. "To me!" Crescent flew over and hovered near me. "Be careful, but strike them down" Crescent then left me, flying around with speed while slashing any beast it could. "You all, focus on the train." Knife in my left hand, and revolver in my right, I began to fire at any easy target, when one started dodging, and eventually leapt at me, I'd hold my revolver straight so they'd bite the gun first, then stab the creature through the bottom of their jaw.

"We're here!" The train car door opened, and a barrage of bullets tore apart the creatures until they became pure mush, afterwards, silence.

"That all?" One of the maintenance crew spoke. They seemed joyful a DT was here...are they not DTs themselves?

"Everyone okay?" Soon, Bravo Team joined up as well.

"Yes, we can get going now" Once more, the maintenance crew. After everything was checked, the train started running, and at the end of the tracks, a big portal appeared, large enough for the whole train to fit.

"Good work everyone" The jacket CSF started clapping, and soon the other soldiers cheered.

"Lemme see" Nicholai spoke behind me, but it was very much directed at me, I rolled up my sleeve and turned around. "Not too bad...makes me wonder if they made our outfits more sturdy too." She applied a patch on the wound before bringing the sleeve back down. "Move it" I did as she said, I was able to move it without any restraint. "Good" We all took a seat back at the table we were before, I made sure my wounded arm wasn't dangling, but instead resting on the table, Sam, like before, stood at the opposite side of the table, smiling.

"Everyone!" She spoke to the whole car. "Who's ready for another round!"

"Let's go!"

"Victory will be mine this match!"

Everyone cheered as we had the time for another mini torney...whether I won or not...well...that's not important.