Exactly two weeks into the apocalypse, Noir woke up to the sound of weapons smashing into each other.

A quick gaze out of his window confirmed his suspicion, the soldiers of already training before he even woke up.

Slowly, he prepared himself for the day, quickly washing up with cold water and trimming his beard to fit look as sophisticated as possible.

He put the purple contacts in and used a bit of grease to style his hair, quickly brushing his teeth before putting on black jeans and a fitting shirt, the task of wearing clothes had become much harder after his ape induced growth.

It was once again time to go shopping.

Quickly, he went to the kitchen, finding that his apprentices had already eaten, and doing the same.

When his routine was finally completed, he rolled his shoulders and looked around, a nearby unibun hopping to him as he left to gather his allies.

"Conquest, war, death, it is time for us to go on our weekly quest." He proclaimed, the apprentices grinning as they approached, his friend a little confused when none answered his questions on their missions' nature.

"We visit those heroic guys again and take some groceries and similar stuff."

As they began their journey, he realized that he forgot to take his pills again, Noir's grasp on this new reality now stronger than it ever was while he still took them.

The group traveled most of the path in silence, closing in on the mall when a group of robot like creatures approached them.

"Evil identified, commencing attack." They stated, electricity gathering in their weapons as they prepared to shoot.

Noir was unsure on how to act, reaching out to nearby roaches and forcing them to climb the machines as his power suffused their body and mind.

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Marc awakened the few corpses in the immediate surroundings, having canine jaws latch onto their opponents legs.

Mia began a ritual to summon infernal flames, knowing that she barely had time for it.

At that moment, Johan pulled forth his sword.

A single strike of his split the bullets apart, giving Mia the time needed for her flames to engulf the opponents, their robotic shells melting under the hellish inferno.

As they were destroyed, the constructs imploded, reducing them to a single red-hot ball of metal that the group avoided.

Their path was further littered with similar things, and their tactic improved over time.

When Noir detected one with his foresight, Marc would begin to awaken nearby dead matter without actually making it do something.

Following that, Mia would ready her inferno spell, and Johan would dash forward and unleashed the gathered Focus on one of the bots, having the others change their aim. This process took long enough for Mia to unleash her spell, and quickly end the encounter.

Any time someone was hurt, Noir did his best to heal them.

Thus, it became a great learning opportunity for all of them.

From time to time, Marc would use the awakened corpses to restrain the machines, though most of it was gathered in a hulking golem that followed him, its rotting body enough to attract numerous insects noir quickly began taking advantage off.

It took them half a day to reach the mall once more, and again, a group of teenagers greeted them by pointing self-made weapons at them, though they seemed much more professional than before.

The trident was actually a singular piece, and their clothes were adjusted to fit them.

"We have united with the Tex, there is no way for you to beat us this time!"

The children shouted, actually being somewhat menacing, until the hulk pushed them away.

"You know kids, we have come as all four of the horsemen, and ready to inspect the heroes' growth. A twisted light has been glowing in these parts, and we must take once again to strengthen the dark horde. Remember kids, like death follows a war, there will always be a bigger fish."

The boys and girls didn't even have time to react as Johan disarmed them, and a quick flurry of blows from Noir froze them in place within seconds.

The Hulk remained with them, simply sitting down and hiding as part of the environment, when the party continued their way towards the store.

They stole hygiene products and large amounts of seed, as well as crickets, from the pet shop. One of which the horseman of Plagues consumed himself, before paralyzing them with his power and taking a few more things.

"So, this entire journey was for us to do some over glorified shoplifting and terrorize a bunch of literal kids?"

Johan asked, Noir smiling as he shook his head.

"It was to leave a warning and strengthen their narrative. We want them to become the heroes opposing us, as they will most likely be the ones to make decent rivals."

They all shared a grin as Noir put a bottle of Vodka into his back, a moment of peace quickly stopped as screams came from the outside.