Mugen Hx

I. The streets is now quiet. Only the contaminated gale of wind is heard passing by. Soon after the silence, the machines come to investigate and spotted the zombies that Cronos and Kaguya didn't meet. They didn't register that the zombies are living beings nor mechanical objects so they left them alone. The situation has gotten worse with the possibility of fighting both zombies and machines.

"This is bad. I'll need to refrain using my guns for now." said Kaguya as she neatly strapped her guns on her hiking backpack. She switches to her combat knife. Its peculiar design is more of a stabbing weapon but in combat, Kaguya seems to be slashing her enemies with this along with her peculiar steps. The stepping motion she does is how she traverse the terrain and she is utilizing it in combat as a way of getting out of danger, especially dodging at the expense of her stamina.

Cronos greatly assists Kaguya as a dealer. He switches to attack and defend and finishes the weakened enemy with Hard Hit to reduce their numbers. Kaguya focuses on wounding the enemies that she attacks with her knife and she acts like a distraction by using obstacles to slow the enemies down, allowing Cronos to fight unbothered.

II. They successfully crossed the street while avoiding detection from the machines that are currently fighting the zombies. "Let's head this way." said Kaguya as she points to the west street. Cronos agrees with her and they both walk cautiously, prepared to take the ambush.

But... No enemies at sight? This place is even quieter than before. There are signs of battle but not one body is left on the ground. "Are zombies preparing for an ambush?" asked Cronos. Kaguya shakes her head and answered, "No, they wouldn't be this silent as they move by instincts." They look around and noticed that the windows that are on the ground floor are all smashed. Peeking inside, there are signs of commotion that happened and judging by the footprints on the ground, these are not footprints belonging to zombies, but living humans. Even the doors are not locked but barricaded on the other side.

"Do you think there are still people left alive in this place?" asked Kaguya with worries in her voice. Cronos says that it is possible. Forget about heading north blindly. The signs are there. There must be a group that are surviving the battlefield. The two takes a momentary rest before they continue their journey to find the group of people that are still living in this world.

III. Everywhere you look, the streets is painted black with all the dried blood that has been around. Every building that you peek into are all looted for supplies. Kaguya is thankful that she didn't use her resources but what if they cannot eat nor drink? Cronos didn't feel the need to eat in the first place since he ate but the thought makes him hungry.

When they are about to rest, dozens of drones are coming towards their location. The two prepared for battle but the drones were shot down by another third party. A wave of machines are coming. There is a loud shout behind the two. "Boys and girls! Give these scraps what they deserve! Screw them all!"

People, dressed with the unmodest clothes you ever seen, are firing their guns towards the machines. Some even have futuristic looking weapons that even Cronos is unfamiliar of. "Give them hell!" shouted by one charismatic thug. Everyone cheered and laughed as they slaughtered the machines and winning unscathed. "Hell yeah baby! We rule this street!" shouted the thug again. His companions celebrated by firing their weapon up in the air which makes Kaguya speechless.

IV. The thug sizes up Cronos and Kaguya when he sees them. His face looks smug with a noticeable shaved beard and mustache around his cheeks and chin. He looks like a bald brown thug who often parties in a rock concert or someone who drinks alot of beer in a speakeasy. He wears a bright red cotton short sleeved hoodie with black pants and black steeltoed sneakers. The first word that came out of his mouth is, "You punks are from around here. What the hell are you doing in our turf?!"

Cronos prepares himself for the confrontation but Kaguya touches his shoulder and said, "Don't fight. We cannot win against 20 armed thugs." The thug that is speaking has a smug look as he is confident that he has the upperhand with all his fellow thugs have his back. Cronos felt disbelief and anger that he loses like this. The thug sees how Cronos looks angry about this situation which made him laugh.

"Damn, you twerp have that look in your eyes. Good, I respect your defiance." said the thug. His fellows laughed out loud which makes Kaguya concerned. The thug reaches out for a handshake, which surprises Cronos. "How about you and your girlfriend come with us to my turf. We could use some extra manpower here." said the thug charismatically while looking ugly

V. Cronos didn't understand the handshake etiquette and assumed it as a test of strength. He grabs the thugs hand and grips it hard. No bueno, the thug's hand is far larger than his. He couldn't grip it. The thug and his fellow thugs laughed at this attempt of showing strength and Kaguya winced from embarassment. The thug welcomes the challenger but he said this isn't the right time for such thing.

Zombies are now approaching and the thug has an idea in mind. "Boys and girls, let me and these son and daughter of bitches fight these freaks." said the thug confidently. His fellow thugs cheered which attracted the zombies' attention. Kaguya is shocked and she asked, "Are you crazy mister?" The thug cracks his knuckles and wears his brass knuckles. "You haven't seen what I can do girly. Go support your boyfriend or whatever." said the thug is tease her. Kaguya's face goes red and calls the thug a fool.

Cronos and Kaguya takes their usual position, Cronos being frontline and Kaguya at rearline. Shockingly, the thug went further in. He doesn't respect who goes first. "Screw the rules. I will smash these freaks." said he with an arrogant tone. A zombie tries to grab him and he let it happen. Kaguya is shocked once again and calls him out to get away. The thug makes a smug face as he decides to just heatbutt the zombie making it lose balance, the proceeds to stomp it and shouts like a barbarian. His fellow thugs cheered for him.

Cronos and Kaguya decided to just handle the zombies coming to the right, with Kaguya doing the assist. Cronos can slay the zombies with one swing each with his Parallel Chronoblade. A sign that he got stronger than before. Kaguya is already familiar of the zombies' weak spot so she pops them with headshots and disable them with a leg shot aiming for the knees to slow them down. The thug begins to shout insults loudly and more zombies arrive.

"What is your problem?!" shouted Kaguya in fear. The thug laughed. "Killing them freaks makes our trip much more easy." said he. The shout attracted the zombies to his direction, ignoring Cronos and Kaguya. Kaguya couldn't believe this is happening. Zombies wouldn't ignore what is in front of them but when the thug shouted insults toward them they now targetted him. His Taunts are that bad enough that zombies want him dead.

He bites more than he can chew though as zombies begin to claw him with their nails. Kaguya shoots all the zombies that are harrassing the thug. "As expected." he muttered. The thug begins recklessly attack the group of zombies to the frontline, smashing them one by one with Haymakers. Cronos noticed that while the thug is getting injured, not once he did get grabbed by them. Him throwing his fist keeps the zombies at the side away from him as he bobs and weaves, utilizing his flexibility. He is just displacing the zombies' position for Kaguya to finish them off without worry hitting the thug. The thug is not just brawn but has the brain.

All the zombies in the area are all defeated. Injured but instead of groaning from pain, this thug lets out an uplifting shout. His fellow thugs fired their guns up in the air in respond to his shout. Cronos thinks the thug is weird but a good warrior nontheless and Kaguya views this thug as a dangerous reckless man.

VI. Once again, the thug coerces Cronos and Kaguya to follow them back to their base. Coercion being a suggestion with no other options to be considered. Cronos agrees since he sees this a good opportunity while Kaguya is reluctantly follows. "Don't worry you pricks. Big Simmon Brock and company will take care of you." said the thug. Simmon Brock even though looks like a thug, has the charisma for others to willingly follow him.

It is clear that Simmon's gang cleared the area free from hostile non-humans. They reached the Cinema which is fully barricaded by the entrance. Floodlights light up the place. It does scream "People are here" so whoever saw this so it is a surprise that this Cinema has not fallen from being attacked by machines. Kaguya looks up and she sees that there are sentries posted above the roof. They carry sniper rifles with alot of variety. Some even scrapped from machines and remade it into a futuristic scrap gun capable of firing lasers. For a group of thugs, they are very resourceful.

Entering the Cinema thanks to Simmon Brock, the thugs inside welcome Cronos and Kaguya. Whispers tell how sexy Kaguya is. Kaguya closes her jacket to hide her body but it just emphasized her figure more. In the center of the Cinema, the ticket booth is remodeled into some sort of shop. Simmon explained, "Listen up. This is the Jam Rock. Its our turf that we claimed for ourselves. We screw over those scrapheads and meatheads and get resources from the hood. We all family surviving and thriving and screw the assholes throwing shit ton of trouble for us."

"You're just filling up your ego with your Good Samaritan bullshit." says a mature woman. Upon observation, this woman is in her late 30s and she has green eyes, wears a makeup, her hair is originally corn yellow but it is dyed brown, wears a light blue sleeved shirt underneath that black short long-sleeved jacket that emphasize her curvy figure, shorts with garter belts, and a pair of long boots. Behind her back is a medical kit. The buldge suggests it contains bandages and bottles. Simmon laughs, "Cmon Alice. What I said is not half bullshit."

VII. Alice sighs. She begins introducing herself. "Hey there pretty boy. My name is Alice and I am an assistant to this fucking hooligan whose dream is to make a fucking brothel. He is rather ambitious to his dreams." Kaguya gets shivers and hides behind Cronos. Alice sighs and said, "Relax. Boss doesn't prioritize that for now. In fact, he led a bunch of thugs and whores to claim this cinema for our own. He has been leading the charge as the captain of the Rock Gang and kept our supplies up without fail. Over the course of his actions, Boss got better at leadership and gain respect to all the people around here. We get injured a thing or two but Boss wouldn't let that and chose to be a Guard and a Thug for everyone's sakes. If only that he were to learn how not to be a degenerate." Simmon shouts at Alice and called her a bitch for it. Alice is unbothered. She does seem to be very dignified and prideful assistant.

Cronos asked, "What do we do here in this base?" Alice answered, "Good question. In the cinema breakroom, there is a whole different room that was not suppose to be there. Stupid dickheads went and got their asses frozen. We had to improvise a broomstick into a hook just to drag their pants out of that place. Its fucking cursed I tell you." Cronos understands. "Let me take a look." Alice replied, "Are you fucking nuts?"

Kaguya answered, "We can move there freely. Don't worry." Alice is dumbfounded. She hits her head with a palm and accepts their volunteer. They went to the Cinema Breakroom. It should look like a Breakroom with lots of breakers responsible for the electricity for the entire place but instead it is a futuristic place that looks like a Communication Center from a spaceship. Cronos and Kaguya enters the Communication Center which surprised Alice and impressed Simmon Brock.

Kaguya commented, "This place looks like a laboratory. That computer over there. Maybe we can look through the archives." said Kaguya as she begins to press random buttons. The text are written in English which made Kaguya cry. "I don't know how to read this either." said Cronos. He is unfamiliar with the texts. He looks at the frozen Alice and Simmon outside of the space anomaly. He thinks they can help so he grabs them and let them enter the space.

Alice screamed and slaps Cronos by the cheeks. "Fucking rude you dickhead." Simmon just laughs out lout thinking it is hilarious. Still, its fortunate that both Alice and Simmon can speak English which Kaguya is also familiar with. Which begs the question, how are they understanding one another? Kaguya revealed the fact that she is Japanese and both Simmon Brock and Alice are both Americans. Cronos says that he speaks Common Language, which to no surprise, all of them think Cronos is stupid to think his claims is believable.

VIII. Alice begins typing in words but is bummed to see that it is locked with access codes. Without a password, she couldn't unlock the computer terminals. Kaguya sees that it is a shame. Without Cronos, Alice and Simmon won't be getting out of the space anomaly.

Cronos said, "Unlike other space anomalies we encountered, this particular anomaly have now completely merge with the present space. People may enter this without being frozen in place." It is a good news. "Good, I will make the nerds hack this terminal. I'll be in the Ticket Booth if you need me." said Alice before she leaves. Simmon grabs Cronos over his shoulder and said, "Hey kid. Wanna join my Rock Gang?" Cronos replies that his decision will be decided later.

Simmon gives a tour around Jam Rock, explaining each facilities that are built. The Cinema is connected with the mall and the shops to the left side of the mall is converted into dormitories where Simmon's gang resides. On the ground floor, there is a large canteen. Every thugs can be seen hanging out and watching video tapes to entertain themselves. Further to the dormitories are the so called Love Rooms. Kaguya hides her ears as she can hear sinful noises she ever heard in her entire life. Simmon explains that everyone are on edge so he had the idea of making a brothel to improve everyone's morale. Alice is the one managing the brothel in his stead along with other receptionists that they rescued. To the right wing there are numerous craft shops making clothes and weapons for everyone's use. There is a police station and they are using the only cell to punish rule breakers to make them regret crossing the line. "Assholes like them must be taught a lesson." A black haired woman in shades dressed in a police uniform looks at Simmon with a piercing gaze which frightens him. Simmon leads Cronos and Kaguya out of the police station as soon as possible.

Kaguya asks where they produce their food and Simmon answers that they are building planter boxes to plant potatoes and sweet potatoes they got from the supermarket. They still figuring out how to plant the other crops. Just a few of the thugs knew how to plant potatoes and sweet potatoes. And they have big plans to increase the yield so everyone will have no worry leaving Jam Rock to their doom.

IX. An old school jazz is played throughout the mall's stereo. This creates a relaxing mood for those who hears it. The base even if it is chaotic, is a rather nice place to settle in. Kaguya is unsure this is a good thing. Simmon says that they will continue going outside to look for survivors and resources for Jam Rock and he is considering hiring both Cronos and Kaguya as the explorers. "We need all the help we can get." he commented. He is actually good looking if he is not making a smug face but a serious one. Its no wonder how many women go crazy for this man.

Cronos tries to awkwardly reach out his hand for a handshake. He is willing to accept. Kaguya sighed and sees that this a reasonable course of action. They have a safe settlement to settle and will get more information if the hackers successfully hacked the ternimal in the Break Room. Simmon lets them take an empty dormitory to take a rest in. The place is rather large considering its once used to be a store.

The dormitory has two beds with dressers next to each bed. The coffee table and the couch makes the place look cozy and a television with a compact disc player is placed directly in front of the couch. Its plugged in the socket so the television works. No channels though so you could only watch what Simmon's gang could provide. And there are few movies in the shelves. Most are school romance movies. The architect and the engineer are great considering they built a wall and a door to add privacy for the dormintory to what used to be glass wall and glass door. The place is well lit too. Unfortunately there is no fridge nor kitchen so they need to go to the canteen to the ground floor to get meals they can eat. Also bathroom is not there but its near so it won't cause concern. There are still many spaces left that Kaguya believes she can make use of some stuff to decorate the dormitory.

For now, they take a rest for the day.