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"WOAH!" Honda slammed down into the ground-er, wall-of the RV, the attack and scream throwing his focus off. "Ugh...what was that?!" He got to his feet, noticing the girl toppled over. "Junko!! You all right?!" Poor skinny thing like that, she was no match for things that strong!

@Atomic Knight @Josh
 
"Miss Junko?!"

Stumbling, shotgun in hand, Eliis rushed over towards the girl, lightly touching her, checking if she was okay. Turning towards, Honda Ellis almost looked worried.

Alright, so they're like a dozen out there with a charger. I'll pop out, take out a few with my shottie and get the away from the And you? Picture this; how about we give it some of it's own medicine? You think you can man handle that there charger? Isn't some charging towards you part of being a sumo? If you take him out, it'll be easer to wipe out the group. After that we just push the RV up and we're on our way. Sound like a plan?"

@Atomic Knight @Yun Lee

 
Honda listened to Ellis' plan, and grinned. "Gahahaha! Ellis, you just made my day! All this hacking and whacking...it'll be nice to wrestle something for once!"

He looked up above them, to the door, as he attempted to find a good seat to place Junko. "Who goes first, you or me?"

@Atomic Knight @Josh
 
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Despite the attack of the infected, Claire and the gang managed to make it to the child in need. The frightened voice of the child tugged at the keyblade master's heartstrings, and she found herself making a rare mistake: she let her guard down. Upon reaching the infected that spewed acid, before Carol killed it, Aqua failed to dodge right away and ended up getting her legs burned by the acid. It was a wound she could surely heal later if need be, but at the moment she needed to focus her skills on protecting Elle and Claire. She erected a magical barrier, as she had done many times in the past, but her speed had slowed due to the burns on her legs. She winced at the painful sensation, but did her best to ignore it for now.

Alerting her senses once more, Aqua pointed her keyblade at the hoard surrounded the now toppled RV and began firing bursts of fire magic in an attempt to pick off some of the small fry. "Ugh, we need to stop the one with the big arm." Getting to the creature, however, would be a chore with the smaller infected blocking the way. So, for now, she focused her magical attacks on them while keeping one eye on Claire and Elle.

@Atomic Knight @Yun Lee @Josh @CrunchyCHEEZIT
 
Without much thought, Carol popped a couple of shots into the infected with the big arm. The monster used its arm like a shield and took the brunt of the damage. "You've gotta be kidding me," Carol muttered under her breath. The creature did not seem entirely too intelligent as it took a long moment to wave its big arm around to smack away a few of the more common infected swarming around it. "Don't let it get too close!" Carol warned.

Elle's screams turned to whimpers as she observed the magical barrier erected around herself and Claire. The older woman squeezed her hand and let out a heavy breath. Claire winced, feeling sweat roll down her forehead and into her eye. This situation was as dire as she could have imagined. She had to hand it to Ellis and his friends for managing to survive in a world as harsh as this one. "Just hold on, Elle," she said to the little girl. "My... Um, Aqua is thinning the herd for us."

Junko could not sit still. She could feel a pain running down her side from the fall, but it felt strangely distant in her current haze. She let out a pained, bitter laugh as she wiggled out of Honda's grasp and grabbed Ellis' shotgun from him. "That bastard's gonna pay for fucking up my nails!" she screamed before making a rabid leap for the RV door that was now above them.

Junko shimmed her torso up and out of the RV. She looked down at the rampaging Charger with hate in her eyes. "Leave us the fuck alone!" With that, Junko pulled the trigger. The recoil slammed the gun back into her stomach and she toppled over the side of the RV with a yelp. As for the Charger, it yelled out in pain, sounding almost human-like as its blood splattered across the pavement. It still staggered on its feet however and looked ready to charge at the bubble around Elle and Claire. Junko grit her teeth and got to her feet, steeling herself to fire one more shot into the Charger so that it fell to the ground, finally dead.

The stragglers nearby were finished off by Aqua's magic and a few shots from Carol. Junko let out an animalistic cry of victory and raised Ellis' shotgun above her head.

It was then that a bullet was fired into the RV right next to Junko, causing her to jump. "Put that down now, little missy," said a male voice.

Junko's eyes went wide as she stared at a burly blond man aiming a rifle at her. She quickly complied and dropped the shotgun on the ground. The barrier around Claire then dissipated and she pulled Elle closer to her. She eyed other men stepping out to stand next to the man, most of them armed with guns. There had to be at least six of them by her count. Out of the corner of her eye, she spotted Carol hiding behind the RV, having apparently the noticed the men before any of them.

The blond man, who Claire unconsciously called Blondie in her head, nodded to the RV. "Looks like you've had a bit of trouble. We'll take your ride off your hands. Your guns too, if you don't mind."

@Josh @Yun Lee @CrunchyCHEEZIT @Neko Shogun
 
"Woah! Nice work, Junko!" Honda called from inside the RV. Sure, he wished he could've taken that thing on with his own skills, but hey, whatever worked in this hellhole! As Junko got out of the RV, Honda followed suit, pulling himself out of the RV opening with a bit of extra muscle work. He managed to get up onto the RV just as the gunshot sounded and the group of men made their appearance. Oh boy...as if the dead weren't bad enough, they had to deal with some of the living, too?

Honda jumped down off the RV, standing to his full height and crossing his arms. "I don't know, fellas. There are plenty of cars and guns around here," he said, his usual joviety replaced by a stern tone. "Don't see why you need a turned over RV with a bullet in it."

@Atomic Knight @Neko Shogun @Josh @CrunchyCHEEZIT
 
Blondie tapped the side of his head. "Guess you don't think very hard then, eh?" he said with a smile. He surveyed the scene a moment before focusing his gaze on Claire. "Hold the little one close if you want. We just want your gun. Chop, chop."

"M-Me too?" Junko asked, sounding unsure.

Blondie didn't regard her with much attention. "What do you think?"

Junko nodded and kicked Ellis' shotgun over to the men. It was promptly picked up by a man next to Blondie. Claire moved slowly to do the same, trying to give Carol some time to act. It seemed these men hadn't noticed her. Assuming they were native to this world, they likely also didn't realize Aqua's ability to use magic.

"You'll be leaving us practically defenseless," Claire said. "We have a child with us. Don't you care?"

"You seem pretty capable," Blondie replied. "Besides, you have some muscle, don't you?" He nodded to Honda, then narrowed his eyes on Claire's gun. It seemed he was growing impatient. Claire had no choice but to toss him it.

It was then that a single infected stumbled out into the street nearby. Blondie and his men looked toward the disturbance and of them moved to shoot it dead. Carol took this is an opportunity to move from behind the RV and aim her gun at the men. Of the six, four had guns. Carol aimed at one of them and hesitated for what was probably a second too long and shot a bullet into the man's leg, sending him falling to the ground with a pained cry. She was a quick shot and was already shooting at the second man, but her initial hesitation made it so she could only get to two of them before Blondie fired back at her, catching Carol in the shoulder.

Elle let out a sob at the violence and Claire found herself gritting her teeth. She couldn't do anything here, not with Elle's safety in mind.

"You're all in a load of fucking trouble now!" Blondie bellowed. He aimed his rifle down at the prone Carol. There was something about her that Claire felt was off. The intensity the older woman carried seemed lesser now. "Any more of you wanna come stepping out of the woodwork?!"

@Josh @Yun Lee @CrunchyCHEEZIT @Neko Shogun
 
Honda glowered as these men went about taking their guns. Leaving a group full of young women to fend for themselves against a world full of zombies unarmed? No...these guys were no good. So he didn't feel all that bad seeing two of them get incapacitated.

...and he wouldn't feel too bad about what he was about to do next, either. With Blondie distracted by Carol, the sumo made his move. Grabbing at the leader, Honda pulled him into what could only be described as a bear hug, tight enough that even a big guy like Blondie would have trouble breaking out at first.

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Honda dug his heel into the ground as if to steady himself, but in actuality, he was indicating something with it: Blondie's own gun, which someone could possibly swipe in the few precious moments they had. "Nobody move! I see you move even an inch, and I break his spine clean in half!" A threat he would never, ever follow through on, but hey. These guys didn't know that.

@Atomic Knight @Josh @CrunchyCHEEZIT @Neko Shogun
 
For good measure, Claire took the opportunity to use Honda's threat as a distraction in taking down the last man holding a gun. She went for a leg shot, disarming him easily. The other two men only had melee weapons, leaving them unable to do much but heed Honda's warning.

Junko dropped her arms and let out a heavy sigh. "Oh thank god..."

"Let's see here," Claire said, sizing up the men. She moved quickly, leaving Elle with Aqua to disarm the men. The men were forced to oblige and allowed Claire to tie their hands together. She and the others confiscated their weapons. "You're lucky we're not assholes like you guys," she muttered so only they could hear and got to work on patching up the wounded men. "Can you check on Carol?" she asked Honda.

Carol was sitting with her back up against the RV, looking like her pride was hurting more than her shoulder. She gave Honda a stony glance.

@Josh @Yun Lee @CrunchyCHEEZIT @Neko Shogun
 
Honda kept himself stern to keep from Blondie taking advantage of any vulnerability, but boy, if it wasn't a relief to see this was all resolved! As he was asked to check on Carol, he nodded, giving Blondie a very stern glare. "You try any funny business, and I'll follow through on that threat of mine." Dropping the man to the ground, the sumo moved over to Carol, squatting down to get a good look at her injury. "Doesn't look fatal...but definitely wanna get it cleaned up. Can someone see if we got a first aid kit in the RV?" He'd do it, but he had a feeling the big guy leaving would give these guys a false boost of confidence and get someone hurt.

@Atomic Knight @Josh @CrunchyCHEEZIT @Neko Shogun
 
"I'll go look!" Junko exclaimed, making a move to hop back into the fallen RV.

Carol simply looked away from Honda. She sat motionless, not wanting to irritate her shoulder. Her eyes seemed to search for something off in the distance. After a moment, she shook her head.

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"I should have been able to handle that," she said, sounding cross. "I'm sorry."

@Yun Lee
 
"Aw, c'mon Carol, don't be so hard on yourself! Everyone makes mistakes now and then! Heck, look at me! I've had my share of losses...some a bit more obvious than others." He pointed at his own shoulder, where the scar from his final battle against Jason resided. "Sure, sometimes we mess up, fall flat on our faces, but wounds heal, and we get right back in the ring. Besides, if you hadn't done what you did, the kids would've been in danger. Thanks to you we have our weapons and the kids are safe. You don't need to apologize for anything."

@Atomic Knight
 
"Hm."

Carol closed her eyes and let a long, drawn-out breath. A part of her felt that Honda was right, but a larger part of her didn't want to accept it. She had not expected to find a human threat here in this place, though she chastised herself for not assuming this world was any different from her own. Why was she even here if it all was the same in the end?

"I hesitated," she said, opening her eyes. She looked at Honda and felt a lump in her throat. "I could have killed those men if I wanted to. But I didn't want to. Every time I have to... I... lose a part of myself. I..." She looked away, trying to find the words. "Where I'm from, you have to kill in order to protect those you love. It's no different. I hesitated to kill... and almost lost."

@Yun Lee
 
"I'm back! Shit ya'll should have saw it? I got caught in a crowed and...….Umm, What I miss?"

Ellis seemed winded as he put his arm on Junko's back, noticing the rather odd scene and the weird vibe in walked into. Freezing for a minute, he frowned.

"You okay Carol? You seem more down than usual. "

@Yun Lee @Atomic Knight
 
"Good thing this isn't where you're from, huh?" Honda smiled, but he did understand what she was talking about...kind of. "If you don't like killing, then you got non-lethal ways to take care of business. Yeah, sure, you got shot this time, but it's nothing you can't walk off and remember for next time." After a moment, he added, "And something else to remember: you're not alone in this. We're a team here, and we got ways of helping you out when you need it."

As Ellis rejoined them, Honda chuckled, nodding over at the detained enemies. "We had a bit of company, ourselves."

@Atomic Knight @Josh
 
Carol didn't look immediately heartened by Honda's words, but soon enough she was shaking her head with a soft smile. "Thank you," she said earnestly and moved to stand to her feet. She winced slightly from the pain in her shoulder but looked good enough to go. "Let's just try and get this done. We need to keep looking for Ellis' friends."

Junko sighed and let out a groan. "Why is this so hard...? Who knew that finding people missing in a fuuhh--" Junko gave Elle a sidelong glance and tripped over her words. "A... freakin' zombie apocalypse!?"

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"Huh?" Elle perked up. "You're looking for people...?"

Claire knelt down next to Elle. "That's right. We're here trying to find Ellis' friends. Do you know anything about them?" She looked to Ellis to hopefully explain to the girl what his friends looked like, but Elle spoke up too quickly.

"Then we have to go see my daddy!" she exclaimed. "He told me if anyone came looking for people that I gotta bring them to him!"

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Carol looked perplexed. "Did he intentionally leave you alone during all this...?"

Elle turned to her and nodded. "Mmhm. I'm sure he was coming to save me when you guys came by, but..." The girl looked pensive for a moment but eventually shrugged. "Well, come on! I'm pretty sure I know the way!"

Elle began to run. Claire yelled for the girl to wait and moved to grab her hand, but Elle was too fast. She seemed suddenly emboldened about the idea of seeing her father and had quite the energy to spare. There was little choice but to follow her, for even if the girl was misguided, letting her run into danger was not something they could risk.

After running down a couple of blocks, Elle turned and ran past an opening in a fence. Past that was a parking lot. Claire called out for Elle as the girl disappeared into a warehouse. Claire rushed inside, while Junko followed a bit more gingerly. Carol made sure to do a quick check of the parking lot before following them inside.

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The warehouse looked in disuse and a bit rundown, but no immediate threats presented themselves as the group entered the space. Claire searched quickly for Elle and found her a bit of the way in, speaking to a man. She frowned, not finding him immediately recognizable.

"Good job, Elle. You did great. You brought them just as I asked you to."

The man gently pushed Elle to the side and stepped out in front of her.

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"Members of the Coalition, I'm here to... Wait." The man's brow furrowed as his gaze ran over each member of the group. "What? Why is he not here? Why have all of you been sent here?!"

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Claire shared a confused glance with Carol. She looked to Ellis and Honda. "This guy look familiar to either of you...?"

@Yun Lee @Josh
 
"Uhhhhhhhhhhh..." Hm. Had he met this guy before? Honda scratched his neck, studying Elle's...father (he looked kinda young to be a parent, but kids these days had no self-control...) as he tried to place the face-or, well, mask. Sure, he'd met plenty of masked guys back home, but none looking quite like that. And over in Bright Falls, there were some other folks who kept their faces covered, but none like him. "Hmm...can't say I know this guy." He gave the guy an apologetic shrug. "I don't know who it is you're looking for, buddy, but you can't go around letting your daughter run off like that! This place is chock-full of zombies!"

@Atomic Knight @Josh
 
"My name is Victor," said the man through clenched teeth. "What I do with my daughter is none of your business. More importantly, you aren't supposed to be here!" the man exclaimed. Behind him, Elle looked confused and upset. As her father grew in anger, the more upset she looked.

"What the hell?" Junko said incredulously. "And why aren't we supposed to be here?"

"Because...!" The man let out a sound of annoyance. "I got rid of those Coalition members in order to get his attention... Ludger! Not all of you!"

Claire gasped at the name. She knew Ludger well, especially after he had admitted to the Coalition lying to her during the fight with the Arch Demon. She was not fond of him for all that had gone down but she had never expected to run into someone who had an apparent grudge against him.

"All I wanted was be with Elle... and had what he had. I couldn't have that as long as he existed."

"And why is that, exactly?" Carol asked.

Victor looked away angrily. "I am him... and he is me. I'm the future version of Ludger from another universe."

Claire shook her head. "So you wanted to lure him here, kill him, and then take his place?"

"Precisely!" Victor growled.

"Hey... daddy, what are you talking about?" Elle sounded upset but seemed to be holding herself together pretty well. "You wanted to... kill somebody?"

Victor looked back at his daughter. "No, honey, that's not it. Everything's going to be okay. Just stay back while we talk--" Victor cut himself off and grunted in pain. Elle cried out and reached for him, but Victor flailed and ended up knocking the girl back. His mask fell away, revealing a dark black mass staining the side of his face. Elle yelled in fear when she saw it.

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"No need to be frightened, Elle," Victor said. "If my plan works, then I can fix this. Truly. We can live happily ever after, Elle." He reached out a hand to her, but the girl stood frozen in place.

"You're dying," Carol said, coming to the realization.

Victor turned back to the group. "Yes... I only barely survived an incident in the past... and now I'm here, desperately trying to find salvation!"

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"If you're looking for the Coalition to save you, there was no need for this weird, messed up plan!" Claire exclaimed. "You're insane!"

"You wouldn't understand!" Victor snapped, glaring at her. Handguns appeared in his hands and he aimed them at Claire. "As Victor, there's only so much I can do. As Ludger, I'll be free to live my life as I see fit!"

"Then the joke's on you," Claire said, giving Victor a glare of her own. "The Coalition didn't care enough to send you anyone."

"Maybe not, but once you've all been killed, then there is no way they could ignore me!"

"No!"

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Elle ran forward and stood between Victor and Claire, holding her arms out. "I don't want this!"

Victor seemed momentarily stunned. "Elle..."

@Yun Lee @Josh
 
"Hey, hey, hey!" Honda raised his hands up. "Don't we have enough death to deal with outside? Look...I don't know anything about this Ludger guy, or what you're going through, but hey! If you want to get healed, we got a whole Multiverse out there! At least one place has gotta be able to cure you without you needing to kill somebody!"

Actually...Honda blinked, catching something in all of what Victor had said. "You...got rid of the Coalition members we were sent to find? Aw, Victor...don't tell me you..."

@Atomic Knight @Josh
 
"What you're suggesting will take too long," Victor said, his voice grim. His outstretched arms wavered. "I don't have time to search the multiverse."

"But what about Ellis' friends?" Carol asked, wanting Ludger to answer Honda's question.

"Who? Oh." Victor shrugged. "The ones being protected by the Coalition agents? They're fine. I have them. I'll continue holding on to them until Ludger arrives."

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Elle shook her head. "Daddy, no! Please, after losing you the first time, I thought--"

"Elle, this is not the time. Step aside."

"N-No, daddy... these people saved me. They saved my life!"

"It doesn't matter! Elle!"

The girl refused to move, even as tears began to stream down her face. Claire, fearing the worst, reached out for Elle. "It's okay, Elle," Claire said. "Just come over here. I'll protect you."

Victor's eyes went wide.

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"Don't you talk to her! She is my daughter!"

Victor aimed to the side and shot the warehouse wall. There was a growl from beyond. After a moment and some rumbling, a creature crashed through the wall.

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Victor's guns turned to blades in his hands and he made a dash toward Ellis in an attempt to cut him.

@Josh @Yun Lee
 
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