[6] Chasing Trisha

[Friend or Foe]

Kaden
Sophia
Piper


The Jeep could only take the group so far, as by the time they entered the abandoned town it was out of fuel. They stopped in front of their location: The Shopping Mall, and stepped out.
















(As with the other groups, avoid a direct confrontation with her but feel free to include obstacles, traps or minor scuffles. She has the Eagle Emblem. You guys have creative control.)

[Piper Juunanagou]

Following the seige of Old Towne, the haphazard group of contestants had splintered apart once again—this time united behind a common goal.

After a handful of awkward discussions and coin flips, Piper found herself driving across the desert with Kaden and the blonde woman. She hadn’t actually told them in any words, but the redhead was glad that they were with her…especially Kaden, who Piper knew she could count on regardless of the situation.

Once the arrangements had been made, the two women and the courier commandeered themselves a jeep that had been abandoned by Kai’s personal army amidst the skirmish in the ghost town. With Piper as the driver, they made their way across the sandy wastelands toward the location of the eagle medallion—the shopping mall near the outskirts of the evacuated city.

After nearly twenty minutes of relative silence, the jeep stalled out near the edge of the mall’s heavily occupied parking lot. Peering down at the dashboard, Piper frowned when she noticed that the gas tank had run dry. With a heavy sigh, she unbuckled her seatbelt and turned to face her allies.

“It looks like we’re walking from here,” Piper groaned as she cracked open the door and made her way out onto the sea of asphalt. A few seconds later, Kaden and Piper joined here in staring across the parking lot at the massive mall complex that housed the medallion they needed to confront Kai and bring the mastermind of the game to justice.

“She’ll be happy to see you’ve arrived,” a foreign voice rasped. The trio immediately tensed up as their eyes quickly traveled to the shady looking man hunched behind a nearby van. With an insidious snicker, the thug crept out from the other side of the vehicle and brandished a small, remote controller-sized apparatus from the inside of his combat vest. The device was blank except for a long antenna and an oversized red button.

“Is that what I think it is?” Sophia whispered as the man slammed his free hand down onto the large button. A heartbeat later, the woman’s question was answered when something from inside their car began to beep. Glancing back into the car, Piper quickly realized that the beeping was coming from a small metal box beneath the back seat of the car.

“Run!” Kaden suddenly screamed as the beeping started to grow increasingly more erratic. With a yelp, Piper spun on her heels and ran as fast as her weary, bruised legs would carry her. Behind her, she heard one final, ear-splitting trill before the jeep erupted outward in a dazzling display of yellows and oranges. A desperate shriek left the redhead’s lips as she slammed the heels of her boots into the ground and spun to face the explosion.

As Piper lifted her hand to shield herself from the inescapable radius of the explosion, her body subconsciously shattered into light particles. It wasn’t until the sonic boom had faded that the woman rematerialized next to a rather startled Kaden.

“Where’s Sophia?” Kaden asked between gasps of air.

“Over here,” the blonde woman shouted as she stumbled out of the dense veil of smog and ash that had fallen across the back half of the parking lot.

“All in one piece?” Piper inquired as the younger woman put a palm to her mouth and began to hack up a lung. After a moment or two, Sophia nodded her head and turned her attention back toward the wreckage of the jeep.

“They could have killed us at any time,” she muttered meekly as the ruins of the car continued to smolder and give of thick, black smoke.

“Yea, but it’s better for the ratings if there’s a challenge,” Kaden replied as he turned his attention toward the massive, two-story mall. “Some welcoming party, though,” he said with a chuckle.

Just then, a chorus of beeps filled the air, prompting all three members of the group to start looking around like frightened animals. After a couple of moments, they all realized that every car in the parking lot was wired to explode.

“Run!” Piper screamed as the dozens of detonators began to scream at the top of their lungs.

As the trio rushed madly toward the front doors of the mall, the bombs began to go off behind them. Each row of vehicles exploded in unison, creating a large wave of fire that quickly began to catch up to the group. All three of them could feel the heat intensifying behind them, but none of them dared to turn around for fearing of watching as the fiery tsunami consumed them whole.

Despite the encroaching horror, the group managed to clear the parking lot and collapse through the massive front doors of the mall before Trisha’s welcoming party could claim them. Glancing behind her back, Piper watched as the fire hit the glass and simply stopped. Instead of simply smashing its way through the storefront, the huge wave of fire and concussive force simply fizzled out like a tiny bonfire doused in a bucket of sand. After a few seconds, all that remained to prove the fire existed in the first place was the melted asphalt and sea of smoldered car parts.

“Well that was unpleasant,” Piper groaned nonchalantly as she turned her attention toward the interior of the mall. The threesome was lying on the ground in what appeared to be an oversized entrance hallway. Two large convenience stores stood to their left and right, and in front of them, the hallway opened up into a rather majestic open space that slightly resembled the mansion where the game had begun.

“Welcome to the Milton Mall,” hearing the voice of Trisha Demolic caused the redhead’s right eye to twitch. A beat later, Piper was on her feet and glaring across the enormous lobby toward the second floor balcony that the woman was standing behind. Large men totting heavy weapons flanked the snobby woman on both sides. It was as clear and indicator as any that getting the medallion suspended around the woman’s neck was going to be no easy task.

“Hand over the medallion, Trisha,” Kaden shouted as he started down the wide hallway toward the mall's overly extravagant courtyard.

“Uh, noooo,” Trisha scoffed as she lifted a large remote and clicked on its button. An instant later, a heavy steel gate slammed into place in front of Kaden, effectively barring the trio from confronting the woman directly. “Don’t bother with your tricks,” she added the second that Kaden began to lift his hands. “Kai paid to have all these wonderful katchin grates double as energy barriers,” she snickered before turning away from the group contestants. “Turn around while you still can.”

With that, Trisha Demolic and her two bodyguards vanished into a store on the second floor of the mall, leaving Piper, Kaden, and Sophia to ponder their next move.

“One of these larger stores probably has other entrances deeper in the mall,” Piper remarked as she gestured toward one of the large, neon signs that hung above the open doors. “So I don’t think we should have no problem getting around her stupid gates,” she added—her face very visibly displaying the disdain she harbored for Kai’s wife.

“Let’s get a move on,” Kaden replied as he turned away from the high-tech security gate. “The sooner we get that medallion the sooner we can deal with Kai.”

[Kaden]

It was like being stuck in some kind of psychotic video game. Journey through three dungeons and collect the shiny keys so to be able to fight the big bad guy... the only things Kaden was missing were a boomerang and green tights. On the plus side, his party was in pretty good shape. There was Piper, who was as close to a fighter as they were going to get, Sophia, who actually was a priestess, and then Kaden... that one character you never really wanted to use, but you didn't have anyone else to switch him out for. That's how Kaden saw things, at least.

"Y'know," Kaden began as the trio walked into the closest department store, "I'm kinda glad we're going after Trisha."

"Why's that? Got a thing for blondes?" Piper quipped sarcastically.

"Oh all the other people who went after an emblem, how many do you think ended up in an air-conditioned mall?" Kaden explained.

"Now that you mention it," Sophia looked around the store they had entered, "it is pretty nice in here."

"Better than being in the desert," Piper agreed.

As they trekked through the department store, looking for a way around Trisha's gate, silence fell upon the three of them. While Kaden wasn't against silence, per se, this was a situation where it was just making him uncomfortable. He wracked his brain for something to say, something that might spark idle conversation, but was cut off as they walked past the men's clothing deprtment.

"Woah!?" the courier explained, leaping towards the racks of clothes.

Both Sophia and Piper whipped around, searching for Kaden. It didn't take long for the two women to track down the excited shuffling of the courier was they moved towards him through racks of clothes. When they finally happened upon their ally, he was standing in front of a full-length mirror that had been set up along a support column for the store.

"Check it out," Kaden turned towards his companions. "I can't believe they have my jacket. Waaaay overpriced, though."

Shaking their heads, Sophia and Piper turned to continue deeper into the store, but stopped when urged by Kaden. The courier was pulling off "his" jacket and surveying the racks of clothing that surrounded him. Nodding to himself, he gestured for Sophia and Piper to hold on a minute.

"I'll be right back," the courier said.

Kaden made his way to the changing rooms, which were situated against the far wall, grabbing at hangers as he passed. Ducking into the changing room, Kaden stripped down and tossed on new clothing as quickly as he could. The courier was thankful that he wouldn't need to actually pay for the clothing he intended to take. His wallet couldn't take the hit.

With a exuberant sigh of relief, Kaden strolled out of the changing room and made his way back to Piper and Sophia. While his clothing hadn't really changed -- how could you go wrong with black on black? -- putting on something not smelly and disgusting and filled with sand was a huge relief. After throwing on a new jacket, Kaden ran a hand through his hair and smiled at his companions.

"That feels soooo much better. There's a pile of sand this big on the floor over there," Kaden held up his hands, hoping to accurately illustrate exactly how much of the desert had accumulated in his clothing. "All we need now is a store with a working shower." Running his hand through his hair, Kaden came back with far more sand than he would have preferred.

"The sooner we get to Trisha, the sooner we can take down Kai," Piper reminded the courier.

"What's the deal with you guys and taking down Kai?" Sophia asked as they began walking again. "That's not the first time you'd mentioned it."

"In the beginning of this... game," Kaden explained, "Piper and I were in a group of 'Hunters.' There was this other guy with us named Szar. Actually... I'm not even sure he was a guy. Some kind of alien."

"A changeling," Piper added.

"So Piper and I went with this changeling and snuck into Kai's mansion. That's where all the Hunters started out. Turns out Szar was actually a cop from, uh, Kajin Rala? Something like that. Anyway, he found some evidence that he could use to arrest Kai, but was taken out before he could make the arrest." Kaden exchanged a sad look with Piper.

"Kaden and I are going to finish what Szar started," the medic said purposefully.

Sophia nodded along with the short story, staying relatively quiet and taking in the information. Hopping onto a pair of escalators, at Kaden's suggestion, the trio slowly made their way to the second floor of the department store, but entirely in silence.

"Hey Kaden," Piper turned to the courier. "Do you think Szar was killed?"

"Hmmm..." Kaden replayed the image of Szar vanishing in a flash of blue light. The courier couldn't image that anything else had happened. "I'm... not sure. What brought that up?"

"I've been wondering about it," the medic replied. "I figured you might have... seen something I didn't. I don't know... hadn't really had a chance to ask about it until now."

"Yeah..." Kaden nodded sadly. It would have been nice if he had seen that could put both their minds at ease. "I hate to think he and Dimitri just... died like that."

"Dimitri?" came Sophia's voice. "You mean that odd kid that helped us out?"

"Oh yeah!" Kaden turned to face Sophia. "He ended up in this ridiculous game, too. It was crazy. Piper and I were just walking along and all of sudden two other Hunters pull up with Dimitri over their shoulder, drugged out." Kaden ran a hand through his hair as he continued. "Not too long after that he got blasted by that Balrog guy and was gone."

Silence fell over the group once more as they stepped off of the escalator onto the second floor of the mall. They surveyed their surroundings for several seconds, but no one made any definitive movements. Just as Sophia started to, Kaden's eyes fell upon something odd.

"Wait a minute," he stopped Sophia. "Wasn't the mall only two stories?"

"Yeah," Piper answered.

"These escalators keep going up." Kaden pointed to his left. Indeed, the escalators wrapped around and continued to go up.

His curiosity getting the better of him, Kaden started towards the third floor of the department store, but stopped when his eyes swept across the rest of the floor he was currently on. Where the men's clothing had been, one floor below, was a section for women's clothing.

"You ladies might want to slip into something less sandy," the courier said with a point. "Or maybe just check this floor for an entrances we can use. I want to see what's behind door number three."

Sophia and Piper nodded to each other and headed away from the escalators while Kaden proceeded upwards. The third floor seemed to carry an assortment of gadgets and electronics. Mostly the kind of frivolties that Kaden never had enough interest -- or money -- to care about. Along one of the walls of the third floor, though, was a series of windows.

A wide overview of the parking lot met Kaden's gaze as he approached the windows. At least most of it was the parking lot. Almost directly beneath where Kaden was standing was the roof of the mall; the department store extended higher than the rest of the stores. It was probably to give the building a little more architectural flair, Kaden guessed.

Turning away from the window, Kaden surveyed his surroundings, searching for something. His eyes settled on a display of televisions. Pulling one from it's shelf, Kaden returned to the window and hurled the TV straight through it. Kaden watched with a surprising amount of satisfaction as the glass shattered and was crushed against the roof of the mall below. Sometimes a little pointless vandalism could feel very theraputic.

The gears in his head having already turned, Kaden turned back to the escalators, intended to get Sophia and Piper. Just as he started down, though, he caught sight of the two women coming up to the third floor. Instead of going all the way down and coming all the way back up, though, the courier decided it would faster -- thought look significantly more stupid -- to just turn around and make his way up the down escalator.

"What was all the noise about?" Piper asked as Kaden approached them.

"I think I found a way into the mall," Kaden answered.

"That's good," Sophia nodded. "There was another entrance down there, but it had the same kind of grate on it."

"So how are we getting in?" Piper asked as she looked around the third floor.

"Over here," Kaden beckoned them to follow. "We can just go this way."

"Out the window?" Piper leaned her head outside, careful to avoid the pieces of broken glass still clinging to the window frame. "Did you see a way into the mall from the roof."

"Not yet," Kaden said with a hint of a grin.

Taking a step back from the window, Piper turned to see Kaden holding aloft a hand glowing with the cerulean hue of his ki. Thrusting his hand out the window, Kaden focused his energy forward. A small explosion rang out from the roof of the mall as Kaden's blast of energy crashed against the building. When the proverbial smoke cleared, a hole opened in the roof exposed the mall's interior.

"I suppose that's one way of doing it," Sophia quipped as she watched Kaden.

"It's a little more 'brute force' than I would have liked," Kaden admitted, "but humoring Trisha isn't particularly high on my to-do list." The courier clenched and unclenched his hand as he surveyed his handiwork. An almost burning sensation coursed through his arm.

"So how are we going to get down there?" Sophia asked as she stepped beside Kaden and peered out the window.

"I figured Piper could help us with that one? She doesn't seem to have a problem leaping tall buildings in a single bound."

"That's me:more powerful than a speeding locomotive," the medic replied with a sarcastic tone.

Stepping between Sophia and Kaden, Piper wrapped an arm around either ally's waist and simply hopped out of the broken window. Kaden found himself surprised at how gentle a landing his comrade had provided. Without letting go, Piper took a second small leap down into the mall.

The threesome landed softly on the upper-level of the mall's interior. The upper-level was basically two walkways that ran along the various store-fronts. Between the walkways the floor opened up to give a view of the stores below. As Piper released Sophia and Kaden, the courier moved to start exploring around the mall. The priestess' voice, however, stopped him.

"Did you guys see that?" Sophia asked, pointing down to the lower level.

"See what?" Piper turned her head to follow Sophia's finger.

"I thought I saw someone down there," Sophia added.

"There's no one down there," Kaden replied. His glowing eyes joined Piper in following Sophia's outstretched arm. "I'm pretty sure I'd be able to see them."

"So confident..." came an annoyingly familiar voice. Trisha's voice echoed through the mall through the speaker system. "I wonder how long that will last."

Annoyed at the woman's provocation, Kaden leaned over the railing of the upper level to get a better look at the floor below. Not a single light met his Sight, though he was already sure nothing would. Straightening himself out, the courier turned continued down the mall.

"Wait, Kaden," this time it was Piper's voice. "There's definitely someone down there. In that store, there." She pointed.

"I still don't see--"

Kaden cut himself off as he peered into the storefront. There was no doubt that there was something in there. Confused washed across Kaden's face as he watched the figure move about aimlessly. Despite his second Sight, the courier caught no glimpse of light from the person below. His Sight, his Sense... neither of them were able to sense anyone.

"In that store, too," Sophia pointed further down the mall. "And that one..."

It quickly became clear that there were people lurking about almost every store in the mall. It appeared that they were all just milling about the stores, but in short order they started walking out into the main concourse of the mall. Something wasn't quite right, though.

"Are those..." Piper squinted, trying to get a better look at the people below.

"No way. Not possible," Kaden answered her unasked question.

"You didn't really think I'd be all alone, did you?" The laughter in Trisha's voice was annoying enough to rip Kaden's attention from the people below. "Three of you and only one of me didn't really seem fair."

As Trisha spoke, more and more of these previouisly unnoticed people began shambling into view. In short order, the lower level of the mall was practically filled with them. Neither Piper, Sophia, nor Kaden could deny what they were seeing any longer.

"Let me get this straight... you're trying to arrest some psychotic criminal game-show host," Sophia titled her head.

"But to do it we have to get to a woman holding a special key..." Piper continued with a shake of her head.

"But she's hiding..." Kaden sighed. "In a mall full of... zombies."

[Jesper]

Sophia sighed and rubbed her eyes as she stood in the dressing room of the abandoned mall. Silence was not an uncommon thing since the priestess had joined up with Kaden and Piper—after all, there wasn’t much chit-chat to be had when they were facing death around every twist and turn. However, as she changed out of her dirty, grungy clothes, there was no sound to be heard. Just a deafening silence that pounded at her head. She supposed that this was probably due to the fact that she hardly had the time to even dwell on the fact that she was scared completely out of her wits.

It really seemed like a small world. Finding one person that she knew was surprising enough, but to find that two of them had been drawn in by some evil genius was almost too much to bear. She shook her head; she never thought that she would be happy to see someone in the game, but she was legitimately and sincerely delighted to find the courier. Memories flooded into her mind of their encounter with the bandits and the events that followed, and she couldn’t help but smile. Kaden had helped her out so much back then, but now, they were both in equal danger. Maybe she could do something to pay back his kindness. Firstly, however and perhaps to the courier’s dismay, she had to get dressed first.

It was amazing that she even found clothes that were similar to the ones she had already been wearing, though there was nothing to replace the armor she was wearing. Sophia smirked when she thought of the courier changing; he probably just found the exact clothes that he needed and put them on without even allowing the stray thought of looking around for a new outfit. The priestess, however, let her eyes wander, so to speak, and searched through the racks of clothes in search of the perfect new article of clothing. She quickly relented after a moment of weakness, however—she couldn’t afford to let herself sacrifice practicality and comfort for creativity and frivolity.

As if on cue, a loud bump sounded across the vicinity that made Sophia jump out of her new clothes. Worried for her friend’s safety, she quickly unlatched the door to the dressing room and ran outside. Kaden was still downstairs where they had left him, and had been apparently moving things around for one reason or another.

The red-haired medic had apparently finished faster than the priestess did and was there to inquire of his actions sooner. “What was that noise all about?”

“I think I found a way into the mall.”

And he had. It didn’t take long for them to see their ticket into the mall through the window. Sophia had doubts about how they would get there, exactly, but the different skills of her companions allowed for fairly quick access. As she hung there, latched onto the redhead as she floated in midair, a lot of things raced through her mind. That’s why even she was dubious when she saw something move out of the corner of her eye.

“Did you see that?”

“See what?”

“I thought I saw someone down there.”

“There’s no one down there. I’m pretty sure I’d be able to see them.”

The next few moments confused the hell out of Sophia, though she had the presence of mind to inquire once again about what their intent was in this death game. “Let me get this straight…you’re trying to arrest a psychotic criminal game show host.”

“…but to do it we have to get to a woman holding a special key,” Piper expanded on the situation with a sigh.

“But she’s hiding…in a mall full of…zombies.”

Sophia frowned and tilted her head. She had been able to spot some sort of beings inside the stores, but she hadn’t been able to determine what they were. But zombies…Sophia had her doubts, although she knew, as a priestess, that there was such a thing as the living dead.

“Zombies? You’re certainly being dramatic about it,” Sophia commented. “Are you sure they aren’t, like…homeless people, or something?”

Piper and Kaden looked at her in unison. Sophia blushed. “Okay, they’re zombies. What do we do now?”

“We…can’t turn back,” Piper stated, still staring down upon the hordes of undead.

“Right,” Kaden nodded. “So let’s keep going, eh?”

The trio took hesitant steps down the hallway of the mall—they knew they would have to engage the zombies at some point, as that was the whole point of having them there in the first place, but there was a sort of unspoken hope that they would pass by harmless if they were left unprovoked. The hall lights flickered on and off as they made a grinding pace forward. The priestess almost though she could see her breath with each step. Finally, they got within reaching distance of the nearest zombie. Initially, nothing happened.

“Maybe, if we stand really still, they won’t…” Sophia started talking, but she was cut off as the zombie’s fist crashed into her jaw. The priestess stumbled backwards in surprise and fell onto her backside, crawling backwards in order to get away from the flesh-eating, albeit clichéd zombie villain. Gasping, the courier charged a blazing azure ball of ki in the palm of his hand and threw it at the zombie, effectively turning him a useless pile of dust.

“Are you okay?” Kaden asked, extending a hand in order to help her up. Sophia smiled and nodded at him, allowing just a glance past his shoulder. Her eyes widened at what she saw. Frowning, the courier turned around as fast as he could and saw another zombie hovering ominously around him, threatening to crash down on him with its outstretched arm in one bone-crushing blow. The priestess acted on instinct and raised an arm, piercing the zombie through the chest with a beam of her own. The undead crumpled to the floor.

“Stay on your toes, lady and gent,” Piper commented with a sigh, dispatching a zombie of her own.

“They aren’t that tough, really, though they can throw a decent punch,” Sophia observed, rubbing her jaw tenderly. “I doubt that will be the case the further we get into the mall.”

[Piper Juunanagou]

At a snail’s pace, the trio had managed to slowly make their way down the elevated balcony that made up the mall’s second floor. Along the way, they hadn’t met an overwhelming amount of resistance from the shambling masses of undead flesh. However, by the time they made their way almost to the center of the mall’s elaborately branched layout, they found themselves stopping almost abruptly.

Olde Town had been tense, but the scene inside the mall reinvented the concept of the word. Piper, Kaden, and Sophia stood in the utmost silence—their eyes trained on the massive horde of undead creatures milling about on the first floor of the mall. Aside from the few that were meandering about ahead and a few stumbling around behind them, they were somewhat secure—for the time being, at least. Unfortunately, that did little to curb the tension that hung in the air.

“We have to make a move for it,” Sophia mumbled. The woman’s voice was slightly shaking, and she was still cradling the large red mark on her face with one of her skinny little hands.

“Where did they all come from?” Piper rasped beneath her breath as she stared down toward the courtyard. Just twenty or thirty minutes ago, there had been nothing but particles of dust and a few discarded cups of soda. Now, however, the entire area was thoroughly saturated with a rich amalgam of decayed corpses, and the air was rich with the stench of week-old meat.

“I think a better question is how they came about,” Kaden replied as he clenched his fists around the metal railing. “Who would go through the trouble of scrounging together this many zombies?” The courier added with a furrowed brow as he leaned a little further over the safety guard.

“Maybe you shouldn’t lean that far over…” Piper muttered as she took a step toward the blonde and went to pull him back. As she reached for him, Kaden casually took a step to his right.

“Don’t be so para—” At that moment, a vaguely human scream pierced through the chorus of groans and moans. Kaden’s eyes went wide as one of the formerly shambling creatures suddenly leapt up off the ground and closed its decaying fingers around his neck. “Oh shit, oh shit, oh shit,” the man rambled as he tried to pull away from the guard rail.

Unlike the previous undead, the one latched around Kaden was emitting a hideous gurgling noise, like the sound someone makes when they’re gargling salt water. On top of that, it was also thrashing and moving with the grace and strength of a grown man. As the courier tried to smack the zombie off of him, it retaliated by vomiting a viscous green liquid all over his face and down the front of his brand new outfit.

“Hold still,” Piper screamed as she dashed forward, got in between the creature’s legs, and then wrapped her arms around its knees. With a grunt, the woman gave the zombie a vicious tug. As the creature fell away from Kaden, the redhead took a step backwards and proceeded to lob the reanimated corpse back over the guard rail like a bail of hay.

“What was that?” Sophia exclaimed as she backed up against the glass exterior of a nearby store. Kaden, who still seemed relatively shaken from being puked on, remained silent as he stared down at his tarnished jacket. Meanwhile, Piper had her eyes locked on the crowd that had been milling about in the courtyard just prior to Kaden little scuffle.

“Something’s wrong,” the redhead shouted without taking her eyes off the zombies. After all, the entire horde of undead abominations was glaring right at her. The dozens of creatures seemed to be panting like overworked dogs, and their eyes seemed to be glowing with a dull shade of red. Suddenly, one of the zombies let out a gurgled scream and started stampeding right toward Piper. With a single, fluid leap, it managed to clasp its shriveled fingers around the banister.

“Fucking run!” The woman screamed as the rest of the horde followed suit. Turning around, Piper gestured only once for her companions to join her before she began sprinting down the hallway. Upon seeing the zombies scaling up to their level, it took Kaden and Sophia all of a split-second to run shouting after their redheaded ally.

Up ahead of the twosome, Piper was virtually galloping down the elevated hallway. Around her, the other members of the undead horde were begin to grow more active, which meant that their little task force needed to find someplace to escape and quick before they were stampeded by the screaming, frothing army of corpses amassed by their friend and comrade, Kai Demolic.

Amidst her sprint, something caught the woman’s weary eyes—a store with a half-closed security gate. Coming to a screeching halt, Piper then darted to the storefront where she quickly noticed that the mechanized gate had gotten snagged on a broken sign. With no other options and the sound of the zombie horde growing louder and louder, the woman sprung forward and wrenched the grate off the sign.

“Get inside!” She shouted to Kaden and Sophia as they came to a quick stop a few feet away. Nodding their heads, Piper’s two teammates broke through the bottom half of the store’s door and slipped inside.

“Come on, Piper,” Kaden shouted from behind the glass storefront. “Get inside!” He added as he started to point frantically to the creatures closing in on their little group. Clenching her jaw, the redhead let go of the security gate, dropped to the ground, and quickly shuffled through the hole in the door. A heartbeat after she got her feet safely into the store, the heavy gate slammed loudly onto the tiled floor of the mall.

“Are we safe?” Sophia asked as the zombies quickly smashed through the glass storefront and began to tug and yank at the heavy gate. A few of the monstrosities tried to reach out and grab the threesome through the bars.

“If that gate’s just as snazzy as the one in the lobby, then we ought to have some time to catch our breath,” Piper remarked as she turned around to face the inside of the store. Almost immediately, her jaw dropped to the floor and an incredulous gasp escaped her open mouth. “Gun store,” she added as she advanced toward one of the large display cases behind the front counter.

Like a child in a candy store, the soldier hopped over the desk and shattered the glass case with a nearby cash register. Reaching inside, she removed a large, double-barreled shotgun from one of the racks and proceeded to snap open the portion at the back of the barrel. As if she had done it a thousand times before, the woman grabbed a box from inside the display case and proceeded to load the weapon. When she was satisfied, the rest of the slugs found a new home inside the pockets of her vest. Snapping the gun back together, Piper turned to face her companions and smiled faintly as she let the weapon rest on her shoulder.

“Groovy.”

[Jesper]

“Groovy.”

Sophia couldn’t help but smile at Piper’s comment, though it was a terribly odd thing to say in such a situation. Kaden, on the other hand, allowed a slight chuckle at the statement, leaving Sophia completely in the dark on the situation, and left with a stifling curiosity as to what the pair was laughing about.

“Am I missing something?” she inquired, almost impatiently.

“What, have you never seen Evil Dead?” the courier scratched his head and occasionally glanced around to see if any zombies were approaching.

“Evil Dead? That sounds…” Sophia hesitated, struggling to put a finger on the right word to use, “…bleak.”

“It’s only the greatest movie ever made,” Piper commented.

“…besides all the movies that are better,” Kaden added.

“Oh…” Sophia’s voice faded, only thinking to shrug. The priestess never really had the time to see a whole lot of movies, aside from the handful of movies that the temple got as a “thank you” gift for the various services that it provided. Sophia started to look around, taking the first free moment to take in the sights of the abandoned mall. Several stores were still stocked full of items, as if people had been shopping as late as the day before. There were so many things she hadn’t seen; so many circumstances that she had yet to experience. She had never felt so sheltered as that moment.

Piper’s words broke her thoughts. “You should take the time to arm yourselves now, if you want.”

“I’m good,” a blue glow flickered across Kaden’s eyes as he spoke. Sophia couldn’t argue with that—the raw amount of potency that the courier seemed to possess from her experiences with him almost scared the priestess, though she never would have admitted so to his face. Sophia, on the other hand, had never so much as touched a handgun, let alone some of the higher-powered rifles and shotguns that lined the walls of the store. She stepped through the threshold of the store regardless, looking for some sort of one-up one the creatures of the undead.

As soon as she did, a loud buzz resounded throughout the hall, and a large gate crashing down upon her forced Sophia to take a quick step forward to avoid a rather painful death. The priestess gasped, her face screaming sudden recognition as she proceeded to tug on the gates. An energy field burned her hand slightly, causing her to quickly withdraw. Low groans started to grow louder; the nearing presence of more zombies looming menacingly over the group.

“Tch. Same gate as the ones before,” Kaden shook his head. “We’ll have to find another way to get you out.

“Just worry about yourselves,” the priestess told them, glancing behind her shoulder at the sound of some threats coming from within the store. She continued as she saw Piper open her mouth to respond. “I’m not telling you to leave me behind. Take care of the zombies on your end, and we’ll meet up…somewhere.”

“Heh, great plan,” the courier laughed. “Sounds like you’ve been hanging around me too long.”

“Go!” Sophia almost barked. “Don’t die, or I swear I won’t go easy on your zombie behind.”

The group split up, situations only separated by the gate as they took on the same undead foe. The sounds of battle clashed behind her, telling the priestess that the zombies outside made it there a bit earlier than her zombies, so she had time. She glanced along the walls in an aura of slight panic, looking at all of the weapons and trying to decide which one fit her the most. The bigger ones made her a bit uncomfortable, so they were immediately eliminated in her mind. She fumbled around the shelves at the counter, searching for at least something to use as the sluggish footsteps grew closer. Finally, at the very last drawer she could have stumbled upon, she found a pistol. After she picked it up and grasped it awkwardly, she looked up to see her zombie foes.

Or, in this case, foe. A lone zombie stood to greet her, its shoulder twitching as it moved.

Just one? Sophia’s thoughts couldn’t help but feel disappointed. They must not think much of me.

She hurriedly raised the pistol, and, somewhat miraculously, she fired. The bullet spiraled out of the barrel of the weapon and penetrated the zombie’s skull through the eye socket. The blood poured out of the wound was somewhat misleading as to how much damage it actually did, and Sophia thought she had won as the zombie stood there, limp and with its head titled back from the force of the shot. However, its groan persisted and it lifted its head, staring at her dead in the face with its single remaining eye.

“B-but…” she spoke aloud, looking at the pistol in her hand. “What’s the point of this thing? I could probably throw the bullet harder than this can shoot.”

The zombie groaned again. She didn’t know why she expected it to respond.

Suddenly, the undead creature sprung into action, its speed catching the priestess off-guard. It pounced over two aisles and wound its fist back, throwing it forward with as much force as it could muster. Sophia raised a surprised hand up to block, and attempted to grasp its fist in order to throw it behind her, like Davin had taught her in what seemed like a long time ago. The force, like everything else, shocked her and it hit the priestess in the forehead with the back of her own hand. She stumbled backwards and struggled to find her footing again, but managed to dodge another fast-paced punch and counter with a knee to the rotten flesh of its gut.

A gurgling sound emitted from its mouth as it took a hard step forward to avoid falling, swinging around for a high kick to her head. Sophia lifted a forearm to block and actually succeeded in grabbing a limb this time. Like she had done to her sparring partner during her initial training, she kicked hard at the back of her opponent’s leg, causing it to flip backwards. The zombie, with an amazing amount of skill for something that looked as though it was about to fall apart at any moment, supported his weight by planting an open palm on the ground, kicking at the priestess’ jaw as it spun backwards until it was standing upright again. As soon as it was standing, it lowered its shoulder and charged into its dazed opponent, picking up and carrying her as it threatened to crush her against the wall.

Sophia, thinking as quickly as she possibly could while flying through the air while slung over a zombie’s shoulder, leaned over and placed both hands on the zombie’s rotting back, charging up ki in both appendages. She kicked her legs out, breaking out of the undead man’s hold, and powered a beam of energy through the zombie’s chest as she flipped over its shoulder. The point was to land on her feet, but the raw fighter landed on top of the counter, knocking off the cash register and crashing through the polished wooden surface. She groaned as she looked through the splinters to see the zombie unable to halt its momentum as it crashed into the mirror hanging on the wall, revealing a secret passage lying behind it as it fell to the floor, dead…again.

The priestess slowly stood up, brushing herself off and picking off any small pieces of wood that had pricked her on her less-than-stellar landing. She didn’t exactly get points of smooth, but she completed her goal as she stepped through the broken glass and into the hidden passage.

A passage which hopefully lead to a way out.

[Kaden]

"So," Kaden turned to Piper. "What do you think Sophia's odd would be if this were a horror movie?"

"Hmmm," Piper shifted the weight of her shotgun on her shoulder as she considered the question. "Well, she's not a minority and she hasn't shown up topless for no real reason..."

"Good point."

Both Kaden and Piper were slow to turn from the suddenly ominous maw of the gun store. Before actually stepping away, though, Kaden flicked a bolt of bright blue ki at the gate that had seperated their party. When it fizzled harmlessly against the shutter, the courier turned his head towards the mall's ceiling, almost glaring.

"Not gonna lie, Trisha, that was a pretty dick move."

While Piper would have taken the time to voice a similar sentiment, she was more aware of their situation then her partner was. The roaring report of her shotgun was more than enough to force Kaden back into the present. The shrill ring of the gun store's alarm had done a more-than-adequate job of attracting the zombie horde's attention.

Whirling about, Kaden was able to witness a graceful feat of acrobatic prowess that he didn't think Piper was capable of. The medic leapt spinning into the air and caught the nearest zombie with the toe of her boot. The force of the kick sent the undead shambler tumbling over the railing of the second-floor walkway. As she touched back upon the ground, Piper continued her spin, catching a second zombie with a grounded version of the same kick. To finish the hat-trick, the woman flipped the shotgun in her hand and as she spun through her second kick, caught a zombie in the jaw with the butt of her weapon. The shotgun cleaved through the zombie flesh, taking off half of its face as it passed.

Kaden let out a low whistle as Piper brushed off the bits of zombie clinging to her weapon and tossed it back over her shoulder. The medic allowed herself a quick smile at Kaden's non-verbal compliment. Unfortunately, the distracted courier proved an easy target for their undead opponents; as Kaden turned to better assess their situation, a zombie's hand shot forward and grasped the courier tightly around the neck.

Piper stepped forward to aid her ally, but hesitated as Kaden's body reacted. Darting into his jacket, Kaden's hand wrapped around the hilt of the dagger he had taken from Trisha. Before he was even aware of it, the courier had draw the weapon. The blade, glowing ever so lightly as Kaden's ki coursed through it, flashed upward, cutting a swath through his attacker's arm.

As the zombie recoiled backwards, a shrilling cry of pain escaping it's malformed mouth, Piper didn't miss a beat. She ducked past Kaden, who was struggling to remove the severed limb from his throat, and thrust her palm up under the zombie's screeching mouth. She struck with such force that the undead attacker was thrown off of its feet, back into the sea of oncoming abominations.

"Can you... see which way Sophia is going?" Piper asked.

"I... ugh..." finally wrenching the zombie's hand from his neck, Kaden dropped it to the floor. "Yeah, I should be able to."

Despite the glare of the ki-infused security shutter, Kaden was able to track down Sophia with his Sight in fairly short order. A pang of guilt flashed through the courier's mind at having to leave the priestess behind. If he just had a little more time, he probably could have figured out a way to get to her. Beating himself up about it wasn't going to do anyone any good, though. If he wanted to help Sophia, he needed to figure out where she was going and how to get their.

"She's headed that way," Kaden pointed as he spoke. Given that the second-floor balcony only extended in two directions, there wasn't a whole lot of choice.

"Of course..." Piper sighed as she followed Kaden's finger.

In the direction that Kaden indicated, the medic and the courier could look forward to a throng of drooling undead. The opposite direction, the direction that was of absolutely no use at all, was relatively clear of any enemies. Kaden had the sinking feeling that that wasn't the last time they would be presented with such a situation.

"This might get kind of messy," Piper warned Kaden as she dispatched another zombie.

"I have an idea. Keep them off of me for a second."

Taking a couple of steps backwards, Kaden positioned himself in the middle of the walkway, facing the horde of undead. With a simple nod, Piper took up a position in front of the courier, meeting the zombies with the business end of her shotgun.

The sounds of the zombies, the report of Piper's shotgun, the sickening crack of enemies hitting the floor below... it all fell on deaf ears. Kaden turned his mind inward, focusing on his own energy with a level of concentration that he had yet to achieve during the course of this game. Slowly, the blonde-haired human brought his hands up to his chest, his open palms turned towards one-another.

Energy began to crackle between the courier's hands as a small ball of cerulean ki sparked to life in front of him. To any on-looker, the small size of the orb would belie the power being funneled into it. It had been less than a full day since Orion had passed on such advice to Kaden. By compacting the energy, it would pack a more significant punch. Or, for what Kaden had planned, allow more precise control of his ki.

Despite the compression of his ki, the orb between Kaden's hands quickly grew in size. Though not quite comparable to a basketball, Kaden seemed satisfied. His eyes, alight with the glow of his second Sight, opened to see the horde of zombies closing in. Valiantly, Piper continued to push them back. Most likely in an effort to conserve ammunition, the medic's shotgun had fallen silent.

"Piper!"

Piper whipped around at the sound of Kaden's voice. As her eyes fell upon the crackling ball of energy in her ally's hands, understanding dawned upon her almost instantly. In a single vaulting leap, the medic placed herself several steps behind Kaden, exposing him to the zombies. And exposing the zombies to him.

There was a moment of hesitation as Kaden's eyes darted about the horde before him. It was not fear, or anxiety that stayed his hand, though, it was simply caution. Against Trisha and against the guards in Olde Town, Kaden had felt restrained. It was his own beliefs and his own fear of moral guilt that kept one hand tied behind his back, and he knew that, but right there, in that mall, he was free from any of that. As the flickering lights of the mall gave way to the cerluean glow of his attack, a smile spread across Kaden's face.

With his right hand, Kaden thrust the ball of energy forward. Instead of exploding outwards, the orb seemed to open up, allowing a thin stream of energy to surge outward, cutting a hole through the zombies unfortunate enough to be in its limited path. Most of the zombies were left unharmed, though several shrieks of pain echoed through the mall. The rest, however, continued their march forward. Unfortunately for them, Kaden hadn't even started.

Thrusting his left hand forward, Kaden's beam began to expand in size. Within seconds, the wave of energy expnaded to nearly the width of the second-floor balcony. Light filled the mall, a cerulean hue bathing the storefronts and displays that the beam of energy shot past. With a grunt of effort, the courier expelled one final pulse of energy before letting his left hand drop to his side. The beam slowly shrank back down before fizzling out completely.

"Wow..." came Piper's voice. "Nice shot."

Looking over his shoulder at the medic, Kaden couldn't help but smile. As his right arm dropped to his side, however, the smile faded. The courier held back a grimace as he massaged his right arm with his left. A familiar sensation coursed through his muscles as he started walking forward.

"Luckily, these guys were pretty weak," Kaden responded to Piper's compliment.

There were several seconds of silence before an increasingly familiar voice filled the mall. "Well well well... not bad, kiddo." came Trisha's voice.

"What's the matter, Trisha? You sound worried," Kaden shot back. In truth, he didn't think she sounded worried at all. Such machoismo seemed appropriate, though, even if there wasn't an ounce of confidence to back it up.

"The only thing I'm worried about is finding someone else to keep you company."

"Yeah... heaven forbid..." Piper said, verbally rolling her eyes.

This time, however, there was no response from their hostess. An eerie quiet settled upon the mall once more. Still the lights flickered throughout the halls of the large building. To Kaden's surprise, he found it creepier without the zombies shambling after them. As he tried to piece together the workings of that mental peculiarity, Piper's voice drew his attention.

"Kaden," the medic began. "Is your arm alright?"

"My arm?" The courier looked down at his right arm. He continued to massage it with his left, though it had become an entirely unconscious action. "Oh... yeah. It'll be fine."

"No, I mean... the blood." Piper pointed to the tiled floor behind them.

"Blood?" Kaden turned to follow Piper's finger. His eyes fell upon a small trail of blood behind him.

The courier started to run his left hand through his hair, thoroughly confused, but quickly stopped. The zombie vomit, though he had done an admirable job of wiping it off his clothing, was still stuck in his hair. Surppressing a gag simply at the thought, the courier turned over his right hand to examine it. To his surprise, a rather large gash was cut along his palm. The blood had been trickling out only because his hand had been clenched in a fist.

"How did that happen?" Piper moved to examine Kaden's hand.

"Ahh. Yeah. It's just been overused. It's happened before when I'm not being careful about doing... well... what I just did." The courier smiled meekly as he relinquished control of his hand to Piper's scruitinizing grip. "I don't usually notice because my arm just... kind of goes numb."

"You're probably just overworking it. It would probably help if you used your left arm more." Piper released Kaden's hand as she spoke.

"What do you mean?" the courier asked, tilting his head.

"You didn't notice? You pretty much only use your right arm." Piper's face dawned a thoughtful visage. "Trisha... the scorpions... Olde Town..."

"Huh..." Kaden couldn't help but nod along. He had never thought about it, but it certainly made sense. Working one muscle too much ended up doing more damage than anything else. "Yeah... I guess you're right. I should probably have Sophia take a look at it when we find her."

"I..." Piper's eyes darted to Kaden's hand, then the floor, though only for the briefest of moments. "Yeah," she finally said. "That's probably a good idea." Clearing her throat, Piper pulled something from one of her pockets. "In the mean time, you should wrap that up."

"Oh. Yeah, thanks." Kaden took what ended up being a scrap of fabric from Piper. When trying to tie a bandage with one hand failed, Piper took the cloth back and instructed the courier to keep his hand still. "Heh... thanks. You pull that off a shirt in the department store?" Kaden inquired.

"Was it the pink that gave it away?" Piper tied off the cloth and pulled the knot tight.

"The glitter, actually." Kaden smiled at Piper as he clenched and unclenched his newly-wrapped hand. "It's a good thing you're here," the courier commented. "I probably would have just kept bleeding."

"That's what I do," came the woman's reply.

The two continued down the path of destruction that Kaden had wrought, though it wasn't long before they ran into a proverbial dead end. Their path took them to what appeared to be a food court. The mall opened into a huge, circular space lined with venders of all kinds. Like the department store, this area extended upward to a third story, though the highest floor seemed to be mostly for seating

While that would have proven to be the perfect place to take a rest, maybe find something to eat, or even just figure out how to reach Sophia, Piper and Kaden weren't so fortunate. On the bottom floor of the food court, one floor below the twosome, a mass of zombies had gathered. Surprisingly, though, they seemed oblivious to the duo's presence.

Before either Kaden or Piper could ask the other what was going on, the zombies appeared to... melt. A very bad feeling began to form in the back of Kaden's mind as the zombies continued to pile atop one another, and continued to melt. Before long there was nothing below Kaden and Piper other than a pulsating mass of goo who's color resembled that of rotting flesh.

Kaden's bad feeling was quickly realized. The pulsing mass of... zombie began to grow. Ripples flowed along the rising bulk of the goo, slowly giving way to a disturbingly humanoid shape. In wasn't long before a hulking beast of zombie stoo in the center of the food court. So massive was the monstrous amalgam that it was able to look Piper and Kaden in the eye as they stood on the second floor. To make matter worse, a massive shutter slammed shut just inches behind Piper and Kaden, trapping them inside the food court.

"What the hell is that thing?" Piper asked as she edged away from the katchin grate.

"If I had to guess..." Kaden tried to swallow the lump that had formed in his throat. "I'd have to go with 'evil zombie overlord.'"

[Jesper]

A few steps into the passage, Sophia’s progress was halted by a loud boom that had sounded from behind her. Unless the zombies, the ki-less beings that they were, were proficient with plastic explosives of some kind, the loud sound probably came from an attack from the courier himself, with sent another chill down the priestess’ spine. A small ball of ki flickered in Sophia’s hand, meeting her gaze. She had learned how to control ki almost on accident, and while her ability was nothing to scoff at, she didn’t feel as though she could even hold a candle to the proficiency of the courier. Added to that was the pure physical prowess of the redheaded Piper, who probably fought with more tenacity than Kaden and Sophia put together. Although it pained her that she wasn’t able to be there to help out her friends, she knew that they both knew how to handle themselves.

The healer walked down the winding path with uneasy steps, wary of the potential obstacles that might await. Maybe it was a woman thing, but Sophia couldn’t help but notice that the interior of the passage hadn’t been decorated much at all, giving it a rather dreary feeling, like a bunker or something of that sort. While she didn’t exactly expect the walls to be lined with glitter and rainbows with puppies running on top of it, she wished that there was at least something to indicate that someone had actually traveled the length of the hallway before.

As if on cue, a sneeze could be heard from down the hall. Startled, Sophia gasped the breath out of her lungs and placed a faint hand on the wall, scared as to who had made the noise. Paranoia was an awful thing, but even an irrational fear had never tallied a sneeze among the sounds that have ever been heard from a zombie. She quickened her pace just a little as she traveled down the hall, curiosity overriding any fear or doubt that she might have had. Even if it was a slight chance, if someone who wasn’t gurgling or picking off pieces of his rotten flesh could offer her some assistance, it was literally be a life-saver.

The room that she was lead to had a more “homey” feeling than the rest of the structure, if only by a little bit. A man sat in a broken recliner, staring at a television set that sat on a table underneath a large moose head that was hung proudly on the wall, though in her experience such decorations didn’t actually represent any great feat. While Sophia was definitely happy that the man didn’t immediately take a swing at her upon first sight, she couldn’t help but notice that he was staring intently at the television—a television that was turned to the “off” position. The man sat leaning forward as he began to mumble quietly to himself.

“Look at that bass, man,” his words were barely audible, which was a shame. “I swear, if I ever catch one that big, I can use the money to dump this lump of a wife of mine.”

He turned his head slowly to look at the sofa that sat along the wall. The priestess gasped loudly and put two hands to her chest as she followed his glare. A rotting corpse, much like the zombies she had already encountered, lied there, unmoving. Flies swarmed the body; a sure tell that the body was in fact dead. The skull was broken into a dozen pieces, and if the shotgun laying next to the man in the recliner was any indication, Sophia had a pretty good guess as to who was to blame. The man laughed loudly and directed his gaze to the healer, flashing a toothless grin.

“Well? You just goin’ to stand there, or are all of you women the same?” he chuckled again. “Wifey over here hasn’t moved since Kai showed himself.”

Sophia had no idea how to react. She merely stood, subconsciously taking a step backward.

“Ahh,” he waved her off dismissively and turned back to stare at the blank screen. “Oh, good. Gene Autry.”

Sophia shook with fright, but just had to ask. “How do you know Kai?”

“Eh? So you do speak!” he slapped his knee. “He’s a good man, Kai. He let me have this T.V. even after the accident.”

“What accident?”

“Who knows. This place ain’t lively anymore, though. That’s for sure,” he shrugged, shaking his head sadly. “Place used to be crawling with people. All sorts of ‘em would wander through. Gave life a purpose, know what I’m sayin’? But ever since about a week ago, my gun shop hasn’t got any business. I can’t understand it, what, with all those zombies crawlin’ through and everything.”

“Did it ever occur to you that your customers are the zombies?” Sophia immediately regretted the question, valid as it was.

“Well, shit. Never thought of that,” he sighed. “Oh well. Doesn’t change nothin’.”

“How so?”

“That purdy wife of Kai’s told me somethin’,” he spoke, reaching slowly for his shotgun while his eyes were still glued to the television. “She told me that some people would probably be rollin’ into town. And you know what else she told me?”

Sophia knew where this was going. She shook her head and started to turn back.

“She told me, ‘If you can kill one, anyone, you can have your shop back again,’” he quoted, standing up. “Sorry, dearie, but that store meant everything to me. Don’t be afraid, though. It ain’t all that bad. Just ask my wife!”

He pumped his shotgun with a cackle and pointed it at the priestess, who didn’t have the time to run away. His finger tightened around the trigger, but before he could make a move, the room began to shake violently. A loud groan sounded from under them, and another bump made the crazed man lose his balance and fall to the ground. The shotgun went off and hit the ceiling. With the aid of the quake, the blast broke off a large portion of the ceiling, and hardly gave him a chance to survive.

Sophia stumbled and latched onto the wall just to keep her balance. Soon, the shaking stopped, and the television flickered on. The screen was in black and white, and two figures were barely visible. In front of the figures, a large hulking mass stood vehemently. It didn’t take long for Sophia to figure out what she was watching. What she had trouble discovering, however, was how she could get down from there to join her allies as they fought that…beast.

Oh no, Trisha’s voice came from overhead. Might they be in trouble? You’d better get down there, don’t you think?

“Shut up! You’re enjoying this!” the priestess cried out. She shook her head; now wasn’t the time to panic. Sophia looked around the room intently for the first time, breathing a sigh of relief, her eyes fell upon a door that she hadn’t seen initially. Rushing through the door and down the ensuing stairs, she found herself hovering above the scene below, standing on the balcony. Below, her two allies stood defiantly.

They were reunited at the best possible time. Sophia hoped that it was enough.

[Piper Juunanagou]

This is ridiculous. Piper thought as she watched the grotesque, unimaginable mass of ashen gooey bulge upward. Within a few beats, it had taken a distinctively human form—two huge arms, two legs the size of tree trunks, and a stout head atop an eerily chiseled chest. Suddenly, another of Kai’s katchin grates slammed into place behind the twosome, sealing them in the large food court.

“What the hell is that thing?” Piper asked as she took a few steps away from the indestructible barrier.

“If I had to guess,” Kaden started before pausing a moment to take in the incredulous situation. “I’d have to go with evil zombie overlord.”

At that moment, the still partially melted titan, without so much as a roar or a twitch, lashed out with one of its gooey fists. A yelp of surprise ripped free from Piper’s clenched jaw as she dove to escape behind bludgeoned by the creature’s hand, which was nearly the size of a small car.

As Piper closed in on the floor, she brought her legs up and managed to roll out of the impact and then awkwardly hop back up to a standing position. Quickly turning around, she found herself gawking at the gaping hole where Kaden and she had been positioned just a moment earlier.

With a booming guttural moan, the hulking zombie yanked its fist back through the shattered mass of twisted steel and plastic. As its freed its appendage from the wreckage, chunks and strands of the creature’s fist and arm were torn off by the sharp edges it had created. Even through Piper and Kaden were equally mortified by the display, there wasn’t the slightest twinge of pain or discomfort on the partially incoherent face of the titan.

“This balcony loops around the food court!” Kaden shouted from the other side of the wide fissure. Glancing quickly as the zombie took a step backwards, Piper noted that the elevated walkway did make a complete loop around the rather spacious food court.

“We need to try and stay up here,” Piper decreed as she hoisted her double-barrel up and steadied it against her shoulder. “If we lose the high ground, we’re going to be rubbish,” she added before unloading a pair of slugs into the lumbering beast’s chest. Two holes opened up on the uber-zombie’s chest as it was slightly staggered by the impact of the shells. Much to Piper’s steadily increasing dismay, however, the two rivulets of gray blood oozing from the wounds did little to stop the creature from lifting up a hand and trying to crush her.

Obscenities raged like wildfire through the woman’s head as she leapt backwards to avoid being flattened beneath the zombie’s hand. Frowning as she worked, the woman quickly snapped open the barrel of the gun and began to slid new shells into place. But before she could finish, the monster lunged at her with its other hand. Unfortunately, Piper Juunanagou failed to notice the rather quick movement until it was only a few feet from her body.

As she reeled back—her teeth gritted and her muscles tense for the impact to come—the front end of the titan’s fist exploded in a dazzling display of cerulean lights. While their adversary pulled its hand back, Piper and Kaden watched from different angles as it slowly began to lift its broken hand up to its face. The hulking abomination tilted its head to the side as it tried to flex its fingers, which were all partially blown apart.

“Shoot it!” The voice rang from above Piper’s head, but for the first time, the speaker wasn’t that shrew Demolic. Looking upward, the redhead saw Sophia standing on a small platform that hugged the wall above their heads. “Don’t just stand there!” Sophia shouted as she hopped over the barricade and plopped down onto the circular walkway above the food court.

“Women…” Piper muttered to herself as she fired another pair of slugs into the zombie’s forehead. With another booming groan, the uber-zombie’s head snapped backwards as the powerful rounds slammed through its partially liquid flesh and into the tender matter of its rotted brain. Seemingly losing its balance, the titanic creature fell backwards, and with a thunderous boom, its massive bulk smashed through the other side of the walkway. Sophia, who was in the way of the collapsing monstrosity, scampered to safety and watched as the zombie fell motionless against the sundered balcony.

“Is it dead?” Kaden asked, prompting Piper to look to her left as she reloaded her shotgun.

“You got her quick,” she said with a grin as she snapped the heavy double-barrel of her weapon back into place. “Couldn’t stand to be away from me?” She asked, trying her hardest to play up the retort with as much jabbing sarcasm as she could. With a chuckle, Kaden went to run his hand through his hair, but then he recalled the fact that his normally kempt hair was saturated with corpse-flavored vomit. As the courier’s hand flopped despondently down to his side, Piper caught sight of Sophia sprinting toward them.

“It’s gone!” The healer shouted as she frantically gestured with one of her hands toward the other side of food court.

“Are you kidding me?” Piper declared as she diverted her attention away from her comrades and toward the last spot they’d seen the uber-zombie. An incredulous frown spread across her face as the unbelievable horror of what she saw dawned upon her…

The hulking, slimy monstrosity was gone.

In its place, there were a few signs of its passing—a couple chunks and strands of torn flesh; however, the massive, two-story goliath had seemingly slipped out of sight. All at once, the trio of contestants slowly began to back away from the edge of the broken walkway.

“Shit,” Piper whispered beneath her breath as her back softly bumped into a wall. As if waiting for a cue, the steel walkway in front of the group exploded upward in a fountain of steel, brick, and plastic. From beneath upheaval, the uber-zombie rose, and without even the slightest pause for dramatic effect, it drove both of its battered, slimy fists toward the three contestants.

“Run!” Sophia shouted as the members of the trio jumped in opposing directions as the monster’s fists ripped through the brick wall. Unfortunately for Piper, she overshot her trajectory and found herself careening down into the food court via a gaping hole in the walkway. Stifling an obscenity, she tucked her knees up into her chest and then hugged them as she brace for the impact.

A moment later, Piper Juunanagou smashed through the wooden roof of the small pizzeria.

[Kaden]

It's always easy to imagine one's self doing the heroic thing. Striking down evil, leaping into harms way, shielding the innocent from danger, the kinds of things one would see in a movie trailer. It was almost a cliche to see the muscle-bound hero standing triumphantly after thwarting the bad guy's attempt at vileness, but it was cliche in that cool "I could totally do that if I wanted to" kind of way. When actually staring down the barrel of the gun, though, being the good guy didn't seem quite as easy.

So maybe Kaden wasn't really a "good guy" and he definitely wasn't a muscle-bound action hero, but he liked to think that when push came to shove he would instinctively do the "right" thing. His romanticized ideals of "right" and "wrong" however, turned out to be no match for his body's biological imperative to get out of the way of a giant zombie overlord's titantic fist. And so, for the second time in as many days, Kaden found himself leaping through a window to escape harm.

There were a handful of sit-in restaraunts scattered throughout the foodcourt, and it turned out Kaden, Piper, and Sophia had been standing directly in front of one. As The Overlord poised itself to strike, Kaden turned and jumped. As the sound of cement and steel crumbling beneath the zombie's fists filled the court, Kaden was picking himself up off of the floor of the restaraunt.

It was as though some switch had been thrown in the courier's mind. With little more than a wave of its hand, this abomination could crush Piper, Sophia and Kaden. Even if they did somehow manage to destroy it, they still had to find their way to Trisha, then beat her to get the emblem...

"This is bullshit," Kaden said mumbled to himself. "God damned zombies..."

Turning back to face the food court, Kaden was horrified to see the zombie oozing towards someone else, swinging its malformed fists with reckless abandon. Scrambling through the window he had already broken, Kaden carefully climbed onto what was left of the food court's second floor. Several yards away, Sophia was taking aim with an outstretched arm. Kaden's eyes tracked the movement of her ki as it flowed into her hand and exploded outwards toward the giant zombie

Given the partially coagulated state the titantic zombie seemed to be in most of the time, Kaden expected Sophia's blast to cut right through it. To his great surprise, though, it crashed harmlessly against the creature's skin; at least it seemed harmless... the creature didn't seem to respond to pain at all. While that was an interesting phenominon in-and-of itself, something else caught Kaden's attention. Just before Sophia's attack hit, a light flickered through the grotesque giant.

"Sophia!" Kaden called to the priestess while keeping his eyes fixed on zombie. "Do that again."

"Do what?" Sophia turned toward the courier. "Shoot it?"

"Yeah."

With a nod that went unnoticed, Sophia turned her attention back to the zombie. The courier felt a pang of guilt as Piper hopped about the bottom floor of the food court, avoiding deadly blow after deadly blow from their zombie aggressor. As Sophia loosed a second attack, however, Kaden's guilt was pushed the back of his mind.

Now that he was actively looking for it, the tiny flicker of light that he saw before might as well have been a thousand watt bulb before Kaden's Sight. Again, just before Sophia's blast hit, light surged through the beast's skin, protecting it from damage. Another peculiarity arose as Kaden made his observation: where the light flowed, the skin definitely seemed to harden.

"Piper!" Kaden called down to his companion as he rushed to Sophia's side. "Kick where I shoot!"

"Are you serious? I'm kind of busy down here," came the medic's reply. A stolen glance at the courier's face answered Piper's question.

"Sophia," Kaden held out a hand as he approached the priestess. Pulling Piper's make-shift bandage off his hand, Kaden pocketed the scrap of fabric and exposed his self-inflicted wound to Sophia. "Can you take care of this for me?"

"Uhm," Sophia examined the courier's hand quickly. "Yeah. Hold still."

A green light enveloped Kaden's hand as Sophia's hovered centimeters away. When the glow faded, seconds later, Kaden was happy to see he was as good as new. As he clenched and unclenched his fist, the courier turned to face Piper and zombie on the floor below.

It was difficult to make out exactly what was happening. As Kaden had rounded the balcony to join Sophia, he had placed the Overlord between him and Piper. Kaden expected this to create a problem in coordinating an attack, but his red-headed ally had a solution for that. As the zombie threw a massive punch toward the medic, she darted forward and slipped easily between his legs. As she turned to face the zombie's back, Piper shot a quick nod to Kaden.

Without skipping a beat, Kaden shot his newly-healed hand forward, loosing a small orb of ki. The blast slammed into the back of the super zombie's knee, once again seeming to do no damage. Before the proverbial smoke could even clear, Piper was leaping into the air, driving her heel into the same spot Kaden had just blasted. To pretty much everyone's surprise, the zombie's knee gave in and he stumbled forward.

"Ha!" Kaden couldn't help but give a triumphant laugh, though his companions weren't entirely sure why. Such a minor blow wouldn't do anything but slow the beast down. "Ok, Piper. We'll need to do that one more time."

"Alright," Piper nodded and turned her attention to the still-prone giant zombie.

"Sophia," Kaden turned to the priestess. "Need you to shoot this time."

"Alright..." Sophia nodded. "Where are you going to be?"

"Over there," Kaden pointed to the third floor of the food court, just above the zombie's head. "Wait for my signal, ok?"

Without waiting to her the priestess' response, Kaden took off down. Only a few feet from the priestess/courier duo was an escalator up to the third floor. Like the second, the top-most floor of the food court was a balcony that wrapped around in a large circle. Kaden shot up the escalator and began rounding the third floor as quickly as he could. By the time he had put the zombie between himself and his comrades, the Overlord was back on his feet and turning towards Piper once again.

Sophia watched as Kaden came to a stop above the zombie and signaled her with a flash of cerulean light. Taking in a deep breath, the priestess leveled her open palm at their common enemy and quickly formed a ball of ki. More focused on hitting than striking a vital location, Sophia took aim at the undead abomination's chest and fired away.

"Hit it, Piper," Kaden called out. "Hard!"

Taking several steps backwards, Piper shot forward as soon as Sophia's blast entered her field of vision. The medic vaulted into the air, easily bringing herself level with the giant zombie's chest and struck immediately after Sophia's attack. Both of the medic's boots crashed into the zombie's chest with such force that the beast was actually forced backwards. The flailing undead amalgam tore into the second floor balcony as it stumbled, placing it almost directly beneath Kaden.

As the courier watched the joint attack take place below, he was trying to steady himself. He took in deep breath after deep breath and tried to push the fear out of his mind. He reached into his jacket and pulled out Trisha's dagger, almost dropping it as he tried to control himself. This wouldn't be a gut reaction, this wasn't him acting on instinct, he had made the choice to do this, he had made the choice to be the "good guy."

It was disbelief that caused the courier to shake his head as he placed a hand on the rail of the third-floor balcony. It was with astonishment that his eyes widened as he watched himself vault forward, using his hand to pivot himself 180 degrees. But it was with courage -- shaking and uncertain though it may have been -- that he gripped his dagger in both hands and drove it into the zombie's flesh.

Ohmygodohmygodohmygodohmygodohmygod was the only thing going through Kaden's mind as his dagger, glowing with his own energy, cut a swath down the undead giant.

Having fallen on its undead ass, Kaden was able to ride his dagger all the way to the floor of the food court. As his feet touched tile, though, his legs gave out and he suddenly found himself falling to his knees. A light-headedness overtook the courier's mind and a sharp burning filled his chest. Just as it seemed he was about to lose consciousness, Kaden remembered to breath.

While the courier would later commend himself on his plan -- stupid though it seemed in hindsight -- it only got the job half done. Through the split skin of the giant zombie's torso, Piper, Sophia, and Kaden could see a much smaller version of the same abomination. With a ear-splitting screech, the zombie leapt out of it's skin, it's sights set squarely on an otherwise incapacitated courier. Kaden braced himself as the beast lunged.

Fortunately, the only damage he would have to worry about would be the damage to his hearing. The report of Piper's double-barrel left a dull ringing in Kaden's ears and no small amount of zombie entrail on his jacket. If Kaden had been able to hear right then, he would have heard another shriek from the zombie puppet master and the sharp snap of Piper closing the barrel of her gun. A second shot rang out, leaving virtually nothing left of their smaller adversary.

With the proverbial puppet master gone, its monsterous marrionette melted to the ground, little more than a puddle of goo. Shakily, Kaden climbed to his feet and managed to return his dagger to its sheath without cutting himself. As he looked about, in disbelief, Kaden turned to Piper and Sophia. With a shake of his head exhaled deeply.

"I can't believe you let me do that."

[Friend or Foe]

Everybody advances, but nobody wins. Congratulations on making Final 7