Warren’s car had finished going down the side of the crater and was now again on level ground. The car slowly drove past the run down shacks which aligned each side of the sandy road. As they drove past they saw some of the inhabitants peer out their windows with a worried glance. Others were outside when they drove but quickly retreated into the nearest building. It was as if the town’s inhabitants had already deemed Warren and Akane were people to be afraid of. There was also another interesting fact; all of the inhabitants that they drove past weren’t human. They saw almost every intelligent species: orc, catkin, lizardman, dwarf were all briefly seen. The only ones they didn’t see however were humans and surprisingly, elves. Akane wondered why this was so but Warren didn’t care enough to think about it.

“What are we looking for?” Akane questioned as the car drove past the slums into what appeared to be a business district where they began to see businesses instead of shacks set up.

“Andrew always talked about this bar he and his friends loitered at called “The Broken Clam”. It should be around here somewhere, doubt it’s near the center of town.”

“But it’s only around 3 o’clock”

“Doesn’t matter. He told me they used to hang out there all day given there was nowhere else to go in town besides the strip club. They’ll be there no matter what time of day.”

“I see.”

Warren continued to drive around looking for the bar for about another few minutes when they heard a faint scream which caused Warren to stop the car. Fortunately for him his car was alone on the street.

“Warren, someone needs help” Akane stated.

“You don’t know that. Besides, it's none of our business. The scream probably came from the center of town where we don’t need to be. ”

“Warren, we’re heroes, we’re supposed to help others in need.”

“Akane what are you on about?”

“We're members of the second hero’s party. That means we are heroes ourselves. We have to help others because it’s the right thing to do. Have you never read a comic before? The heroes always help those in need while saying cool lines.”

“Akane life isn’t a comic book alright? This is real life and in real life you mind your own business. Now stay on the lookout for that bar. We don’t have time to stick our noses where they don’t belong.”

Akane’s eyes narrowed in anger as she stared at Warren. Warren drove for a bit but felt Akane’s eyes piercing the side of his head the entire time which made him feel uneasy.

“Look I-” Warren began to say as he turned his head to his passenger but stopped as Akane was gone and the passenger door was open.

Once again, Akane moved without Warren noticing.

“Great” Warren muttered to himself.

He thought about going after her but decided against it. She was more than capable of handling herself so he decided he would continue his search for the bar. They would meet up again sooner or later.

***

In the center of Redrock there was a park. It was not natural for it was the result of magic which terraformed the earth in order for the grass and trees to grow. It covered around 843 acres and consisted of multiple tall trees, dirt paths, and freshly grown grass. Being the only location of plant life in Redrock it served as a means of escape for the town’s inhabitants. Coming to the park would make them forget that they lived in the middle of nowhere where the heat was consistently in the triple digits. However, recently that has changed. Instead of being a place to escape to it was now a place that had to be avoided at all costs. This was because the people no longer owned the park. It was now the property of a group who made sure that the park became the place of horrors. When one heard screams throughout town, one knew its source and what was occurring.

In the park stood five men who wore brown sacks over their heads to conceal their identities which made only their eyes visible. Their regalia consisted of blue long sleeved cotton shirts and loose fitted pants that matched. On their right chests were a white X which was also located on the sides of their pants. All five were armed with swords. They were looking at a large tree in front of them which had a very long branch that went outwards as if the tree were pointing somewhere. Attached to the branch were multiple nooses with stools beneath each one. At the base of the tree were individuals who also wore sacks on their heads but these didn’t have slits for the eyes. They also could not move for their hands and feet were tied. The best they could do was get on their knees.

“How many we got today?” one of the men asked the group.

“Ughhh let’s see one, two, three, four..five” another answered as he counted the number of tied individuals.

“Damn the hanging tree can only hold four at a time” a third cursed.

“It’s fine we can't just gut that last one?” a fourth proposed.

“No no Brother Colescott wants them hanged. He was adamant about that. He said doing it any other way would ruin the message. I guess we can just leave one of the bodies beneath the rest. Let’s get this done before he comes back.” the fifth responded.

“What about that ugh..bombing at the elementary school? That wasn’t a hanging”

“That was Brother Simmons doing his own thing. Grand Master Mason didn’t order him to do that.”

“Really? Huh..well let’s get started, I wanna get back before dinner otherwise the wife is going to nag me again”

The other men agreed. Two of them walk up to the base of the tree and pick up the first tied individual by the arms. When the individual was picked up he started screaming in a low rough voice.

“Ugh heavy S.O.B.” one complained as they picked him up.

“He’s an orc, what'd you expect?” the other replied as the men ignored the screaming.

The two men forced him to stand up and made him get on a stool.

“Brother Hale will you begin to recite his sins?” one of the men asked as he put the noose over the orc’s head.

“Please don't do this! I didn’t do anything wrong!” the orc protested as he cried.

“Didn’t do anything wrong? Funny how they all say that huh fellas? You are guilty of a crime against humanity. You have been spotted eying a human girl with lust in your eyes. In order to prevent you from raping an innocent human girl as your kind so often does we the Humanity Defense Front sentence you to death. May you burn in hell.” one of the men stated.

He then kicked the stool out from underneath the orc which made his body fall. A loud crack was heard indicating that the orc’s neck had been snapped. The orc was dead in the blink of an eye.

“Heh strange fruit huh fellas?” one of them commented as they stared at the swinging body.

“Alright let’s get to the next one.” another stated wanting to get the rest over with.

The other tied up individuals began to cry and scream.

“Why do they always scream after we hang the first one?” one wondered.

“Probably because it hits them they’re about to die” another answered.

The men continued their evil deed. One after another they hanged the tied up individuals. For each one, one of the men recited their alleged crimes. One was a dwarf who allegedly had punched a human. Another was a catkin who had advocated anti-human beliefs such as increased welfare assistance for non-humans. A third was a lizardman who wanted to run for mayor. The fourth was another orc who had stated he was going to fight back against the Humanity Defense Front. After the four had been hanged, only one tied up individual was left.

“Whelp only one left. Get that orc out of the noose and we can finish this” one of the men ordered

“P-p-p-please don’t do this!” the last individual yelled.

“This one sounds human” one man remarked.

“Cause she is. You don’t know about her?” another asked.

“Ugh no. Should I?”

“Yeah you should have! It was all anyone could talk about for the past few weeks. The lady here gave birth to a damn hybrid!”

“No fucking way.”

“I’m serious. The girl fucked an elf, had been raising the hybrid child in secret for years. The child’s been sheltered so we only found out about it recently.”

“Well where is the abomination?”

“Don’t know. She won’t talk. We checked her place but couldn’t find it anywhere. Her family or one of her friends is probably sheltering the thing. We’ll find it so we don’t need the mother anymore.”

“What is the world coming to? Let’s hang this traitor to humanity quickly, I feel disgusted.”

The tied woman began to scream as loudly as she could in a last ditch effort to survive. Her only hope was that by screaming loud enough someone would come by to help her. The woman knew it was a futile attempt as she knew that no one would come but for some reason, her body told her to try.

“Ow my ears!” one yelled over the screaming.

“Shut up!” another exclaimed as he punched the girl in the face.

It didn’t work, the woman continued to yell and call for help. Frustrated, two of the men started to beat her.

“She is a fighter huh Clyde?” one of the men said as they watched the two men kick the woman against the tree.

The man didn’t get a response.

“Ugh Clyde?” the man asked as he looked to his left only to discover that his friend had disappeared.

“Hey Phil where did Clyde go?” the man then questioned as he turned to his right.

Phil wasn’t there either. The man looked around frantically but he couldn’t see any sign of them anywhere.

“What the hell! Guys, something's wrong!” the man called out to the two who were beating the woman. They stopped their attacks and turned around.

“What is it?” one of them angrily questioned, annoyed that he had to stop the beating.

“Phil and Clyde are missing!”

“What? Where they’d go?”

“I don’t know! If I knew that wouldn’t be missing now would they?!”

“I think I know where your friends are” a voice called out to them from above.

The three men looked upwards to see a woman sitting on one of the branches. Next to her on the branch were two bodies; they were the other members of the group.

“What the fuck? Who are you?”

With a smug grin on her face she answered “I am the hope of the universe. I am the answer to all living things that cry out for peace. I am a protector of the innocent. I am the light in the darkness. I am the truth. Ally to good! Nightmare to you!”

The woman then slowly unsheathed her sword for dramatic effect.

“....What?” one of the men questioned, utterly confused.

Before the men could respond the woman dropped down from the tree and landed between them. They had her surrounded.

“I don’t know who the hell you are but you’re dead!” one of the men yelled as he unsheathed his sword.

As soon as he did he felt a sharp pain in his chest. He looked down to see that there was a giant diagonal gash across his chest. Blood was pouring out of his body at an alarming rate.

“G-guys” the man uttered as he looked across the woman at his friends to see that they had suffered the same wounds. All three were motionless as the blood spilled out of them like a waterfall. They were all in shock, they didn’t see the woman swing her sword at all. However it was too late for them to ponder how she did it for their end was imminent.

“You...are..gonna….pay for this” the man threatened as he and his comrades fell to the ground simultaneously.

The woman sheathed her sword and remarked “I’m surprised how many men say that before they die.”

The woman looked down at the tied up woman and removed the sack from her head. Before her was a woman who appeared to be in her late twenties. She had short brown hair in a pixie cut hairstyle. Her eyes were a light blue and she had a short nose. She also had bags under her eyes, presumably from a lack of sleep.

“T-thank you so much,” the woman said as tears rolled down her face.

“No problem” her savior responded in a neutral tone.

The woman’s savior then untied her by using a smaller blade.

“So..who are you?” the woman asked, standing still looking up at her savior for her height was 5’4 and her savior was about 5’9.

“Did you not hear my awesome speech? I can do it again if you want. I forgot to do the pose I’ve been working on.”

“N-no that’s ok. I mean what’s your name? I know you’re not from around here.”

“I’m Akane. But you can call the bad blood bitch samurai or triple bs as my friends call me.”

“...Can I stick with Akane?”

“Very well.”

“Why are you here Ms. Akane? I screamed but...I didn’t think anyone would come.”

“Because I’m a hero. I save people and defeat villains. I heard your scream after I entered town.”

“You just came into town?”

“Correct.”

“And the first thing you did was come rescue me? Do you not know who these men are?”

“Yes to your first question. And I think I know these men. Humanity Defense Front members correct?”

“Y-yeah but you know what that means right? You’ll be a target. They won’t let this go unanswered.”

“Hmmm. Ok.”

“Are you not afraid at all? You just became the enemy of the most deadly group in Redrock and you’ve been here for how long?”

“About...15 minutes”

The answer left the woman speechless. She was grateful but also completely dumbfounded.

“Well I owe you my life Ms. Akane. My name is Sarah. We should get out of here. Richard is the leader of this squad and he’ll be back soon. He’s not a man you should fight.”

“Is that him right there?” Akane asked as she pointed her finger into the distance.

Sarah looked to where Akane was pointing and her eyes widened. It was a man riding a horse that was quickly galloping towards them. The man had the same outfit the other men wore but the sack used to conceal his identity was red instead of brown. The horse also had its identity concealed-for some unknown reason- as it had a blue sheet over it with only the eyes being visible. On the man’s hip was a large lasso.

“Well what do we have here?” the man said as he stopped his horse 2 dozen feet away from Akane and Sarah.

“Richard!” Sarah called out due to the surprise of his sudden arrival.

“I prefer if you call me Mr. Colescott Ms. Madison. I don’t think we’re close enough to call each other by our first names.”

The man shifted his attention towards Akane and commented “Looks like we got ourselves an outsider who has taken the liberty of killing my men. Why would you do such a thing? You’re human and yet you’re attacking those who are protecting humanity?”

Akane’s eyes narrowed at the man.

“Are you being serious right now?” she asked.

“Serious about what?”

“You hang innocents and you claim to be a protector?”

“Innocents? Ma’am every creature swinging behind you has committed crimes against humanity. They all deserved death for one thing or another. Here in this state we have a strong sense of right and wrong. When you do wrong, you’re punished for it. You’re about to learn that real quick.”

“That confirms it.”

“Confirms what?”

“That you are very stupid.”

“Come again miss?”

“You heard what I said. A man who justifies violence the way you do can’t be very smart. Defending humanity? You people are no more than thugs.”

“Ms. Akane, what are you doing? We need to get out of here. Richard is not someone to be taken lightly.” Sarah warned.

“Hmmm sorry I’ve already decided I’m going to kill him. Villains must be vanquished.” Akane replied.

“Hehehe looks like I’m gonna have to teach you some Atrad hospitality.” Richard said.

He took his lasso off his side and started to twirl it above his head. The twirling started off slow but got faster and faster with each rotation. Soon each twirl became powerful enough to cause wind to swirl around his body. Sarah had the look of absolute horror on her face as the wind blew her hair to the side. Akane’s expression however was that of indifference as her long black hair was being blown to her left side. She nonchalantly unsheathed her blade, holding it with two hands.

“Ms. Akane, are you sure you can take him?” Sarah asked, the sound of immense worry being prevalent in her voice.

“Yes. He seems very weak.”

“Weak huh? Let’s see if you still think that once we go for a little ride!” Richard exclaimed.

Richard threw his lasso with such speed it looked as if it disappeared before one’s very eyes. Sarah had no idea where the lasso went until she looked at Akane. The lasso was tied around Akane’s wrists while her hands still held onto her blade which meant that not only was Richard fast with his lasso throws, he was also accurate. Akane looked down and realized her predicament.

“Hmmm I’ll be right back.” Akane deadpanly told Sarah.

Richard’s horse began to gallop away at full speed. Akane was pulled off her feet, being dragged along on the grass as the horse sprinted across the park.

Akane vs. Richard Colescott Fight Music

“Well girl, do you still think I’m weak!? I caught you in no time!” Richard called out as his horse galloped across the park. He looked back to see Akane being dragged along on her stomach, her face being driven into the dirt. Akane’s face lifted up and Richard expected to see the look of fear, instead it was the look of boredom.

“Tch let’s see you keep that face once I deal you some real damage!” he yelled.

He tightened his grip on his lasso and began to rotate his body to the left. He used so much strength that Akane was lifted off the ground and was being swung to her right. She was slammed into a tree going through it while the horse continued its sprint.

“How about that!” Richard exclaimed.

Akane was back to being dragged along the ground. She lifted her head once again but her face had not changed. Frustrated, Richard performed the move again, this time with more force. He twisted his body in the other direction which now swung Akane to the far left which made her collide with another tree at an even greater velocity. But Richard didn’t stop there. With no room for respite he swung her around yet again with so much force that she went through multiple trees, hitting each one without losing velocity. For a finishing blow Richard began to twirl his lasso above him with Akane still confined. With each rotation she was being swung faster and faster. He was waiting, waiting until he could deal maximum damage. He was waiting for maximum velocity. He looked up as he continued his rotations and saw that Akane was nothing more than a black blur above him. Under his sack a wicked grin came over his face. He knew it was time to end it. He stopped rotating his arms, put them above his head, then slammed them down as if his lasso was a sword and he had performed a vertical slice. Akane was hurled to the ground which caused many chunks of dirt to be flung into the air. Richard looked down and saw that the impact had created a small crater. It was six feet deep and ten feet wide.

Akane was lying flat in the center of it. She was face down and wasn’t moving so he assumed he had killed her. Hitting the ground with that much force would’ve killed anyone so he wasn’t surprised. He was, however, a bit disappointed.

“Well that’s the end of that. You were a sturdy one I’ll give you that. But it looks like you were in way over your head.” Richard gloated to himself.

Richard was about to get off his horse to retrieve his lasso from Akane’s body when suddenly he heard the sound of rustling. He looked back down the crater and saw Akane getting back on her feet.

“What in the world!” he exclaimed in astonishment.

Akane, still holding onto her katana while her hands were tied, asked “Are you done?”

“How’re you alive!?” Richard hollered ignoring her question.

“Isn’t it obvious? Your attacks were weak. I assume that means that was the best you could do. Ok, time to get free.”

A red aura started to emanate from Akane’s body. While it did so she spread her arms apart which destroyed her constraint. Akane looked up at Richard with the same look that had been angering him ever since he first laid eyes on her.

“I was hoping for more.” Akane lamented.

“Don’t think you’ve won! You haven’t laid a scratch on me you pathetic bitch!” he yelled in a splenetic outburst.

“You’re right. Time to change that”

Akane quickly leaped out of the crater which made Richard lose sight of her. He looked up to realize that Akane was now in front of him. She was in the air about to unleash a kick with her left leg. He put up his arm in defense which absorbed the kick that was aimed at the side of his head. The attack was still powerful as it knocked him off his horse and caused him to roll across the grass for a dozen feet, stopping only after hitting the base of a tree. He sprung to his feet only to immediately get kicked in the stomach which knocked him through the tree.

“See I can also use trees” Akane stated.

Richard got back on his feet and angrily tore his sack off. His face was fuming with anger. He had black hair in a crew cut hairstyle with brown eyes, and a scar across that spanned down his left cheek. He was holding onto his stomach with his left hand and had his lasso in his right.

“Ok...you’re fast I’ll give you that. Appears I underestimated you.” he acknowledged.

“Yes you have. I haven’t started trying yet.”

“Seems you’re also arrogant. You’ve had this bored look on your face this entire time. You don’t think of me as a threat do you?”

“No.”

“...Aren’t you blunt? Well I’m about to show my full strength, you hear me?”

“Ok”

“I’m going to enjoy making you scream in agony”

“Good luck with that.”

“Take this!” he screamed as he began his attack.

He launched his lasso hoping to tie Akane up but she tilted her body to the right making him miss. The same attack that had tied Akane up before had failed. He did not know it but Akane had already adapted to his speed. Now open Akane leaped forward and while she held her sword in her right hand she gave him a punch to the stomach with her left. This made him bend forward. Akane followed up with a kick to the face which shot his body straight back up. Akane hoped to end the battle with her next move as she performed a diagonal slice with her sword but as her right arm was raised it became stuck. Some force had prevented her from completing her attack. Akane looked up and saw that a lasso was tied around the blade’s handle. She glanced behind her expecting to see that another person had lassoed her sword but to her surprise there was no one there. The lasso was floating in the air. She traced it to realize that it led back to Richard. She looked at him and he had a wicked smile on his face.

“Heheheh told you I wasn’t using my full strength till now. See I have an affinity with air. I can completely control the air around my lasso. I can make it do things that no else can! Such as tying things up despite you breaking the main part.” he gloated.

Akane attempted a kick hoping that by doing so it would interrupt his magic but Richard saw it coming. He stepped forward and with his right arm blocked the kick and countered with a powerful punch to Akane’s body which sent her sliding across the dirt. As she slid Akane tightened her muscles and curled herself into a ball which allowed her to roll back onto her feet. Before her was Richard who was approaching her slowly. Above him was his lasso moving in strange ways. It swayed above him like a snake that was being charmed. At the end was Akane’s blade for she had lost her grip when Richard punched her.

“Now, killing you with your own blade! That’s something I can get behind!” he excitedly exclaimed.

An ominous dark blue aura now started to permeate Richard’s body.

Akane took out her second blade, a tanto blade which was much smaller but it was all she had to defend herself.

“You took my blade from me. Now you’ll die painfully” Akane declared.

“Let’s see you try!”

Richard’s lasso descended upon Akane in an attempt to cut her in half. Akane sidestepped the blade and slashed at the lasso, hoping to cut her sword free. However when she tried, the part of the lasso she was aiming at moved away from her. Akane redirected her efforts and attacked another part of the lasso but it too went back. Akane then felt the approach of an attack from behind. She quickly turned around and deflected her own blade. As soon as she did so Richard ran up behind her and gave her a mighty kick to the back which knocked her off balance. She spun around and put her arms up in defense to receive Richard’s follow up punch. The attack was successfully nullified but it was a distraction as she felt a sharp pain across her back. She could tell that she was sliced by her sword. Richard and the lasso were alternating attacks which kept Akane on the defensive. She knew things had to change. If this kept going she would eventually be worn down.

Akane decided that she had to kill Richard. If he died the lasso would become harmless. She lunged at him with her tanto blade. She extended her right arm forward, hoping to plunge the blade into his chest. Right when it was about to make contact in the corner of her eye she saw her sword coming down. If she didn’t change her course of action her arm would get cut off. She pulled her arm back and dug her feet into the ground to stop her momentum. This left her open and Richard capitalized on it. He went on the attack and successfully kicked Akane in the face using aura to increase his power. Akane became discombobulated, she saw three Richards standing before her. All three threw a punch, she had no idea which one was real in order to dodge. She took a gamble and went with the middle one. She ducked under the middle’s punch and performed a horizontal slash across his stomach. The gamble paid off. Akane felt her blade cutting across flesh.

“Agh!” Richard screamed in pain as he jumped back to create distance between the two.

The lasso went in to cover his retreat. Akane’s sword attempted to cut her again. By now Akane had reoriented herself and deflected the attack. Akane couldn’t give Richard any reprieve. She had to stay on the offensive. She tried to dash forward but something had grabbed a hold of her left leg. She looked down and saw a piece of the lasso had tied her left leg. She quickly cut it to free herself. Right as she did so she felt a blow to the side of her head. Richard had recovered much quicker than she anticipated. She was sent flying 3 dozen feet away. Richard was putting a lot more force into his attacks. Akane got up and felt the side of her head sting. She touched it and felt blood dripping down.

“Hmmm” she said to herself, contemplating something.

“Do you understand now what you’re dealing with?! I’m a member of the Humanity Defense Front! I’m a defender! I’m a preserver! We are the strongest humanity has to offer! We have to be in order to stand up against our enemies!” Richard proclaimed.

He was walking towards her, holding onto his stomach’s wound with his left hand.

“...”

“What’s wrong? Speechless knowing you’re about to die?”

“Sorry did you say something?”

“Y-yes! Did you not hear me? There is no way your mind is somewhere else right now!”

“But it was. I just realized I forgot to give my friend his knives back. Could I have used them in this fight? No they’d get dirty with blood. Doesn’t matter, my plan to defeat you doesn’t need them anyway.”

“Tch. You won’t be carrying out your plan because I’m ending this fight right now!”

The lasso that was swaying above them began to go higher and higher into the air. It went up so high Akane could not see the tip where her sword was given the sun’s glare. Akane then heard a whizzing sound come from above. Akane realized what it was. Richard was planning to send her sword towards her at terminal velocity. It was perfect. Just what Akane needed. She couldn’t rely on her sight to avoid it given the sun, but could use instinct that had been honed through a lifetime of training and battle experience. She rubbed her right hand against the side of her head, covering it with blood. She closed her eyes.

“Perfect! You know running wouldn’t have helped, the sword would’ve just followed you! You’re smart enough to accept your fate! I’ll see you in hell!” Richard yelled.

He got closer to Akane, standing about 14 feet away. He had assumed Akane had given up on this fight so he dropped his guard. He was relaxed.

Akane sensed something was about to hit her. She twisted her body to the right. A loud thunk was heard throughout the park. Akane opened her eyes and saw that right next to her her sword was plunged into the ground still tied to the lasso. Richard’s eyes widened in surprise, there was no way she could have dodged that. The speed was simply too great for anyone to dodge even if they had great reflexes. But there Akane was who did just that. His shock prevented him from moving. This hesitation would be his undoing. Akane grabbed the lasso with her right hand. Once she did so the blood that was on her hand transferred to the lasso and began to zoom its way up the lasso towards the lasso’s wielder.

“What!” Richard exclaimed, completely stupefied.

Before he could drop his lasso the blood had already made its way to him. A blood spike shot out of it and pierced his neck.

“Ackkkkkk” was all Richard could say as he fell to his knees.

Akane took her tanto blade and used it to free her katana. She put the smaller blade away and walked towards Richard wielding her primary weapon.

“You were right. You weren’t weak. You were just annoying” Akane said as she stared down at the bleeding man before her.

Richard attempted a last ditch attack. He leaped to his feet and threw a punch with his right arm but as he did so Akane casually cut the arm off.

“Acckkkkkkk” he gurgled as he struggled to stand upright.

“This fight’s over. I know your death won’t make up for all the lives you’ve taken. But at least I know you won’t take anymore. Goodbye whatever your name is”

Akane hacked off his other arm then ended it by chopping his head clean off. Akane spun around and dramatically sheathed her sword for no other reason than to look cool despite there being no one there to see it. With the fight over she began her trek back to Sarah.

Sarah had been standing next to the tree that was almost the place of her death. She had removed the bodies from the nooses out of respect for the dead. The bodies were now on the ground aligned next to each other. It wasn’t much but it was the least she could do. The Humanity Defense Front hung those in order to send a message and by doing this that wouldn’t happen. She began to pray for their wellbeing when she heard footsteps behind her.

“Hello” Akane deadpanly greeted.

“Ms. Akane you’re alive!” Sarah shouted in disbelief.

“I told you, he was quite weak. Not as weak as I thought but weak nonetheless.”

“Weak? Look at those wounds he did some damage.”

Sarah began to look over Akane’s body. She noticed the wound on the side of her head and the major slash on her back. She examined her chest and determined Akane most likely had 2 broken ribs.

“This is nothing. I’ve faced much worse” Akane stated.

“You still need medical attention. Come back with me to my apartment, I can fix you up there.”

“Do you have medical experience?”

“Yes I’m a nurse.”

“Why didn’t you recommend the local hospital then?”

“...The Humanity Defense Front controls the hospital. They have guards stationed there, they made it so the hospital only treats humans. I don’t think letting you go there after you killed one of their leaders is a good idea. Don’t worry I’ll fix you up, think of it as my way of thanking you for saving my life.”

“Very well. But I can’t stay too long, I need to go find my friend.”

“You’re in no shape to look for anyone, just come with me.”

With it being decided the two began their way out of the park, passing by the destruction. The park looked unrecognizable, resembling a battlefield more so than anything else. It was a prelude of things to come.