27 Chapter 27 - Grandmasters

---Two Days Later---

Arriving later than expected we made it to our second stop unscathed from the resulting tsunami. Seeing the damage it did to the shoreline though, everyone was grateful to George for the early warning. The dock we pulled up to was barely standing as the tsunami had used the boats like wrecking balls to destroy the dock and buildings near the shore.

Debris and rotting corpses littered the shoreline making the area look like a warzone as well. Whether undead or alive prior to the tsunami, everything was dead now. Triple checking the mini map to confirm all of the bodies were completely dead, we started working on emptying the waste tanks. Lucky for us the pipes were still in working order so we were able to pump out the waste and refill our water and fuel.

Taking my team onto shore, we were going to have to walk to get supplies. The tsunami and EMP had guaranteed we had no vehicles aside from our three which were hardened against EMP's. Sticking to locations close by, it was almost a given we would run into other groups out to resupply. Our first few encounters went without any issue as we gave each other space, but our fifth encounter wasn't so friendly.

A rather angry group of locals carrying swords, pitchforks, and other farming tools approached us with clear intent to harm us. It was refreshing to see people not ogle the women, but instead want to eliminate us to cut the number of competitors for supplies. Not seeming to care that we were armed with firearms, the group launched their attack first.

In an effort to save ammo, I drew my war axe off my back and bisected one of the men down the middle. Seeing that display of strength the group faltered, but it was too late. They had made the first move, and we would make the last one. Grabbing two of them by the face, Sayo easily crushed their skulls like balloons. Saeko, Pucca, Yuko, and Yoko mercilessly cut people down left and right without stopping. Sending blood everywhere, the four of them seemed to enjoy blowing off a bit of steam.

Rei and Nina were flicking their spears around with deadly precision, hitting both the head and hearts of attackers within moments of each other. Their teamwork was by far the best in our little group in my opinion. Mikoto, Rika, Saya, Yuriko, and Kiriko were the only ones using firearms as that is what they specialized in. Yuriko had taken it upon herself to teach Saya on tandem with me so she was quickly catching up to her mother's proficiency level.

Butchering the group down to a few people, they dropped their weapons and started to run. Wanting to give chase I stopped Sayo, and grabbed a small car nearby. Picking it up, I spun around a few times then flung the car into the air. A few moments later it slammed into the remaining people killing them instantly.

"You can maintain that level of strength without entering your Berserker State.", Yuko stated, "How do you manage that?"

"I am always angry.", I chuckled.

"Be real about it.", she laughed.

"The Berserker State you are referring to only increases my strength.", I reminded her, "I am naturally stronger due to whatever my mother did to me. In the past I needed to hold back to not hurt anyone, and I still do with the people I care about. People I could careless about I have no problem crushing like ants."

"Interesting...would it be possible to test your blood?", Yuko asked.

"That's fine.", I said, "Maybe you can make some kind of serum to make all of you stronger too."

"That's what I am hoping.", she stated.

Taking what supplies the group had gathered, we moved on to our first location. Finding most the supplies ruined by the sea water, we did manage to find several packages of jerky in sealed packages that escaped the water. Finding similar situations at the rest of our locations, we returned to the ship with only a little bit of what we needed.

"This area is really picked clean.", Saya sighed handing the stuff over to Kyoko's team who were inventorying everything.

"Well most of it probably floated our to sea last night.", Rika added, "What's your plan Victor?"

"I don't usually like stealing from other survivors, but that one group we fought probably has supplies we can take.", I told them, "You all comfortable with that? We won't take from them if they have kids though, we aren't desperate enough for that."

"That's fine.", Rika agreed, "Let's take the Humvee in case there is a lot there."

"You have an idea where they were camped?", Yoko asked.

"I can track their path back.", I chuckled.

Moving the boat to the ferry landing, we unloaded the Humvee and took off to explore. Getting out when we got to where we fought them, Rika followed behind me in the Humvee as I followed the prints. Since I had maxed the Tracking Skill and had years of experience, things were incredibly easy for me to spot. Tracking their steps back to an old truck with a large trailer hooked to it, I broke the lock and opened it.

Inside the trailer were many items we needed along with ammo and firearms. Since the Humvee had a hitch, we decided to just take it with us. Scouting the immediate area for any signs of habitation, we only saw a few empty homes and nothing else. Realizing they weren't close to here, we let our guard down to check that everything was still fine to eat. While the majority of the group handled that, Rei asked me about the truck.

"So how exactly did this still work?", Rei asked.

"No electronics to fry, it's a really old fashion truck.", I chuckled, "Everything is mechanical."

"Oh okay.", she said trusting me as she wasn't mechanically inclined, "Is it something worth bringing back?

"Not really, the fuel mileage on an old car is dreadful and fuel is only going to become increasingly scarce.", I told her.

"We going to just take the trailer, and leave?", Saeko inquired looking anxious for some more combat.

To anyone else the question was innocent, and her facial expression wouldn't have let on she wanted to fight more. Having been very close to each other for a long time, I knew she'd only ask if she wanted to fight more. Usually she was more than happy with me planning dates, but when she wanted to go out and fight someone...she was always the one to hint she wanted action.

"We can scope out there base.", I said with a smile, "We can follow the path they left behind to find where they were hold up."

Following me in the Humvee, we followed the tread marks back to a dojo outside the city. Looking to Saeko and Pucca, I hoped they could tell us more about the dojo. Shaking their heads, neither of them had anything on this place so I went off of what the mini map showed. According to it there were about twenty-five people behind the outer walls, mostly women and children. There were a few men left guarding the place, but overall their main strength was killed by us. Two people did stand out though as they were higher level than everyone else, by a large margin.

"Should we knock?", Sayo asked with a smirk.

"Of course, it's the only polite thing to do.", I chuckled.

Leaving the Humvee out of sight, we approached the dojo cautiously. Avoiding a few traps they had setup, we made it to the front gate and loudly knocked on the door. Seeing a few people approach the door on the map, I motioned for the women to stay ready. A split second after the door started to open, one of the defenders jabbed a spear out aimed for my chest. Grabbing the spear, I yanked them forward and slammed them into the door before using the other end to slam into their gut.

Hearing an audible shriek from the other side, I lift my foot up and slammed it into the door. The poor soul still on the other side of the doors took the impact head on and was sent skipping across the ground like a ragdoll.

"I see now why you hold back.", Nina said looking at the poor woman I had slammed the blunt end of the spear into.

Lying on the ground in the fetal position, the woman had internal injuries from the blow. I hadn't realized it was a woman, and admittedly hit her a bit too hard. As for the man that went flying...he could walk it off.

"I hope you don't greet everyone with a death blow to the heart.", I told the woman on the ground, "I apologize, but you did try to kill me."

Getting only a groan in response, I turned my attention to the four defenders rushing forward with swords at the ready. With a snap of my fingers Saeko and Sayo blitzed past me to engage them.

"Why does it seem like they like combat so much?", Saya sighed.

"It's not only the combat they enjoy, it's also the thrill of testing their limits and skills against someone else.", I remarked, "It's like how you feel when you get into debates or intellectual discussions with someone, you enjoy the feeling of using your knowledge to try to best someone."

"That's fair, I guess I didn't think of it like that.", she admitted.

"It's part of the reason all of us were in clubs.", Rei stated, "We like being around other people that push us to do better."

"Yes, not everyone had someone come over every day to push them.", Yuriko teased her.

"Mother!", Saya huffed trying to hide a smile.

Looking back at the two women in combat, I watched Sayo throw her two opponents to the ground before starting to beat them into a pulp. As for Saeko, she was keeping it more restrained by observing her opponents movements as they tried to strike her. Her two opponents weren't some random thugs, they had training with their katana's but they were only middle of the road apprentice level at best. Having observed their movements for a few moments, Saeko made her move when one them made a mistake.

Going for an overhead strike on her, instead of backing up she lunged forward catching him off guard. Slamming the hilt of her blade into his gut, she knocked the wind out of him before grabbing his shirt and judo throwing him into his comrade. Grabbing his sword before it hit the ground, she spun it around and launched it like a spear burying it in the dirt a hair's width from his neck.

"You aren't worth my time.", she said in a calm voice.

For all of her bloodthirsty tendencies, Saeko always only took the lives of criminals. On a few occasions an innocent bystander would jump into a fight against us when we were subduing a group of criminals. Every time that happened, she would hurt them but never actually attempt to kill them...she reserved that for the most deserving people as she enjoyed watching them beg for their lives or watch their pride shatter before she'd dispatch them. For many she'd be considered a psycho, but to me she was the love of my life.

"Both of you done already?", I inquired as the rest of us walked in.

"Yes.", they said.

Wiping the blood off her hands, Sayo ran back over to me with a smile on her face while Saeko hid her enjoyment. About that time an elderly couple came out with swords on their hips, and looked at the injured defenders. Judging by their demeanor they were the leaders of this group which was a surprise to me.

'They are grandmasters I saw on our approach.', I thought.

"Good afternoon.", the old man said, "May we inquired what you have come here for?"

"A group of men that attacked us on the road came from here, we followed their tread marks back to this place. They had an old truck with a trailer attached too it.", I answered watching their movements carefully.

"If our son and grandson attacked you we apologize.", the old women replied, "Times are tough, and after the tsunami that struck the city supplies became even harder to find. They must have thought you were a threat to our survival."

"That's exactly why they are laying in pieces in town.", I said letting them know where they were.

"I see...", the old man sighed, "They are dead then."

"As you said times are tough, and you do what you have too to survive.", I stated.

Not sitting well with them, they started to size me up. Putting my hand on my pistols, I really didn't want to kill them if I didn't have too. Having two grandmasters on the ship would greatly boost our training capacity, and would free me up...assuming they had the Teacher skill.

"Are you here for revenge?", they asked.

"Originally yes, but it's quite clear there a large number of children here. I frankly can't justify taking food out of a child's mouth.", I told them honestly, "That said, with your main fighting power gone I doubt you will hold out here very long."

Relaxing their grip on their swords, they nodded their heads. They admitted that even with their full group fighting they wouldn't last very long now. The children needed constant care, they had nursing mothers, and pupils they needed to safeguard so they needed to think things through.

"I propose you come with our group to Okinawa, and onward from there.", I offered, "We number just over one hundred people, and if you were willing to teach our group your arts we would be happy to have you."

"That is all you want?", he asked.

"I am the leader of our group, and everyone contributes in some fashion whether it's assisting adults, fighting, washing clothing, or cooking everyone plays their part. In addition, I want all of our members to know how to fight. They don't need to reach your level, but they need to know how to defend themselves.", I answered, "It is safest for everyone as it minimizes a hostile group from within hurting others."

"Agreed.", he chuckled rubbing his chin, "You aren't from Japan, are you boy?"

"No, I am from the US.", I told him, "I hope that doesn't matter."

"No it doesn't, we are all humans at the end of the day.", he stated.

"Father! Mother! Is something wrong?", a middle aged woman said running out in a martial arts uniform.

Around Yuko and Yuriko's age, this woman clearly had fighting experience based on her walk and demeanor. I wouldn't have been surprised if she was a former MMA fighter or possible a Yakuza hitman. Glancing at me with her dark brown eyes, she quickly looked at her father.

"Who are they?", she asked him.

"Your brother unfortunately picked the fight with a very talented fighter.", he remarked.

Turning to me I could sense some killing intent from her. Before she could move, the old man scolded her and said that she wasn't allow to engage in combat with me. Stating he could tell that I was well versed in the art of killing, he didn't want to lose his remaining child today as well. Accepting our offer, he ordered her to prepare the group to leave which she did immediately.

"You aren't thinking about bedding her, right?", Rika teased in a whisper tone.

"No, and I don't think she'd be a good candidate as we killed her brother.", I remarked, "Besides, "I don't go after every female I see."

"If he did we'd have a problem.", Saeko laughed.

"Yeah, he's got to keep the number in check.", Saya huffed.

Knowing her, she'd want me for herself and no one else. Having Rika bring the Humvee around, we got their belongings loaded up and had the mothers and babies get in the Humvee. Walking at the front of the group with my rifle, I lead the way back to the boat. Making it back without any problems, I had Kyoko get them situated with the necessities. Once everything was loaded I got us out of the area as I saw a horde coming in our direction.

---Raccoon City HQ---

Having successfully forced the UN to nuke Tokyo, the group was moving forward with their plans. Assuming that their main target, Victor, had potentially escaped or left the area prior to the strike, Umbrella was busy coming up with alternative methods for eliminating him.

"Commander!", one of his men said, "I received word that you requested my presence?"

"Correct, I wanted to know how your machines are progressing.", the commander asked, "I have need of some of your more...offensive drone units, preferably something that could be sent in without the need for outside interaction."

"I apologize sir, but the lion's share of my research money was allotted to the Tyrant or other mutation projections.", the man replied.

"Umbrella is in need of your machines to track down an anomaly.", the Commander said, "My wife appears to have genetically modified my son, and he more than likely wasn't in Tokyo when the strike happened. I need to make absolutely certain that he doesn't become a nuisance for Umbrella. Can you deploy any of your equipment to handle it?"

"I mean...I have some prototypes that I could weaponize. Doing so would take about a week, but I could get you a dozen of them.", he answered.

"Good, get it done.", the commander ordered.

"I don't mean to question your judgment sir, but...are you sure you really want to kill your son?", the scientist asked.

"Unfortunately he is too much of a liability to leave alive.", the commander said, "He's modifications allowed him to fight the Mark 1 Tyrant with little issue. That level of power is a threat to our overall goal, and must be dealt with accordingly."

"I understand sir, I will try to make them kill him as quickly as possible.", the man said before rushing out of them to get to work.