Miss Alice, why don't you sleep while I'm gone?

Once again, the foundation of the building shook, and Mark did his best to stay on his feet as everything was being thrown off balance while Alice held on to the couch.

"What the heck is going on out there?" Alice yelled as more loud growls followed. It was so loud that they could hear it from where they were so it could only mean it was a big monster. A very big one.

Then, from Mark's intercom which, was strapped to his pants, came a voice,

"Mark, are you there?" It scritched. "We... we need backup." They said and Mark picked it up and answered,

"I'm here. What's going on? Is it a gate?" He asked and the voice responded positively.

"Yeah, and it's bad. Very bad."

"How bad?"

"Red!" Mark's eyes widened. "It's a red gate."

Alice's eyes widened. For God's sake, what sort of bad omen did that voice put on her?

It wasn't just a gate now but a red gate. For fucks sake... Couldn't they just let her be?

"Miss Alice, I have to go now." Mark said and turned to head out when she grabbed his arm and asked,

"Wait, what... What about my food?"

He stared at her for a while, lost for words. Even with an emergency like this, the first and only thing Alice cared about was food and nothing more.

"Miss Alice," he dropped his hand on her head and stroked it lightly, something he had never done before. "...it looks like your food will be running late." He said and gave her his intercom. "If a monster comes here, call for help. I'll come right away."

Alice looked at the intercom. Where was the guy who was saying she could lead a raid? It looked like he chose to believe her at this critical moment that she wasn't an awakened.

"Are you going to be okay?" She asked.

"Why? Are you worried about me now?" He asked, thinking she was finally coming around with him but she darted her eyes aside,

"Ah! Sorry to burst your bubble but that's not it. If you die, there's no one to give me as much food as I want." She said and Mark palmed his face.

Yeah, that was the only thing she chose to desire and the only thing she would think of, even on her deathbed. He shook his head.

"I'll just take it as it is." He said and walked out, locking her back in her cell. "I'll do everything I can to return safely."

"Alright, but will I get the food while you're gone?" She asked, once again darting her eyes away.

"Miss Alice, why don't you sleep while I'm gone?" He asked and a big explosion shook the building.

"With this turmoil? I don't think so. I'll just wait here like this." She sat on the couch, showing she would be obedient till he got back. "So hurry up and get back."

He, who was unsure if he would even come back from fighting a monster that came out of a red gate, smiled at her. Maybe it would be the last time he got to smile or maybe it wouldn't.

But if it was, he wanted her to remember it clearly.

Mark waved and left the cell.

Once he was gone, it all went silent. And then the shaking of the building followed.

"Shit!" She cussed and touched her head. No one had ever stroked her head so gently before. It was... Weird.

Then, she turned to the TV, only to discover another gate had spawned and right where the awakened were exiting their various gates. It was an orange gate.

*The chaos will never cease* the voice said and that immediately got on Alice's nerves.

"Hey, are you trying to jinx the wworld?" She yelled. "You just told me to get ready a few minutes ago and then a freaking red gate spawns out of nowhere."

The entire building shook and was more violent this time that she was almost thrown off the couch.

"What the hell is going on out there?"

*Go outside* the voice said.

"What, because I'm stupid? Just because I don't fear death, it doesn't mean I'll just walk into it. It's clearly a death zone out there." She said but the voice did not respond. "What? You ran out of battery already? Good, stay quiet. I don't need any more of your bad omen talk."

But the building wouldn't stop shaking and it tilted.

"The hell!"

Then all of a sudden, Alice blacked out. She didn't fall or get hit by anything, but her consciousness faded at that moment, and the next thing she knew, the moment she regained her senses, she noticed she was outside and barefooted too. The ground was cold.

Ah, when was the last time she saw the night sky?

It was pretty.

"But... why is there a freaking giant hammer in my hands?" She asked.

There was a huge hammer with a big blockhead in her hand. Its handle was as tall as a specter, taller than her in the face, and its body had blue lightning flashes sparking subtly. Was it a lightning hammer?

It was a beautiful hammer, if not that it was way bigger than her, looked completely dangerous, and its origin was completely unknown. How was she even able to carry it, and where did it come from?

She looked at the hammer. It looked heavy. How did she get her hands on it and just how did she get out of the cell?

"Argh, screw this!"

She dropped the hammer and it broke the ground she was standing on. That just showed how heavy it was, so why did it feel so light in her arms?

*Fight* she heard the voice say to her.

"Fight? What do you take me for?" She asked. "I'm outta here."

The voice went quiet, thinking of a way to convince her to fight.

"Are you the one that brought me out? I don't remember walking out of my cell or getting this hammer." She said and furrowed her eyebrows. "What the hell are you?"

*You have to fight*

"Or what? I die?" She rolled her eyes. "Tell me something I don't already know." She and suddenly, her body went out of control. "Hey, what's going on?" She asked as she unwillingly bent down to pick up the giant hammer. "Hey, I said I don't wanna. Let me off."

Then, her body turned in the direction of the monster that was ravaging the place. It was a hydra. A freaking four-headed hydra, with each head having the power of different elements.

One was water, another was wind, earth, and fire. How in the world were they able to fight such a monster?

It was as big as the infrastructure, with its four heads with long necks swirling around the place and spitting out different elements from its mouths, destroying all in its path.

It was dangerous. A level above a normal awakened, and its scales were impenetrable to sharp weapons. That was the kind of monster that had come out of the red gate.

"That's a freaking serpent with four heads. What are you trying to make me do?"

*You have to fight*

"No way in hell."

*Luckily, this isn't hell* the voice responded and her face contorted.

"Hey, I'm not going to throw my life away just because you ask me to, you freaking voice in my head." Alice declared. "Not for anything in this world."

*Not even for your food?*

Alice's eyebrows twitched.

"What's the supposed to mean?"

*Look closely*

Her eyes peered closer and then she saw, on the floor, facing off against the hydra that was as big as a building was Mark who was badly wounded.

Her eyes widened.

*If you can't think of anything else, any reason why you should fight, then you should at least think of who will give you food if he dies. Go save him, Alice.*