(IX) Encounters

Samael, Kaitlyn, and Nathan walked through the streets of the destroyed city. An etherial silence permeated throughout the ruins of the skyscrapers. 

Despite the silence, the young man remained on guard, scanning the surroundings repeatedly as they proceeded through the city. In his past life, he had spent a few days stuck inside the bunker before an Awakener appeared. 

The silence was starting to affect him, making him hear things, causing him to hold his arms out and halting their progress, but when he inspected his surroundings, there was nothing. 

They continued through an alleyway as the sounds of a fight were slowly coming into earshot, causing Samael to halt the twins again, prompting the protest from Kaitlyn, "Oh, come on! This is like the tenth time! There's probably nothing there!" 

Sam shushed her, raising his finger to his lips, glaring at her sternly, whispering as he dropped the backpacks, "Stay here." 

He left the twins alone as he unsheathed both combat knives, twisting one into a reverse grip as he crouched down, creeping around the corner and stealthily approaching the fight. 

Dozens of skeletons with rusted swords surrounded a sizeable, burly man as he fought barehanded. His massive hands were covered in armored gauntlets with spikes on the knuckles and the fingertips with sharp claws.

He grabbed the weapon of a nearby skeleton as it swung at him, catching the attack and pulling the undead close as he punched through its skull, causing the bones to crumple into a pile before vanishing. 

He had long, disheveled orange hair, stubble wrapped around his broad chin, and a massive grin as he crushed a skeleton's skull, vanishing in a puff of smoke. 

Samael peeked around the corner of the dilapidated building, watching in awe as the man shrugged off the attacks of the undead, countering their attacks with ease and defeating them. 

He stood in the middle of the street, staring at the portal as it pulsated before he rolled his shoulders, turned to the alleyway, and raised his hand, motioning to come, "You can stop hiding now." 

Sam was surprised and looked around for someone else nearby but noticed no one, 'He couldn't mean me...' 

"Yes, I'm talking to you." The man answered, motioning for him to come out again, "I won't ask twice." 

The young man gulped, sheathing his weapons, and stepped out from the shadows and exited the alley, approaching the burly man, speaking decisively, "Who are you?"

"I'm Vitani, and you are?" The man answered, holding his hand out as Sam introduced himself and shook the man's hand with a smile as a window appeared before him. 

╔══The target's Ability [Leo's Blazing Pride] is immune to the effects of Soul Thief.══╝

╔══The target's power is too great to be affected by Soul Tie.══╝

"You have quite the bothersome Ability..." Vitani said, bursting into a deep and booming laughter. 

"Uh..." Samael was dumbfounded, his thoughts fixated on the name of his ability; his mind started to race, thinking of the consequences before apologizing, "I'm sorry, I haven't quite learned how to control them." 

Sam cursed inwardly; even if he hadn't received another powerful Ability, he would have been screwed if he had bet everything on using [Soul Thief] to steal one of the Zodiac's abilities. 

"It's cool, but I'd recommend you quickly get a handle on that..." Vitani answered in a threatening tone, "You wouldn't want to piss off the wrong guy. You're pretty lucky I'm super chill." 

"What are you doing here?" Samael asked, feigning ignorance at the appearance of the Zodiacs and their purpose in ending the immediate apocalypse. 

"Same as you, I'd reckon." He said, shrugging his shoulders, before turning back to the alley and pointing to the shadows, "Are those two with you?"

'Jeez!' He exclaimed inwardly, turning to look into the alleyway, watching the twins disappear behind the destroyed wall. 

"Yeah… they're with me. They're harmless..." Sam sighed, waving them over as they peeked out again. The twins slowly approached, carrying an extra backpack each. 

"So, how about it?" Vitani asked, placing his fists on his waist and smiling at the three younger Awakeners. 

"What?" Samael asked, the twins hiding behind him and peeking at the huge man. 

"The Dungeon, man!" He boomed, pointing at the portal, "Are you coming or nah?" 

"What?!?" The twins exclaimed in shock, gripping tightly at Sam's shirt. 

"We can't go in there!" Kaitlyn shouted, "What if we can't get out??" 

"No..." Sam shook his head, "We would be able to..." 

"But..." Nathan tried to protest but was interrupted by the humongous man. 

"Think of it as..." Vitani interjected, wrapping an arm around his chest and placing his hand on his chin as he looked over the three, a large grin spreading across his big head, "...a tutorial!" 

Samael's mind swirled; the Zodiacs were far more powerful than he had ever imagined, and now one of them wanted to drag him along through a dungeon? 

"You can't be serious..." He muttered absentmindedly; suddenly, Vitani stepped forward and wrapped his arms around all three of them, scooping them into his arms. 

"Oh, I'm very serious!" He exclaimed, bursting into another deep laughter as he carried them into the portal with him...

***

Ichiko ran through the trees so fast it looked as if she was flying while carrying Jijo on her back. The forest behind her was ablaze as the flames chased after them, nipping at her heels as she fled. 

The young woman darted easily between the trees as she made it to a cliff, leaping from it and soaring through the air underneath the full moon's light. 

Ichiko landed on a powerline, leaping from it and the ruins of destroyed buildings before finally making it to the ground and letting Jijo down. She held her katana defensively as she looked around. 

"Big sis..." The young girl called out, tugging on her sleeve, "What are we supposed to do now?"

"I don't know, Jijo..." Ichiko replied, kneeling down, stroking her sister's face, and staring into her teary eyes, "We need to find someplace safe to stay."

"Heh... Heh... Heh..." Sinister chuckles rang out around them repeatedly, prompting Ichiko to draw her blade instantly, pulling her sister behind her as she turned rapidly. 

"Reveal yourselves, you cowards!" She growled, her uchigatana held across her chest as she spun around to face each chuckle. Suddenly, a group of twenty men appeared with chains and knives, each with a wicked grin and evil in their eyes. 

"Well, well, well!" A man remarked, smacking a metal baseball against his hand repeatedly, sauntering as his goons separated, allowing him to approach, "What do we have here, boys?"

"Stay back!" Ichiko hissed, pointing her blade at the man, "We don't want any trouble!" 

"Have you not noticed what's going on around you, girlie?" The man asked, pointing around with his bat at the destruction around them, "I think trouble is the only thing left in this world!" 

The group of men surrounding the girls burst into a fit of laughter as their boss sneered at the two girls, "Why not come with us, and we can keep you safe!"

"We do not need your protection." She spat back, glaring at the man. 

"Ya know?" He smirked, licking his lips, "I like that look on your face! How about you keep me company in bed, and my boys will take real good care of her for you!"