(3) Guard The Ticket

DAY 43 IN ANARCHY, 188/200 MILES

7:44PM

"We've been walking the past 8 miles without knowing anything about eachother. What's your name?" Eraba stated. The man chuckles and says, "Well, look at my beard, and then look at yourself. You seem pretty young compared compared me. Ain't it common courtesy to introduce yourself first? Eh, eh?" The man laughs. Eraba is slightly annoyed and says, "Yeah, yeah. I'm Eraba and I'm 17." The man smirks and sarcastically says, "Don't by shy, give me some more respect. Eh, eh?" Eraba grunts and says, "Nice to meet you! I'm Eraba and I'm 17, what about you?" The man chuckles and says, "Much better. I'm Kuro and I'm 24!" Eraba bursts out laughing. "Damn, you don't age good at all! You look like a 43 year old in a midlife cr-" Kuro uppercuts Eraba and yells, "Respect your elders, shithead!!" Eraba rubs his chin and says, "Damn, that one hurt, ya know! Anyways.. we've been walking in a practically deserted wasteland. What's the contrast like with the town?" Kuro tells Eraba it's almost majestical. He explains that there's bright lights, plazas, taverns, hotels, homes, merchant shops, and even training arenas. It's kept safe by 600ft walls. Eraba is shocked and says, "There's a place like that down here?? If it's that big, we should be able to see it right? There's only 12 miles left!" Kuro replies, "We have to meet with Zone. It's a being that's on all 10 layers at once, while fulfilling different roles. In this layer, Zone looks after the town. It stands alone, in the middle of this sandy wasteland. Zone is the entry to Tojikomerareta Town." Eraba grows interested and says, "Tojikomerareta Town?" Kuro explains the name in a simple term as, "Trapped."

198/200 MILES // 8:52 PM

SFX: Heavy Wind*

"It's getting dark, will we even be able to see Zone?" Eraba says. Kuro replies with, "You feel that?" Eraba broadens his arms to try and feel it. "It's some heavy ass wind, what about it?" Kuro looks over at Eraba and says, "It's Zone. Immense, right? We're feeling this yet we're still 2 miles away." Eraba is in shock and he stammers, "H-how do we even get close to Zone?!" Kuro brings out his chains and says, "We push through it, also, forgot to mention one thing about Zone. It's an entrance here but has one feature that is absolute within all layers." Eraba is confused and asks, "And what's that?"

SFX: Running, heavy footsteps, growls, chain loosening*

"An attracting power source, waiting to be tried. If Zone gets overpowered and consumed, we'll need to fight off stronger demons AND we'll need to wait 6 hours for Zone to reappear. In shorter words, a protector that needs protection." Eraba's eyes widen and says, "That's crazy! We gotta fight some more just to get into the town?" Kuro replies, "Yup. Now bring out that katana of yours. It's the perfect time to train." Eraba was about to question Kuro, until he notices in the distance, a plethora of demons, beast and humanoid alike, all running to one area.

SFX: Unsheathing*

"Got it. I don't have the patience to wait for 6 hours." Eraba says seriously. Eraba comes to a halt and holds his katana out. He closes his eyes and he feels the energy building up. He feels something crawling around him. Alas, he hears the growl followed by the sharp pain. "There it is." Eraba says as he sharply opens his eyes. Kuro takes a look at Eraba and notices the transformation. Eraba says, "I feel super strong but I don't think I'll be able to do this for long. Let's go." Eraba takes a left step forward and digs it into the peak of the sand dune. With all his power he does a forward leap motion and disappears instantly. "That idiot, acting all cool. He's never went that fast in his life. He's not gonna be able to control it." Kuro says.

SFX: Wind, crashing in sand*

"Grahh!" Eraba let out. Following with, "Damn, Shōhi! Didn't think I'd go that quick!" Eraba lets out a chuckle and then hears Kuro yelling, "Dumbass! Don't act cool next time and maybe you won't attract the sand!" Kuro follows with a laugh and a knee slap. Eraba's face turns gloomy and says, "Very funny, old man.." Kuro yells in response, "I'M NOT OLD!"

SFX: Shaking*

"Hey why's my katana shaking like that?!" Eraba yells. Kuro laughs and replies, "Guess it didn't like eating crap on the test drive!" Eraba gets annoyed and says, "Shut up! Be serious, what's happening!?" Kuro sighs and says, "Damn kid, you have no humor. Shōhi works like a magnet when it feels lust. You realize it's pointing at the horde of demons, right?" Eraba notices and says, "Oh yeahhh." Kuro replies, "You know what you need to do. Take the left step and fill Shōhi's desires. Have more control this time around."

SFX: Wind, stampeding, groaning, growling*

Eraba takes control into account and does the same motion as before, with less kick behind it. He reaches the demons in no time. A bull rushes him and he kicks it with his consumed leg, sending it flying towards other demons and knocking them over. Eraba goes to slash a humanoid demon before it gets yanked away by Kuros chain. Eraba's slash creates a large dust cloud and Kuro feels a strong draft coming towards him. "What strength!" Kuro thinks to himself. Eraba looks over at Kuro and yells, "Hey, that one was mine!" Kuro exterminates the demon with his palm and says, "Stop going so far ahead! We're gonna work together on this. Not fair if you get to rampage alone!" Eraba slashes down a horse demon and says, "Alright."

SFX: Chain, wind, unsheathing*

Kuro jumps in the air and sends his chain down at full force. The chain slams into the sand and the impact sends multiple demons backwards. Eraba notices the chain and grabs onto it. Kuro sees what Eraba is going for so he yanks the chain upwards to bring Eraba into the air. Eraba's weight levels down Kuro so Eraba lets go. Kuro reaches the ground and pulls out his kukri. He slides on his knees cutting multiple demons in half. Eraba is in the air when he throws his consumed arm back with full strength to propel himself at a group of demons. As he's rapidly descending he spins and swings his katana as soon as he's about to make contact with the first demon. Eraba cuts it down and does continuous 360 motions to cut the rest of the demons. Eraba and Kuro have taken down the demon horde. "That worked out pretty well!" Eraba says. Kuro laughs and says, "Yeah it did! You suddenly grabbing my chain almost made me dive face first into the sand, so there's that." They both sigh in relief, as Zone was unharmed.

SFX: Stomp, heavy breathing*

Eraba and Dante look behind eachother and to their shock, towering over them, is an 11 foot tall person with properly dressed clothes, huge muscles, and a sledgehammer. "You two did this? Hmmmmm."

GUARD THE TICKET // CHAPTER 3

Done.