The Black Plague

The chopper circled about the camp surrounded by ruined buildings. Beyond the camp was a structure the inmate thought would never be found in a barren wasteland. A library and intact. The overall building was still damaged and there were holes with bite marks. The rows of bookcases inside looked unharmed.

"(No way in hell...)" Sano caught a glimpse of the structure and couldn't help but feel amazed. If only there was time for sightseeing.

"It's actually not a bad place to look at don't ya think?" Nana asked cheerfully.

Sano grunted in response, pretending to ignore her.

"My mom told me this place used to be like a school, but better maybe?" Nana thunk while she chewed a piece of bread.

"It was a college or University." Julius explained.

"Not that you can tell now." Gil said.

"Apparently there were supposed to be a lot of parties at these." Romeo chimed in.

"You would know that much." Gil remarked.

"Jealous of my knowledge?" Romeo said snidely.

Team Blood cringed.

"As if?" Gil grit his teeth as he adjusted his hat.

"Speaking of which, what do you know about Psions or the Red Rain?" Julius asked directly to Sano.

Sano thought about the blue aragami he encountered once before.

"Paylor said they were Aragami what could hi-jack oracle cells." Sano replied, inspecting his god-arc.

"Correct. The Psionic Aragami have the ability to control a number of oracle cells at will even of other aragami. But do you know where they came from?" Julius asked.

"He didn't get into that." Sano replied.

"Well according to what we know it's likely the Red Rain, the cause of the Black Plague." Julius said.

"That, no one has still told me about. Red Rain either." Sano said.

"You've been kept away from civilians, but right now there is a pandemic happening in the Far East killing any in its path and not painlessly. The Red Rain is a phenomenon occurring for almost a year now. When humans are caught in it, they are afflicted with black marks all over their body and succumb to symptoms of failing health, chronic pain, fever, any number of things. That is the pandemic called the Black Plague." Julius explained, increasing the tension in the room. Even Romeo had a serious look on his face.

"Just the Far East?" Sano asked.

"Correct." Julius said with a nod.

"It's not a good way to go." Gil said grimly.

"The Red Rain also affects Aragami, but not in the same way. Sometimes not at all." Ciel added.

"Every so often the Red Rain will mutate an Aragami, turning it into a Psion, and once it's transformed it gains the ability to produce Bias Fields to control other oracle cells. A Psion can also render a god-arc useless." Julius said.

"Yours is Gen 1 right? Not even Gen 2 can fight a Psion. That's where we come in." Gil said.

"With 3rd Generation god-arcs, we can produce our own bias fields to counteract the Psions and give resistance to their Bias Fields." Julius explained.

"Do you remember that girl in the grey dress, pale skin, short hair?" Nana asked.

Sano thought but didn't get a chance to respond.

"That's Reika the vice-captain. She's the one who helped us unlock Gil and Ciel's blood powers. She has the ability to awaken blood powers in everyone no matter what generation you're from. Have we explained blood powers yet?" Nana said cheerfully.

"Good point Nana. We've all been injected with the P66 Bias Factor, with this particular Bias Factor we can manifest special abilities." Julius explained with a nod to Nana.

"I can attract aragami from far away, Ciel can see everything like a hawk in the sky, Gil and Julius can beef us up, and Romeo...doesn't have one." Romeo's head fell in his lap, as Nana snickered.

Sano glimpsed at the Beanie-clad boy and couldn't help but note the building aggravation in his posture. Not to mention the desperation.

"You just watch, today's the day!" Romeo declared standing from his seat, as he bore his fists to Nana.

"It's not that simple mind you. That being said, perhaps there won't be a need of blood powers today." Julius said.

Was that a callout to you?

Sano glanced back at Julius, knowing full well what he meant. Even under that hat, Sano could feel Gill leering at him as well.

"(I guess that's why they're taking me with them. They want to see how I killed that Blue Chi-You.)" Sano thought.

The helicopter finally landed.

That being the case, want to show off? I don't, but feel free to.

"We're here." Julius stood up and grabbed his god-arc before opening the door.

The first out after Julius was Ciel and she wasted no time giving orders.

"Out Inmate." she commanded.

Nana shifted uncomfortably and made a frown at Sano, looking to apologize, but he wasted no time either.

He jumped out of the helicopter, followed by Gill, then Nana. Romeo came out last lugging his orange buster-blade.

"Today's target is the Psion Kaballah , The Mad Shaman. This Psion specialized in driving other aragami into a frenzy, but it is also one of the few Psions regular god-eaters can fight." Julius said, taking Sano by surprise.

"(They came here to test me, but they don't risk more than they have to. That's new.)" Sano thought sarcastically.

"Ciel do you have eyes on the target?" Julius asked.

Ciel closed her eyes and focused on the area around her. When she opened them Sano caught a red glow and felt something expand. He felt grow and grow and grow all around him.

But as quickly as it came it shrunk back and a red shimmer appeared around Ciel.

"Approximately 25 seconds out of its field range sir." Ciel said with a salute.

"That was Ciels Blood Power: Foresight. Once it's in range you'll see why regular god-eaters can fight this one. Prepare to engage everyone." Julius said drawing his long blade.

Before Sano could think about what just happened Ciel was glaring at him again.

"Before we engage inmate, understand this. You are to be within line of sight at all times, and you are not to separate from me or any member of Blood at any point during the mission. You've seen what my Blood Power can do and any attempts to escape will be met with lethal force." Ciel said coldly grasping her short-blade tightly.

Sano glowered back at Ciel and took a few steps toward her. She readied herself to swing but found her blade lowered and saw her Captain with a stern gaze.

"You've been heard Ciel, but we have to focus now, I don't think he's going anywhere." Julius said nudging to the exit.

"Don't blame me if you can't keep up." Sano said as he walked past Ciel to the edge of the camp.

"Besides he's got a tracker in his armlet, we all do. Don't worry about it for now." Gill said as he patted her shoulder. Then walked with Julius after Sano.

"Ciel c'mon, he's nice, it's Romeo's fault for what happened earlier." Nana pleaded as she followed after Gill.

"I said I was sorry! I"m really sorry Ciel!" Romeo said as he ran ahead.

Ciel seeing her friends react, frowned as she stared at her God-arc and gun.

"But...he's dangerous. Isn't he?" Ciel feeling conflicted could not linger over this thought, there was a time, and this certainly was not the place, they were here for aragami.